When I was looking at the readings in
the lectionary this week to see just what I wanted to talk about, I
found myself drawn to the Isaiah reading more than the others. I
think because I like the imagery. I like the idea of him saying, "ME?
But, I'm just a sinner among sinners!" I like the idea of angels
purifying his lips and Isaiah turning around and saying, "Okay,
God. Send me." I can almost picture him taking a deep breath and
letting it out first.
But as I was looking at all the
readings, I was kind of baffled at why these would be the readings
for Trinity Sunday, and what in God's name (ha ha!) they all had in common. I
don't think I came to any brilliant conclusions, but I found myself
drawn to the idea of --God speaks to us-- and we'll hear God if we
shut up and listen. Whether we do what God wants like Isaiah did is
another issue. But God speaking to us, that's what I want to talk
about today.
God's communication with us fascinates
me. I'm drawn to language.
I am a geek. Seriously, a geek of epic
proportions. I'm sure this brings to mind someone sitting at a
computer, bending it to her will, but in this case, I am a language
geek. I love language and languages. When I was little, I used to
drive my Mom crazy by making up my own languages and insisting she
try to learn them. She compromised by teaching me Pig Latin. I'd pour
over dictionaries. I'd watch Sesame Street, primarily to learn the
French! Now it's my favourite kids' show, because I can watch it for
the Spanish. When I got into University, I studied linguistics. I
went so far as to get a Master's Degree in it. I loved looking at
the way that different languages put sentences together, the way they
put words together, how languages changed over time, and how some
words didn't have direct translations in other languages. Like how in
English, there's no word for the look that two people pass between
each other that means, "No, I'm not going to say it, you say
it!" There is a word for that in some languages. That is, in my
geeky opinion, the pinnacle of cool. So you'll understand that when
I say, "God's communication with us fascinates me", I'm
taking it to a whole new level. :)
Remember the story about the Tower of
Babel? How all the people spoke the same language, and then for
trying to build a tower high enough to get to Heaven, God confused
them and made them speak new languages. I used to both love and hate
that story. I hated it because I thought it was just plain mean of
God to do that to the people. Especially considering how much pain
and death has been caused simply by mistranslations and
misunderstandings between languages. And I loved it because I totally
loved the idea of a universal language. A language everyone could
understand. A God-given, language innate to humanity.
Now, I'm pretty sure that that story is
metaphorical, and that we are to learn from the lesson rather than
take the story as literal truth, but at least one linguist of pretty
high standing disagrees. His name is Mark Baker, and he has been
working on the fundamentals of Universal Language for years and
years, trying to get some insight into the nature of God's plan, much
like Isaac Newton was trying to find God in science. And that's
pretty impressive. I don't know how far he's gotten, and I'm pretty
sure he's not talking to God in the ancient language, because God
seems to use a lot of other ways to talk to us.
The Bible has all sorts of examples of
God talking to people in all sorts of spectacular ways. In Exodus,
God appears as a burning bush and speaks to Moses. A few weeks back
we heard the story of Samuel hearing God's voice and not recognising
it until Eli told him what to do. God spoke to Job through a storm.
In the reading we just heard, God's voice is heard by Isaiah,
presumably in his language, asking directly, "Whom shall I
send?" as though God was asking for a volunteer, privately to
Isaiah. I find that remarkably funny, actually. Is God being coy with
him? Is it like when I say "I wonder if someone will shut the
window for me" when it's only me and Josie in the room. God is
gentle though. God doesn't say, "Yo. Isaiah. You're up. Do it or
I'm going to bug you for the rest of your days!" Though frankly,
that's kind of how God talks to me. Just subtly. For example, a few
years ago I was very, very sick. I was walking with two canes, I was
taking Percocet for pain, I was a mess. Some strange man stopped me
in a health-food store and went on and on about how I was going to
die before I was 30 if I kept eating gluten and dairy. I'd only ever
heard of gluten once or twice. Didn't know what it was. I dismissed
the guy as a nutjob and went home to laugh about it. I tell you.
Within the next few weeks, at LEAST 10 people mentioned gluten to me
in some way. I finally said, "OKAY! I GET IT! I'LL TRY A GLUTEN
FREE DIET!" which startled the heck out of the guy on the bus
who was telling me about his gluten free dog food. So I tried it. And
what happened? I got better. I am utterly convinced that was God
talking to me. Not in a loud voice, but pesky enough that I finally
got the hint.
So I've sometimes wondered why God
can't be more clear. A booming voice from above would be hard to
miss. Light it up in neon. A big flashing sign saying, "People!
I told you to be nice to each other, even the people you don't like.
Do it, or else!" would be appreciated. I know I could use the
reminder some days! So why doesn't God just light it up in letters,
sky write it, spell it out in our soup?
Strangely enough, the best answer I've
ever gotten for this was from a cartoon I like. It's called Futurama,
and if you're not familiar with it, it's silly science fiction, set
1000 years in the future. Anyway, in one episode, Bender, a robot
with a lot of vices, becomes a God to a tiny race of people. All the
people kill each other off in nuclear war, and then meets the real
God. Now, remember, this is animation and not particularly biblically
accurate. However, what God tells Bender really resonates with me.
Bender is upset that all his people died, and he's lamenting it all
to God. God tells him:
God Entity:
Bender, being God isn't easy. If you do too much, people
get dependent on you. And if you do nothing, they lose hope. You have
to use a light touch, like a safecracker or a pickpocket.
Bender:
Or a guy who burns down a bar for the insurance money.
God Entity:
Yes, if you make it look like an electrical thing. When you do things
right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.
Of course, this is silliness, but
there's a grain of truth in it. If God told us what to do in no
uncertain terms whenever we asked, we'd get utterly dependent on God
in about 40 seconds. We'd fail to learn anything. It'd be like
cheating in school. If God boomed commands out from above, how would
we ever learn to become the people God dreams of?
So, we have to have faith. We have to
listen. We have to do what we know is right even when it's easier to
do what's wrong. And when it seems like God's forgotten us or isn't
talking to us, we need to remember two things: God is ALWAYS talking
to us. And there's a convenient book full of God's words. After the
end of each scripture reading we say, "God still speaks to us
through the scripture" and it's true. If we're listening, we can
learn something new each time.
NONE of us has it all figured out, as
much as we'd sometimes like to think we do, and as loudly as some
proclaim they have. What I'm pretty confident that I do have figured
out is LOVE. God is pretty clear that our job is to love God and to
love each other, and that we can do that by taking God's love for us
and sharing it with others.
I've always thought that the Good News
we hear about is pretty good indeed. The news is that God loves us.
We're sinners, sometimes of epic proportions, sometimes so much so
that society locks us away in cages to protect themselves from us.
And God still loves us. So much so that God sent us Jesus to tell us
this and to tell us that all we have to do is love. Love everyone.
Love God. Just love. How hard is that? Depends on who you talk to, I
suppose.
One of my friends says she's so glad
she's Christian, because it's easy. She says that just loving people
is WAY easier than following strict rules about which foods you can
eat with each other, when you can use electricity, having to give up
all earthly cares, etc. She's a pretty awesome person to be around.
And sometimes it's not so easy. How do
you love someone who has killed people? Or fed on greed so much that
he destroyed the lives of everyone who trusted him? Or hurt children?
And what does it even mean to love them?
That friend of mine says that the legal
system should embrace these people, show them love and show them just
what they've done. That when they come to see it, they can start to
heal and start to be productive again. And those who can't, will just
have to stay in jail. But we never stop trying to help them. She says
we need to stop using the word "justice" to mean "revenge".
Like I said, she's a pretty awesome person.
It all comes down to judge not, lest
ye be judged. That doesn't mean
we can't look at someone and say, "No. What you're doing is
wrong." It means we can't say, "No. I don't love you
because what you're doing or what you've done is wrong". We need
to live with a love that isn't based on merit. Because really, none
of us is perfect. None of us can walk on water - unless it's in
Saskatchewan in January, and that's just cheating. We need to love
unconditionally, and accept the love of others unconditionally. Just
as God loves us.
And
you know what? That's not just good news. That's great news. Because
it's just not that hard. Look at the homeless guy on the street who
you just know is an addict. Instead of walking by, smile. Maybe hand
him a card for Our Place. Maybe offer to buy some groceries. Jesus
didn't tell us to find out if the hungry guy is to blame for his
hunger before feeding him. He said, "feed the hungry". He
didn't say, "Heal the sick. But only if they have money to pay
you. And only if their sickness isn't related to their own actions."
And he sure didn't say, "Love your neighbour. But only if they
sin the same way you do."
God's
Word could not be more clear. LOVE. Just love. Spread God's love
around by being instruments of God's love. We're God's instruments in
this world. We're the vessels to spread the love. If we truly want to
be God's people, we have to love like God does. And like my friend
says, that's fabulous, because that's just not that hard.