Looking Ahead to March 6, 2022 -- 1st Sunday of Lent

 This week is not only the first Sunday of Lent but also the first Sunday of March so we will be celebrating the sacrament of Communion. If you are joining us via YouTube you are invited to have bread and juice available so we can all eat and drink together.

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Genesis 2:7-9, 15-25
• Colossians 3:1-11

The Sermon title is Regaining Paradise

Early Thoughts: We are created to be in paradise. We are created to live in partnership with God and with the rest of God's creation. 

Let us start by naming the fact that the Genesis account, as wonderful an image as it might be (the omitted verses describe and geographically locate the Garden) also assumes a cis-gendered heterosexual world -- at least after the primordial human is split into two. This does not, to my reading, state that this is what God's intention for the human is. It speaks to the knowledge and understanding of the people who wrote these things down many centuries ago. Given that the first human is both (and neither) male and female (until God decides to split them) a wide range of gender possibilities seems to exist in the beginning of the story. As the centuries have passed God has helped us to broaden our understandings of gender identity and human sexuality.

There is, as Wilda Gafney suggests, a wide gulf between the vision we get in Genesis and the understanding of humanity we find in Paul's letter to the Colossians. Paul lists many ways we humans can fail to live into the new life we find in Christ. AS we look at the world and ourselves I think we could likely add to that list. to paraphrase Dorothy "I don't think we're in the Garden anymore..."

Much has been written, and preached, about how we got out of paradise. Much has been preached, and written, about how we fail to deserve paradise. As Lent continues we will hear the end of the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden, when (according to what I was taught as a child) paradise was lost. BUt this week I invite us to pause in the Garden.

As we pause in that vision of the Garden, that vision of partnership with God and God's Creation we do consider where we have lost it. We can not, and should not, try to pretend that the messiness and brokenness of the world are not real. But we can dream of the day when reality will be different. We are called not to dwell on the brokenness of the world but to dwell on God's hope for the world. We are people of Good News. The brokenness of the world is not the Good News. The possibility of restoring the vision of Genesis 2 is the Good News.

In the interim we need to hold the two sides in tension. We hold up the vision, and we name the lived reality. Sometimes the reality seems to crush the vision. But the vision always remains. We have a memory deep in our souls of where we came from. May that memory spur us forward as we grapple with the harsh realities of life.
--Gord

Looking Ahead to February 27, 2022 -- Last Sunday of Epiphany

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Zechariah 8:1-8
• Psalm 95:1-7
• Luke 7:24-35

The Sermon title is Celebrate Renewal!

Early Thoughts: What is being renewed in the world today? What is being restored? Does it make you want to celebrate?

In this Zechariah passage the prophet is sharing a word of hope. The hope is that restoration is possible, indeed that it will actually happen. The Psalm reminds us that God is in charge, that (as another Psalm puts it) "the Earth is the Lord's and the Fulness thereof" (Ps 24:1, KJV). The Luke passage challenges expectations about how God is at work in the world. 

Sometimes when God is at work renewing and restoring things it is hard to recognize what is happening. Often, I suspect, that is because we are not seeing what we expect to see (or what we want to see) in that work of restoration and renewal.

What restoration and renewal do we need in the world as we approach 2 years of COVID-tide? What restoration and renewal do we need in a country that seems so deeply divided, as the recent events in Ottawa have revealed? Where do we see God at work restoring and renewing the world around us?

When the people returned from exile and looked for restoration and renewal they had a shock. It was not what it had been before. It was not as easy as it had been hoped. 

Jesus points out that John the Baptist was different from the normal power brokers in that place and time. Jesus points out that while people complained about John's asceticism they now complain that Jesus is not ascetic enough. Both Jesus and John were part of God's work of renewal in the world.

In our faith story God invites us to be transformed. In that transformation we will find renewal. We may find some things built new, we may find some things to be restored, we may find that some things can not be totally restored but that the new build still has aspects of what once was. I believe that is how restoration and renewal are meant to work as we live in to the Reign of God. It is in touch and continuity with what has come before. It is also a new heaven and a new earth.

AS we come out of COVID-tide we seek to be renewed. We may seek to go 'back to normal'. I suggest that as people of faith we are called to look for what God is doing in the world. We are called to ask how the world has been changed and reflect on how those changes match our understanding of God's hope for the world.

God's been at work restoring and renewing the world for a LONG time now. God continues to be about that work. How will we celebrate the work God is doing in and around us?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to February 20, 2022

 The Scripture Passages this week are:

• 1 Kings 17:17-24
• Psalm 116:1-9
• Acts 9:36-42
  

The Sermon title is LIFE!

Early Thoughts: With God comes life. Or at least with God comes the promise of life. This week our scripture stories remind us of that. They remind us of possibility. They remind us that sometimes we lose hope before the end. And they remind us of that claim that strike close to the core of Christian faith -- Life Wins!

Last week we heard about a widow who met the prophet Elijah and her never-emptying jar of flour. This week we hear some more about the time Elijah sojourns with her. The son dies. The widow reproaches  Elijah (and perhaps through Elijah the God whom Elijah serves). Elijah also reproaches God for the death of the child, and calls on God to intervene. God does and the child is restored to the widow. This probably also helps restore future possibilities to the widow. It appears she is a woman of some means (thou house has an upper room) either due to inheritance or her own labour. But who will take care of her in her aging years?? The restoration of her son gives her that support system.

Our Psalm reading is a plea for God to help. With great trust that God has been, is, and will be present in times of trouble the poet calls upon God for deliverance. Do we express that level of trust? When life falls apart where do we look for solutions? How have we met the deep love and compassion of God in our own lives?

Some of you may remember the story of Jesus and Jairus' daughter. In that story Jesus is approached by a father whose daughter is ill. By the time they get there the daughter has died but Jesus insists she is merely asleep. He then proceeds to wake her.  (This story is found in Mark's Gospel) This week's passage from Acts has many deep resonances with that story. It also has many stark differences.

Tabitha/Dorcas appears to have been a leader and financial supporter of the Christian community in Joppa. Her death has caused great distress within the community, possibly in part because her financial support has been keeping people fed and with her death who knows where that support will come from. Peter is close by and is sent for.  Did the people send for Peter so he could offer words of comfort? Or did they trust that Peter could call upon God and intervene in the situation? Did they expect, or at least hope, that Peter could bring life back into the situation?

At any rate that is exactly what Peter does. Using words very similar to the word Jesus uses in the story of Jairus' daughter Peter calls Tabitha/Dorcas back and there is great rejoicing. Many people see this as witness to Christ, remembering that in Christ God also brought healing and life.

Where do we find life that surprises us? Where/when do we start to mourn and then in a big turn around life pops up and takes us by surprise? 

Last Sunday the sermon talked about compassion. In our stories this week (including a story from Luke that is also about a raising that may get a mention in Sunday's sermon) we see compassion in action. I believe Elijah is moved by compassion for the widow. I believe it is possible that Peter, seeing the great distress within the Christian community at Joppa, is also filled with compassion. After all Peter has learned at the feet of Christ and more than once in the healing miracles stories of the Gospels we are told that Jesus is filled with/motivated by compassion.

And so I am forced to suspect and suggest that the path to life is marked by compassion. The path of love is marked by compassion. Where there is compassion there is life. There may be pain as well, but there is life. ANd in the end Life Wins. Does that mean compassion wins as well?

--Gord

Annual Report 2021

Friends in Christ, Grace and Peace to each and every one of you,

I tend to think in song. Just ask the girls and they could tell you I will occasionally sing snippets of something related to what was just said in the middle of a conversation. [Full disclosure: for some reason they don’t seem to appreciate this.] Because I tend to think in song, every year as Annual Report time draws nigh I find myself wondering what song might capture what needs to be said this year. This year as I started that “what shall I say this year” process there were a couple that came to mind. One was Life in the Goo, a piece written by a friend of mine in the US (I may use that one for something else in the near future). Then there were two written by Nancy Chegus, a name I suspect some in this congregation may recognize. One, Spirit Call, is one I wish I had thought of before writing my piece for the last newsletter. Here is the one that I think helps to encapsulate what needs to be said this year:

Faithful God, Faithful steward, faithful follower of Christ.
Here’s my hand I’ll do my part, and respond with all my heart.
Faithful God, Faithful steward, faithful follower of Christ.
For the gifts that I receive I will respond.
(Faithful God, Faithful Steward by Nancy Chegus ©1995 – refrain)

As we look back at the year that was and look ahead to the years that yet will be how have, and how will, we been faithful stewards? How have we done our part, how have we responded? Many of the answers are in the pages of this report as we recall what all happened around St. Paul’s in 2021.

As I look at the many many ways people in this congregation have responded I am filled with gratitude. And so I wish to say thank you. Thank you for all the ways you have responded with all your heart. Thank you for those who made the Garage Sale happen last August. That you to those who have read Scripture, in person or on video. Thank you to all who have phoned neighbours and friends to help keep in touch. Thank you to those who stepped up to take on a new challenge and learn how to operate our A/V equipment. Thank you to those who have hand delivered newsletters and bulletins and helped keep our community connected. Thank you to those who served on committees and teams and Council to look after the myriad of details that go into keeping this place functioning. Thank you for the financial gifts that pay the bills. Thank you to Alison and Jeannette and the choirs for sharing their music. Thank you to Carla for helping keep us all organized. Thank you for everything, large or small, that you have given to help St. Paul’s United respond to God’s call to be the church in this place and time. THANK YOU!

There’s a place in this world of ours where the hungry people are fed;
refugees find a shelter from life; and the homeless find a bed.
It’s a place of love and caring and you need not look too far,
for it dwells in the heart of the faithful steward acting out their part.
(Faithful God, Faithful Steward by Nancy Chegus ©1995 – verse 1)

St. Paul’s helps to build those places of safety and shelter. St. Paul’s is, I firmly believe, a place of love and caring and incredible generosity. I have always said how wonderfully generous this congregation is and few things capture that as well as our Local Outreach Fund. In 2021 you enabled us to share $11 915 with some of our most vulnerable neighbours. This includes Christmas gifts of $5000 to the Salvation Army, $750 to the Elders Caring Shelter, and $750 to the St. Lawrence Centre (and to that you can add all the gifts of ‘stuff’ that we collected during Advent for Elders Caring and St. Lawrence). The other $5415 is made up of grocery and gasoline (mostly grocery) vouchers given to people referred to us by one of the social agencies in town. This is a wonderful ministry. You can feel proud that you are a part of it.

There’s a change in the wind today feel the Spirit stir in your soul.
See the new trail unbroken ahead, full of mysteries yet untold.
It’s a path of dreams and visions carved by what we do and say.
Step by step hand in hand we will build the future, in God’s name we pray.
(Faithful God, Faithful Steward by Nancy Chegus ©1995 – verse 2)

As we journeyed through 2021 we were still being buffeted by the winds of COVID-19. We are still continually needing to set our sails as we figure out how best to live faithfully and lovingly in the midst of a pandemic. When future church-folk look at the stories and statistics of the church over the years 2021 will, like 2020 before it, be a year with a big asterisk beside it. It has not been the year we would have asked for. Then again, what year has ever really been the year we would have asked for? But we have adapted and adjusted as we needed to. We have not given up. Many of us may have felt close to being overwhelmed at times but we adapted and kept trying.

Now we turn and look ahead, at the future, that new unbroken trail, the undiscovered country. Where is the Spirit leading us next? What mysteries lie around the bend? What rest stops will we find along the way? I don’t know. I am sure many of us have our own hopes and dreams and fears about it. But we will find out together. We will continue to be faithful stewards, acting out our part, responding as best we can with the gifts God has given us. We will Belong...Believe... Love...Listen...Lead. Together.

Yours in Christ,
Rev. Gord Waldie

How Will You Answer? -- Newsletter Piece

“Called by God” What does that mean for you? Does it bring up stories like Peter and Andrew meeting Jesus along the shores of the sea of Galilee, or Moses arguing with a bush, or Jonah hopping on the next ship headed directly away from Nineveh? Or maybe you have the chance to sit with someone as they discern if God is calling them to paid ministry within the church and you listen to their story of feeling called. Or maybe the chair of the Nominations Committee calls you up and uses language about call to help convince you to take on a new task.

Called by God. Is that a comforting idea or a terrifying thought? Maybe a bit of both?

Called by God. Is that an individual thing or a communal thing? Again maybe a bit of both? Actually it is definitely both. We are called as individuals and we are called as a community.

In both cases when we are called by God it is really, as I see it, an invitation. We are being invited to join in the work of Kingdom living and Kingdom creating. We are being asked to take part in tikkun olam, the mending of the world. We are being invited to be part of the new thing God is doing in the world. Really the only question left is to wonder how we will respond to the invitation.

This means we are called to help create a more equitable world. We are called to actively work against structures that create haves and have nots, that declare some people more valuable than others. We are called to actively break down things like racism, and heterosexism and a bunch of other isms. We are called to actively change the way we interact with the non-human parts of creation. We are called to actively create a more loving and caring world.

That sounds a little bit overwhelming now that I see it in print. Luckily being called to do those things does not mean it is up to us to accomplish them. We are not meant to complete the task, we are meant to play our part.

It is my belief that our congregational decision to explore officially becoming an Affirming congregation is responding to God’s call to us as a community. It is my belief that this congregation’s long standing support of the local outreach fund is a part of how we are responding to God’s call. Same with our long-standing commitment to provide space for 12 Step groups to meet. How else do you see us as a community responding to God’s call? What other possibilities do you see that we as a community might choose to pick up for a season or two?

Now I get to the real question I want to ask. What is God calling you to do? Because God is calling each of us to do some thing, or a combination of things. Some of what God calls people to do is done in their faith community. Is God calling you to take on a role within the congregation? Maybe you are already doing that. That is part of how we are called. For some it may be a big part, for others a small part. But it is not the whole picture.

For many people the place they live out God’s call is outside the faith community. Some do it in their career. Some do it in their volunteerism. Some do it in their family life. Some do it through political or social activity. God does not only call us to fill roles within the faith communities. In fact I would suggest that God calls us to be part of faith communities primarily to gain the support and energy to all us to live out our call to action in our everyday life.

I repeat. What is God calling you to do? How has that call stayed the same through the various seasons of your life? How has it changed? I fully expect that we are called to do different things in different parts of our lives. As our experiences and abilities and time availability change over time so are the ways we are called to live. But we are all called. In every season of our lives we are called to do those things I listed above. In every season of our lives, in every setting of our lives, we are called to join in the work of Kingdom living and Kingdom creating. So really the question we need to consider is “how will we answer today, this year, this season?” The answer may change over time. The specifics of what we are called to do might change. But the big picture remains the same.

God is calling us to be part of the new thing God is doing in the world. God is calling us to be a part of the new heaven and the new earth. God invites you to join in the work. How can you respond? How will you respond?