Sermon (WITH VIDEO): The Great Rainbow Commission (Unsettling the Great Commission), Matthew 28:16-20

Reflection: The high hope of Double Rainbows 

The Prairie Statement of the Great Rainbow Commission 

(A paraphrase of Matthew 28:16-20):

 

      Now, the Rainbow ones met on the virtual mountain, Zoom, where the vast distance across the Canadian prairies and the wide ocean that connects Korea and Canada was no longer a geographical obstacle, but a new bridge to their Rainbow conversation. Jesus was with them, adding richly-hued, daunting, dazzling colour to their hearts, and said to them, “All relations in heaven and on earth are my body. Go, therefore, and make Rainbow ones of all relations, baptizing them in the name of love, equity and the hospitality of God’s kin_dom overflowing on earth, and teaching them different Biblical hermeneutics and movements against homophobic/heterosexist readings and interpretations. No more stigmatization and discrimination! Teach everyone to obey the call of radical love and interdependence. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

 

This sermon was shared with St. Martin’s United Church on June 6th, 2021. Please watch at 15 mins 25 secs. 

Let us begin with the crayon story behind the virtual choir video you just watched, “We Are a Rainbow”. ▶️ https://youtu.be/48rinNWfFqk

 

Last February, we, Green, Red, Yellow, Blue, Purple, met on zoom for the first time, as a group. Yellow and Blue, the parents of one-year-old Jay, connected to the call from Tisdale, SK, and Green, Red and Purple joined in from Winnipeg, MB. Green and Red, Yellow and Blue had never met each other before. The one chance I had (by the way, I am Purple!) to get to know Yellow and Blue was during a Korean dinner we enjoyed when they visited Winnipeg two years ago. The  five of us have been shaped by different life experiences; we all had different reasons for deciding to immigrate to Canada. Our individual time spent in Canada ranged from 2 years to 14 years. And yet, during our first Zoom call, one thing surged among us, which was so obvious and magnetic: The Spirit of Rainbow Christ calls us to work: 

 

Build the hope of a double rainbow in Korea and Canada. “Paint the world in colours, proud and bold and free.” (The refrain of We Are A Rainbow by David Kai)

 

For our first task, we quickly put our efforts into choosing the name for our future network, Korean Rainbow United (“캐나다연합교회 무지개 연대”... The literal translation is ”Rainbow Solidarity in the United Church of Canada”). Our next task was to create two videos. The virtual choir song, “We Are a Rainbow”, was submitted to “RainbowYesu”(Rainbow Jesus), a loose network of LGBTQ Christians and rainbow alliances in Korea, which was organizing the 18th annual prayer gathering to commemorate the life and death of a queer youth in Korea who called himself Yukoodang. Yukoo means “My Six Friends”, and he wrote that his Yukoo were “alcohol, cigarettes, sleeping pills, make-up foundation, green tea, and a rosary.” Yukoodang, a 19-year-old gay youth, committed suicide on April 26th, 2003, in his office at Donginryun (“The Organization for Solidarity with LGBTQ Human Rights in Korea”) which had also been his nightly shelter away from his family since he was a young teenager. Yukoodang was a devoted Catholic. His baptismal name was Antonio. In spite of his frustration with the church, Yukoodang’s last words in his will were that he loved Catholicism and his God would bless Donginryun. At his death, Yukoodang left a 6-page letter next to his body, a rosary and a cross on his desk, and about 30 dollars for donation, which was all he had.

 

In his suicide note, Yukoodang wrote, “The God I believe in will accept me.” He also expressed anger and criticism towards homophobia and discrimination against LGBTQ people, particularly from the Christian Right. “How cruel and anti-biblical it is to discriminate against sexual minorities. After death, I can proudly say that I am gay, with no need to suffer, no need to hide myself anymore. ... If, with my death, I can repeal the anti-gay clause in the Juvenile Protection Act and enlighten the bigoted Christians who talk of Sodom and Gomorrah, I would give my life.” Yukoodang’s death did, indeed, raise awareness about LGBTQ youth in Korean society. Many LGBTQ people came out on the street to challenge the bigoted view that homosexuality is harmful to the nation’s youth. For the first time, the LGBTQ movement found Christian allies who would stand up for LGBTQ rights against the Christian Right. The anti-gay clause in the Juvenile Protection Act was repealed in 2004, a year after his death.

 

For the virtual 18th annual prayer gathering to commemorate Yukoodang, Korean Rainbow United asked the General Secretary of the United Church, Michael Blair, and the co-chair of Affirm United, Cindy Bourgeois, to send us prayers to share. ▶️ https://youtu.be/m-ixakuMRMI

 

Michael and Cindy expressed in their prayers the rainbow solidarity of the United Church of Canada with RainbowYesu and other queer*rainbow Korean individuals and groups. Every prayer gathered and offered that evening to remember all who have been targeted and harmed by sexual violence, homophobia and transphobia, bigotry against people with AIDS, especially queer youth and women, was deeply moving and had me in tears through the entire hour. The delicate Korean language touched my Korean soul. In that moment, a double rainbow bloomed, connecting about a hundred people on the Eastern and Western sides of the Pacific Ocean. 

 

The United Church confesses “We are not alone” as the first verse of the New Creed. We are not alone, never have been, and never will be. In the spirit of global ecumenism and partnership, Korean Rainbow United hopes to create a double rainbow of hope as United Church members/friends and as Korean queer*rainbow people and allies, working and fighting together against oppression, especially the harmful theologies of the Christian Right, which are driving Sexual Minority members to their death and to social cliff edges even today.

 

Before we called our network Korean Rainbow United, (KRU “Crew” for short) we enjoyed using the code name, 1988 Project. In 1988, at the 32nd General Council, the United Church of Canada made the historic declaration that “All people, regardless of their sexual orientation, are welcomed to full membership and all members are eligible for ordered ministry.” It was a big moment that shaped the identity and the intention of the United Church. 

 

In 2019, the United Church launched, in partnership with Affirm United/S’affirmer Ensemble, “Iridesce: The Living Apology Project”. During the following two years, Iridesce gathered personal stories from members - queer, trans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, Two-Spirit, non-binary people within the United Church past and present.  Allies, friends, family members, ministers and community members to LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit persons also contributed stories.  The impact of the 1988 decision was addressed, and other issues, such as division and affirmation, lament, hurt, terror and healing were addressed as well, with an acknowledgement of the need for further education, apology and reconciliation even after 30+ years. Now, the final report of the Iridesce project is complete. It should be a valuable resource for United congregations and other churches. 

 

The United Church might feel that we “passed” an important stage in 1988, but for many of our global partner churches in the world the fight, in 2021, is still in the “present progressive” tense. Over the years, it seems that the United Church’s mindset has shifted to looking inward, looking only at ourselves, concerned with our dwindling membership and resources. However, rather than looking into the well and saying that there is not enough water, worrying primarily about our own survival, the United Church can find ways of growing through solidarity with partner churches, asking and answering questions about the meaning of gospel and ally-ship in progressive faith. 

 

We still have the Rainbow Christ’s work to do. The UCC’s experience and history is an immensely valuable resource beyond our denominational boundary. The spirit of The Living Apology Project must grow and draw the circle wider with our partner churches. Inspired by Kwok Pui-Lan, the Asian Feminist Theologian pioneer, I would like to invite you to an epistemology — which means, how we think, how we “see” things: Training Affirming Ministry to grow with the bamboo stake of a transnational approach. 

 

Here’s a short story from my life. When I was a high school kid, my mom came to me with a newspaper article in her hand and asked, “Are you one of them too?”. I had just finished having a bath. Drying my wet hair, I stole a glance at the article. It was an interview with a lesbian university student. Surprised and unprepared, I said, “No”. At the time, LGBTQ rights were barely on the surface of public talk. You might hear worry or gossip from parents and teachers if you were thought to be ‘different’, but I didn’t grow up hearing any hate-mongering condemnations from the pulpit about homosexuals going to hell, never able to be saved. The Great Commission of Homophobia arrived with hot air from the Christian Right, especiallyAmerican Evangelicals, while I was in my twenties. Now, the seed of anti-LGBTQ hatred is securely planted in the minds and mouths of the leaders and members of the major conservative Christian churches in Korea. Protestant groups, in particular, have made an all-out effort since 2007 to stop the passage of an anti-discrimination law which would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

 

Our KRU member, Red, wrote, ”How many lives should be taken from us until Korean churches and society finally give ear to the minorities’ loud mourning and outcry? They still trample on the dignity and rights of full human beings in the name of God’s love.” 

 

The Christian Right’s Great Commissions of LGBTQ hate and condemnation are not only spiritual but political. They are pests that threaten God’s gardens. Aren’t we all beautiful? Some are geraniums of a variety of colours. Some are begonias of a variety of growing styles. Some of us are mints, kales, basils, lavenders, cosmos, roses. But when the winds of Christian Right Evangelism blew, they arrived with a plague of homophobic thrips and aphids for God’s plants. They sucked the rainbow sap. Their numbers increased, and God’s flowers deformed, withered, died. Let me ask: Where did the winds of the Christian Right blow from in the first place, and where are they blowing to, now?

 

It’s been three years since the last time I saw my parents in Korea. When I missed them so much, I used to think that I was separated from them by the great Pacific Ocean. When I kept thinking this way, my heart grieved even more. Then, lately, an insight came to me: The Pacific Ocean does not only separate me from my parents: we are also connected by that great ocean, my mom and dad, and I. The prairies and the Pacific Ocean connect us all transnationally. This insight really comforted me.

 

Have you been thinking that Asian contexts are irrelevant here? Are we so different? Truly, Canadian and Asian/Korean contexts, people, cultures may look different, without direct relation. However, there is a profound relationship between Asia/Korea and Canada that invites us to transnational, missional solidarity, even if you are not of Asian ancestry. 

 

Buddhism teaches the wisdom of non-discrimination. This means that there is no such thing as a separate self, as a strictly independent entity. The understanding of interconnectedness and interdependence creates radical love and compassionate acts towards the Other. Thich Naht Hanh teaches that the misconception that you and I are separate selves, with no relation, is spiritual discrimination and can be the cause of injustice. Perhaps one of the big obstacles in the United Church to this transnational approach may be the thought that Asian issues are either old or new, outdated or irrelevant. Apathy might hide the belief or the sense of superiority that we (The United Church of Canada or Canada itself) have surpassed the stage of necessary interdependence, and are advanced, and therefore, we do not need a direct connection; we have no spiritual obligation to each other. 

 

I invite you to a new epistemology - - a transnational approach as the global body of Christ to solve problems together. To stop the thrips from spreading over the earth, on the winds of the Christian Right. To help more and more myriads of double rainbows bloom across denominations and nations. With the faith that fights spiritual separation and discrimination, we can, together, push for change. Push for the Great Rainbow Commission to expand and overflow on the earth.

 

A Prayer from Ha Na: 

In his life, Yukoodang, remembered as a quiet friend to many, enjoyed writing sijos (traditional three-stanza Korean poems) and a collection of his sijo poems was published posthumously as “My Hon (spirit/soul) Rains Down as a Flower” in 2006. I wrote this prayer inspired by his sijo poems and the title of the book. 

Sermon: Rebuilding as Visionary Loving (Isaiah 61:1-4, 10-11), August 29th, 2021

Reflection: Rebuilding as Visionary Loving 

Jah-bi and I enjoy reading books together every night. Over the pandemic, we finished reading three 300-page books by Alan Gratz: Projekt 1065, Allies, Refugee, and now we are reading the last chapter of the book Prisoner B-3087. All of them are about the time when World War 2 was raging, except for Refugee, which features three characters, Josef, a Jewish boy in 1930s Nazi Germany, Isabel, a Cuban girl in 1994 when riots and unrest plagued her country, and Mahmoud, a Syrian boy in 2015. (Show the one minute book trailer of Refugee.) 

Alan Gratz’ books are very well researched and describe events, characters, and plots precisely. Every page of each story brings light to a world inflamed or engulfed in war from the perspective of children who lived, fought to survive or escaped. As one review comments, all of his books are an, “Incredibly important, heartrending, edge-of-the-seat read”. Peace told us that he read all of Gratz’ books in Grade 7. (Jah-bi and I have been reading them since last Christmas) They were almost like textbooks for his entire year of English and Social Studies classes. I confess that until I read these books with Jah-bi, my understanding of those times and those lives never truly reached an in-depth understanding, connection and compassion. After reading them, I wished I could re-write all the sermons and reflections I shared on past Remembrance Days. If I could, I would more accurately and truly honour soldiers, survivors and families, all who have gone before us and those who continue on, preserving sacrifice, dignity and justice. 

 

Of course, today is not Remembrance Day. The reason why I open our reflection time by introducing Alan Gratz’ books is because these stories tell us about the ruins. Most stories in these four books end with the year 1945. The readers don’t hear about the lives of the characters after the end of war, unless you read the Author’s Notes. The last sentence of the book in Prisoner B-3087 is “I stepped on board the train and didn’t look back. For nine years I had done everything I could to survive. Now it was time to live.” Alan Gratz’ books focus on remarkable (or terrible) stories and the resilience of people during times of ashes and ruins. They don’t tell the readers about the times of reconstruction later. However, the readers can close the book in peace, knowing the ruins are in the characters’ pasts. Lives have been rebuilt; even after incredible personal losses.

 

During the Covid-19 pandemic which is still an ongoing story, an unfinished book, I have been thinking that, even if it would be impossible to make any legitimate comparison, the interruptions caused by the pandemic may still be comparable to a war, as a boy in one book recalled, “The life I had before the war was my dream.”. Vaccine as D-Day. Isolation as being a captive. Children’s learning interrupted, daily life shrunk down to safe spaces. 

 

Right before my summer vacation, my energy had run out. I could hardly think of what I would like to do, or could do, to show my care for our Immanuel community. At the end of June, it was getting really hot, and the heat waves were alarming us calling, “I’m coming, and it will be bad!’. Thankfully, mysteriously, like medicine, the summer break recharged my body and refreshed my spirit; I could even feel it on the first day! 

 

The first job I took on was reconnecting with Immanuel family and friends mostly by phone calls. I also began to plan visits. Then, I could see and hear and be close to people. If I can still borrow an analogy to the war, I could see that some of us were casualties. Nearly one and a half years of separation because of the the pandemic was a big and hard and long blow; we have been injured. Some of us have been more affected than others. This year, vaccinations began to roll out, and the population of the fully vaccinated is growing. Canada and the world (where possible) are rebuilding lives again. Now that I am more relaxed and can see that we are in a place of relative safety, the fog before my eyes is slowly beginning to disperse and I can more clearly see our casualties.

 

There are those who lost touch with others and struggled, mostly alone, from isolation and separation. It didn’t take long for me to intuitively learn that the task I must take on as an important priority in my role with Immanuel is pastoral care. I, we, need to reconnect, rebuild, reconstruct our community, with “Visionary loving.” (I found this phrase “visionary loving” in the prayer resource I used last week, and it has lingered in my mind since. What can visionary loving mean for you? For me, my interpreation of what visionary loving can mean is illustrated in this 7 minute video.)

Our Immanuel Council met last Wednesday and discussed about re-opening. More details and revision from the previous re-opening policy will be shared in announcements later, but one thing we are clearly aiming for is offering a “dual service” each Sunday, starting in October, in which people can choose where to worship, on zoom or in person simultaneously, at 11 am. My hope is that everything we do in the next while is guided by a spirit of compassion, and hopefully, with some vigor of “visionary loving” in God’s grace, we will rebuild our lives together. One at a time, slowly but steadily, we will rebuild, reconnect, reconstruct hope. Perhaps this is an Advent before the calendar Advent. The Sun before our steps, also already in our hands. (Show the picture of “the Sun in our hands”.) 

 

In this light, I would like to share some quotes from the Bible about the Hebrew people’s experience of rebuilding lives, reconnecting to their land and restoring faithful stories, at the very end of the exile of Israel in Babylon (the fourth decade of the 6th century B.C.E.). They were returning to what was left of Jerusalem in the same century. The Babylonian captivity lasted for seventy years. They were going to build up “the ancient ruins” and repair “the ruined cities”. Israel looked forward to rebuilding Jerusalem and Judah. Hope was high. So were the challenges and fears. 

 

Some of these passages are read during Advent. They are perhaps read placidly by those for whom things have been smooth and going well, but less so by those who look around and see only destruction and uncertainty in their lives. All is not well in the world. We need to remember that. Remember the oppressed, the broken-hearted, the forgotten, captives, prisoners, mourners, the faint in spirit. Reconnect, rebuild, reconstruct with those who have long been devastated, generation after generation. The following passages sing “Peace on earth” for those “On whom God’s favour rests”. And “all whom God favours” are often those who may be the most disfavoured of people by human standards. Those among us and beyond us who are on the margins are more affected and interrupted by the contemporary adversaries. Let us join our hearts with the prophets: The city where hopelessness had taken root will, by God’s spirit and by God’s blessing, sprout righteousness and praise. 

 

Isaiah 61:4

Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins,

They will raise up the former devastations;

And they will repair the ruined cities,

The desolations of many generations.

 

Nehemiah 2:18 

I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work.

 

Jeremiah 31:4

“Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt,

O Israel!

Again you will take up your tambourines,

And go forth to the dances of the merrymakers.

 

Isaiah 9:10

“The bricks have fallen down,

But we will rebuild with smooth stones;

The sycamores have been cut down,

But we will replace them with cedars.”

 

Jeremiah 1:10 

“See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,

To pluck up and to break down,

To destroy and to overthrow,

To build and to plant.”

 

Much has been lost over the past eighteen months: jobs and plans, weddings, funerals, classes and parties, displaced, overthrown, as we were isolated, fighting a war that depended on our sacrifice of togetherness, of community. We have done what is necessary to survive – now it is time to live.

Hymn: VU 23    Joy Shall Come

Sermon: Did Jesus Ever Talk About Depression? (John 6: 56-69), August 22nd, 2021

Reflection: Did Jesus Ever Talk About Depression? 

Did Jesus ever talk about depression? Probably not. 

 

We live in this post-Freudian 21st century in which the media often talks about psychology as science. There are antidepressants available at the pharmacy once you have consulted with your doctors. Generally, depression is understood to be a clinical, mental ailment, something to treat, manage or defeat. Some conditions are more serious and are deeply related to a childhood trauma(s) or life’s adversaries and need a professional’s support. Today, I would like to invite us to approach the subject of depression from a more theological or spiritual perspective: Did Jesus ever talk about depression? 

 

Probably not, because obviously Jesus and his contemporaries did not have the word depression in their vocabulary, living in first century Palestine. However, I am sure that Jesus knew what depression was and how it was manifested in the lives of the people, and perhaps in his own, too. Jesus was fully human as we are, equally as he is fully divine, which is the power of the Christian theology of Incarnation.

 

First, let’s talk about what the Bible has said about depression. Though the Bible doesn’t use the word “depression” except in a few translations and verses, it’s often referred to by other similar words, such as “downcast”, “ broken hearted,” “troubled,” “miserable,” “despairing,” and “mourning”, among others. 

For example, in many of the Psalms, David writes of his anguish, loneliness, fear of the enemy, the guilt he struggled with: “My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.” (Ps. 38:4) “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God for I will yet praise the Lord, my Saviour and my God” (Ps. 42:11). After great victories over the prophets of Baal, Elijah feared and ran for his life, far away from the threat of revenge. And there in the desert defeated and worn, he sat down and prayed: “I have had enough Lord. Take my life, I am not better than my ancestors.” (1 King 19:4) Jonah was still angry even when he could have rejoiced that all the people in Nineveh turned to God.. “Now O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” (Jonah 4:3) And even after God reached out to Jonah again with great compassion, he responded, “… I am angry enough to die.” (Jonah 4:9) Job suffered through great loss, devastation, and physical illness. So great was his suffering and tragedy that even his own partner said, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9) And the greatest hero/prophet of all time, Moses, was not without depression throughout his life - - in his youth, he ran out to the desert and hid in the care of his Midianite father-in-law, and until he died, he grieved over the sin of his people. Prophets wrestled with great loneliness, feelings of defeat, and insecurity. It’s hard to say Jesus was without them in his life and ministry. He knew that God had called him to a journey of great suffering. Isaiah prophesied that Christ would be “a person of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” (Isaiah 53:3) In the garden, through the night, Jesus prayed, all alone, and he said to his close disciples, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” 7 Bible Figures Who Struggled With Depression

 

These verses and stories clearly demonstrate the anguish-laden hearts of the prophets and Jesus in pain-filled situations of depression and agony, which suggests that Jesus could know when someone else was depressed. Jesus could know when we are in depression. 

 

Now, I would like to go a little deeper to touch on the subject of depression more theologically, spiritually. I had a very valuable lesson during the pandemic last winter. One morning, when I was calm enough to be able to be more fully present with myself, a subtle awareness visited me and opened new understanding: I am in depression. It is depression. That day, I started with cheerfulness. I loved the cold air let in through the windows for 15 minutes for ventilation. I loved to see the gas fire in the fireplace of my new home. With coffee latte in my 14 oz Le Crueset mug, it was a lovely morning. But I noticed that there was also a subtle presence of depression in the quiet corner of my spirit — not harmful, but truthful. It was the middle of the pandemic. I am usually a goal-oriented person, questing and following my curiosity to do something, start something. Accomplish something. Productivity, preparation for future goals and launching on to next steps to secure success are important. However, I had nothing to do that morning. So no progress was possible. Everything which I planned and hoped for, stopped and was not moving like a traffic bottleneck. We live in not only the post-Freudian, post-modern world, that has the vocabulary of depression in everyone’s mind to make sense of where we are and what we are doing (or not doing), but also, it is the same era when progress, success, achievement, celebrity rule our aspirations. If these are not in our hands and are

unforeseeable in our future — in other words, when we lose the sense of these “Gods”, we spiral down to/touch the bottom of our being: depression. 

Depression vs progress! I have learned that in the same sense that our attachment to progress does not always have a bright side, depression does not always have a dark corner. Perhaps depression is a profound condition of being human, how we are human, how we learn to be ourselves. Depression is not like a trap, as “something else” that shouldn’t be part of us, part of our lives. But depression may be more like what we need to see, learn, acknowledge or even embrace in faith and with courage, integrity and honesty — as a “profound human condition”. We cannot always be in a progressive state. Our emotions are more truthful than our convictions and beliefs. And thus, depression can be a closer path to reach the truth and the ground of our being. Noticing, realizing, learning, embracing depression takes maturity. 

 

The following may also be true: Most of us who grew up in a culture which praises progress, regardless of whether we succeed or project confidence outwardly, we live daily by not truly feeling, or denying, refusing, fighting, and/or ignoring depression. Do you nod your head? If so, for the sake of our spiritual health, we should ask what causes profound depression. Why are we denying or refusing to more meaningfully acknowledge/engage with our depression? And if we get to know depression, as a teacher rather than a feared enemy, what will change in the world? 

 

I have faith that Jesus knew our human condition. He knew what profound spiritual condition his people struggled with, wrestled with; What they ignored, embraced or refused to engage with in the particular time and society of his; What defined/determined the depression of his time and in his people in an occupied land under Roman military and Jewish religious authorities, under the hierarchy against women and children; bruised by the condemnation and exclusion of the mentally and physically disabled people. If not, Jesus wouldn’t describe himself as Living Bread. He said “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever." He also says, “This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” Upon these, Peter confesses, “I am not going away. We are not leaving you. Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

 

So, did Jesus ever talk about depression? Depression is a contemporary concept to describe certain levels and status of one aspect of the human condition in the post 20th century. Our vocabulary is abundant with scientific terms. Certainly, Jesus did not have it. He did not say it. Also, Jesus did not treat it as something to fear, condemn, or cast away. He invited his community to an opportunity to be aware of it, acknowledge it, learn about it and embrace it as a profound human condition with which they needed to be honest, to respond to faithfully and to integrate. Then, he invited us also to aspire to change. This change is not conforming to the norms and success of the society of the 1st century, neither of our time, the 21st. The change Jesus is inviting God’s people towards is about “the spirit that gives life.” (V.) Jesus knew we all have the capacity, the gift from God, to be able to learn and change with the Living Bread, and asking what it is, what the Living Bread is and means to us, and how it becomes reality is now laid before us, the earth-community in the 21st century, to explore and create together, with open heart, courage, and a new aspiration for the spirit that gives life. Amen. 

Sermon: What the Bible Says About “Smoke” (Psalm 104), August 15th, 2021

Reflection: What the Bible Says About “Smoke”

Today, I hope to think about “smoke” with you. Do you know that there are more than 40 (perhaps even more that) quotes about smoke in the Bible?  

 

Many cultures around the world acknowledge that our earth and life are made up of some essential elements like soil/earth, water, fire, and wind. If there’s fire, smoke is a sure sign of its presence. 

 

Some kinds of smoke are good, and people use them intentionally, enjoy them, or even use them to entertain others. What are these kinds of smoke? 

 

Well, I love burning incense, especially sandalwood. It reminds me of very pleasant times in my past, when I went with family or friends to visit a mountain cabin made of oak and a Buddhist temple on a peaceful, quiet evening with drizzling rain. Smudging with sage is considered particularly sacred and cleansing across a variety of cultures and belief systems. I grew up hearing this Bible quote a lot at church: “For we are the aroma of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 2:15). Mom taught me that we should try to be like the aroma of Christ for others and among people. I sometimes pondered what that actually meant – was the aroma of Christ like the incense we used in church? ‘No,’ I thought, ‘the aroma of Christ must smell like a fragrant flower!’ We use smoke for food too. Many of us enjoy smoked salmon. Once we start thinking about the good-smelling smoke in our lives, it’s easy to call up the memory of special times and places.

 

On the other hand, the smoke we smell more often these days, especially this summer, is deeply concerning. With the rapid escalation of climate change, wildfires are raging through the West Coast of Canada and the United States, as well as Manitoba and Ontario. Not only on the hazy-sky days, the scent of smoke lingers in the air, its pollution level affecting those with asthma. I’ve seen that some forests have lost the glorious explosion of light they contain; they seem to struggle from the ill-effects of smoke and drought. It took a full two days of pouring rain and thunderstorm for the woods near the Seine River to show their luminous beauty in clarity. My sister-in-law, who just moved to Calgary, told me a month ago that it was hard to see anything farther than 1 meter clearly. Smoke, in this case, is the concentration of black carbon particulates - commonly called soot - over North America, one of several types of particles and gases found within wildfire smoke. 

 

This week, while looking through the kitchen windows at the Seine River trail that finally beamed again with a “light bomb”, I wondered if the Bible ever spoke about smoke, and Googled it. Voila! There are more than 40 or 50 mentions of smoke, likely more that. Curiosity led me into thinking about smoke, more theologically (meaning, its relation to our relationship with God and the world/Earth).

 

Here’s my question: If the world we live in, the lives we have, are “scripture”, what would smoke mean to us? The living things in the Bible are not fundamentally different from the living things we see in our lives. There are trees, birds, fish, wind, water, air. Of course, some books in the Bible tell us about interesting creatures with wings, mythical beasts and speaking angels just like storytellers in our time draw monsters, heroes, and magicians in movies. In the living scripture, monsters and smoke may represent important, extraordinary messages that we, the characters, can ponder deeply. Reflect on them in terms of our relationship with God and the world/Earth. All of a sudden, our own lives become the new context for living scripture! So, I would like to share the question again with you: What if the world we live in, the lives we have, are scripture, the ongoing story of God at work in the world? What would smoke mean to us? More than just complaining, shouldn’t we do something more meaningful, spiritual, faithful, as our response to it? 

 

In the Bible, smoke usually means God’s presence: God’s accompaniment in the journey of the Hebrew people; God’s encouragement or protection; God’s anger; God’s justice. Let’s look at several pieces about smoke from the Bible: 

 

Exodus 19:18    Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.

 

Isaiah 6:4    And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of God who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.

 

Exodus 20:18    All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance.

 

Psalm 104:32    Bow Your heavens, O Lord, and come down;

Touch the mountains, that they may smoke.

 

Isaiah 4:5    Then the Lord will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy.

 

Isaiah 30:27 

Behold, the name of the Lord comes from a remote place;

Burning is God’s anger and dense is God’s smoke;

God’s lips are filled with indignation

And God’s tongue is like a consuming fire;

 

Isaiah 34:10 

It will not be quenched night or day;

Its smoke will go up forever.

From generation to generation it will be desolate;

None will pass through it forever and ever.

 

Joel 2:30 

“I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,

Blood, fire and columns of smoke.

 

Revelation 8:4

And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand.

 

2 Corinthians 2:15

For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;

 

The intention of sharing the quotes in the Bible is to invite us to ponder and reflect on our lives, on what is happening in our lives, in terms of our relationship with God and the Earth. I believe that engaging with scripture as if it is an ongoing story, a story that involves us, is a way we faithfully engage with God in our lives, in the world. This summer’s smoke is a sure sign of climate change; what is our faithful, spiritual response to it? What should we do, what can we do? If our own lives, our world, is the new context for God’s message, the Earth’s calling… If our world is the “living scripture” we live our lives in, we must stop and ponder before the presence of smoke and ask what it means to us. We need to pause and sense God’s struggle, message and hope in the sign and presence of smoke, rain, drought, and engage in the hard work of living in it, fighting it, changing it. God still speaks. Blessings. 

Hymn:  VU 371    Touch the Earth Lightly

The sun glows a sickly red over Langley City, the result of the haze from wildfires. Dan Ferguson Langley Times