Tuesday, August 30, 2022

September Newsletter

 Evolving Church...Into What Exactly?

About 17 years ago then Moderator Peter Short called for a gathering of leaders within the United Church to discuss the future of the denomination. Like a lot of other such discussions I don’t remember anything concrete actually coming out of that event. I do remember writing a letter placing my name in nomination for attending (I was not selected).

In his call for the Arnprior event Short commented on the fact that the United Church was 80. Apparently some people count 40 years to be a generation and so, Short said, the United Church of Canada was entering its 3rd generation. This resonated with me at the time, as I could clearly count myself as part of that third generation. My paternal grandmother had been, I found out at her funeral, a Presbytery Secretary in the 1950’s. My own parents had been very active in local church governance/leadership for my entire life. And I of course had gone into Ordained Ministry. But that is not really the point I was making.

The point I found when I looked at these three generations of leadership was that the church into which I was ordained was already very different than the church when my parents were on local council in the 1970’s and 80’s. That church itself was markedly different from the church when my grandmother was a Presbytery Secretary. Even then the United Church was a very different thing than it had been when my grandparents became United as children, when the Presbyterian Church in Simpson voted to become part of Union. 17 years later the church is again a different place than it was when I wrote that letter.

The church has always been evolving and changing. Even when we don’t notice. Even when we wish it would stay the same. Even when we pretend the change is not happening. Even when we try to stop it from happening. The church is always changing, largely because the people in the church and the world around the church is always changing.

Over the last 10-15 years I have seen a number of articles about what happens when organizations are not nimble enough to evolve as the world around them changes. Generally they don’t do so well. A classic example is KODAK, which remained stuck in the film era as cameras quickly became digital – where are they now? However mere survival is not why I think the church needs to keep evolving. In fact if survival is our main goal I suggest we are missing the point of being a faith community.

In the church we keep evolving, we keep reforming, because we are striving to follow where God is leading. The more we interact with the world, and with the tradition, and listen for God’s voice the more we are changed. The question that needs to guide our evolution is less “how can we be more relevant or worldly” and more “how is God calling us to be in the world today”.

So the question is never “should the church change?”. The questions we need to ask are “How is the church changing?” and “How should the church be changing?”. If the church did not evolve we would still not be ordaining women, or re-marrying divorced people, or recognizing the reality of racism, or working for LGBTQ+ inclusion. If the church did not listen for God’s wisdom (which I believe is revealed in a variety of places and ways) we would remain stuck in old ways of thinking and miss out the signs that God is at work around us. We would lose the chance to be a part of what God is about in the world.

The church can choose to resist. The church could choose to be the same as it once was. But then God will find another way. God leads us to evolve and change and grow so that we can take part in what God is up to – creating the Kin-dom of God. Sometimes we will get it wrong and try to evolve in the wrong direction. Sometimes we will run into a dead end and have to re-group. But we have to keep being open to change and evolution. May God give us the wisdom, the courage, and the hope to keep evolving as the gathered children of God.

And who really knows where we will end up, what we will look like, who we will be? Maybe God has some big surprise waiting for us!

Monday, August 29, 2022

Looking Ahead to September 4, 2022 -- 13th Sunday After Pentecost

As this is the first Sunday of September we will be celebrating the sacrament of Communion this week.

The Scripture Readings this week are:

  • James 2:8-13
  • Mark 7:14-23

The Sermon title is What Do People See?

Early Thoughts: How can you tell if a person has been transformed by their encounter with the Living God? Is it in the words they say? Maybe. Is it in their piety? That can possibly be a show. Is it how well they can quote Scripture? That could just show they have a good memory. 

More than anything the evidence of transformation in a person's life is shown in their actions. Being a faithful follower of Christ is really a "by their fruits they shall be known" type of thing.

[detour... As I was writing the above paragraphs the Shoop Shoop Song (It's in his Kiss) came to my mind and I was almost tempted to rewrite  a bit of it...]

So what do people see when they look at us? What fruits are we producing?

In the Gospel reading this week Jesus gets to the heart of the matter. He points out that it is what comes out of us-- our words and actions-- that really matter. He points out that it is what is in our hearts that guides what comes out of us. It is a bit naive to suggest , as Jesus seems to, that what we take in does not play a part in the process as well (and I am not talking about food here). What we take in, the words and opinions and perspectives and attitudes, from the world around us can (and really does) make a big difference in the words and actions that we in turn put out into that world. The challenge is how we use and process what we take in. The challenge is in determining which inputs we give greater volume, greater power, greater influence.

And of course it matters what is in our hearts to begin with. How have our hearts been formed and/or transformed to enable us to live out the commandment to love our neighbour? That is part of what shapes how we process the massive amount of information and opinion and argument that washes over us each and every day. How is the Living God active in our hearts and souls to guide our words and actions? What is God helping grow in our lives?

What fruits are making you known in the world? What do people see in you?
--Gord

Monday, August 22, 2022

Looking Forward to August 28, 2022 -- 12th Sundy After Pentecost

 This week's Scripture Readings are:

  • Galatians 5:13-21
  • Luke 19:1-10

The Sermon title is Set Aside Old Ways

Early Thoughts: To follow Jesus is to open ourselves to transformation. To follow Jesus is to open ourselves to the possibility that the way we once lived is not the way we will live in the future. To follow Jesus means we may have to put down some things so we can pick something different up.

What do we need to put down? What do we need to set aside to make room for God's transformation to be at work in our lives? What might get in the way of us being able to fully live out God's commandment to love our neighbour as we love ourselves?

Zacchaeus took the chance. He made a real effort to see (and perhaps to be seen by) Jesus. And the encounter transformed him. He pledges himself to be a different man, he pledges his wealth in the service of his transformation. The simple act of being noticed by Jesus, of being welcomed into Jesus' circle (despite the objections of others to that act of welcome) pushes Zacchaeus to embrace God's transforming work in his life. 

Now we do not know all of his story. Maybe Zacchaeus had been pondering these questions for a while. Maybe he had been having a crisis of conscience in his work and role as a tax collector.  Maybe that is why he was so driven to see Jesus as he walked by? All we know is that this encounter results in a public promise that reflects a changed perspective. We trust and hope that he lived out that promise after Jesus left town.

WRiting to the Galatian church, Paul reminds them of a couple of things. One is that as followers of Christ we are called into a life of freedom, albeit a special kind of freedom. Freedom in Christ is not license to do whatever we want. Freedom in Christ is in fact committing ourselves to follow a Rule of Life, a Rule of Love. 

Paul also reminds us to be careful that we do not "bite and devour one another". Paul reminds us that there are things, he refers to the as desires of the flesh, that get in the way of us living out our freedom in Christ. These are the sorts of things that we need to set aside if we are to be open to God's work of transformation.

The big challenge, as I see it, is that many of the things we take for granted about the way the world works tend to fall into that list that Paul gives about the works of the flesh. Much of what is considered normal operating procedure n the world leads us to bite and devour one another. Some of the old ways we need to set aside have become so ingrained into our collective understanding that we do not even notice that they get in the way of our ability to follow the rule of Love. To be truly transformed we may need to have harsh truths told about "the way things are".

Jesus' ministry was all about proclaiming the Reign of God. Jesus invites us to follow a different path, a path of deep transformation. Zacchaeus heard the invitation and pledged to make major changes in his use of resources. He had to set aside a different way of acting and being in the world to live out that pledge. Jesus invites us to be transformed as well. What might we need to set aside to accept the invitation? Where is God trying to transform us?
--Gord