OCtober Newsletter We Trust in God

Do we really? When we get right down to it do we really trust in God? Sometimes I wonder about that.

That four word line, “We Trust in God” is at the middle of the United Church Creed (aka the New Creed). I think that this is intentional. Sometimes, not always but sometimes, being in the exact center of a piece of poetry is a telling thing. In our case it places the idea of trusting in God at the center of our faith statement. Does that put it at the center of our faith?

I think trust in God is pretty close to the center of our faith. I think that we trust in the God revealed by Jesus. We trust that God is a work within the world establishing God’s Kingdom as was proclaimed by Jesus. We trust that God is providing for our welfare, giving us life and that in abundance. In theory at least.

To be honest I often think we trust in God in our words, in our statements, in our rhetoric. I also think we often live out of doubt. I think we live as if we trust God, but trust ourselves a bit more. This is, perhaps, most true in the question of whether we trust that God is there to provide life in abundance.

Maybe it is because we have grown up in a society that puts a lot of emphasis on the need to be independent. Maybe it is because many people live with the worry that some day they will not have ‘enough’. Maybe it is because there are so many voices telling us that we have to look out for ourselves – no one else will do it for us. For what ever reason it seems like our first instinct is to trust in ourselves rather than in God.

This year on Thanksgiving Sunday we will be reading a passage from the Sermon on the Mount. In that passage Jesus tells his listeners that they should not worry about things like food or clothing. God clothes the lilies of the field and feeds the birds of the air, Jesus says, so why would God not do the same for you? Whenever I read that passage I am reminded of a piece by Natalie Sleeth I learned many many years ago in Sunshine Choristers (as our Junior Choir was called) named Consider the Lilies. The last verse of it goes:

For more than the lilies that bloom and grow, more than the birds of the air,
Your Maker forever your need will know and feed you with heavenly care.
Through the grace of God above, tending all in constant love,
Every want shall be supplied, for God the Lord will provide.

Can we trust in God that much? Can we truly stop worrying about food or clothing or shelter? Can we simply trust that God will ensure our basic needs are met, freeing us to spend energy on other issues? [As a side note, this is part of the argument for a Guaranteed Livable Income, to take away the worry about basic needs and free up energy for other things but that is a whole other column.] Honestly I am not sure if I can.

I am a worrier. I overthink. I can almost always find the worst possible result to any situation. The idea of simply trusting that my basic needs will be met is a little bit daunting.

I do trust in many things. I trust that God is at work in the world. I trust that God is gracious and forgiving. I trust that some how God is working to bring a Kingdom of Shalom out of this mess we call life. But trusting in the every day provision of needs? That is still a growing edge for me.

What about you? Where do (and don’t) you trust God?
Gord

Looking Ahead to October 3, 2021 -- Worldwide Communion Sunday, 19th After Pentecost, Proper 22B

 This Sunday we will be celebrating the Sacrament of Communion. If you are joining us via YouTube you are encouraged to have bread and juice available so that we can all eat and drink together (while physically separated).

Also this Sunday during the Time for the Young at Heart we will be offering a virtual Pet Blessing. If you want your pet included in this please send in a picture by Friday.

The Scripture Reading for this week is Job 1:1; 2:1-10

The Sermon title is When Life is Unfair....

Early Thoughts: We have all said it at one time or another. "It just isn't fair!" Or maybe "Why ME!?!" Or possibly "What did I do to deserve this?"

Job is justified in saying any of those things and Job knows it. Job know that he has done nothing to deserve the destruction that has visited his household. He knows it is not fair. And yet Job remains faithful. Job refuses to curse God despite the gross unfairness of the situation. Maybe this is why Job has become a name equated with patience.

As the book continues Job never swerves from his insistence that this is not fair and that his punishment is undeserved. Even as his 3 "comforters" try to convince him that there is a logic and a reason to everything Job knows that this is not so. Eventually Job will rage at God over this unfairness, and get a response as God speaks to Job from the midst of the whirlwind. And eventually Job will be rewarded for remaining faithful. But the fact remains. What happens to Job is unfair, is undeserved, is seemingly some form of entertainment for a capricious God and one of God's retainers. The story of Job disturbs me in a variety of ways.

But still it opens a window for some pretty basic questions. What do we do when life is so patently unfair? What does it mean to remain faithful when it appears that God is either randomly capricious or spiteful or just impotent to control things? A global pandemic seems to be one of those things that might bring up those questions.

We are never promised that life will be fair. Lived experience shows us that sometimes in fact life is really quite unfair. What do we do with that?

In part we name it. We lament it. We even rage about it. God is big enough to listen to our weeping and raging.

And then we look for a way to live with it, to live through it. Sometimes we also look for a way to end it, to ensure that this particular form of unfairness, of injustice, of mistreatment ends and is not allowed to resurface. Sometimes we accept that there are ways that life is a little bit more random than we would like.

What do you do when life is unfair? How does it impact your relationship with God?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to September 26, 2021 -- 18th Sunday After Pentecost , Proper 21B

 The Scripture Reading this week is James 5:13-20

The Sermon title is Praying Community = Caring Community

Early Thoughts: We are called to be the church. We are called to be a community. We are called to love and serve others. We are called to care for our neighbours, to act lovingly towards them. We are called to pray for and with each other.

There are so many ways we show that we are a caring community. It is one of the gifts of being part of a healthy congregation.  A healthy congregation hears each other's stories, celebrates together, weeps together, holds each other up. And yes they pray together.

There is something special about being in a group that prays together. Even if it is people with whom you generally do not agree, even if it is with people with who you never agree, there is something special about praying together, praying for each other. It builds community. It ties us together. It lifts us up.

I do believe that prayer makes a difference. It may not be the magic wishing list that some think it is but it makes a difference. It changes the world in some way. It changes US in some way. 

Let us pray together. When we worry, when we celebrate, when we hurt, let us pray together. Let us care for each other.
--Gord

Looking Ahead to September 19, 2021 -- 17th Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 20B

 The Scripture Reading this week is Mark 8:22-30

The Sermon title is Who Do You See?

(I forget where I first found this)

Early Thoughts: At the center of what it means to be a follower of Christ is to keep Jesus at the center of the picture. Or maybe to wear a set of "Jesus Glasses" whose lenses change how we see the world. So when you look at Jesus who do you see? Is the picture clear? OR is it a little fuzzy at times?

Immediately following this week's passage Jesus talks about his upcoming death and Peter is unwilling to hear that. What Peter sees when he sees Jesus does not include the cross and empty tomb -- or at least not yet. Is Peter seeing clearly or is he missing a part of the picture?

The healing miracle that starts this week's reading has always fascinated me. It is a story that only Mark could tell, only Mark allows for an imperfect healing, the other Gospel writers need Jesus to get it right the first try. But I think this is a much more honest, much more accurate portrayal of how Jesus changes our lives.  Sometimes we only get a hazy view of the Kingdom, and Jesus needs to give us another dose to help us get there. 

Or sometimes, like Peter, we only see what we want to see and then Jesus needs to set us straight to help clear our vision.

SO when you look at Jesus what do you see? How do you interpret the person you see standing there?

--Gord

Looking Ahead to September 12, 2021 -- 16th Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 19B

 The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Proverbs 1:20-33
• Psalm 1
• Psalm 19

The Sermon title is The Way of Wisdom

Early Thoughts: Here we are in the middle of an election campaign and 20 years into the "War on Terror". What would be the way of wisdom in today's world? Where have we followed it? Where have we walked away from it?

The psalm readings for this week suggest that a big part of wisdom is following God's path, God's Law. Listen to the One who has a vision for the world. Listen to the One who desires life in abundance for God's people.

The Proverbs reading draws a picture of someone standing on  street corner calling people back to the way of wisdom. If Lady Wisdom/Sophia were to be calling out on our street corners (or maybe the modern equivalent would be posting on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/TikTok) what might she say to us today?

I suspect she would continue to ask questions like: "How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?". I often think that we stray so far from the path of wisdom that we have trouble finding our way back.

Wisdom, as I understand it, looks at what is best for us all as a collective. Wisdom looks at the long-term. Wisdom is the path that leads us to live a citizens of the Kingdom of God. Wisdom looks to peace and justice not punishment and retribution.

Wisdom, as the world seems to understand it, sometimes looks different. It pushes people to ask "what is in it for me?", the individual over the collective. It seems to operate in short term, immediate results (or at best the next election cycle) rather than thinking in terms of decades or generations. It is open to punishment, revenge, and payback as ways to achieve goals.

I want us to open ourselves to Scripture's wisdom. I want us to pay attention to that voice calling in the streets. I want us to look to see where God is pushing us. The wisdom of the world has lead us to this place of climate emergency, a 20 year unwinnable war, a time when basic public health measures are debated/protested/ignored in the name of 'my rights', a time when some have multi-billions and others have empty stomachs. The world's wisdom has failed us. Maybe it is time to look somewhere else.

What would it take for us to be describe thusly "They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither."?
--Gord

...To Seek Justice and Resist Evil (September Newsletter)

 One of the questions I ask of parents in a baptism service is “Desiring the freedom of new life in Christ, do you seek to resist evil, and to live in love and justice?”. A more traditional wording might be something like “Trusting the gracious mercy of God, will you turn from the forces of evil, and renounce their power?” (some traditions might simply say Satan instead of the forces of evil). Very similar (if not exactly the same) questions are asked in a Re-Affirmation of Baptism/Confirmation service. Part of entering the Christian family is recognizing the need to resist evil in the world.

What does that mean, to resist evil? It is my experience that United Church folk do not like to use that word, evil, very much. We love to talk about seeking justice. Indeed as a denomination with deep roots in the Social Gospel movement it sometimes seems that a particular understanding of seeking justice is our primary raison d’etre. But what about the second half of the sentence? What are we resisting as we seek justice?

In her book Inspired the late Rachel Held Evans talks about the various types of stories she finds in Scripture. Last night I finished reading about Fish Stories, next I will read about Church Stories. One of the earlier chapters was about Resistance Stories. In that chapter Evans reminds the reader that there is a consistent thread of resistance that runs at least from Exodus to Revelation. Over and over again the people of God resist various empires that are actively working against God’s vision of the world. I think that thread of resistance continues to this very day.

As people who follow The Way of Christ we resist those people and forces and systems that work stand in contradiction to the Reign of God. That is what it means to me to say we resist evil. Evil is a word we use to describe those things that work against the abundant life for all of God’s children promised in the life, ministry, teaching, death and resurrection of Christ. Conveniently (and I am sure wholly coincidentally) the English word evil is the mirror image of LIVE. Evil stands against life. As people called to celebrate life, to live life to its fullest, to help all our neighbours live life to its fullest, we have no choice but to resist evil.

And how do we do that exactly? Part of it is by telling and remembering the stories. When we tell the stories of our faith, when we remember the hope and the promise we hold up a different vision of the world. When we tell the stories and we look at how the stories intersect with our lives we find the strength and courage to stand in the face of Empire and proclaim a bold new world. We also resist evil by sharing our worlds of hope and love and resistance. Empire never gets defeated if nobody challenges it. So we challenge. We challenge all those “isms” of our world that degrade and attack and dehumanize our neighbours. We challenge the assumptions that there have to be winners and losers, where the winners triumph on the backs of the losers. We resist evil as we seek justice. We are not satisfied to challenge the way things are, we are not satisfied to share a dream or a vision, we actively seek ways to help bring the vision to reality. We actively change the story of our world, we change the rhetoric, we change the assumptions. And there is one more piece...

Look again at those questions in the first paragraph, particularly the second one. It asks about turning from evil. Other wordings of the question ask the candidate (or their parents) to renounce Satan/the forces of evil. We can only be honest about our attempts to resist evil if we are willing to acknowledge that at some times and in some ways we have been and are complicit in that evil. Resisting evil and seeking justice is never only about changing them. It always involves being honest about who we are and opening ourselves to change. That is the path to new life. It is hard to advocate for systemic or structural change. It is harder to admit that we are a part of those systems and structures.

May God help us all to resist evil and seek justice – both out there and in side our own communities, inside our own homes, inside our own selves. And may God’s will be done, God’s Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven.
Gord