Currency of Time & Place
March 2, 2025
In our Gospel reading from Luke today we hear two very familiar and I would say foundational sayings of our faith: vs 31 “Do to others as you would have them do to you” what we sometimes refer to as the Golden Rule, since it is shared by many faiths and vs 38 “give, and it will be given to you.” Both of these sayings, are foundational to Eric Law’s understanding of Holy Currencies. It reflects the understanding that the flow of blessings circulates in all that we do. And I would say that it reflects a spirit of generosity rather than coming from a sense of scarcity where we feel there is a limited amount that if shared with others would diminish what we have. In Jesus teachings, there is always enough and plenty to share. This week we will look at his currencies of Time & Place.
Recently Rev. Gary and I attended the Flourishing Event facilitated by our moderator Rev. Dr. Carmen Landsdowne. The day long gathering took us through a variety of exercises and discussions that focused on how we think of the future and what are the ways that we can look forward to it with openness and excitement rather than fear and trepidation. We were reminded that we can flourish if we believe in the God who has created and is creating. Flourishing was described as “living a good, fulfilling life, a life with a sense of purpose. To flourish, we need to dream in ways that inspire tangible actions so individuals and communities across the nation and the world can flourish. We need bold ideas and daring connections. We need a strong social fabric. We need to be rooted in a sense of place, a sense of belonging.” We were then invited to reflect on the question “Are we living above the line where we are open, curious, and committed to learning or below the line, closed, defensive and committed to being right. Being above the line we were told, leads to playfulness and creativity, whereas being below the line, leads to identifying threats and scarcity, (based on The Conscious Leadership Group concept.)
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What does flourishing mean to you? What does it look like or feel like when you imagine Forest Hill and Trinity United Churches flourishing? Why does it matter whether or not we are flourishing?
Jesus’ words read in our gospel last week are known to us as the Beatitudes or Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are you… but they don’t sound the way you would expect blessings to be. Blessed are those who mourn? Blessed are the poor? The hungry? They are not flourishing and yet they are blessed because Jesus is speaking of his vision of God’s kingdom where none are sad, hungry or poor. And then he goes on to speak the woes to those who are presently happy, rich and full. It will not be so. The world will be turned upside down, the first, last, the least the greatest. And we might think, yay, those in power who oppress and harm the powerless and marginalized will get there comuppance. But we have to recognize ourselves in both.
But wait, things are turned upside down and sideways once again. In today’s reading we are told to pray for our enemies, even love them! That doesn’t seem right. “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”vs.35
In our Gospel reading we hear what is described as an ethic of generosity for Christian living. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. I’m not talking about turning the cheek and offering the other in the case of any kind of abuse. In the context of this passage the economy was based on a cycle of retribution. You give me this, I’ll give you that. It was equally weighed. But here it says, “Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. If you lend from those who whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you?” Say what? There is a significant shift in thinking here of what is being described as the Kingdom of God. It is not built on checks and balances, but rather on love, and mercy and forgiveness.
In a bible study given by Walter Wink on this passage he described how the act of giving someone not only your cloak but your shirt as well was a significant act in the context of first century Roman rule in Israel. If you were unable to pay off a debt your creditor could ask for your cloak instead, but it had to be returned to you by nightfall so that you wouldn’t go cold or freeze to death overnight. To then offer your creditor your shirt as well would have been a kind of act of resistance to the unfair demands of the creditor. In that cultural context it would be shameful to you to see someone without their clothes on. So, you would actually shame your creditor by exceeding their demands.
An “ethic of generosity” is something Jesus modeled all the time. His interactions were always such that he met people where they were, understood their context, made room for all at his table. And his love and mercy was evident by the fact that many of those interactions were with folk that would otherwise be invisible, disliked or unaccepted. I know in my own social circles I most often spend time with folk I feel comfortable with. It is not often that I venture into the uncomfortable, especially if I have a choice. But those kinds of connections or interactions are really tremendous opportunities for compassion and understanding and growth. We talk about Eric Law’s currency of relationships, but where do those connections happen? In time and place and when we put ourselves in those “places” those grace margins, grace happens. Luke writes: If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Apparently that Greek word translated as “credit” could also mean grace. Is their room for God’s grace if you are only receiving what is expected or equal? Isn’t God’s “grace” so much more in the interaction of friend and enemy, creditor and borrower? Rich and poor? Powerful and powerless.
As we have begun to see over these weeks of looking at the various currencies, one does flow into another. And if one is ignored or elevated in importance above the other, then the flow is restricted or impeded. We practice the currency of Time & Place here at Forest Hill & Trinity all the time. We share our building with five other faith groups who worship here weekly, some in the sanctuary, some downstairs. St. Mathews Mar Thoma Church, Waterloo New Life Alliance Church, St. Mary’s Malankara Orthodox Church, Eritrean Faith Mission and KW Korean Dream Church. We have various community groups like Maycourt and guides, square dancing and Noteworthy Music lessons. We invite the community around us into our space at our Christmas Bazaar and during the summer to Food Trucks. I know there are many more. But you get the idea. None of the groups pay “market value”, they pay what rent they can, and in turn we have an active and vibrant building that is busy far beyond Sunday morning worship. And our building not only serves our needs but the needs of many others that would not otherwise be possible. We create those “grace margins”. And we build relationships and share truth as well.
A couple of weeks ago I was chatting with an organizer of one of the weekly groups in the kitchen next to the Fireside room. She is not a member but she recognized me as the new minister and asked how I liked working here. Of course I said how much I enjoyed it and she responded that in just meeting people around the church when she’s here she knew it was a kind and generous community and lovely people.”
Eric Law spoke of his early experience of gathering in a space that created a sacred experience for him. From that moment, he writes, I wanted to create sacred spaces where all may have room to dwell, in which all may speak and share the truth of their lives and their relationship with God. “p.113 The Circles Study group reflected on the question, “What does a “Sacred Space” look like to you? Many spoke of the outdoors, at the cottage on a starlit night, early morning walks as the sun rises. It was interesting to me that not many spoke of church buildings. Perhaps our church buildings that have come to hold such meaning for us as church people can in fact limit our perception of the expanse of God’s sacred spaces in the world. Rev. Gary spoke last week about the grace margin, that place where we meet between safe and fear zones and create a space for truth to be shared and discerned; in Eric Law’s words, a place of authentic revelation, compassionate listening, reciprocal exchange of power. We can also think of whether we enter these spaces above or below the line, with open minds or closed minds, with curiosity, or fear, with a desire to learn or a desire to convince others of our opinion, a place to flourish or a place to wither. I think that it is in those above the line moments that Grace can happen, when we are open to God’s creative spirit to let us see things or people differently. Even our enemies or those we think of as threatening, we can approach in a mindset of love. Even love our enemies.
Many places can in fact be sacred when God’s presence is felt, and God’s truth is revealed. The original inhabitants of Turtle Island understand the sacred all around them. Our Hebrew scriptures refer to moments when this happens like Jacob waking from his night of dreaming in a barren desert, “Surely God was in this place and I didn’t know it”. Jesus speaks of when you feed the hungry, cloth the poor, shelter the homeless that you are in fact feeding, clothing and housing me. Matthew 25:40 reads, Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine you did for me.
If we begin to explore other places where we act out Jesus’ command to love even our enemies, perhaps we will in fact discover more sacred places, not just in bricks and mortar and stained glass, but in hospital palliative care rooms, the family dinner table, a difficult conversation with friends that reveal truth and authenticity, the local food bank, at the bus stop or in line at the grocery store. As we move beyond our own familiar places and venture into unfamiliar ones, we may increasingly exclaim: “Surely God was in this place, and I didn’t know it”. Author Kate Bowler writes: love, the kind that sustains us is built in small daily acts of showing up. Perhaps we will find ourselves flourishing in ways we might never have imagined because we have allowed God’s grace to enter in where we are and who we’re with and we are blessed. The economy according to Jesus says that love is the true currency and it never runs out. Jesus offers a vision of the future where all flourish. Amen.