Let us pray: O God, take these words and use them, that they may help us to see a glimpse of your way and follow it. Amen.

    If you are in the habit of reading the bulletin cover then you will already know that one of the designations for this Sunday in the United Church of Canada is Camping Sunday. Now you may be wondering why church camping is so important that it merits its very own Sunday in the church year. I’ve wondered the same thing in years past, except that when I realised that for many people the most formative Christian experience in their life occurred when they were at church camp sometime between the ages of ten and fourteen or perhaps older. Something about the experience of living in community with peers and with counselors who are often not much older, often times for the first and longest time of separation from parents, gets sealed in our psyches.

    So, there I’ve made a case for saying lots more about church camping. I could also lapse into a lament for the state of church camping. At the last meeting of Northern Lights Presbytery, we voted to give up on church camping at least for the present time - not enough interest, too much work and too difficult to meet the appropriate standards set by The United Church of Canada. Some of you may have noticed a recent issue of The United Church Observer which had a front cover headline that read: Why B.C. is selling off church camps and read the anguished story about selling some to save a few.

    Then I read the passages for this week, and that seemed to be giving me even more reason to speak about church camping, not because the passages speak so clearly to the subject of camping, but simply because a reflection on church camping would be a lot easier than trying to speak about them.

    I have to admit that today’s passages did not inspire me to coalesce my thoughts into some great theme. Sometimes it makes sense to go back and see what I’ve said in the past, so I did. The lections repeat every three years. In 2004, it happened that the fourth Sunday of Easter was also the last Sunday of April and guess what, a member of the congregation and I did a dialogue on church camping - so not much help there. Back another three years to 2001, and there it was, a sermon (that’s what I called them back in those days!) on Tabitha. A summary of what I said back then is that we should focus on who Tabitha was and her good works - rather than trying to make sense of the miracle and what we understand about it, but only because we would probably not be able to come to any conclusion about the miracle and how and why it happened.  Perhaps that effort from six years ago, was worth another look, but not this time - maybe in three years time.

    In fact, somewhat surprisingly, the passage that spoke to me most this year was the one from Revelation. I enjoy the book of Revelation, but I often want to shy away from it because of the way it is so often misused by Christians from more literal and/or conservative and charismatic traditions. Predictions of impending doom by the most fanatic of such followers, often draw upon passages from the book of Revelation as proof for their dire warnings. In my mind this completely disregards the political and cultural context that surrounded the time of writing.

    What speaks to me instead is the analysis that the book of Revelation is carefully constructed so that the Christian church would see in it some rather clear criticism of the Roman Empire - which was a threat to the followers of the new Christian way, and yet remain quite unclear to the oppressive empire that the writer of Revelation opposed. That’s what I understand the book of Revelation to be about, but what I like about it is the imagery. These are fantastic visions - not in any literal sense, but certainly in a literary sense, and as someone who appreciates literary criticism as a helpful lens for interpretation of scripture, I find it interesting.

    I read it this week from Eugene Peterson’s wonderful paraphrase of the bible called the Message. I find the Message to be a very readable and down-to-earth version of the bible and while I use other translations for other reasons, it seems to be the one I turn to most often these days. In today’s reading as the Message tells it, we have a scene which is very inclusive - all nations and tribes, all races and  languages are represented in a gathering around the Throne. Later on, even the animals are mentioned. In other words this is a gathering of all creation to stand in praise and celebration of the Creator. That’s what I took from this reading - a fantastic vision of inclusive worship.

    I barely need to mention the fantastic vision represented by the psalm selection for today. How many people have been comforted by the vision portrayed in Psalm 23. Countless, I would say. This is perhaps the most well known and  most loved piece of scripture you can find. About the only thing I want to say about this beloved piece of poetry, is to remind you that when something becomes so well known, it does good to read it in a different translation, or try as much as possible to read it in a new light for the new insights it might give beyond the ones already appreciated. I had a colleague at theological college who chose this psalm as the focus of her major project in a course on the psalms for that very reason - and I remember her telling me that she gained new and revolutionary insights in that process. That became a fantastic vision for me of the importance of being able to allow myself to be open to new understandings and new insights.

    The same could be said for the vision that many people find helpful that comes out of the passage from John this morning. The Good Shepherd - I used to have a black velvet poster - it sure looked lovely when I bought it. It depicted Jesus holding a lamb in his arms. You might see a similar picture - hopefully without the black velvet - hanging in church buildings all over the place. Obviously it is a fantastic vision for many people. I also remember talking with a colleague who reacted somewhat differently to a bulletin cover which showed a field of sheep and had a back cover which talked about the Good Shepherd and us being sheep. This friend did not like being called a sheep - sheep are not particularly bright she said, and they will follow each other without much forethought. This little bit of thoughtful analysis on her part showed me exactly why she did not consider herself to be a sheep, and her comment has also stuck with me. Metaphors fail at some point or another and some don’t make it at all.

    There is a tradition among followers of the Jewish faith called Midrash. In Midrash, difficult texts are discussed by people in a search for meaning, with the results of the discussion recorded and added as an extra resource in the interpretation of scripture. Midrash can often be a delightful and helpful addition to the study of scripture and especially when a difficult text - among which today’s passages could be counted, is the one to be studied.

    The point of course is that there is always more to be learned. Fantastic visions for one person might be something entirely different for another. Following God’s way is an exercise in discernment that is partly lived out in the way we understand scripture, and there is always more than one way to interpret what scripture has to say, despite the best attempts of the literalists to tell us something different. The real goal of course is to use scripture as a guide for discerning what God would have us do, and only as one source of information. There are many others - perhaps the insights we receive from companions who give us new perspectives in their own interpretation of scripture or in many other ways as they accompany us along the journey.

    Maybe this was a reflection on church camping after all. I will leave it to you to make the connections. Amen.