Promises - promises

Promises, promises

November 1, 2015   All Saints Day

I have been thinking about what it means to be Canadian recently, about what it means to belong to this country.  Citizenship is a conversation I am hearing relating to many current events in recent months, the niqab conversation around facial covering and the oath of citizenship, Prime Minister Harper using the term ‘old stock’ when referring to Native North Americans, talks of refugees and migrants and immigrants in news stories.  I also have been spending some time on the Cape, and meeting people over there and learning about their history.  It really has me thinking about what it means to be a Canadian especially when the folks I am meeting have been in this area forever – long, long, long before any of our ancestors thought of getting on a boat and sailing to this part of the world.   I am only a first generation Canadian on my father’s side – he was born and raised in Australia, he arrived in Canada in 1961 but did not become a Canadian until 2005.  On my mother’s side, her family has been in Canada since about the 1850’s, her father side came from Ireland escaping the potato famine and her mother’s side, immigrated from England – the family myth has my grandmothers – grandfather or great grandfather being the second son from a wealthy family whose behavior embarrassed the family and so was sent as punishment to the colonies.  In comparison – I am a newbie in this country even though I have lived here all my life.  And to top it off, I was at a meeting last week that began a conversation about whether we in Northern Bruce Peninsula could band together and sponsor a few refugee families seeking asylum from their countries.  What does it mean to be a citizen, what does it mean to belong to this country?
When my father became a Canadian Citizen.  Our family went to a courthouse in Barrie and with about 40 other people from about 30 other countries my father stood up and before a judge and our family said: 
“ I swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfill my duties as a Canadian citizen”.
It was big day for us, and we listened carefully as my dad made his pledge – that day I experienced a profound moment as I watched him pledge his allegiance to Canada and I was reminded that sometimes we take our citizenship for granted and by my father making a conscious choice to become Canadian, he made a conscious choice to live in this country intentionally observing the laws and intentionally fulfilling his duties as a Canadian citizen.  I thought at the time that it would be a good reminder to all of us who never had to pledge to our country, just because we were born here, that we do have rights and responsibilities as citizens.
We all make such promises to organizations and societies, and churches and institutions.  Doctor’s take the Hippocratic oaths which gives them the mandate to do no harm, lawyers get called to the bar where they swear an oath not to pervert the law, ministers are ordained into sacrament, word and pastoral care and have a code of ethics we are to follow.  Brownies promise to do their best to God the Queen and Country and to help other people everyday especially those at home.  When someone becomes a member of the church they stand in front of the congregation and make promises about honoring the denomination and promises about how they are going to live in their faith journey.  When you become a cadet, a legion member, a Rotary member, a Lion or Mason you make promises to be loyal to the organization.  When you become a member of parliament, soldier, justice of the peace, police officer or boy scout you make oaths about how you are going to live the mandate of your organization and take your new place in the community that you will serve. 
The implication of oaths, promises, commitments and belonging are common themes in this morning’s scripture readings.  The relationship between Naomi and her faith, Naomi and her country and Naomi and her daughter-in-laws play itself out in this short book of Ruth.  Here is a story about loyalty and promise and commitment and faith and risk.  And to Jesus and his encounter with the scribes – the questions asked about what is the level of commitment God wants from us - What do we do when we make promises to God.  This commandment – the greatest of all commandments is like an oath that we take about God.  This oath of allegiance outshines all other oaths of allegiance, for when we enter into this one we become fully participating members of the human community.  When we say, okay God, I can do this – I can live this way, loving you fully, deeply and then I can go and show this love to myself and my neighbor – we have made the oath of all oaths, the pledge of all pledges the promise of all promises. 
Ruth made a promise – a pledge in love a pledge to her mother-in-law Naomi, this promise of loyalty, this commitment and pledge forever changed Ruth’s life.  And I wonder that when she made this promise that was she fully aware that this choice – this oath – would so dramatically change her world.  I do not think she really understood was that from that decision to follow Naomi, she allowed the hand of God to be active in her life.  For this is the woman who becomes the great-grandmother of David who for the Jewish people is the best king that ever was.  Ruth and Boaz had a son called Obed, Obed had a son called Jesse and Jesse had a son called David – and genealogically speaking – at least genealogically biblically speaking – when you read the first part of the book of Matthew – you see the link from David to Jesus – from Ruth to Jesus.  This woman’s pledge allowed her to be a participant in God’s plan that transformed the world.
The scribes ask Jesus – what is the greatest commandments – the scribes – they should know the answer to this as they are the ones who are learned in the law – they are the one whose lives are dedicated to preservation of the Holy Scripture – day in and day out they are focused on the sacred texts – rewriting them and preserving them for future generations – yet they ask – we are in the place again that Jesus is confronted with a question that is suppose to trip him up – suppose to make him look foolish in front of those who are listening – suppose to discredit him as there is no really right answer here – at least to the Scribes – 10 major laws at this time – the 10 commandments – the big 10 and then also another 600 other laws meant to protect the people from themselves – laws about food, cleanliness, how to treat people, who is in, who is out, how to deal with dead bodies and how long woman are separate from the group after they have a baby.  Rules, rules and more rules…610 rules attributed to God and good practice as a faithful Jews 2000 years ago – and so to Jesus is asked –which one – which one the most important, which one the truest, the best, the greatest….And with no hesitation…
Hear O Israel – listen up everybody – the Lord is one – God is one, not many but one and you should love God with all your heart, all you soul  with all your mind and with all your strength – love God with everything you’ve got and then love yourself and everyone else – love.
Sound easy – sounds easy?  Do you think that it is easy?  I wish it were – because I think that if it were easy and we could do that and if everyone in the world could do that  - then world issues would cease to exist, there would be no more war as people love, hunger would dissipate as people share, Citizenship in a nations would be irrelevant because we would all be citizens of the world.  God’s kingdom would come as God’s will is done – on earth as it is in heaven…
But we don’t  - we don’t love as we are called to love.  I am not even sure if we really understand what it means to love – to love God, and self and neighbor.  It’s more than just lip service, more than “hey God – ya know I love ya!”  More than saying – Hey neighbor- your pretty cool, you are really different than me but that’s okay – if only it was about lip service!
What does it mean to love God with heart, mind, soul and strength?  What does it mean to love self and neighbor.  Being in relationship with God works the same way as being in relationship with another human being.  How much time you spend getting to know a person, being with them, listening to them, talking to them, liking them, enjoying their company, sharing your self, being intimate is directly proportional to how strong and solid a relationship it is.  If you spend no time thinking about, being with, learning about a person, you are not in relationship with them – you are in acquaintance with them.  If you say hi every now and then, have a quick call, look them up when you are in need of something – it’s a kind of a relationship but it’s pretty superficial. 
To develop a deep and meaningful relationship means putting in time, enjoying the good times, and growing through the bad.  It means trust.  It means pain.  It means joy and commitment.  It takes work yet reaps tremendous rewards.  And this is the type of relationship that God wants to have with us.  Yet you know, even with all that the one thing that it is, with all intimate relationship- is that it is personal, your relationship with God, and my relationship with God is unique to each of us.  And a relationship so personal and unique has the capacity to get into our whole being and transforms us.  It changes us.  And although we will still have pain and discomfort, we would not change it for the whole world.  This is what love is about, and this is what happens when you enter into a deep loving relationship with God.  This is what happens when you love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.
And you know what the second commandment proceeds out of the first – when you love God you begin to see God in many places and faces.  For we know that we are all part of God’s creation – all human beings on the face of the earth are created by our wonderful God – so when we look around – into the face of another and also into the face we see in the mirror – there is God – in me, in you, and in you and you and you and you.  God all over the place, God all over the face.  The welcome on your neighbor’s face you greeted them, the sorrow in another’s eyes as you said hello – God in the midst of this community.  And that’s not all, its not only here in this moment in this church– God is all over the place, in our day to day encounters, in the lives of others, in the work of strangers- God is there, God gets in, God goes with us…
Being in deep relationship also means that wherever we go – God goes with us
Wherever you go, I will go – just like Ruth’s promise to Naomi – when we enter into relationship with God, God makes that promise to us.  So if we go down to the darkness, and live in sorrow and despair – God goes with us.  And if we go to the place of fear and disease, we can count on God’s presence.  And when we have moments of joy and celebration – there too will we find God.  Wherever you go – there is God.  It’s a pretty good deal, this God promise – wherever you go – God will go – you are never alone, God is with you.  Amen