Monday, January 31, 2022

Looking Forward to February 6, 2022

 This Sunday is the first Sunday of February so we will be celebrating the sacrament of Communion. If you are joining us on-line you are invited to have bread and juice available so we can all eat and drink together.

The Scripture Readings this week are:

  • Song of Songs 4:9-15
  • Psalm 45:6-10, 12-15
  • John 2:1-11

Handfasting

The Sermon title is Joined in Love

Early Thoughts: What binds us to each other and to God? How do we celebrate this being bound together?

This week we have a portion of a love song. We have verses from a psalm celebrating a royal wedding. And we have the story of a wedding where running out of wine turns into an incredible abundance of wine. 

For ages, probably most of human history, marriage has been seen as that way we celebrate being bound together in love. Now if we are honest we know that throughout human history marriage has not always lived up to that ideal of being bound together in love, but still the image persists.

This is probably why Christians have long talked about the church as being the Bride of Christ. In Jewish Scripture we find similar imagery to talk about the bond between God and Israel. So what does it mean to see ourselves as bonded to God in such a way? For better or worse? In sickness and in health?

To me it is, in part, a reminder that we are not walking the road alone. To be joined in love with another, or with others plural, means that we are there to share the road, to support each other, to have someone with whom we can vent. Better or worse. Sickness and health. As the New Creed says "we are not alone". 

ANd in part joined in love is about praise. It is about seeing the person(s) we love with eyes that highlight the gifts and the beauty of who they are. It does not mean we only see them as perfect. It does mean we highlight the blessings over the struggles, we see the beauty that overcomes the flaws.

Then there is that incredible abundance. Wine is often seen, in both ancient and modern times, as a sign of blessing, a piece of luxury and joy. "A loaf of bread, a jug of wine and thou" is what it takes to make one happy according to the aphorism. At the wedding in Cana the joy must have been amazing! One of the things we hope will happen when we are joined in love with another (or a group) is that the joy is present in abundance. Even when things are not going according to plan (remember they ran out of wine first) there is the possibility of joy in amazing abundance. That is part of the promise of being joined in love.

It would be easy to make these passages all about marriage. But Marriage is a symbol of what it means to be joined in love. It is a powerful symbol to be sure but it is a symbol that can be misused at times. Sometimes we make an idol of the status "married" or we set limits on who can be permitted to have that status and we miss the point of the symbol. In the end the point is the power and depth of the relationship. Joined in love is about the relationship, not the social or legal status of the relationship. 

Scripture is clear that we are bound in love with God. Scripture is clear that we are meant to be bound in love with other humans. How has being joined in love with God and with others changed who you are?
--Gord

Monday, January 24, 2022

Looking Ahead to January 30, 2022 -- Marking the Feast of the Presentation

 The Scripture Readings for this week are:

  • Leviticus 12:1-8
  • Luke 2:22-38

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The Sermon title is Renewed, Restored, Purified

Early Thoughts: When have you felt like you needed a time of purification? What has made you feel cleansed and renewed?

Jewish Law has many discussions of clean vs unclean or pure vs impure. There are a variety of things after which one would need a period of time and often a ritual of some sort to be purified or cleansed. This is not about sinfulness, not about having done something wrong. Anything  involving blood would require a time and ritual of purification and so child birth is one of those things.

This has often led to some interesting (or downright misogynistic and damaging) discussion regarding women's health and 'cleanliness'.

Traditionally the Feast of the Presentation is held on February 2nd (aka Candlemas, aka Groundhog Day). When you look at the Leviticus passage and do the math, assuming Jesus is born on December 25th, February 2nd is indeed the day when Mary's time of purification is done. (Birth on December 25, Circumcision on the 8th day -- January 1, then February 2nd is the 33rd day after that) How did these timelines get developed? Was it a sense that this gave time for the mother to recover from childbirth and the child to grow stronger? Was it a need to give time for the unclean-ness to dissipate? Maybe both? At any rate here we are. Mary and Joseph appear in the Temple for the ritual of Presentation and to mark Mary's time of purification.

It is an interesting story. At the time of his presentation Jesus is recognized for who he is by two righteous elderly members of the Jewish community in Jerusalem. There is a great sermon there. But for this moment let us stay with those questions about clean/unclean or pure/impure.

Why do we call some things, people, ideas clean or unclean? Why do we fixate on what we consider pure or impure?  Certainly there are hygiene and sanitation reasons for these things, at least some times. But are there other considerations? Are there times that our definitions of unclean or impure have been used to set others aside or keep others out?  (I am pretty sure the answer to that one is yes).

And perhaps most importantly, how do we restore those who have been cleansed? How do we return them to the community as a whole? The point of the rituals in Jewish law is that restoration, that recognition that cleansing has happened. Jewish Law recognizes that life is sometimes messy but that this does not cause irreparable unclean-ness -- nor is it about sinfulness or guilt. It allows a way to be returned to the life of the community.

Sometimes I think we have forgotten that restoration, renewal and purification are possible. Sometimes I wonder of we even see it as a goal? Maybe we get too focused on guilt and shame and sinfulness to see that sometimes life is just messy and we need time to recover from the messiness.
--Gord

Monday, January 17, 2022

Looking Ahead to January 23, 2022

 The Scripture Readings this week are:

  • Zephaniah 3:14-20
  • Mark 1:29-31

The Sermon title is Delivered and Healed

Early Thoughts: What would it mean to you to be delivered? Delivered from what? How do you see that delivering happening? What does it mean to be healed? Is healing part of being delivered, part of being freed?

 This week we read the last few verses of Zephaniah. As I read through the 3 chapters of that book I would say that these last few verses are the most hope-filled words the prophet has shared with us. Zephaniah lived and worked before the exile, in the time of Josiah, King of Judah. Josiah is known for spearheading what is known as the Deuteronomic Reform, an attempt to bring the people of Judah back to faithful adherence to the service of YHWH.

In these verses Zephaniah share a vision of a time of celebration. Earlier in the book there have been words of judgment against Judah because they have wandered astray. Some suggest that the earlier words of judgment are from a time before Josiah's reforms and that these words suggest a more hopeful vision of what will happen if the reforms take hold and transform the way the people live.

This reading celebrates that God is in the midst of God's people (more precisely in the City of Zion, sometimes called the City of God). It talks of how the people, signified by the Daughter of Jerusalem, will be delivered and that is the cause for the celebration. As we read it now, almost 2700 years after the words were written, do we still seek deliverance from those people and events that cause us woe and oppression? What will lead us to sing and dance and celebrate?

Our brief reading from Mark's Gospel shares a healing story. It seems to me that healing and deliverance are closely linked (and yes I would make that linkage even if we were not 2 years into a global health crisis). To be delivered from those things that oppress us, to be set free to be who God has formed us to be, to be brought home in God, is a form of healing. 

We continue to seek deliverance, we continue to be in need of healing. WHat might it look like for us in 2022?
--Gord

Monday, January 10, 2022

Looking Ahead to January 16, 2022 -- Baptism of Christ Sunday

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 The Scripture Readings this week are:

  • Isaiah 62:1-7,10-12
  • Psalm 18:2-11, 16-19
  • Matthew 3:1-6, 11-17

The Sermon title is Called, Beloved, Supported

Early Thoughts: Are you a beloved child of God? What does it mean to you to hear that you are a called, beloved, supported child of God? What does it mean to belong to a community that is called, beloved and supported by God?

This week's Isaiah reading is from the time of exile, talking about the time of return and renewal. It talks about how Jerusalem will be healed from her trauma and destruction. Is that part of being a beloved supported child of God? Are we also promised renewal and restoration from our our traumas?

Psalm 18 comes from David, during his time of conflict with Saul, after he has escaped from peril. For David, being a beloved, called, supported child of God means that God will deliver him. God will protect. God will hear. God will be a rock, a fortress, a shield. Is that part of our promise?

Then we have Matthew's account of Jesus and John at the Jordan. John has been a voice in the wilderness, calling God's people to repentance. John has been sharing a hope, a promise, a prediction of one who will come, one who will bring pour out the Holy Spirits on the people as an act of baptism. John seems reluctant to baptize Jesus, the roles seem reversed in John's mind.

In the verses omitted from this week's reading there is a reference to the children of Abraham. Often that phrase is used in Scripture (both Jewish and Christian) to refer to the descendants of Isaac, son of Sarah. Sometimes in Christian circles it has been expanded to include non-Jewish Christians as "spiritual descendants" of Abraham. But the stories in Genesis make it clear that the descendants of Ishmael, son of Hagar are also children of Abraham. Is it possible that the list of the called, beloved, supported children of God is broader than we wish to admit?

As Christians we baptize folk because Jesus was baptized. As Christians we proclaim that in our baptism we too are called, claimed and commissioned. We too are beloved and supported children of God. Just like Jerusalem, our communities are beloved by God. Will we be restored and renewed? Will we be delivered and protected? What might that look and feel like?
--Gord

Monday, January 3, 2022

Looking Ahead to January 9, 2022

 The Scripture Readings this week are:

  • Psalm 36:5-10
  • 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
  • Luke 2:41-51

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The Sermon title is Trust in God, Grow in Wisdom

Early Thoughts: What do you do to feed your thirst for wisdom? 

I think it could be argued that Christianity, like many other faith traditions, is a wisdom tradition.  Certainly it is more than that, but a particular form of wisdom underlies much of what it means to follow Jesus.

As Paul tells us, it is a wisdom unlike that of the rest of the world. After all, a tradition that includes the instruction to love your enemies certainly wanders from the common sense of every day wisdom.

A classic way to feed our thirst for wisdom is to seek instruction. In this week's Gospel story that is what Jesus does. Not the place most of us would expect to find a child who had wandered off is it?

Often people have tried to spin this story as saying that Jesus was astounding the elders in Jerusalem as he taught them. That is not what the text says (and is really growing out of an anti-Semitic understanding that Jesus has all the wisdom and the Jewish people are in error). The text clearly says that Jesus is sitting  there and learning from them. Jesus is growing in wisdom because Jesus is willing and ready to sit and listen and engage in conversation.

[I have always loved this story for a whole other reason. The image of Mary and Joseph losing track of their son, and just assuming he is traveling with the neighbours is absolutely delightful. I suspect many a parent can share the anxiety felt and expressed (possibly as anger) when they finally find the young man.]

As Luke tells us this story we see Jesus at 12. In contemporary Judaism the traditional age of a bar mitzvah is 13. Jesus is about to come of age. As he approaches this milestone he seeks out instruction and engagement with his tradition. He seeks wisdom.  

Wisdom is not the same as rote learning, though memorizing key ideas and tenets is a part of gaining wisdom. Rote learning passes on knowledge. Wisdom comes when we put that knowledge into use, when we engage with it and our world.

AS followers of Christ we follow a particular brand of wisdom. Sometimes this particular wisdom goes against the current of the world around us. Sometimes it appears to be foolishness. But always it is founded on trusting God's presence in our lives, always predicated on listening for God's voice. That voice may come through the teachings of old. It may come in a new question or challenge that pushes us to see things differently. Where will we seek out wisdom?
--Gord