In response to a question about truth and right and wrong a year seven student recently asked a pretty astute question.  How do we know we are right?  How do we know that another groups isn’t?  Who is to say even a group like ISIL may not be right?

It was a confronting moment but a good reminder about being too dogmatic about what we think or believe.  The story of the 10 bridesmaids found in Matthew 25:1-13 is a passage that could lead us quickly down the rabbit hole of judging who is and who is out, who is wise and who is foolish.

The moment we think we are the wise ones we could mistakenly think we do not have to care for those on the other side of the door – the foolish.  Or, even worse, to justify our actions against those we have decided are foolish.

Just as Jesus was critical elsewhere of such piety I wonder if in his telling of the parable of the bridesmaids Jesus is placing a puzzle, a conundrum, a parable! before the disciples.  How does the barrier, the door,  between those who think they are wise (the Pharisees?) and those who seem to be excluded get broken down?

Despite the admonition to stay awake, the answer is not in staying awake, which even the disciples are unable to do in the next chapter, but in the one who wakes us from our slumber breaking forth on Easter morning from the tomb:Jesus!

For the Church, which long ago was spoken of the bride of Christ, I wonder if the question is how do we live celebrating as people who realise that in Christ’s death and resurrection the door between the wise and foolish is as provisional as the door between life and death. How do we live not as wise judges but inviting revelers?

It’s not something I often do but Friday just gone I caught a Brisbane City Council bus to the city.  It was the 411 running fromt the University of Queensland and as I hopped on the half full bus I noticed it was predominantly populated with young students.

The bus was clean, it seemd relativel new, and the ride was smooth – almost peaceful as we cruised over the hill on Swann Road.  But it wasn;t the smooth ride and clean unholstery that delightffully surprised.

At the first stop a young student popped off and jumping out the rear door yelled a thank you to the driver.  Then again at the next stop the same was repeated.

All the way into the city as the passengers disembarked the audible thank yous echoed cheerfully down the aisle to the bus driver.

In the current Australian climate of fear and suspicion, especially with the G20 looming large it was truly a delight to see some basic human kindness in action.  I’m not sure if this is everyone’s experience of riding the 411 but if it is maybe there are a few others out there who could catch a bus occasionaly just to be reminded and delighted that we human beings can be capable of just that little bit more than suspicion, fear and hate.

Psalm 139 begins with the words “O Lord, you have searched me and known me” and in our existential journey the notion of being known appears to be important.  We do not want to go quietly into the night or be lost in anonymous obscurity.

Yet these words of comfort are also challenging for us as we contemplate how well we might know God, others and even ourselves.

In a recent conversation around social media the comment was made that what we see in cyberspace is not real because people so edit the persona they present.  A statement consistent with a comment that made to me by a young adult that sharing stuff on Facebook was harmless.

I would challenge both of these statements.  Firstly, because in any setting we find ourselves, with any different group of people, we are always constructing our identity – whether consciously or not.  Secondly, because words sent out into the ether of the cyber world are recorded and carry as much weight as words said or written anywhere else.

In our relationship with God Psalm 139 reminds us that the masks that we wear and the words that we say are seen through by the one who knit us together in our mother’s womb.

God continues to love and care for us despite what we might try to hide from others and even ourselves.  It makes me wonder whether a key to spiritual growth is to come to know ourselves and each other as we are known – a place that might lead us into deeper respect, care and concern for one another.

In Matthew 6 Jesus says, ‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.’

Over my years of ministry I have heard countless stories from congregation members and friends of unseen good deeds.  Things as simple as cooking a meal for someone when they are in a difficult patch through to giving away items to a family in need – a fridge, a bed, even a car on ‘permanent’ loan.  Acts of kindness and love, often done deliberately out of a person’s faith and sometimes simply because a person felt it was the right thing to do.

Whilst many congregations run programs and individual Christians do things in the light of day, witnesses to be seen, often in a congregation or a person that little appears to being lived out a hidden world lies behind the apparent inertia.

What is more important?  Giving an open witness or the things done in secret? Or does it ultimately matter?  The video attached “Give a little love” by Noah and the Whale speaks of the strength of the small witnesses, not quite hidden but apparent enough to bring about transformation.

Each year the Kennedy Centre in the US honours an artist for their contribution to American culture. Below is one of my favourite performances and artists from that series.  John Williams and James Taylor honour the great Celloist Yo Yo Ma.

Whilst most of us live lives of anonymity and obscurity I am often struck by the intimacy with which God shares our life, in Jesus and through the Spirit.  Whilst Psalm 139 was written long before the incarnation of Jesus I can’t help but be struck by the idea that God, who knows us so intimately, would want each of us on this earth to feel the sense of worth and honour that Yo Yo Ma must have felt at this moment.

And, in contemplating this, to contemplate that each person is of such worth to be applauded in God’s eyes and presence, surrounded by all the saints.  

What would it mean for us to take this seriously to honour others as God might, honouring: children seeking asylum in detention; the people of Israel and Palestine in the Gaza strip; those who have died on flights; the people of Syria and Iraq; indigenous Australians; all peoples everywhere. How would it change our plicies, practices and attitudes?

Maybe, this performance gives us a glimpse of eschatological hope, “Here comes the Sun”… “Here comes the Son”, as we think about our inability to honour people’s lives, as so few are honoured, but to think God might just honour all our lives by being one of us.

In the first chapter of the Bible, after creating humanity, God’s response is to look upon all that God has made and reflect that “it was very good” – this means including humanity!  Notwithstanding the problematic nature of human beings, of you and I, we should never forget this first and fundamental complement when God looked upon humans and thought “very good”.

Many people struggle to accept that there is goodness within themselves.  In the West we are in a culture that seems to breed self-hate and self-esteem issues as we compare ourselves to the next person. It is partly because of this that we struggle to hear the complements that come our way from God let alone anyone else.

In this video, from Soul Pancake, the way complements are both given and received impact on people is explored.  Given that Christian worship has traditionally revolved around eucharist (thanksgiving) it left me wondering whether or not we clearly hear God’s complements to us, even the simplest and first one “it was very good”, and whether we understand because God first loved (complements), we too love (complement) others and so community is built? How would it change our experience of worship to know that it is not simply us praising, complementing God, but us hearing God’s complement to us again and again and again!