Ponder Anew

“ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling place among us. We have seen his glory…full of grace and truth. “  John 1:14

Jesus came from heaven, and lived as a human among us for about 30 years. The idea of Jesus, son of God, living as a human being is fundamental to the Christian faith. It helps me to understand the nature of God, in that, God came to live among us , in living flesh. Jesus Christ knows what it means to breathe, to think like a human, have friends, and to suffer and to die.

So, Jesus can understand and feel the deaths of B.J. and Peter. I do not understand such tragedy. We have had many, too many, of these deaths of young people in the Elmira area. I do not understand it at all. It is beyond meaning and beyond tears. The Fountain of Memories will yet have more names etched into the granite.

The writer of the Psalms would cry out today, saying “ Why have you forgotten our community once again Oh God ? Why are you so far from hearing our groaning ? In Psalm 88, the writer goes at God with all of his fury. The Psalm ends as its begins, with suffering, tears and pain.

So, I am looking for grace in this situation, and not really truth. I could not handle the truth right,now, whatever that might be. As it says in John’s writing above, Jesus came to provide us with grace in difficult experiences of life.

Prayer :

Your silence is so loud, right now God.

Where can we find your voice,

Today, in the pain of these deaths.

In the trees of Killarney, ??

In the birds of Elmira, ??

In the faces of each other, ??

Speak and I will listen for you to come out of hiding,

I do not know where you are this morning,

I am searching for words to you,

The great healer, the peacemaker, the Comforter, the Saviour of the world.

But, I cannot find you in my soul, outside or inside.

Maybe, you are reciting faith to me,

In a language that I am unable to read or speak.

“ Ask, and it will be given to you .” was spoken by your Son

In a sermon

To his very best friends.

I beleive we asked, and there has been nothing given.

AMEN.

The community must come together now, to support all of us. We will do that, but the pain is raw, grating at our collective souls. There is no meaning. This kind of tragedy does not happen for any reason whatsoever. There are no words that can comfort all of our anger , rage, loss and unhappiness. Nothing.

Prayer:

God we plead for your silence now. None of your words,

In a sermon

From your Son

Or from any of us

Will bring us to a place ,

Where we might find ourselves, at peace,

Not yet.

AMEN

Fred Redekop

“ Jesus, tired as he was from the journey , sat down by the well.It was about noon”  John 4:6

I was waiting for a meeting to take place at a local coffee shop, at around 2:15 pm. Of course, as always, I was early. I arrived at the coffee shop at around 2:00 , got my coffee, medium black dark roast, and sat down in the meeting room that had been booked for our time together. I left the door open for the others to arrive.

Just outside the door, there was a woman sitting in a chair looking across the table to no one. She was seated as to to look out the window to see the traffic outside. There was an empty chair across from her with a jacket on it. And , she was talking, but no other person was there. I looked to see if she had a phone,or an ear piece, and did not see anything. She sipped her coffee several times.

She talked for almost ten minutes, and then stood up, took the coat from the other chair, and walked out of the coffee shop. So, who was she talking to during her time in the coffee shop ? She did not talk loud because I could not make out her words.

Maybe she was rehearsing for a job interview, She might have been the interviewee, and was practicing for the questions . It might have been a job she had hoped for her career, and she did not want to mess it up. She wanted to do well, and so she thought of questions her interviewer might ask.

Maybe, she had a tough relationship with her mother. Her and her mother had had a difficult conversation in the morning, and she was replaying it in her mind. She wanted to be prepared for the next time that they met, and she was practicing better techniques for listening and speaking up for herself. But, she did not raise her voice.

Maybe she suffers from mental illness, and there are many voices in her head . And this was a conversation with one of those people.  She never knows who might show up today or tomorrow, or  what the conversation might be about.

She may have been reciting her lines for the next play that she is in. . She was not animated, like speaking with her arms or hands, but the part in the play might be of a subdued, and quiet woman. She might be a boisterous and loud woman in real life, and she was practicing for a part that was really difficult for her.

So, my questions remain. I found it interesting to watch this woman. What prevented me just going and asking what she was doing ? Social conventions says, “ do not intervene” . The Gospel story is full of situations  about Jesus engaging many people who are different than him. He seems to be able to ask inviting questions with judgment. Maybe next time, I will be able to seek out the story in a new way.

I believe prayer works. But I admit I do not know how it exactly works. Many times we pray when we are in distress or do not know what else to do. I find it harder to pray when life is going well or life is boring. So , is God like an emergency paramedic, rushing  every time when I feel my life is at risk ?

In my experience in church when there is a crisis of health, we encourage everyone to pray. We ask church people to pray.  We try to find as many churches as possible  to pray. We tell our families and our co-workers to pray for the health of the person who is sick. Then, we wait for God to intervene. It seems that if we get enough people to be praying for a certain situation that we can influence the mind of God. Is God really influenced to act if we can get a higher number of people to pray. And what is that number. 46 or 116 or 7,654 ?? But, if prayer is not there to change the mind of God, what is it all about ?

Jesus did not get his way. He did not want to die on the cross, but it was not his call. It is understood that all the disciples were martyred. I am sure they prayed for safety, and it did not happen.

A Taize worship song goes this way, “ Stay here with me, remain here with me, watch and pray. “ . This song, meant to be prayed and sung over and over, so it might infiltrate our souls, does not ask for anything. It invites that God be with us for our entire lives . Watch the world and pray to God. There is another Taize song that says for “ Jesus to remember me when you come into your kingdom. “ Again, invite God to be with me, when I die, and be there when I cross to the otehr side of life.

I believe we should ask God to intervene,  but trust God to be with us. I do not think that my prayer can change the mind of God because God is eternal and sacred, and I am finite and human. But prayer should change me. Silent prayer should really change me, because I am then actually listening to God.

The early church leader , Paul from Tarsus, said he was praying for the churches that he wrote letters to at the beginning of church history. He thanked God for them, even when he was angry with them. After he prayed for them, I believe he changed his attitude. His prayerful words to the Almighty God change the way he saw the church and the world.

Allow space to listen to God today. Do not ask for anything but the presence of God. Trust in the relationship. If you really believe in prayer, be prepared to change your relationship to everything in this world. Be prepared to walk in a new way with God. Are you … ready, set, go. AMEN.

Fred Redekop

I am working two part time jobs right now, that probably add up to more than full-time.  I also sit on two local not-for-profit boards that are going through transitions. All four of these pieces of work that I am involved with are faith-based communities. But, sometimes in the middle of all this work , I find God hard to grasp. Why is God so hard to find in my doing of God’s work ?

God can be found in the middle of  Board meeting.  God can also be found in my driving to Toronto to meet with supporters of Mennonite Central Committee.  God can be found when I am preparing a sermon for Poole Mennonite Church as well. But many times I am just too busy to see God or I am too focused on the job that I must get done that I miss the presence of God. This is not a new experience with me.

Other people do good work in the world who do not need God’s presence. They have great moral grounding, and work well with people to make the world a better place. But I need God to guide me in my time here on earth. I need a presence beyond myself to nurture my inner being, my soul. I cannot really define God or my soul, but I sense when that is out of whack in my own life.

While Jesus of Nazareth was living in Palestine, he was busy teaching, walking around, doing miracles, hanging out with sinners and friends . He was busy. I think he may have had a few committee meetings with those 12 guys he had selected as his followers. He needed time alone with God as well. He went away to be by himself often.

If you are someone who wants to be in relationship with God, how do you make it happen ? Or how does God make if happen in you ? It seems, sometimes, that we find God when we are not looking for God. We may not have to make anything happen at all.

If we want to have God show up, it might only be about us/me. I may be inviting God to show up in my own image of God . This is difficult not to do. I am human , and I want something good for me, and so I project God into everything I want for myself.

I still believe that I am doing my work for God, but this may be wrong.  I need to always be in touch with my soul to see that my work is not only about life and feelings. If is hard not to be selfish about my life and work.

Psalm 46 says:

“ Be still

            and know

                          that

                               I am

                                     God.”

It is not about about me. It is about God. I trust I will find if in new ways this week. I need to stop trying so hard. I need to let it go, and it/God will find me.

Fred Redekop

The Meal

Judas is there. James and John , brothers of Thunder, want the best seat in the house, and heaven. Peter says he will never betray Jesus. There is tension at the table. Jesus shares the bread and cup with everyone in the room. I wonder what they had for dinner ? At the end, they sang a song. What was the song ?

The Prayer Garden

Jesus goes off to pray. The disciples sleep. The tension was high here as well. Were there other people in the garden ? Jesus prayed that he wished the next few hours would not have to happen. He is like us , he does not want to die .

The Arrest

The kiss of death is given to Jesus by Judas. Violence erupts, and someone gets their ear cut off. The tension is again high, but Jesus stops it by healing the ear of the man that has come to arrest him. There must have shouting and swearing and smashing of clubs. The soldiers and men of importance still arrest Jesus. The disciples are shocked , and they run away.

The Trial

The stories in the Bible are different, but Jesus is brought  before the politicians and the religious leaders. They are going to find him guilty. They are afraid that he is a terrorist, a King or a false prophet or many other things. They have lived in fear for the last week because he has been in town for the Passover. He has turned the tables in the market, done some radical teaching and confronted many of the people in power. It is time to silence him. They are so set on killing him, that they release a convicted murderer in his place. We hear from Herod and Pilate, the politicians, and the religious leader, Caiaphas . If it was today, we would take down the radical rabbi.

The Torture

Jesus is beaten. He has a crown of thorns put on his head . He is spit on . He is verbally abused .He is stripped of his clothes, and he is lashed by the soldiers. And he is such a nice guy. He heals people. He invites people to be part of the Kingdom of God and Heaven. And yet, he is seen as a threat to the powers of the world.

The Walk to the Cross

Jesus carries the cross to the place of death. Simon of Cyrene carries it for part of the way too. They get it there. The crowd is no longer a parade, but a mob, out for blood, and the death of Jesus of Nazareth. The scream that they want him dead.

The Cross

It is done, Jesus to his Father, “ Forgive them for they know not what they are doing “ He breathes his last.

Stay with the story from the Meal,  to the Cross. There are many Medieval paintings that depict this story, and they are called, “ECCE HOMO “ This is humanity. This is the evil that we can do to each other. Stay with this story for the next three days.

Fred Redekop

Mennonites do not celebrate Jesus’ last meal very often. We have a lot more potlucks and fundraising meals in our tradition, than sharing the bread and the cup together. It is probably because during those difficult times during the Reformation ( 500th anniversary this year ), we wanted to move away from all things Catholic. So, in many Mennonite churches, we only celebrate it twice a year.

Each of the biographies of Jesus of Nazareth they talk about the last meal. The menu is not recorded, other than a little wine and bread at the end of the meal. Jesus takes the bread and the wine, and gives them meaning for about what is going to happen after the meal. Jesus makes the bread and wine symbols of his suffering and death.

There is tension at the meal. Judas is at the table. He has taken care of the finances and there is gossip that he has stolen from the kitty. Jesus knows that Judas is going to betray him. The other disciples have some disagreements as well. But Jesus gives everyone the food that evening.

We cannot have a romantic view of this last supper. It was part of Jesus’ friend's walk with him all of their lives together. They were a diverse group of believers and were trying to understand faith in Jesus. They are as human as the rest of us , and so there is no surprise that the supper would have been a struggle for everyone. Even Jesus would have had a short temper ,  knowing his life was at the end.

In the story written by John, there is a long conversation and prayer with Jesus and his friends. Jesus is passionate in his love for them.  He tells them he is going away. He means he is going to die. He promises to not leave them alone, but will send to them the Spirit of God.

So , how do you come to the communion table ? Do you come looking for forgiveness ? Do you come trying to find new access to God? I  am sure your church and it's members have different views on issues that are in the world. The church tries to reenact the meal , so that we might be one. It is supposed to be a coming together of the people and of God. What will the bread and cup do for you this week ?

In the church where I am now attending, we will celebrate the Last Supper on Good Friday morning.  I do not know the community well , and so it will be a new experience for me.  And I need to lead it. I will try to lead them to the presence of God. No, I will let God do that.

Prayer

As I prepare to take the bread and the cup,

Create in my a clean heart.

As I meet you at the Table,

Create in me a clean heart.

As I will share this food with others,

Create in me a clean heart.

As I look to you for new strength,

Create in me a clean heart.

Come Lord Jesus, be my/ our guest.

Create in us a new heart.

AMEN. THANK YOU.

Fred Redekop

Repenting is hard work. I do not like to admit I am wrong. I do not like to say that I have done something bad to another person. It is difficult and painful to go to that other person, and say that I am sorry for what I have done. And how does this work with God. Is it easier to approach God with our sin, and ask for forgiveness ?  God is supposed to forgive all of our sins, and extend grace to all of us. Grace, that is a whole different story .  God has never spoken to me with an audible voice, so it might be more difficult to approach a human being . “ Forgive me God for being a violent person to others. Whew that was easy “  

Lent is a Christian festival of forty days to engage God and the world . Sometimes people give up something, like pizza and chocolate, to remind them when they are hungry for pizza, that God deserves their attention. I did not grow up with Lent, so I am not quite sure if am doing it right. I have tried to give up anxiety and fear, but when I think of fear, I sometimes get more fearful. That seems to not work very well at all. I have tried to give it over to God, but I must be holding it still, because it never quite leaves me. “ What am I doing wrong ?” This is not how it should work.

Maybe I should give up God, the Bible, the church, belief  and faith for Lent. Maybe the absence of these benchmarks of my life, might lead me to a deeper walk  with God. The writer of the book of Psalms, a book of devotions, often talks  about the absence of God. But… it might lead me to a darker place as well. They talk about the “dark night of the soul…” I do not want to go there either.

Let us pray. You may want to be silent. You might want to get on your knees. Or, you might want to go outside to a lonely place, and just shout really loud. You might want to fold your hands and close your eyes. What form of prayer helps you the most ?

Pray…. I thank God for being with me, in my life. I thank God for my family, my wife, my children, my grandchildren, my siblings and all of my friends. Thank you God for Floradale Mennonite. I was allowed by you and the church to be the pastor there for 25 years. I was blessed and cared for by the church. Thank you God for being with my life in this area of the world. Thank you God for saving my life nine years ago. Thank you for giving me opportunity to travel the world from the first trip I took to the Netherlands,  to the trip we took to Colombia, just a few weeks ago. I have seen many amazing things, listened to many languages and found you in all those places. Thank you God. Amen.

Being thankful for my great life might be my discipline for these forty days until Easter Sunday.

Being thankful  for what I have might change my relationship with God. I do not think that this is being evasive about the  things that are wrong with the world, and the sins that I have in my life. The early church leader of the Church, Paul from Tarsus, wrote letters to communities, and almost always he was thankful to them, and to God, at the beginning of these letters.

So what are you thankful for in your life ? Maybe we can all start there during Lent. In this we might transform our soul, and the relationship we desire with God. Thank you God, the creator, the saviour and the constant presence in my life. AMEN.

His life and livelihood have been threatened for over 17 years, and he still can smile and laugh.

For the last two weeks we had visited our daughter Hannah in Colombia. Her work is to accompany people in the area of human rights. They are to walk beside people who might lose something. Hannah and her team partner brought us to two farming communities to see what their work is all about.

The first group of farmers had been given the land almost 30 years ago. The landowner was a risk taker, and eventually it did not work out, and he went bankrupt. He gave the local farmers the opportunity to receive the land he owned, to farm. Now his son, and other powerful military and economic forces want it for themselves. The farmers grow corn, sugar cane, some fruit, and milk ccws. Many of them live in the small town nearby, and go out to their land everyday. Hannah and I had breakfast with one couple, while Shirley and Pierre Shantz ( also from Elmira ) has breakfast elsewhere. The farmers that I shared the meal with has been under threat for 30 years, first by the communist rebels, and now by the right-wing paramilitaries. He and his wife have a beautiful flower garden around their house, and they have a wonderful view of their farm. They have no children, so they hire people during harvest.

On the day we visited with this community, Hannah and Pierre spent 5 hours trying to resolve a legal issue concerning the land.  This has been in court for years. How would, if you are a farmer or business owner , feel if you never knew when your livelihood would be taken away from you ?

The second community is facing the same issue, that someone who has almost unlimited resources wants their land. The local pastor is the community leader who had led this group of farmers for over 17 years. His life has been threatened , and at times he has had to leave the community for his own safety. He has used all his skills to bring many international organizations to know about the case. He even got a Swiss aid group to help them to begin to raise cacao beans that would be turned into chocolate . Hannah told us her role in the this community is to provide pastoral care. They often come for a week at a time, and talk to the farmers about their lives. When we were there, we visited four or five families to listen to their lives.

In the afternoon, we listened to the pastor’s story. We talked to be about his work as a farmer, a pastor and a community organizer. The church is in the process of building a new church. It will be twice as big, and they are looking forward to being in the new place . The pastor is also a bricklayer, so he was laying brick in the new church the day that we were there. He talked what is like to have his life threatened. The local government has assigned him a bodyguard 24/7, to keep his safe. God has been with him and the community through this process. In the morning, we listened to his wife’s story about how God has called them to this church and community. She also talked about listening and  following the voice of God. Life is difficult, but good.

About 4:30 pm the day we were there, the pastor told me through Pierre that he felt a prophecy from God that I should preach at the service that evening. How could I say no. Hannah had told me that they might ask me. So what would you say to this community ?

I am white, wealthy, a man and from Canada. I have all the privileges of the world. My life is not threatened by richer people than me. The pastor and his wife have said that they have trusted in God. That is all you need. So, I told three stories from our community about trusting in God. It seemed to be so out of context, but I did get a few amens.

But, this is what the Gospel is, telling stories of God working in our lives. Nothing more…nothing less. AMEN. AMEN.

We have spent the last week here in Colombia with our daughter Hannah. She works with Christian Peacemaker Teams, an organization committed to walking alongside people who are at risk of having violence done to them. CPT is committed to non-violent action. But more about that later.

We spent four days in Barichara, a Colombian resort town in the mountains. We did a church walk there. There were four churches that were all built in the 1700’s. The town has lots of steep hills so it took us all morning to walk to all of them . Another day we walked from Barichara to Guane. It was an eight kilometer journey on uneven cobblestones.  It was mostly downhill, but you had to watch every step you took, so that you would not turn an ankle , or trip and fall. It was called “ Camino “ or the “Way”. It was an spiritual walk for pilgrims in the community to be in touch with God. When we arrived in Guane, there was a similar church built in the 1700’s at the end of the trek. The rhythm of the steps were meditative.

The final thing we did in the area was to go whitewater rafting.  I was a little fearful, but I had a wonderful time. The water was low and the rapids were not too severe.  We went in the water, and floated with the current.  It was just us three and the guide in the boat.

Our daughter is fluent in Spanish, so she has been our ears and voice as we travel. We have exhausted her. At times it is like we are not in Colombia at all. It feels like we  looking at it from outside ourselves. We have made ourselves dependent on her, and she been great interpreter for us.

Now we are in Barrancabermeja, where she lives and works. CPT is here to accompany people who are at risk. Farmers are threatened, and they worry that their small plots of land will be taken from them. CPT accompanies them to document their struggles against people in power.  CPT volunteers have to travel long distances into rural areas to walk with these farming communities.  There are more requests for their presence than they can respond to. They were invited by the Colombian Mennonite Church to come and do this work. They have a team of six volunteers doing this important work .

Yesterday, the team leader Pierre Shantz gave us a neighbourhood tour here in Barrancabermeja.  It is a city of 300,000. The volunteers live here, and go out from this city. The city was wracked by violence during the decades long civil war. It had been a battleground the rebels and the government.  There had been massacres and targeted killings for many years. For some time this neighbourhood where we have been staying was a flashpoint in the civil war.  Though the peace treaty has been signed the violence continues. There are now neighbourhood drug killings today. There is a high unemployment rate, and so the young kids have nothing to do.

We return home in a few days. It has been great to see Hannah at home in this community.  The team works well together.  We have eaten with the team often , and shared in their laughter and conversation. Hannah loves her work, and is passionate to work with people who are oppressed and without a voice. It is her home. This realization comes with some sadness for me,  but it is what she is called to do in her life and in this world. She is an amazing young woman, and we love her deeply.

Our eyes have been opened , but I am not quite sure what I am seeing. Continue to open my eyes Lord.

Fred Redekop

At times, people I meet in public spaces, tell me their life story, or at least some of the main points.I have never met these people.  It has happened to me in airports, in lines, at public festivals and in coffee shops. Is it something in my face or my eyes or just in my being, that invites people to tell me important parts of their story. I have be told that I listen well, and I am a non-anxious presence . Now my story from the other day.

I ordered my soup and sandwich, and sat down to wait for it to come.  I met two former Conrad Grebel College students, and talked with them a bit. When they left, the guy across the counter , came over and looked at my papers . He said, “ are those from Conestoga College ?’  I told  him it was not Conestoga, but that  I was on the board of Conrad Grebel. It is a Christian college here on the campus of University of Waterloo,  I said to him.

For the next fifteen minutes, he outlined his understanding of the Christian faith. He kept saying to me that the two things that you need to be is humble and honest. I did not say anything, partly he did not give me room, but I did not know how to respond. I do not think fast, nor do I think well on  on my feet.

He stood over me, telling me in general about his faith. He mentioned that he prays, and that God has always answered his prayers. You have to read the Bible, and believe in the stories, but most important  you have to be honest and humble. He seemed to repeat himself often, but  I am not sure that this is true.

I was aware that I wanted to leave the coffee shop. I wanted to get out quickly. No, my internal voice said to stay and continue to listen. At some point in his conversation with me, he began to touch my shoulder and chest, after he made a statement. I am not uncomfortable with this, but I am aware when people touch me in this kind of conversation. In his right hand, he had a lighter and a small package of cigarettes, and he used this hand to jab at my chest.

He was smiling for most of the fifteen minutes ( it seemed much longer ), and was very passionate about his personal faith. He must have used the phrase about “ being honest and humble “ about 20 times. He would go farther from me, but then he would return touching my body. Then, another man came in and sat down across from him. He talked to me for a minute more , and then sat down with man. I said thank you and wished him well.

As I went to my meeting, I kept thinking of this man. I wonder if he thought of me at all after our encounter. He was so confident of the one concept that he wanted to communicate with me. He seemed to be eastern European . Maybe he was of the Orthodox faith. I wonder if he thought I had faith at all, or maybe he thought he might have changed my mind. Maybe he prayed for me, and maybe he will continue to pray for me because he did believe in prayer. I wonder if he noticed that I did not say anything, not a word. He seemed to be pleased , at least by the smile on his face. How would the relationship have changed if I would have interrupted him. What question could i have asked him, so that we could have talked with each other ?

This happened at a Williams coffee shop. I will continue to go coffee shops , and will continue to listen, and  maybe even speak sometime. I know God was there in this chance meeting of two believers in God.

Fred Redekop