Looking Ahead to June 2, 2024

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Deuteronomy 5:12-15
• Mark 2:23-3:6

Sabbath Evening

The Sermon title is Sabbath is for....?

Early Thoughts:  We are commanded (it is not a suggestion) to take a day of Sabbath rest each and every week. Why? What might that look like? How well do we do that? 

The words of Scripture give us two different reasons for the commandment to keep Sabbath. When the 10 Commandments are given in Exodus 20 we are told to take Sabbath in keeping with the first story of creation in Genesis 1, where God rested on the 7th day. In this week's reading we have eh commandment as it is given in Deuteronomy where the act of pausing for a day is a sign that the people are no longer slaves. Even further, the people may have slaves themselves now but those slaves are also to be given a day of rest. Everybody--slave or free, adult or child, native or alien, human or livestock--  deserves a day of rest.

The act of taking Sabbath is an act of declaring our freedom.

Does that mean that refusing to take (or give) Sabbath-time is an act of enslavement?

Stepping aside from the why question for a moment (there are several years worth of discussion on why a day of rest is a good idea for our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health), let's ponder what it means to declare a day of rest. What does it look like to do that? How do we encourage or allow it to be a possibility for everyone? [For example, it can never be the same day for everyone but that does not mean it should not be available to everyone, just maybe on different days.] What exactly is meant by "do nothing"?

Within both Jewish and Christian tradition there have been vast amounts of discussion and writing about what is/is not allowed on the Sabbath (or in Christian terms "The Lord's Day" since the early church moved away from the Jewish Sabbath to mark the first day of the week in honour of Easter). I remember hearing of Christian homes that ensured their Sunday meals were all prepared by Saturday night so that no one would have to cook on Sunday. There are longstanding "blue laws" about what is not allowed on Sunday -- remember the Sunday shopping debates a few decades ago?

This week's reading from Mark shows us that debates about what "do nothing" means go back millenia. Here we see Jesus running afoul of others in the community because he does not appear to share their opinion about the best way to keep Sabbath. I like his answer: "“The Sabbath was made for humankind and not humankind for the Sabbath," (2:27) and later on "“Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill?” (3:4). This fits with the Jesus who later will remind his followers that it is of upmost importance to love one's neighbour as you love yourself. As with the rest of life, the ethical requirement of keeping Sabbath is not about rigorously following rules, it is about caring for self and neighbour.

So how do we best honour the Sabbath commandment in 2024? I can think of a few possibilities:

1. Mandate in Labour law that no person can be scheduled for 7 days straight and no more than 5 days in one week at one employer (I am not sure what to do about people working for multiple employers but maybe the next point will help with that)
2. Ensure that every single person has enough to live on to remove the "I have to work constantly or I can't pay rent" reality that many face. One way to do this would be a Guaranteed Annual Income. People need to feel that a Sabbath day is in fact
   
3. Teach children from a very early age about a balanced life. As adults we need to model to our children that it is important to have a day of rest, not just a day off when we are busy cleaning or doing chores but a day of rest.
4. One possibility is a more compressed work week, say for example 4 10 hour days

I am sure there are other things that others could think of that make it easier to encourage and allow people to take a day of Sabbath time. But I strongly believe that the reason we are commanded to take Sabbath is that God recognizes that it is healthier for us as individuals and as a community. It changes our priorities. It changes how we spend our energy. It may even change how we relate to our families and neighbours. We would all be better off.

I Like this option (source)

I don't think the debate about Sabbath time needs to be about rules and "what is allowed". I don't think it need to be about "what day is best", no one day will ever work for everyone. The debate needs to be about "why is this important" and "how do we make it possible and acceptable".

We live in a world that has largely forgotten the importance of Sabbath time. It could be argued that in some circles the idea of Sabbath time, of down "non-productive" time is in fact denigrated. We need to get back to taking that time, for the better health of all of us.
--Gord

Looking Ahead to May 26, 2024 -- 1st Sunday After Pentecost

 This Sunday we are pleased to be celebrating the Sacrament of Baptism and welcoming 2 people into the family of faith.

The Scripture Reading this week is Psalm 1391-18, 23-24

The Sermon title is Child of God, Deeply Known, Deeply Loved

Early Thoughts: You are a Beloved Child of God. Yes you. As you sit there and read this remember that you are a Beloved Child of God. If you forget everything else you have eve learned remember that YOU are a Beloved Child of God.

First a confession. Psalm 139 is one of my favourite pieces of Scripture.

This piece of ancient poetry reminds us of many things. That we are children of God. That God knows us deeply, "more deeply than we know ourselves" as I have sometimes said in prayer". That God is always with us, wherever we go. In fact God is with us even when we might prefer that God is NOT with us. God sees our hearts and continues to lead us in The Way.

Many of these things are all warm and fuzzy, At least on the surface. But what does it mean to acknowledge that we are fully and deeply known? Why does the poet talk about wanting to flee from God's presence? And what about those verses near the end about destroying the wicked? In the  end it is a much more complex poem than we might think if we picked and chose our favoured verses.

In our baptism liturgy we proclaim:

The sacrament of baptism proclaims and celebrates the grace of God.
By water and the Spirit, we are called, claimed, and commissioned:
we are named as God’s children,
claimed by Christ,
and united with the whole Christian community of every time and place.
Strengthened by the Holy Spirit,
we live out our commission;
to spread the love we have been given throughout the world.

Which, to my mind is why this Psalm is such a good match for a Baptism Sunday. Because we are indeed "called, claimed, and commissioned".

We are all children of the God who watched us grow in our mother's womb, who heard our borning cry, who is a part of every breath we take. God knows us deeply, flaws and all. God knows the parts of our lives we would rather not admit, and yet loves us and leads us in  The Way. God is there when life is terrible. God is there when the skies grow dark. God is even there when we think we would rather be alone.

We are indeed wonderfully and fearfully made, for we are made in God's image. WE are indeed fearfully and wonderfully known, because God knows us to our core. This is a blessing, it may also seem like a curse. It can lift us up or it can be a heavy weight on our soul. Sometimes we need the weight to help us be led in the way everlasting. We always need the blessing.

And remember, the God who knows you so deeply, who has been with you since your borning cry loves you deeply. You Are A Beloved Child of God!
--Gord

Looking Ahead to May 19, 2024 -- Pentecost Sunday

This week we will hear the story of the Holy Spirit blowing the disciples out into the world as told in Acts 2:1-21

The Sermon title is Drunk on God

source

Early Thoughts: When I read the Pentecost story there are a number of things that jump out at me. To a degree it is different things at different times but one of the most consistent is in verse 13 when the disciples are accused of having had too much to drink.

Because only drunkenness can account for such an ecstatic display...right?

But what if they are right. What if Peter and the others are in fact drunk...just not on new wine.

[Side note: when I was young we had a small music book at home that was in fact called New Wine, building on the passage in the Gospels about putting new wine into old wineskins]

What if Peter and the others are intoxicated by the presence of the Holy Spirit blowing into their lives? What if they are, in fact drunk on God?

What would it look and feel like if we had that reaction to God blowing through our lives? Would we feel that loss of inhibitions that often comes with extra alcohol in our system? Would we become more fearless? 

Sometimes intoxication might be a good thing. Maybe in a world and a church where we have been taught for generations that being in control and doing things in an orderly fashion (both Presbyterians and Lutherans have claimed the title "Frozen Chosen") are the best/only/proper way to be we could use a bit of intoxication in our lives.

I think we can use some of that new wine. We could do with being a little bit drunk on God these days.
I just hope it doesn't lead us into being hungover...
--Gord

Newsletter Piece on Peace

What does peace mean to you?

Just before I started writing this piece I had been thinking of what I would do for the Time for the Young at Heart on Camping Sunday and a big part of church camps is singing around the campfire. The two trains of thought sort of collided and I started thinking of campfire songs that talked about peace.

“I’ve got peace like a river in my soul” [had to pause to do the actions after typing that one]
“I’ve got the peace that passeth understanding way down in the depths of my heart (where?)”
“Turned the stone and looked beneath it...Peace on Earth was all it said”

There are multiple hymns and other church songs that talk about peace as well. But what do we mean by it? How is it that we find peace to be a fruit of the Spirit, a sign that we dwell in the Spirit of God/God’s Spirit dwells in us?

Peace, like many other words, has a wide variety of meanings and uses. Sometimes we use it in geopolitics (usually to comment on how it is lacking). Sometimes we use it to describe a quiet setting, often outside. Sometimes we use it to describe a feeling, something internal to ourselves. What is the peace that is a fruit of the Spirit?

I think it is all of those meanings. Internal peace, community peace, peace with our environment, world peace are all signs that the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives and in the world. But more than anything I think that peace is a sign of transformation. And the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the work of transformation.

So I have to ask: where have you found peace in the world this week? What had to be transformed for that peace to exist?

For the fruit of the Spirit to be evident in our lives we have to be open to being transformed. The change may be small, seemingly insignificant or it may be so big we are not sure it can really even happen. Either way transformation is at work.

We could sit in the park and only be distracted by the street noise or the people walking or the worries about what might come around the corner. Then something transforms us and we notice the peacefulness, the colours of the flowers, the gentle breeze rustling the leaves, the rabbits hopping past.

We could be totally distraught by the busy-ness and uncertainties of life. We could be totally stressed out. We could let the anxiety tear us apart. Some of us think that is the natural way to be. Then we follow the advice of Psalm 46 “Be still and know that I am God”, which transforms us and we find some measure of inner peace amidst all the busy-ness and uncertainties.

Age-old enmities and conflicts erupt into open warfare. It seems there is no end to wars and rumours of wars. What would it take for God to transform all involved to find a path for peace? It seems impossible so often but it happened in Ireland. Transformation and peace are possible.

Peace is a fruit of the Spirit. Peace is a dream sometimes. Peace based on justice is a sing of God’s Reign breaking into the world. It will really only come when we open ourselves, as individuals and as communities, to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit blowing through our lives.

Will we have the courage to be open to being changed, transformed, reshaped? Will we have the courage to be makers and seekers of peace?