Looking Ahead to October 2, 2022

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

The Scripture readings this week are:

• Psalm 103:1-17
• Mark 10:13-16

The Sermon title is Wisdom’s Gifts

Early Thoughts: How do you measure Wisdom? What gifts has Wisdom given you?

In some places in Scripture Wisdom or Lady Wisdom (or in the translation we will hear on Sunday She Who Is Wisdom) is a title used for God. The NRSVUE, like many other translations, has chosen the traditional use of Lord/Father/his throughout Psalm 103. Dr. Wil Gafney, in her translation for the Women's Lectionary, has chosen Wisdom and female pronouns to refer to the Divine. Does that change how you see the gifts offered in the words of the Psalm?

What does it say to name Wisdom as the one that offers forgiveness, who brings life, who renews us, who offers faithful/steadfast love to all her children? Does that say something about the path of wisdom? Does that say something about how we are called to live in God's way?

I posit that The Way of Wisdom would be one way to describe what it means to follow Jesus, the one we call Christ. In that case what does the Psalm suggest about how we are to live?

The story of people bringing their children to Jesus is one many of know well. But this year, reading it in conjunction with Dr. Gafney's translation of Psalm 103 I read it differently. I saw it as a way that the wisdom of the Reign of God (and Jesus' whole ministry was about proclaiming the Reign/Realm/Kingdom of God) gets enfleshed. In many social situations over history, maybe even today, it would be seen as inappropriate to bring children to the great teacher. Common wisdom would say that this activity was an interruption to the work. Jesus gets angry, because Jesus sees the world differently. For Jesus the path of wisdom lies in "let the little children come to me". Jesus sees wisdom in children that we often discount or miss.

What gifts has children's wisdom given to you over the years?

The wisdom of living in God's way is often different from the wisdom of common sense. Sometimes it appears foolish by some standards. However, Lady Wisdom offers us the gifts of life, and that in abundance. We may need to have our eyes, hearts, and souls open to appreciate those gifts. ANd then we can be thankful for those gifts.

--Gord

Looking Ahead to September 25, 2022

 The Scripture Reading this week is 2 Samuel 11:2-15

The Sermon title is Integrity vs. Self-Interest

Early Thoughts: There are three main characters in this story. One is silent,the story happens to her and we do not hear anything about her perspective. The other two are more active, and are a contrast in character.

On one hand we have the King. In this story David openly abuses his power and authority. He takes (by force) Bathsheba to his bed without any pretense at wooing or seducing her first. Then he decides to cover up his crime by getting Uriah to come home and sleep with his own wife so that the resulting child will be seen as Uriah's, not the result of David's act of rape. In fact David tries repeatedly, even to the point of getting Uriah drunk, to have this happen -- not, it appears, out of any concern for Uriah or Bathsheba but solely to cover his own backside. When this is eventually unsuccessful David arranges to have the man killed.

Then we have Uriah. One could read the story and see Uriah solely as an unwitting dupe. He has no idea what is really going on. But as I read the story this month it struck me that Uriah shows himself to be a man of great integrity. He refuses to claim or accept more privilege than his men have. While they are living rough at the front he will continue to live rough himself -- no matter what enticements the king might offer.

This is a hard story to read. It is a hard story to preach on.It is a story that makes you wonder how it got included in the final edit. David, the great King, is shown to be a rapist, an abuser of power, a wholly unsavory character. NOw what do we do with the story?

I think we start by naming the reality of what it is. It is, to borrow a phrase from a feminist theologian for the 20th Century, a "text of terror". We do no favors to the text,or to ourselves as readers by trying to obscure that fact. Many have tried to limit David's sinfulness (which is odd because the text of 2 Samuel never tries to hide David's sinfulness), usually with the result of casting blame on Bathsheba. "Slut-shaming" has a long history, one which continues to this day, when people talk about sexual violence.

Along with naming the reality of the story is to name the reality of what it shows us about David. Everything David does in this story is motivated by self-interest. He wants sex-he gets it. He wants to get around blame for the resulting pregnancy and tries everything he can to get that too. In then end he has Uriah killed so he can simply take Bathsheba into his household and try to avoid accusations of adultery (later the prophet Nathan will force David to face his sin -- to a degree, still treating Bathsheba as stolen property rather than as a rape victim).

In our lives we will miss the mark, we will get things wrong. Hopefully none of us will fail so egregiously as David does here but at some point we, as individuals and/or as a community, will do damage to another. When that happens will our self-interest lead us to try to minimize what happened and escape consequences? Or will we have the integrity to name what happened? 

At the same time, some time in life we may be given the choice of Uriah. We may be promised rewards or a way to an easier time while our neighbors continue to live rough. Which will we do?

This week during our Tame for the Young at Heart we will be talking about Orange Shirt Day. As we remember and reflect on the truths of what the Indian Residential School system was and did how will we respond? As a settler community we did damage to our Indigenous neighbors, damage which continues to resonate and shape lives to this day. As a society the impulse to rush toward reconciliation and 'put it all behind us' is strong. But is that acting out of self-interest or with true integrity? Are we wanting to hide hard truths even if it means sacrificing the Uriahs who get in the way?

This is a hard story to read. It is one that should probably carry a trigger warning. What does it teach us about human nature in the face of sinful acts? What might it have to teach us about ourselves?
-Gord

Looking Ahead to September 18, 2022 -- 15th Sunday After Pentecost

 The Scripture Readings this week are: 

• 2 Samuel 1:17-27 
• Ezekiel 19:1-3, 10-14

The Sermon title is The Power of Lament

Early Thoughts: Have you seen the 2015 Disney/Pixar movie Inside Out? Having watched it recently I found the dynamic between Joy and Sadness to be a very telling description of how we are sometimes encouraged to live our lives. Joy is convinced that Riley has to be happy, that if Sadness impacts any of Riley's memories it will hurt her. Spoiler alert! Joy comes to understand how deeply Riley needs Sadness to be a part of how she processes her life. The path to healthy life includes Sadness (and Disgust and Fear and Anger all have their roles in Riley's life as well). In fact, Joy's insistence that Riley be happy and brave is, arguably, doing damage to Riley.

Sometimes in the name of putting on a brave face we fail to give so-called 'negative' emotions the space they need and deserve in out lives. I have heard of people that would claim that we are unfaithful or lack trust in God if we are anxious or depressed or lamenting.

That is utter nonsense.

Scripture includes some very powerful laments (in fact it has a whole book called Lamentations). Lamenting is an important way we respond to the crises of life. Lamenting allows us to name our pain and our sorrow and that is a key part of moving forward in a healthy way. And if lament is part of a healthy life, lament is part of a healthy faith.

Our Scripture readings this week are both passages of lament. In 2 Samuel David laments over the death of Saul and Jonathon. In the Ezekiel passage we have the lament for the end of a royal line/family. I look at them, in part, as examples. How can we lament? Can we make space, even (as in the case of David) in the midst of events that really will work out fairly well for us, to lament and have empathy?

All too often we have trouble with lament, with sadness, with something other that the stiff upper lip. We live in a culture that seemingly has trouble accepting that lament and sadness are a natural part of life, or at the very least wants to put strict limits on when/how/how much lament is acceptable. I would argue that we would be mentally ,emotionally, and spiritually healthier if we gave each other more freedom to lament. AS we pour out our sorrow and our rage and our anxiety we invite God into the reality of our lives and that is where transformation becomes a reality.

What leads you to lament? HOw do you lament? Has it been helpful to give yourself that freedom?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to September 11, 2022 --14th Sunday after Pentecost

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Psalm 71:1-6
• Matthew 6:9-13

The Sermon title is Pray

Early Thoughts: Why do we pray? How should we pray? What does prayer accomplish?

Prayer is one of the central practices of Christian Faith (as it is in many other traditions as well). Prayer is a time to communicate with the Divine, when we talk and when we listen. Prayer is a time for us to silence our world for a moment and soak in God's presence.

In prayer we can sing our praises and our thanksgivings. In prayer we can pour out our grief. Or maybe we can shriek out laments and anger. Or maybe name our greatest needs. Or maybe seek wisdom and discernment. What else might prayer do for you?

In the Gospels we are told that Jesus regularly went off on his own to pray. Other than the scene in the Garden just before his arrest we do not know what his prayers were, we are just told that he went to pray. In Luke 11 observing Jesus at prayer leads the disciples to ask Jesus to teach them to pray (which is when we find the Lord's Prayer in Luke's Gospel). They know that this must be an important thing and as learners they turn to the teacher for instruction.

Prayer can take many forms. There is, in my opinion, no one 'right' way to pray.For many of us the piece we call the Lord's Prayer gives us a bit of a structure. If nothing else it links us to other Christians across the miles and the centuries. But walking the Labyrinth is also a form of prayer for many people. Or there are those who pray by sitting in silence. Or there are those who never use formalized sets of words but rather pour out a stream of consciousness type of prayer. Some sing their prayers (St. Augustine is reputed to have said that "[he] who sings, prays twice"). Maybe the answer to "how should we pray?" is more of a "what works for you and the time and the place" rather than a set once and for all answer.

This week we hear a prayer from the Psalms (a book full of prayers). We hear Jesus share a formula for prayer. In response we will reflect on why and how we pray.  Prayer is a key part of our relationship with God. It makes a difference. Which reminds me of this: [Source]

I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day. I had so much to accomplish that I didn't have time to pray. Problems just tumbled about me, and heavier came each task. "Why doesn't God help me?" I wondered. He answered, You didn't ask," I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled on, gray and bleak. I wondered why God didn't show me. He said, "But you didn't seek.: I tried to come into God's presence. I used all my keys at the lock. God gently and lovingly chided, "My child, you didn't knock." I woke up early this morning and paused before enter the day. I had so much to accomplish that i had to take time to pray. 

 And now I need to go and prepare for Facebook prayer time for this Tuesday afternoon.
--Gord