Scripture Readings: Acts 7:55–60 | Psalm 31 | 1 Peter 2:2–10 | ​John 14:1–14

​“Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
(1 Peter 2:4-5).
 
As you may know, two weeks ago our Diocese held a special synod in Fredericton to discuss together, and to advise Archbishop David of our hopes and concerns regarding the future of Christ Church Cathedral, in light of the significant, multi-million dollar repairs that this  historic building requires.
 
In my opinion, it was a really good meeting, in which Anglicans, clergy and lay people from across the province, shared their wisdom, and their hearts with one another… even though we had been gathered to face a pretty daunting reality. Over the past years and months leading up to this meeting, our Diocese has been forced to recognize that we have a lot more work to do than we imagined. Problems had been quietly developing that had escaped our notice, but have clearly become a big concern.

Now there are all sorts of reasons why we’re in this situation now. Some resting within our Church’s control, and some that were always out of our hands. This is not about pointing fingers and placing blame, but about finding a better, effective, and faithful way forward together.
 
And thankfully, at this last synod we saw that as a diocese we really do desire to come together and all do our part to preserve this sacred building.[1] And much more than that, we see this as a faithful way for us to come together as brothers and sisters in service of the Gospel… building up our shared community and bonds of Christian love across New Brunswick, as visible signs of the Spirit’s work and God’s New Creation unfolding here and now through the lives of His people. 
 
That kind of hopeful vision can be easy to lose sight of at times in a world so full of problems. Everywhere we look, it seems like there are signs of things falling apart: of old challenges not being looked after, as well as new and unforeseen issues suddenly coming to light… threatening all that we have known and held dear. At times, this can all feel pretty overwhelming, and frightening… leaving us uncertain about how best to keep moving forward… and maybe even wondering if there will still be any place for us in the years to come?
 
Thankfully, we’re not the first people to feel this way, and to receive assurance and hope from the Lord. And our Scripture readings this morning remind us that even in uncertain times, God has given us both the way forward, and visible signs intended to keep us on track… faithfully pointing us towards the bright future and New Creation that God Himself has in store. 
 
On the night before His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was speaking to His disciples… that is, His students… His apprentices… those seeking, not just to walk around learning from Him… but who sought to become like Him. To practice His teachings, and embody His whole way of life. To set aside their own plans to share in His work, and His story… building their lives on the foundation that He was setting into place.
 
That fateful night, Jesus tried to prepare them for His coming departure… His immanent arrest, rejection, and death on the cross… not wanting His beloved followers to lose heart. He knew this was all a part of God’s plan, and that there would be far more to the story then they could yet imagine… but Jesus also knew that it would all still be really hard for them to understand. That soon it would seem like everything was lost, and that there was absolutely no way forward. So Jesus encourages them to stay faithful… to trust that God was not done yet! To trust in Him, and trust that He was not abandoning them, but was leading them into God’s new life.
 
John 14:1-4, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.”
 
Knowing just how hard the next few days were going to be, Jesus assures His disciples that, no matter what lay ahead, their ultimate fate was to rest safely in God’s house… a place not built by human hands, but prepared for them, and for us by Jesus Himself.
 
That sounds great, of course. But how do we get there from here? As we face uncertain and unsafe days ahead, how can we be sure that we’re on the right path?
 
John 14:5-7, “Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
 
Jesus Christ is the way, and the truth, and the life. The heart of the Gospel… the Good News of God is Jesus Himself. Not our buildings, not our ministries, not our traditions… there’s no other substitute… no other foundation for our faith, or sure path leading towards God’s future. All our buildings, and ministries, and traditions are intended to help us faithfully tell Jesus’ story… and to help us as His disciples to take our own part in it, and to invite those around us to do the same. Jesus Himself is the source of our life and our connection to our Heavenly Father.

John 14:8-10, “Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.”
 
If we have seen Jesus, we have seen the Father! There is no other God behind the back of Jesus for us to fear, as the theologian T.F. Torrance once put it.[2] Jesus Christ is God in the flesh… God among us… God Himself who chose to suffer the rejection and hatred of His human children… and even be put to death at their hands… only to rise up again to be their Saviour, and the Saviour of the world. Forgiving even those who killed Him, and making the way for all to return to His loving arms.
 
If we have seen Jesus, we have seen God. This is the incredible, world-changing Good News of the Gospel. But how in the world do people see Jesus today? Where are we to look to catch a glimpse of God in the flesh? To see His mercy, and holiness, and saving love at work here and now?
 
Well… they’re supposed to be able to see Jesus by looking at us… at the Church… at Christians like you and me.
 
That’s because, as His disciples, we’re also on a journey not just to learn from Jesus, but to become like Him. Not just moved to adopt a few of His teachings, or to be a bit nicer now and then… but to be filled with His own Spirit to share in His ongoing work in the world… to be a people set apart to both carry on His story, and to help anyone who will believe to draw closer to the One who alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
 
As Christians… as Christ’s ones… God is actively and graciously reshaping and molding us for a clear purpose: so that together we may become the place on earth where God’s New Life in Jesus is made known and experienced.

To make this point, in our second reading today, St. Peter speaks of Christians and the Church community in terms of construction materials… stones arranged in their proper place to create a sacred structure, and sharing in the work of our Saviour.  
 
1 Peter 2:4-5, “Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
 
Now I know St. Peter ends up mixing his metaphors a bit… but he paints a pretty powerful picture for us nonetheless! Christians are to be like living stones in the great Temple of God that is Jesus Christ Himself. You and I are being built into the meeting place for heaven and earth… distinct but united parts of Christ’s body… individual but carefully shaped and assembled stones in His Temple… not just to look nice, but so that all creation can be reconnected with their great Creator, Saviour, and King… drawing near to Jesus in faith, and receiving from Him the gift of God’s New Life.

Like living stones, we are being chiseled and shaped to become like the great stone… our Saviour Jesus Christ. So that, bound together by and with Him, the world around us can also come to know and receive His salvation.
 
But being made like Jesus means that we might also face times of serious challenges. Like our Master, we might well face rejection… we too may be misunderstood, and slandered… and be accused of all sorts of evil… and even face our own persecution or death, like so many of our brothers and sisters around the world. 
 
In our first reading today from the book of Acts, we heard one such story: the death of St. Stephen… the first Christian martyr… murdered for testifying truthfully about the Risen Lord. But while this truly was an act of injustice and terror, it is not a story of Stephen’s failure! Far from it! No, this is St. Stephen’s victory! Remaining faithful to the Good News even to the very end… becoming like His Saviour in His sufferings, and entrusting His fate completely to the One who raised Christ from the dead.
 
Just like Jesus Himself was rejected, but was later vindicated by God, so too those of us who remain faithful to our Saviour, even if we suffer, will be vindicated with Him: His victory and glory will one day be ours as well.
 
And so, in our own contexts, when we face serious challenges of all sorts… when we face times of great uncertainty, and we don’t fell like we have what we need… when we feel pressured to compromise our commitments to Jesus Christ, and the calling He has placed on us to live as His chosen people… when we feel threatened by our surroundings, and concerned about our future… we are also being given our own opportunities to choose to be faithful, to remain true… or to fall away to try to save ourselves.
 
In those moments, may we remember Christ’s words to His disciples… before Good Friday, and to us all today, when He said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6). Will we believe this?
 
Our whole existence as the Church is intended to be about helping one another and our world to believe and to live this Good News… drawing our eyes, and our hearts, and our minds to Christ, and living each day as His disciples… becoming like Him… a people set apart to share His holy love with the world… so they can see God’s Spirit at work in us, and join us as living stones in the New Creation that God is building.
 
1 Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people;
once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
 
That is our purpose. But are we actually doing this? Are we as Christians, as a Parish family, as a Diocese, and as a Church consistently pointing people to Jesus, or are we sending mixed signals… or worse yet, getting in their way?
 
Looking around at our communities, our world… and even at ourselves… maybe we have more work to do on this than we had imagined. Maybe we’re seeing some real problems that have been left unattended… the absence of the fruit of God’s Spirit, like kindness, faithfulness, patience, and love… or the presence of dangerous things like indifference, arrogance, prejudice, greed… sins that have become a big concern. And maybe we’re just disheartened by how many seem not to care about the Good News we’ve come to cherish… looking around at pews that were once full, and wondering why that’s no longer the case.
 
Now there are all sorts of reasons why we’re in this situation today. Some resting within our control, and some that were always out of our hands. This is not about pointing fingers and placing blame, but about finding a better, effective, and faithful way forward.
 
The good news is that today we’re all being given a chance to rediscover and reaffirm our faith in our Saviour King Jesus, and in what He can do in and through His people, when we trust and follow Him. Today, we can come together as brothers and sisters to do the hard work of discipleship… of seeking to become more and more like Jesus, through the power of God’s Spirit at work in us.

Today, we can recommit to our mission… which is more than simply preserving our buildings, and ministries, and traditions… not less, mind you… but more… much more… which is to use all that we have, and are, and do to point everyone in our world to Jesus Christ the Risen Lord… the One who alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
 
I’ll close now with a poem called Not One Stone, inspired by the recent Cathedral Synod, and inviting us to remember our place in the story of Christ our Saviour.

Not one stone / upon another
Thus You spoke Lord / long ago
That we serve not / what must falter
But Your Kingdom’s / glory know
 
Long we laboured / in days gone by
Trusting in Your / gracious hand
Gathered from / quarry and quarters
Stones and servants / of this land
 
Every stone an / act of worship
Placed atop the / one below
Drawing eye, mind, / and heart upward
Signs of paradise / to show
 
Bound by something / more than mortar
And aligned by / wisdom true
So that those who / come long after
May come face / to face with You
 
In these stones we / found Your shelter
Voices lifted / up in prayer
Sinners gathered / at Your Table
Grace and love You / give to share
 
Rainbow light shines / down upon us
Scripture stories / all around
Windows into / sweet communion
With Your saints warm / welcome found
 
Here were countless / humble hands laid
To the trowel and / to ordain
Workers for Your / harvest ready
Sent to labour / not in vain
 
Stone on stone has / caused the stranger
To ask questions / or admire
Amid all life’s / many worries
For what purpose / we aspire?
 
Not one stone / upon another
Will endure / forevermore
Yet as Living / Stones we gather
In hope for what / lies in store
 
And so Father, / keep us faithful
Jesus Saviour / bound to Thee
Spirit breathe new / life into us
Built together / to be free
 
Not one stone / upon another
Thus You spoke Lord / long ago
That we serve not / what must falter
But Your Kingdom’s / glory know
 
And ‘til New / Creation coming
Keep us steadfast / in Your way
That as Stones we / point all to You
Built for Love’s / eternal day

Amen.


[1] For a great summary of the events of Synod, I encourage you to read this article by Gisele McKnight: https://nb.anglican.ca/news/synod-resolves-to-work-together-to-safeguard-cathedral-building

[2] “During those years what imprinted itself upon my mind above all was the discovery of the deepest cry of the human heart: Is God really like Jesus? This came home to me very sharply one day on a battle field in Italy, when a fearfully wounded young lad, who was only nineteen and had but half an hour to live, said to me, ‘Padre, is God really like Jesus?’ I assured him as he lay upon the ground with his life ebbing away that God is indeed really like Jesus, and that there is no unknown God behind the back of Jesus for us to fear, to see the Lord Jesus is to see the very face of God.” T.F. Torrance, Preaching Christ Today.

Christians and Others 
(Poem by Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

All go to God in their distress,
Seek help and pray for bread and happiness,
Deliverance from pain, guilt, and death.
All do, Christians and others.

All go to God in His distress,
Find Him poor, reviled without shelter or bread,
Watch Him tormented by sin, weakness, and death.
Christians stand by God in His agony.

God goes to all in their distress,
Satisfies body and soul with His bread,
Dies, crucified for all, Christians and others
And both alike forgiving.

Scripture Readings: Ezekiel 17:22–24 | Psalm 92 | 2 Corinthians 5:6–17 | Mark 4:26–34

“He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.’” (Mark 4:26-27).
 
What’s your favourite kind of flower?
 
My favourite are Forget-Me-Nots. Aside from being simple, small, and yet beautiful, they also remind me of a time in my life when I was preparing to answer a calling to ordained ministry in the Anglican Church.
 
A few of us who were also about to be ordained were on a silent retreat at the Roman Catholic monastery in Rogersville. It was a time of deep prayer, and of serious reflection on the implications of taking this step… and I can recall feeling overwhelmed at times, and very conscious of my own limitations… my own smallness compared to the mission ahead of me, and the whole Church I was called to serve.
 
But then I went for a walk around the monastery grounds, and found a little path to a grotto… a solitary outdoor place of prayer. And in that peaceful place, where God’s Spirit continued to quietly invite me to trust in His guidance and grace, I found myself surrounded by Forget-Me-Nots. They completely lined the pathway, these little blue flowers… and this image is still vivid in my mind… an image which now helps me not to forget how God works through these simple and small ways to bring about His good will… drawing us closer to Him, and inviting us to trust in His gracious, life-giving love, for us and our world.
 
When we moved to our home some years back, we found all sorts of wildflowers around the property. And to my delight, amongst the various wild plants and weeds, there were a few Forget-Me-Nots at the end of our driveway. No idea where they came from, but there they were.
 
And for the first few years, they remained just a few in number. Easily overlooked. But then last year, instead of just mowing them down with the grass, I let them be… hoping that maybe they would spread a bit. And this year, to my growing delight, we now have a big patch of them… as well as a few more patches springing up nearby.
 
Now I know that’s the way with Forget-Me-Nots, but like all growing things, even those that seem so commonplace, familiar, or insignificant… there’s an amazing and mysterious beauty at work in life if we take time to notice it… inviting us to humbly reflect on how our own lives fit into creation, and the Living God’s ongoing work within it.
 
And in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus our Lord gives us two parables about God Kingdom using the imagery of planting and growing: wheat planted by a farmer, which then grows into a harvest, and a small mustard seed which then grows into a shrub big enough to offer shelter to the birds.
 
These are moving images, but we need to remember that Jesus used parables not just as relatable word pictures about general truths… Jesus used them to offer true insights into who He is, and into what He is doing. They are about God’s Kingdom. Meant to reshape our ideas about what God is up to, and our place within His will for His world.

Sometimes these parables seem pretty straightforward and familiar. Sometimes they seem a lot more mysterious. But if we want to actually understand the Good News that these sayings have to share, we need to remember their purpose: they point us to Jesus Himself, shining light on what He is up to… bringing about God’s good Kingdom even now.
 
The parables we heard today are spoken by Jesus at a particular moment early on in St. Mark’s Gospel: after Christ had already called the Twelve disciples, had been confronted by the religious experts, and carried out many miracles. And so at this point, many of the common people in that region had begun to take notice of Him. People with all sorts of different ideas about what God’s Kingdom and God’s King should look like.
 
At the start of Mark Chapter 4, we can read that Jesus “began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. He began to teach them many things in parables” (Mark 4:1-2), including the two parables we read today.
 
Mark 4:26-29, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”
 
It’s a simple and profound image: a seed planted in the ground comes to life in ways completely hidden from human agency. It’s something that happens all the time, all around us, but it’s still mysterious… outside of our understanding and direct control.
 
Of course, all the gardeners here today know a bit more than the rest of us about what might help plants to grow; what kinds of soils and fertilizers works best, and so on. And those a bit more scientifically minded might have a better understanding about the whole process of plant cell replication, etcetera… but remember: this parable is not really about plants… it’s using plants to make a point about God’s Kingdom. About how it grows in ways we often don’t recognize, understand, or control. And yet, when the harvest is ready, there is a real need for us to respond rightly.

Then there’s the second parable about the mustard seed. Mark 4:30-32, “He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
 
Any botanists among us (or those like me with access to Google), might be tempted to point out that orchid seeds are actually smaller than mustard seeds… but to focus on this detail is to miss the point of what Jesus is getting at: that something so seemingly insignificant and easily overlooked is designed to transform into an unexpectedly outsized blessing for others to share in.
 
Like many other examples of abstract wisdom found in the world… these parables might provide some edifying food for thought for anyone to consider. But for those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, these sayings have a much more direct message, with real implications for how we go about the work of God’s good Kingdom.
 
In short: we simply can’t accurately assess the potential growth of God’s Kingdom based on appearances! It is in so many ways mysterious… outside of our understanding and control… and able to exceed all of our expectations. And yet, we are all still graciously called to take part in it… trusting the Living God to do His work, as we seek to do His will.
 
This means that we don’t need to be discouraged when the things of God seem small and insignificant. And we are warned against placing our faith in what seems like success by human standards.   
 
After all, God’s Kingdom is not all about us! It’s not based on our own potential or lack thereof. By God’s grace, we have a real role to play, but it is God’s power at work in us that brings about His New Life… often in really mysterious and unexpected ways.
 
Christ Jesus Himself is the prime example of this.

He is Himself the Living God, the Eternal Son whose glory was hidden like the grain of wheat, not in soil, but in the life of an ordinary human being like us… the life of a humble carpenter’s son from Nazareth… and yet there He was mysteriously and powerfully  accomplishing God’s redemptive and life-giving work in ways beyond all expectations… healing the sick, confronting those who were misleading God’s people, and setting people free from the powers of darkness… and calling for people like us to respond to what He was up to with faith and obedience.
 
And just like the tiny mustard seed sown in the ground, Jesus Himself would suffer a fate reserved for those whose lives are seemingly deemed insignificant… crucified as a criminal… publicly shamed and reduced to nothing from a human point of view… and yet from His death God’s New resurrection life bursts forth, upending our world for good… defeating the powers of darkness and death, and offering shelter and salvation for all the peoples of the world, calling us all to come and discover our truest home in Him.
 
And as we Christians reflect on the life, and death, and resurrection of Jesus our Lord, we also come to understand the place of the Church within God’s good Kingdom as well.

These parables point us first to Jesus, and call us to respond to Him in the light of the truth that they share.
 
Just as God’s mysterious and hidden power was present and at work in and through Jesus in His earthly life, so too God is present and at work through His Spirit in the life of the Church today. The community of God’s faithful people may not seem all that significant in the world’s eyes… but that doesn’t mean God is not still at work in us, even in ways that we don’t understand.
 
Even if it’s hard to see, God’s life continues to bear fruit in us as we draw near to Him in faith… as we let His word shape our imaginations, and spread its roots deep in our hearts… as we turn from our sins, and receiving His gracious forgiveness… offered through Christ’s own broken body and blood shed at the cross… and then as we put into practice all that we have received… walking in His ways, and tending to the life of God growing inside us through the Holy Spirit.
 
Like a grain of wheat, God’s Kingdom is at work in us in ways we can’t always measure or observe… but we can be faithful and ready to respond when the time is right for Chris’s work in us to bear its good fruit.
 
And just as Jesus Himself was cast aside, and His life considered a small thing to those who opposed Him, we too His people should not be surprised when we find ourselves dismissed as too small to matter, or to make a difference. God’s people might be a minority, but with God’s own Spirit still at work in and through us, we can become a real blessing to our world… helping all those who are lost to come into contact and receive the saving love of the Living God.
 
These parables offer an important word of hope for the Church in the West these days: we don’t need to despair over having small numbers, or when we seem to only be making slow progress… and we don’t need to chase after quick ways to draw crowds, or get things done at the expense of faithfulness to the call of Jesus Christ to trust and follow Him.
 
True, the more people who come to follow Christ Jesus, the better. And if our projects and programs seem to succeed, that’s great. But the point is: we can never clearly assess what God intends to do in and through His people, and He loves to use what seems weak and insignificant in the eyes of the world to bring about His gracious Kingdom.
 
So, when we are tempted to be discouraged, or overwhelmed by the challenges that lie before us, let us not forget that God’s Kingdom grows in all sorts of surprising, and unexpected ways, with God’s Holy Spirit showing up where we least expect Him to, and when we need His grace and guidance the most.
 
Let us not forget that Christ Jesus is the source of our confidence and life, and that if we follow Him in faith, our very real limitations won’t stop Him from drawing us into His good work.
 
Let us not forget that God’s Kingdom is so much bigger than you and me… and yet, we are all called to share in its joys, in its labours, and in its blessed life. And let us not forget that Christ Jesus calls us share this Good News with the world around us too.
 
I’d like to end now with a poem I wrote a while back called A Penny in God’s Pocket.
 
A penny in God’s pocket
Of infinitesimal insignificance;
Almost perfectly pointless.
 
And yet…
 
Hidden, not forgotten.
Lovingly remembered,
As holy fingers play.
 
Toying with this secret
Silly treasure
Tossed by all the rest.
 
A penny in God’s pocket
 
Almost nothing at all,
But held by One
Who makes all out of nothing.             

Amen.

You're here at last!
   So glad you've come
   We've waited for so long
Branches wave and
   Knees bend low, while
   We sing out the song
Not quite the way we 
   Pictured you...
   No army in your wake
Seems you've not come
   To overthrow
   There must be some mistake.

Here you are... and with us
   Sitting down
   The select few
How great is this?
   How great are we?
   You say we have no clue.
Then bending down
   And stripping off
   You wipe away our mess
And order us
   To do the same...
   We could not get it less.

Now here we are
   Long after dark
   You take some time alone
We sit and wonder
   What comes next?
   And drift off, one-by-one.
Then suddenly, you're here
   And all around
   We see our foes.
We strike. You step in. 
   Stop the blood.
   Surrender... as we run.

Now there you are
   Suspended in the sky
   For all to see.
Naked and
   In agony, and
   Hanging from a tree.
This is the end.
   It has to be!
   There is no coming back.
And one-by-one
   We turn away.
   There is no coming back.

But here you are!
   Before our eyes
   How can all this be true?!?
We saw you die...
   But here you are!
   We still don't have a clue.
This had to happen
   All along, you say
   And just as soon
As we believe our eyes
   And ears and hearts
   Again you're gone.

Yet here you are!
   Still with us, even when
   Our eyes don't see
And there you are
   Far off ahead
   As we follow your lead
And here too we 
   Meet with you in
   The eyes of every face
And here we help them 
   See you too
   When we extend your grace.