Looking Ahead to July 3, 2022 -- 4th Sunday After Pentecost

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• 1 Samuel 2:12-17, 22-25
• 1 Timothy 6:6-16
• Luke 16:10-13

The Sermon title is Faithful or Worthless?

Early Thoughts: What kind of a servant are you?

Eli was the High Priest. He is the one who is teaching the boy Samuel, who will become the next great leader in the story of the Israelites. Eli's sons, however, are a problem. They are expected to follow in their father's footsteps, to inherit the role as priest, but it seems they are only in it for themselves. They are misusing the sacrifices offered by the people. Even when their father pleads with them to change their ways they take no notice. As spiritual leaders they are, to be honest, worthless and scoundrels.

Timothy raises the faithful/worthless question from a slightly different perspective. The letter writer makes the less than subtle suggestion that maybe faithfulness is determined by what we consider most important.  If we assign ultimate value to the wrong things can we truly be faithful slaves/servants? (in the world where Scripture was written there is essentially no difference between slave and servant)

Then we have Luke, who brings in questions of honesty and dishonesty. It is a statement of faith that we have been entrusted with what belongs to another (God). It is a question of stewardship if we have kept that trust well and honestly. And, in the end, Luke goes to a similar place as Timothy. Which master will we serve? Can we be truly faithful to more than one?

You know something? I think I may have asked the wrong question up above. I think what I should have asked is "when are you a more faithful slave/servant and when are you less faithful?". Or maybe, following the logic we fine in Timothy and Luke, the question should be "to what master are you a faithful slave/servant?" "what do we think is of ultimate importance in guiding our actions?".

WE are called to be faithful slaves/servants in matters both big and small. Part of the way we respond to that call is to know when our wants fall into second place, that way we avoid the mistakes made by Eli's sons. Part of the way we respond is to put ultimate importance on community and basic needs being met and not falling prey to the love of money -- the root of all evil. Part of what it means is to remember that it is not, in the end, our stuff we are taking care of. And part of being a faithful slave/servant is to remember who is really in charge, who the master truly is.

How will you be a faithful slave or servant of God?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to June 26, 2022

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Psalm 144:3-4, 12-15
• 1 Peter 2:4-10

The Sermon title is Living Stones

Early Thoughts: Stones. Living? Stones that live? Seems like an odd image doesn't it? But that is what the writer of this letter suggests, that we are Living Stones, being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.

What does it mean to see ourselves that way?

I think it calls us to remember that we are part of something bigger. I think it also calls us to remember that we rely on a solid foundation and cornerstone --Christ. I think it pushes us to ask how we may be used by God in this act of construction.Certainly it reminds us that it is not all about us, that we do not proclaim our own actions but the God who is at work around, within, and through us in this act of construction.

Then comes the kicker. Once we were not a people, now we are God's people, recipients of mercy. There is a great blessing in that verse. I think there is also an obligation in that verse. If we see ourselves as God's people how might that change the way we see ourselves, our neighbours, the world. How might it change our actions and choices?

What is a living stone? Is it a stone that moves or simply a stone that is changed? How are we like stones? Are we hard and unyielding but able to be changed by the world around us? How are we a part of the structure that God is building? Are we in fact part of a holy, royal priesthood? A chosen race? God's people?

I seem to have a lot of questions this week.  Maybe by Sunday I will have some answers too!
--Gord

Looking Ahead to June 12, 2022 -- Trinity Sunday

 The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Hosea 11:1-4
• Psalm 130:5-8
• Psalm 131:1-3
• 2 Peter 1:16-18

The Sermon title is Images of God

Early Thoughts: When you hear or read the word God what images come to your mind? The wind? The old man with a long white beard? The village wise woman? "The Force"? What words do you use to describe your understanding of God? What picture might you draw to share your image?

The first Sunday after Pentecost is (in some traditions) known as Trinity Sunday. It is the only Sunday in the year designated to celebrate a theological construct rather than an event or story. On Trinity Sunday we are invited to explore that uniquely Christian understanding of a God who is 3-in-1 and 1-in-3.

In traditional language the Trinity is described as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost as I first learned it). There are other ways we have expressed it. I like Parent, Child and Spirit as it keeps the relational aspect. Another model which talks about the actions of God is Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer. There are a variety of other formulas out there.

The challenge with the doctrine of the Trinity is that it is very difficult to explain in terms that make clear logical sense. Many ways we try to understand and explain it actually lead us to problematic statements, as this video shows:

Still, I think we need to try to explain how we understand God. Even if it is sort of like trying to grasp a cloud and pin it down we need to try. The beauty is that there is no one right way to describe God. There is no one right image. The challenge is that there is no single image that captures the whole picture. We have to use a variety of images, a wide range of language, to try to evoke all that God is in the world.

Father/Mother, Friend, Redeemer, Rock, Source of Life, Ground of Being, Creator, Love, Judge, Teacher. That is a brief list of terms that came to my mind in the last 30 seconds or so. All of them are terms that have been used to describe who God is. I suspect you can add to the list. You can add adjectives. You can add verbs about what God does. Trinity Sunday may have developed as a day to mark a specific doctrine, but I think it is a day where we can stop to think about the images we have of God.

So how do you describe God? What words or pictures enter your mind? You may be asked to share some of them on Sunday.
--Gord