SAINT Bartholomew Anglican Parish

I often read Ecclesiastes because I enjoy its philosophy. I found this passage interesting because of the line in it that states that God has "set eternity in their hearts." It reminds me of a saying of St. Augustine, "The heart is restless until it rests in Thee." There is something within us that knows that there is something more; something we keep striving for, something beyond our reach. People try to satisfy this yearning with all sorts of different things. Some turn to shopping, or trying different relationships that don't seem to satisfy. Some use s*x, others alcohol or drugs. Others use food, thinking that it will fill the void. But until we find God, we still have that empty feeling within us. The interesting thing is that once we have God in our lives, and trust in his love for us, we stop trying to fill up that empty spot in our hearts. We are then free to engage in healthy relationships with people who value the same things we do. We can recognize habits that cause us pain rather than joy, and can give them up. God placed eternity in our hearts so that we would search for him until we found him. Once we find him, everything falls into place in our lives. It's not that we won't have problems or suffer, but it does mean that we're not alone. Whatever life brings us, we can get through it because this eternity within us gives us confidence in his promise of eternal life.

We are the body of Christ. There is a quotation from St. Teresa of Avila that states: "Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours." In recent years, the singer Jewel recorded a song called "Hands" which has the same meaning, and even goes further as the song states that we all can do something to help even is our hands are 'small." Who will fight for justice for the poor and the vulnerable if not us? Who will show compassion for the weak if not us? Who will be Christ to the world, if not us? In the early days of the church, the Christian community would gather together to retell the story of Jesus, to read the letters sent to the community from Paul or one of the other disciples, and to offer a sacrifice of bread and wine as Jesus did at the Last Supper. In this passage, Paul is reminding the community that they are all a part of the body of Christ. The Corinthians were an interesting group and I would have loved to be a fly on the wall at some of their gatherings. This passage will be followed up in chapter 11, by a further passage on the institution of this institution of the Eucharist and then by the gifts given to the body of Christ in chapters 12, 13, and 14. Although not all Christian traditions interpret the Eucharist in the same way, or celebrate is as often as others, all denominations agree that we are a people of "thanksgiving" who have an obligation to be Christ's body on earth, using our gifts for the betterment of the world. Today, let's look at the gifts and opportunities we have been given and see how well we have been using them for the common good.

Elijah knows that Jezebel is looking to kill him. God has been caring for him and he has been told to go to the cave because God will be passing by. God is not in the wind; he is not in the earthquake or the fire. But he recognized the voice of God in the still small voice. We talk all the time about recognizing God and God's voice, but where are we looking? What do we expect? The people of Jesus time expected a fearless leader who would raise up an army and chase the Romans out of Jerusalem. What about us? Have you already started thinking about where God has been in your day? Today, I visited a friend in a nursing home in a city that I am totally unfamiliar with and lost my GPS signal at a very important time, but still made it. On the way home, I got lost again and spent a lot of time just figuring out where I was. By the time I was on the right road, I got a phone call telling me that I had forgotten to do something important, so I stopped and took care of it. Where was God? For me, he was in the getting me to my destination, as well as in my getting lost so that I would be where I needed to be. Because God was with me, my day worked out just fine. It could have been so different. It was an ordinary day in so many ways, but God was with me all the way. I didn't meet God in wind, earthquake or fire, but he was in the still small voice telling me, "I am with you."

When Jesus threw the money-changers out of the temple, he was angry. Was he breaking his own rule? No. He had a good reason for being angry; the money-changers were cheating the people and doing it in the temple. There are things that should make us angry: seeing someone being abused is a good example! But today it seems that anything can cause anger and people react violently with the slightest provocation. Thinking that someone insults you, for example, can lead to a fight. Road rage is another example of this. What about using abusive language? That is so common that people often don't even hear it. What has happened to us? When I was on an educational trip to Tanzania, my sister told me not to say anything negative because the people there did not insult anyone and it would be considered extremely rude. She was correct; I never heard a single unkind or insulting word the entire time I was there. I don't understand why this cannot be the way people treat one another everywhere! Our group was one hundred percent white American, but we were treated as family by the people we were with. What a lesson the people of Tanzania could teach the rest of the world! And not all the people we worked with were Christian; about half the group were Muslim. The thing was, you couldn't tell the difference between the two groups because they intermingled, dressed the same, and treated each other the same. We are all God's children and I've rarely seen a better example of how to treat one another in spite of differences. Can the same be said of us?

The placement of this passage is interesting. It comes shortly after the parable of the sower and the seed and the explanation of the parable given to the disciples. It also follows the statement concerning the placing a lamp on a lamp stand so that the light will illuminate its surroundings. The meaning of the passage can be taken in many ways; some see it in light of what we own as in the saying, "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer." However, I believe that Jesus is speaking in matters of faith and belief in the Gospel. The more we pay attention to the words and works of Jesus, the more we "hear" the more our faith grows. If we don't pay attention, then the little we have will diminish. We are the soil for the seed of faith. In Mark's Gospel, the seeds of faith that fall on good soil produce fruit, some thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times. In Matthew and Luke's Gospels, it starts with one hundred times and then sixty and then thirty times. Theologians believe that because Mark wrote his Gospel first, Christianity was growing quickly, but since Matthew and Luke were writing during and after the time of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and the beginnings of the persecution of Christians, the rate of conversion had slowed. The important thing for us to remember is that in order for our faith to grow, we need to pay attention to the words of Jesus. We need to listen, but more importantly we really need to hear what he is trying to tell us. If we do, than we will never lose what we have, more and more will be measured out to us.

Will God will find me godly, and answer my prayers? This is the prayer of the psalmist who finds himself surrounded by those who mock him. It probably has been the prayer of many of us who try and follow Jesus. It seems that people love those who champion a cause as long as they don't interfere with their ability to do what they want. In the past few years in the United States, we have seen an increase in gun violence and much of it has been directed at young people. Now the young are banding together to urge those eligible to vote to register in the hopes that they will be able to make a change in the government that they feel has not done enough to limit the availability to those weapons that have caused the most damage. Those who in previous years had hoped that young people would get more involved are now concerned that their rights might be at stake. I'm sure that some of the good that David would do as king probably had many afraid that their corrupt ways and lack of fidelity to God would be affected. We can turn to the psalms and ask God to protect us. We can turn to this early prayer book for everything we need. We can turn to the psalms when we feel far from God and need forgiveness. In times of sorrow, the psalms give us hope. This psalm, said to be of David, expresses his trust that God will bless him and is a warning to those who sin. This is our prayer as well. The closing verse seems to say that when we search our hearts at night we can sleep peacefully when we remember God's goodness to us.

Many had come to find Elisha and bring him to Syria. With God's help, they were captured and brought to the king of Israel. But instead of killing them as he wanted to do, Elisha convinced him to feed them and then release them. The result was that Syria stopped raiding Israel. We will never end violence with violence. Whether it is a war of words, a war between two individuals, or a war between countries, violence does not bring peace. Love has always been stronger than hate, even though hate is louder! The problem is that someone needs to walk away if the fighting is to stop. We have an idea that walking away is a sign of weakness, but it is really a sign of strength. It takes a big person to walk away. People who walk away are often ridiculed, especially if they are in a position of leadership. There are always people who are willing to encourage violence. I remember an incident that occurred when I was teaching in a high school. One boy had gotten involved with a girl from a rival school and a boy from the rival school came into the school yard at lunch time to 'have it out." A group of student from both schools surrounded the two urging them to fight. Unfortunately for them, I was on my way out of the cafeteria and spotted the action. Needless to say, I had no intention of letting any of this happen. I took the student from my school and sent the others away. He wasn't happy to be brought into the office for punishment, and the others were sorry to have their fun spoiled. Why do we encourage violence? The students who had been in the group and had the misfortune to be in one of my afternoon classes got a lecture. Those who encourage violence are equally responsible. May we learn from Elisha.

The scribes and Pharisees were always testing Jesus. This time, in order to trap him, the scribe asked which was the greatest commandment? At that time, there were hundreds of commands that the Pharisees imposed on the Jews. Jesus did not fall into the trap, but quoted the two great commandments. Unlike the story in Luke's Gospel, the scribe does not try to justify his question. The scribe's answer in Mark's Gospel differs from the answer in Matthew and Luke by saying that keeping these two commandments is more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices one might offer to please God. No matter what we "give up" or do as penance for sins, or to earn favor with God, if we are not putting God first and loving our neighbor, then we are failing. We can't earn God's favor and we can't earn heaven. Jesus is our Savior, we can't save ourselves. Salvation is a pure gift from God. In the letter of James, we read that faith and good works go together. Because we believe in Jesus and want to spend eternity with him, we choose to follow him and live a life based on loving others. This love of neighbour then encourages us to do good works as God wants us to do. If the only reason we do good works is to "earn" heaven, we are the same as those who offered sacrifices to please God without keeping the commandments. God knows what is in our hearts; he knows why we choose to act the way we do. He knows if we are acting out of love or not. If our intentions are pure, as the scribe described, then we too will not be far from the Kingdom of God.

It's been many years now but I remember a young man who was a member of my church. He was a senior in high school at the time and he was very interested in learning more about the Bible and so attended a Bible study after school. He usually carried his Bible with him so that he could read it during his study periods or on his lunch hour. He once told me how the other boys in his class made fun of him for this, but that he cared more about what God thought than what his classmates thought. I was both surprised and proud that he had such a deep faith and commitment to Christ. I often wondered what happened to him as he moved on after high school and I lost track of him. I'm sure that there are instances of young men in a religious high school who read the Bible in school, but I'm not sure about those in a public high school such as this young man. He was not ashamed of his faith and I'm sure that he suffered many hardships as a result. I hope he continued his journey as an adult and continued to both profess his faith and bring that faith to others. It is as if he was a modern day Timothy. We too need to be proud of our relationship with God and not ashamed to live as he wants us to live, continuing to deepen our relationship with him by prayer and meditating on the Bible, and letting others know the joy of the Good News.