Looking Ahead to November 1, 2020 -- All Saints' Day

 This being the first Sunday of November we will be celebrating the sacrament of Communion.

The Scripture Readings this week are

• Revelation 7:9-17
• 1 John 3:1-3
  

The Sermon title is For All the Saints

Early Thoughts: We are surrounded, so the book of Hebrews tells us, by a great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1). That Cloud is made up of all those who have gone before us, and so it is fitting to remember them this weekend on All Saint's Day.

On this day we pause to give thanks for those who have gone before us and passed the faith down to us. On this day we pause to remember those who have been key parts of our lives. On this day we remind ourselves that they are still with us in some way.

AS the article linked above notes, this celebration has moved around over the centuries. But it has long been associated with this time of year. In fact the name Halloween is a corruption of "All Hallows Eve", the day before All Saint's Day. ANd I think it is appropriate that it falls at this time of year. This week is the old Celtic festival of Samhain, a festival that lies beneath many of our Halloween traditions. At Samhain it was believed that the veil between the world of the living and the other world was especially thin. That could be a time to worry about ghosts and ghouls. It could also be a time to be thanksful for those who have gone before us.

Who has gone before you that you want to remember this year? Who are the saints that have brightened your life's journey thus far?

--Gord

Looking Ahead to October 18, 2020 -- 20th Sunday After Pentecost

 This Sunday we will be celebrating the sacrament of Baptism.

The Scripture readings for this week are:

• Isaiah 43:1-7, 16-19
• Isaiah 45:1-8

The Sermon title is Called By Name

Early Thoughts:  There is a power in being called by name. There is a power in giving a name. Naming matters.

In Baptism we recognize that this person is a Beloved Child of God. In Baptism we recognize that something special is present in our midst. We acknowledge that God has claimed this child as God's own and that God has promised to be with this child even through fire or flood -- or what ever else the world may have to throw at them.

I think we all have days when we need to be reminded of those things. Are there days you forget, even for a moment, that you are a Beloved Child of God? Are there days when you wonder if God is actually there walking with you through fire or flood (or pandemic or economic crisis or...)?

AS people of faith we are called to be people of hope. We are challenged to have hope that the crisis in which we find ourselves one day is not the end of the story. We are encouraged to remember that God has the last say and, in the words of Julian of Norwich, "all manner of thing be well" -- someday at least.

Isaiah is speaking to people in exile, telling them that they will soon be allowed to go home. Isaiah is reminding people that even though they have been dragged from their homes (well for many of them their parents were dragged away from home), dragged away from the place where the house of God stood (and in fact the Temple has been destroyed), God is with them. Isaiah is telling the people that God is at work amongst them, that something new is about to happen.

Where is God these days? What new thing is God doing in our midst today?

God has called each one of us by name. God speaks to and loves each of us as individuals. God has laid claim to us, we are not left alone, we are not forgotten, we are held in God's hand. This is Good News!

How does knowing that we are named and claimed by God change how we will live our lives?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to October 11, 2020 -- Thanksgiving Sunday

 

Our 2017 Thanksgiving Display

 

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Deuteronomy 8:7-18
• 2 Corinthians 9:6-15
  

  

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The Sermon title is Remember! Be Thankful! Be Generous! 

Early Thoughts: What is Thanksgiving Day for? A big meal? A long weekend? In NW Ontario the 2nd Saturday of October marked the beginning of moose season so a three day hunting excursion was on some minds. Or maybe is it a time to stop and reflect on life. Maybe that reflection will lead us to gratitude. Maybe that gratitude will lead us to be more generous.

The Revised Common Lectionary is a 3 year cycle. In 2 of those three years the suggested reading from the Jewish Scriptures comes from Deuteronomy. And both of those passages are a recapping of what God has done for God's people. Apparently remembering is a key part of being thankful. Apparently reminding ourselves of gifts given is a key part of being thankful for those gifts. And thinking about it, that makes a whole lot of sense. So the first step in our Thanks-giving is to Remember.

2012

The next step, logically enough, is to Be Thankful. Once we have recognized what gifts we have in our lives we have to choose to be thankful for them. We could choose to see them as entitlements rather than gifts. We could choose to say these are things that are owed to us, or things that are our right to have. But maybe that is both unrealistic and unhelpful. If we see our lives as gifts. If we see those things that make our life full and abundant as gifts then I believe we will be happier, we will be more grateful (which in and of itself changes how we view the world), we will be less likely to lament our perceived lack or scarcity, we will see the abundance that is a part of our lives. And then we will be able to give thanks.

Some people might say that the cycle ends there.  we remember, we recognize our gifts, and we give thanks. I disagree. As I consider the words and teachings of Scripture, as I consider everything I have learned about the life of faith I think there is a next step. As Children of God we are blessed, we are given gifts, we are called to be thankful people. As Children of God we are called to respond to God's gifts. We are called and challenged to Be Generous. This, I think, is the natural culmination of our Thanksgiving cycle. When we see the world as a place filled with gifts and abundance, when our hearts are thanks-filled, when we are singing praises to God for what God has done, how can we help but be generous with the world around us? And so we share with the world those things that we have been given. It is my belief that when we do that we actually have a better life. Gratitude and generosity change how we see and experience the world.

And all that is great. It is a message that could (and has) been preached on many a Thanksgiving Sunday. But this year feels different. This year there are many voices out there pointing out the list of things not to be thankful for. This year there may be more people than usual questioning what we have to be thankful for. Then again, there are some of those voices every year.

So what do you pause to remember this year? What gifts have you been given this year? Why do you say thank-you to God in the midst of the chaos that has been 2020? How are you, how can you continue to be, generous?

Blessed Thanksgiving my friends.
--Gord