Looking Ahead to March 22, 2026 -- Lent 5

 The Scripture Reading this week is John 11:1-44 (the raising of Lazarus)

At Children's Time we will be hearing about Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones.

The Sermon title is Death, Grief, Life

Early Thoughts: Jesus wept. He came to the place where Lazarus had been laid and Jesus wept. As one of our Communion hymns (Eat This Bread and Never Hunger verse 3, #471 in Voices United) puts it: "Weeping for his friend at graveside, Jesus felt the pain of death".

Source

This is a well-known, maybe even beloved, story from John's Gospel. It is also a challenging story. Why does Jesus not respond faster to the news that Lazarus is ill? Is talking to a woman in fresh grief (who has already questioned why you did not get there in time to make a difference) really the best time to engage in theological discussions about resurrection and the end times? Sometimes reading the story I get the sense that Jesus wants to make it all about him, that Lazarus (and his death and his grieving family) are just props for Jesus to show his/God's Power and make a theological point about the Messiah.

But then we meet the raw emotion of it. Jesus weeps. Jesus who has already said he is on his way to re-awaken Lazarus, Jesus who knows what he plans to do next, Jesus who is about to call Lazarus out of the tomb, he weeps. Because Jesus knows the reality that when death visits grief is always along for the ride.

This is a story about death and grief and how we respond. At least that is part of the story. It is not the end of the story. The end of the story is life.

It is a roller coaster after all. Lazarus is sick. Lazarus is "asleep". Lazarus is well and truly dead (4 days in the tomb dead). There is great grief. Then Lazarus comes out of the tomb and, presumably sine the text does not tell us, there is great joy and relief.

Paired with this story in the lectionary is the story of Ezekiel and his vision of the valley of dry bones. Ezekiel is told by God to speak  to the bones and the become re-articulated (toe bone connected to the boot bon, foot bone connected to the leg bone...) and covered with flesh. Ezekiel speaks again and the Spirit of God blows into these bodies and they become alive again. Where there was only death and grief and loss there is once again life.

But the life never really removes the reality of death and grief. They remain as echoes, they remain to change how we see the world.

So it is, so it always has been. Death and grief are part of life but in the end, faith tells us, life will win.

An we weep with Jesus and still find the promise that life will emerge? Can we look at a valley of dry dead hopes and dreams and feel the wind of God blowing around with the promise of new life? Can we look at a world where illness and death and destruction seem to have the upper hand and still look for signs of new life?

The last line of that verse I quoted earlier is "yet he knew God's power to waken; living water, living breath". In Christ, with God, in faith, life and love will win in the end. If they haven't won yet then the story has not yet ended.
--Gord

Looking Ahead to March 15, 2026 -- Lent 4, Daring Justice

 

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Amos 5:21-24
• John 2:13-17

The Sermon title is Dare to Flip the Tables

Early Thoughts: One of the oldest answers to the question "what does it mean to be a Christian?" is that it is to try to be like Christ. Not just to follow his way but to be like him, to share his passion for God's Reign, to share his concern for the people out at the margins.

Jesus, in a fit of passionate outrage, flipped over tables and drove people out of the Temple.

What might lead us to be as intentionally disruptive? What would be our equivalent to flipping over the tables in the Temple?

The third word pair in the Call to the United Church put out by the General Council a few years back is Daring Justice. To be daring is to take risks. To be daring is to challenge the status quo. To be daring is to suggest a whole new way of seeing/being in the world.

How do we take risks to break the wheels of injustice? It is easier to bandage the wounds and make sincere calls for change. How do we slide a pipe into the wheels (throw a spanner in the works?) so that there aren't people waiting to be bandaged?

Years ago I heard a speaker share a different version of that idea. It was noted that the church is good at pulling bodies from the river to keep folk from being washed away. Sometimes we even build grand structure to help catch them as they float by. But what we really need to do is go upstream and stop them from being thrown in.

Scripture is fairly clear that justice is one of God's primary concerns. In Torah we find many laws/rules/regulations designed to make a more just society, one where all are allowed to thrive. In the prophets there are a couple of primary complaints made against the people and their leadership. One is that they have wandered astray, falling into idolatry and neglecting to follow the way God placed in front of them. The other (which is often related to the first) is that they have failed to act justly toward each other. Then in the Gospels Jesus fairly regularly chooses justice (maybe in his teachings, maybe in his healings, maybe in his actions) over the Law. He goes so far as to point out that Sabbath in particular is made for people not the reverse, so justice and health for the people take precedence over the law.

We live in a world that is filled with examples of injustice. Whole groups of people are pushed to the margins, are blamed for all that is wrong with the province/country/economy, are targeted for violence, are used as scapegoats. Individuals and groups are deprived of what is needed to live, to grow, to thrive. Systems seem to favour the haves over the have-nots.

What can we do? How can we break the cycles?

We are called to dare to challenge the systems of injustice, even (or perhaps especially) when we ourselves benefit from those systems. That sounds risky. 

We are called to flip over the tables and barriers that get in the way. Sometimes we have helped to build or maintain those barriers. Sometimes we put a target on our backs when start to lift the edge. It is easy to talk about it over coffee, or hear a sermon at church, or write a letter to a politician. Can we take the risk of taking to the streets, of acting out our prayers for justice?

In this post are quotes from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. They are but two examples of people who chose to take that risk, who chose to let the target appear on them. They both spoke out against injustice and evil. They both paid a heavy price.

And now, because I have another picture, I see another piece of our call to daring justice. We live in a world, a culture, of personal freedom. Surely freedom (or FREEDOM!!! as some might say it) can't get in the way of justice can it?

Freedom is vital to a healthy society. But it needs to be limited, responsible freedom. 6 years ago the world shut down. 6 years ago we entered debates about mask mandates and vaccines and freedom. As the picture shows us, freedom used irresponsibly or without consideration for others does indeed get in the way for justice.

Maybe one of the ways we practice Daring Justice is to give up some of our 'freedom'. Perhaps the path to justice involves what is good for the community and not just what is good for me. Perhaps one of the tables that needs flipping is this belief that the individual is king?  In fact I am almost certain this is the case.

What other tables do you think need to be flipped? Where are we called to take risks as God creates a just world around us?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to March 1, 2026 -- Lent 2, Bold Discipleship

 

A new month arrives!  As usual the first Sunday of the month is a day we celebrate the sacrament of communion. All are welcome to join us in the banquet of faith.

Also the first Sunday of the month is a day we encourage people to remember our Local Outreach fund, which we use to support our neighbours here in Grande Prairie.

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• John 18:25-27 
• Acts 4:23-31

The Sermon title is Speak Boldly

Early Thoughts: Sometimes it is a challenge to be bold. Sometimes it is risky to be bold, to speak out, to take the chance that your boldness will lead to your downfall. Still, as followers of Jesus we are all challenged to be bold for the Gospel, the Good News.

The early church knew this well. Peter, given the chance to be bold as Jesus is being tried, chooses denial rather than boldness. As he sings in Jesus Christ Superstar: "I had to do it don't you see. Or else they'd go for me.". 

But then Easter happens. Then Resurrection happens. The world is changed. The followers of Jesus are changed.

In the accounts of the crucifixion the Gospel writers paint a picture of Jesus dying abandoned by most of his followers. The book of Acts paints a picture of those same followers refusing to keep quiet, of a community boldly proclaiming the Good News of Jesus in a city where the people with authority would really rather they kept quiet.

What does it mean to be a Bold Disciple of Jesus? I think it intersects nicely with the third part of our call Daring Justice (which we will talk about on March 15) as both push us to take risks. I also am reminded of Martin Luther standing before the Diet of Worms, told to recant his views and responding with "Here I stand I can do no other", knowing that it would likely lead to his condemnation by the Roman Church.

The story we read from Acts this week makes it clear where those early church leaders found the strength and courage to speak boldly. It comes from God, specifically (as often in Acts) from being filled with the Holy Spirit. Our ability to be bold for the Gospel, to speak boldly about how we understand the Reign of God, comes from being rooted in God, from sinking deep into God's presence, from a Deep Spirituality.

In the middle of March we will mark P.I.E. Day. On that day we are challenged to be Public, Intentional, and Explicit about our understanding of the Gospel. Specifically P.I.E. Day may be aimed at issues arising out of Affirming Ministry but the concept stretches across many categories (as does being an Affirming Ministry for that matter). As people of faith we need to speak boldly, to be P.I.E. about where we see God in the world, about the vision for the world that God has revealed to us.

Sometimes we might find it easier to keep quiet. Sometimes we want to paly it safe and not rock the boat. I fully understand that impulse. Still the challenge is there, the calling to Speak Boldly, to be Bold Disciples of Jesus.  May God help us live into that calling.
--Gord

Looking Ahead to April 13, 2025 -- Palm Sunday

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• John 11:16, 45-53
• Luke 19:28-40

The Sermon title is Jesus Turns Up the Heat

Early Thoughts:  What was he thinking? Why would he take such a risk? Did he know what they were thinking/planning/scheming?

As Luke has structured his Gospel, back in chapter 9, just after foretelling his own betrayal and death, Jesus sets his face to go to Jerusalem. From that point on we are headed toward that city. Along the way (in chapter 13) Jesus has been warned that there are those who want him dead. Just one chapter ago, in chapter 18 Jesus reminds his disciples and friends that his death is coming, that it will happen when they get to Jerusalem.

Now, as Passover looms, we find Jesus on the last stage of that journey to Jerusalem. And he has no plan to just slip into the city unnoticed. It seems he has made arrangements for a piece of street theatre. He has arranged (or someone has arranged) for a colt to be available. I suspect there are people planted in the crowd to start building a pathway with their cloaks (no palm branches in Luke's telling of the story) and begin the cheering/proclamation that accompanies his journey -- and then it takes on a life of its own.

It seems pretty intentional. Jesus knows the risks and seems to go ahead and amplify them. Is he trying to challenge those in power to act?

I think so.

I think Jesus is intentionally turning up the heat to confront not just the Roman Empire and its puppets in Judea but the powers of evil that stand in the way of God's Reign, I think Jesus is forcing the issue. And I think he is doing it with full knowledge of what the extra heat and pressure will lead to.

It is far more than cheerfully waving palm branches and singing bouncy songs. It is a reminder of what Jesus is all about. This is not just a party along the roadside.

Jesus knows what the stakes are. The people along the roadside don't understand (or have chosen not to hear) what he has said the stakes are. The leadership knows what the stakes are, and I think they are a little bit afraid.  Afraid of the people and afraid of the Romans, caught between the two, they tell Jesus to quiet his followers. As Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber put it: "Tell the rabble to be quiet, we anticipate a riot". The stakes are high and Jesus is upping the ante.

Will we have the courage of Thomas, willing to risk death with Jesus for the sake of God's Kingdom?  Can we live into the true implications of naming Jesus as the one who comes in the name of the Lord? Can we shout for the world that is about to be changed? Can we join in the revolution?

Or will we be quiet and force the earth (or at least the stones) itself to shout on our behalf? Is the increased heat too hot for us?

Hosanna! SAve us! From the powers of the world and maybe even from ourselves.
--Gord

Looking Ahead to April 2, 2025 -- Lent 5C

(Communion Table at Riverview United in Atikokan)

This is the first Sunday of April so we will be gathering at the table of faith and celebrating Communion.

Also at the beginning of each month we remind folk of our Local Outreach Fund, which we use to support our neighbours here in Grande Prairie.

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Isaiah 43:1-2, 16-19
• Lamentations 3:22-26 
• Revelation 21:1-5

The Sermon title is What New Thing?

Early Thoughts: Many years ago I learned a Sondheim song from Merrily We Roll Along. The opening lines are:

Something is stirring Shifting ground

It's just begun

Edges are blurring All around

And yesterday is done

Those words came to my mind this morning as I re-read the Isaiah 43, particularly verses 18 and 19. As God does a new thing in our midst, as God reforms, renews, and re-creates the world the ground is indeed being shifted, what was clear becomes blurry, the old passes away.

That simultaneously fills some of us with hope and with anxiety. We look forward to the renewal and re-creation, the new heaven and the new earth. We also admit that change and transformation is unsettling and uncomfortable -- even brings a fear with it.

How do we lean into the hope and promise? What calms our uneasy, anxious, even fearful hearts as the new thing God is doing comes to be?

The beginning of Isaiah 43 and the verses from Lamentations 3 that we are reading this week help us with the anxiety, discomfort, and fear. The same God that is doing a new thig, renewing and re-creating the world around us promises to be there, promises that we need not be overwhelmed, reminds us that we are God's beloved. God meets us in our anxiety. God sees our fearful, uneasy hearts. God knows that change is unsettling. And God promises to walk us through the flood, to accompany us into the new thing, to help us move from the old that is passing away into the new that is being born, as this song (# 90 in More Voices) reminds us

We are deep in the season of Lent. The journey to Jerusalem is almost over. Soon there will be triumph and conflict, tragedy and surprise, death and life. The revolution that began at Christmas will come to a head. Where will the victory lie? Will the old ways that often lead away from life and abundance win or will a new way emerge, a new way of existing, a new way of being who God formed us to be? 

Easter tells us the answer. Resurrection tells us the answer. The victory is in life. The victory is in shattering the powers that hold back abundant life and blessing for all. The victory brings a new heaven and a new earth, for the old ones have passed away.

The old might fight back. The old WILL fight back. We see it all the time, those who benefit from the old ways, the old things, the old understandings want to stop the new thing from winning. But God tells us where the victory will be eventually. Spoiler alert: it is not the old ways. We are told to not even remember or consider them.

The world is shifting. Sometimes it feels like the ground is shifting beneath us. It is hard to see clearly what is happening. But still we live in HOPE, still we trust in the PROMISE. God is doing what God often does -- a New Thing. God is renewing, reforming, re-creating the world around us. And God promises to be with us, to support us as we live into a new world. In Christ God makes everything new (#115 in More Voices).

That is Good News.

--Gord

Looking Ahead to March 30, 2025 -- 4th Sunday in Lent

The Scripture Reading this week is Luke 15:11-32

The Sermon title is Get Found!

Early Thoughts: When have you been lost? When have you had to look for something or someone that was lost? When, perhaps, have you lost your sense of self?

Many of us know this story as "the Prodigal Son". Certainly that is how I learned it and how I have referred to it many times over the years. I am not convinced that is the best way to title it. In fact I think this is the story of the lost son, or even better the story of the lost sons. It is not a story about a wild rebellious child who squanders their inheritance (the term prodigal seems to want to cast a moral judgement on the younger son), or at least not only about that. Given that the two stories we find in Luke 15:1-10 have similar beginnings but are clearly about a lost sheep and a lost coin it seems that this is a story about losing and finding -- not rebellion and riotous living (though that is part of being lost as we may find).

More importantly, all three stories are about being found and the celebration that comes with being found.

So who is lost? Who gets found? Who does the finding? And what does this parable tell us about the Reign of God?

Source

To begin, let us look at the beginning of the story: "There was a man who had two sons...". The earlier stories in the chapter now prompt us to wonder what is going to happen to the sons. What is the man going to lose? How will he search for that which is lost? After all that is exactly what happens with the sheep and the coin and we are starting to see a pattern. This is a story about a family unit (or at least part of it -- has mom died? are there sisters?)

So there are these sons. One, the elder, is portrayed as dutiful and the other, we are told, seems a bit restless, wanting to get out and make a life for himself. The restless younger son asks his father for "the share of the wealth that will belong to me" and heads out to make a life. It does not go well. At first life is grand but restless youth does not always make for careful planning and things start to go south. The vagaries of life lead to poverty and bare subsistence. The son is lost. Lost to the father and maybe lost to himself.

Then we are told that he comes to his senses (the King James says "came to himself") and realizes that he would be better off as a slave/servant in his father's house than he is right now. There at least he would have enough to eat. He resolves to go and plead for mercy. The finding, it seems has begun. He has begun to find himself again. It is not clear he likes what he has found.

The son returns home but does not get the reception he expects. Dad [long ago I read a suggestion that dad has been anxiously looking down the road every day since the son left, hoping against hope that he would see a familiar shape on the horizon, I like that image] looks out and sees his son, his beloved child, returning. Dad runs out with no worries about decorum and embraces his child. Before the confession and the pleading can even begin dad is kissing him and, I think, weeping with joy. The wayward son makes his confession but dad seems to ignore it. There are more important things to worry about! It is time for a party! The lost has been found, has come home. Wonderful!

The story could end there and make perfect sense. Indeed when I think back to hearing it as a child I am sure it ended there. But Jesus continues. After all, there is another son.

Enter the eldest, dutiful, faithful son. Is he excited to find out that there is a party because his younger brother has returned? Nope. He is resentful. He feels that dad is being unfair. Where is his party? I suggest the eldest son is now lost.

Dad remains dad. Dad challenges the eldest son to see things differently. Dad tries to help the elder son find his way back to the family. We are not told if this is successful, if the resentment is indeed overcome.

Poor dad, in this story he has, to a degree, lost both his sons and it is not sure if he has got both of them back.

So what does this tell us about the Reign of God? Traditionally it tells us that God is the one who keeps searching, who is overjoyed when the lost becomes found, when the wayward comes home. What else might it say?

Maybe it reminds us that we can never be so lost that we will not be welcomed back in, that we have the chance to come to ourselves and find who we really are.

Maybe it reminds us to not be resentful when grace is offered to others, and maybe to recognize that we could be gracious as well.

Maybe it reminds us to find ourselves, to reflect, to come to our senses so.

What else does this well-known story say to you?

--Gord

Looking Ahead to March 23, 2025 -- Lent 3C

The Scripture Readings this week are: 

• Isaiah 55:1-9
• Luke 13:6-9

The Sermon title is Eat! Grow! Be Fruitful!

Early Thoughts: What would help you grow? Are those things readily available? What would life look like if what we needed to grow and be fruitful was indeed readily and freely available?

This week gives us an interesting combination of Scripture readings. In Luke we have the short little story about a tree that has thus far been unproductive and so the owner wants to get rid of it. Why let it waste space and resources? But the caretaker, the gardener, calls for grace, realizing that with proper care things can change. I wonder where we might see ourselves in that story. When have we been the tree, the gardener, the owner?

Paired with that we have Isaiah 55, where the listener is invited into God's abundant life. An abundance where we can get basics at no price. An abundance where we are questioned as to why we spend our energy/resources for things that do not actually satisfy us. An abundance based on reveling in the presence and promise of God. Is that the world in which we live today?

It is my belief and understanding that in the Reign of God we are all invited to eat and drink deeply of those things that feed and satisfy our bodies and souls. It is my belief that God wants all of us to grow strong so that we would be fruitful (I also believe that there are many ways we can be fruitful, many ways we can bear good fruit). It is my belief that God wants us to care for each other to allow and encourage growth --- and God does not want us to fall into the trap of seeing something as a lost cause, a waste of resources, good only to be cut down and discarded.

How do we live as if those things are true?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to March 16, 2025 -- 2nd Sunday in Lent

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Genesis 15:1-6
• Psalm 27

The Sermon title is Future? Trust? Hope?

Early Thoughts: Someone has made you a promise. But then a lot of time has passed and there is no sign that the promise will come true. What do you do?

If you are Abraham you ask the person who first made the promise what is happening (and you start to make a back-up plan).

Source

When we first meet Abraham (Abram) in Genesis 12 he is childless (in the late verses of Chapter 11 we are told that his wife Sarah (Sarai) is barren) and yet he is told that God will make of him a great nation, and that in him all the families of the earth will be blessed. Now to be the source of a great nation one sort of needs progeny, preferably male progeny but here we are several stories later and still no progeny. It appear Abraham may be getting a little anxious for he and Sarah are no longer young. He calls out to God who reaffirms the promise, adding to it the promise that Abraham's descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Thins seems to comfort Abraham (for now). Still the wait for progeny will take many years and include another attempt by Abraham and Sarah to create a back-up plan (the birth of Ishmael with the slave Hagar). Delayed gratification is the lot of Abraham and Sarah but the story relates that they still remain faithful to the promise, they trust in the God who first made the promise, they still live in hope for the promised child -- though they also doubt at times.

WE are all people waiting on a promise. As followers of Christ we live in the promise that the old world has been defeated and the new world, the reign of God "on earth as it is in heaven" both has replaced it and is going to become fully evident in the fullness of time.  I don't know about you but there are days when it looks like that promise is a LOOOONG way from being fulfilled. It is easy to doubt that it will happen. It is easy to lose hope -- particularly when it seems that many powerful forces (the ones who supposedly were defeated in the cross and empty tomb) are actively fighting against the growth of the Kingdom "on earth as it is in heaven".

What do we do? How do we respond as people of the promise? When we feel that we/people we love/things we hold dear are under attack, when the promise itself is being attacked what do we do?

Source

I think Psalm 27 might be a good place to start. In this song David (who is traditionally listed as its writer) both sings about his trust and and confidence in God and calls out to God for help and comfort. As people of faith our trust and hope lie in God. As people of faith that is where we turn for consolation and strength in times of trouble.

It is tempting to think that we have to step in. And it may well be that God is calling us to step in, somehow. What we have to be wary of is to start to think that we know the way to make the promise come true, to make back-up plans and stop trusting in the promise-maker. When Abraham and Sarah made back-up plans (either as in this week's passage or in the Hagar/Ishmael story line) God reminded them that the promise was the promise and it would come out as promised. Our plans may or may not match God's plans for the fulfillment of the promise.

We live as inheritors of a promise. In some ways it is still the promise made to Abraham, that all nations would be blessed through his family, because Christianity is one of the Abrahamic faiths. WE are part of the family of Abraham. To that promise is added, or maybe refined through, the promise of Jesus that the Kingdom of God has come near. We live in the promise of the Reign of God that is both here among us and yet to grow to full bloom. We live in the promise that in the cross and the empty tomb the powers of evil and injustice have been defeated and a new world has emerged victorious.

At the same time the powers of evil and injustice still seem pretty lively for having been defeated. Some days we seem to be moving away from the promised victory of the new heaven and the new earth, the Peaceable Kingdom envisioned by Isaiah, the time when "thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" feels like a reality rather than merely words in a prayer. It would be easy to lose hope while we wait for the promise to be fulfilled. Delayed gratification is a great theory (and a necessity for us to learn) but sometimes it really doesn't feel good.

So remember this, while we wait patiently (or less patiently), God is still at work. God is still on the side of the promise. God remains faithful, even when God's people doubt or lose hope. There is a promise and it will be fulfilled.

Hopefully soon. Some of us are tired of waiting. Some of us are worried what damage the powers of evil and injustice might do in their death throes.
--Gord

Looking Ahead to March 24, 2024 -- Palm Sunday

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Psalm 118:19-29 (read responsively to open the service)
• Mark 11:1-11
• Mark 11:27-33
• Mark 14:1-2

The Sermon title is Triumph!??

Image source

Early Thoughts: Hosanna, loud hosanna the happy children sang...  All glory laud and honour to thee Redeemer King... Ride on ride on in majesty...

Opening lines from 3 Palm Sunday hymns. Just typing them out conjures up images of people parading around the church waving palm branches. It brings out feelings of hope and joy. 

When I read the story of the entry into Jerusalem it carries with it that feeling of hope and possibility. The air seems to resound with the triumphant glory that the king has entered the city. It may well have been street theater. It might have been carefully staged to make a point. But there is a clear sense that the air rings with great news.

Unless you look beyond those verses of course.

The trouble seems to start immediately. People with power see Jesus' street theater as a threat. They start to wonder how they should react. (To be fair Jesus seems to be doing a fair bit to antagonize them as well.) By the beginning of chapter 14 the direction is clear. As Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice put it "this Jesus must die".

What type of triumphant story is this? When we sing those hymns and wave the branches what victory are we celebrating? The next few steps of the story seem far from victorious, in fact they lean more toward disastrous.

The Palm Sunday story is often called "the Triumphal Entry". But there is a big shadow looming over the parade. In fact  one of those hymns I quoted above includes the line "in lowly pomp ride on to die". 

Where do we go from here?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to March 17, 2024 -- 5th Sunday in Lent

 The Scripture Readings this week are: 

• Jeremiah 31:31-34
• John 12:20-26

The Sermon title is Life-Changing Promise

Early Thoughts: What difference does it make that to our lives to have the New Covenant written on our hearts and souls? 

Does it lead us to fall into the ground and die so that growth can happen?

Can people who watch how we live and act tell whether or not the words have soaked into the heart they were written on?

With this week's reading from Jeremiah we continue the theme set in the first two weeks of Lent of talking about covenants.  We started with the covenant of the rainbow, then we looked at the covenant made with Abraham. Because of our Annual Meeting Sunday we skipped over the covenant marked by the 10 commandments, and now we have Jeremiah and the promised new covenant. 

I read an article last month that suggested that each "new" covenant is in fact a divine act of covenant renewal -- arguably stretching back to the first covenant found at the beginning of Genesis. In the beginning God calls Creation good and has a vision for how the world could be. God makes promises and agreements with the first humans. Everything that follows from that point is God's attempt to keep these humans God has created in line with the vision. All these other covenants are times when God is trying again to bring God's beloved children back to the hope, to what they were created to be. In this process God has tried a variety of signs and forms. Now God has a new way.

Maybe the problem is that all the old signs and promises were external. Maybe the heart of humanity needs to be changed. Maybe if the law of love,  grace, mercy, and community is written on humanity's heart it will change how they live, how they interact with each other.

Christians have traditionally understood that this new covenant is enacted in the life, ministry, passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. As we grow as followers of The Way, as we develop as disciples of Christ, the law that is written on our hearts becomes a part of our DNA, becomes the guiding/shaping/forming principle that moves us forward.   

I firmly believe that how we use our time, talent, and treasure, what we do with the life we have been given, shows what is truly written on our hearts. I also believe that allowing the law of love,  grace, mercy, and community to soak deep into our very being will change how we use our time, talent, and treasure. A deep reading of what God, through Christ, has written on our hearts and souls will lead us to be good stewards of the lives we have been given.

For all of the existence of the church there has been an understanding that when we give ourselves fully to the new covenant, when we choose to be wholehearted followers of The Way, it is a process of dying so that we may live. In order to live in a new way we have to let (or encourage or even cause?) old ways of thinking and living die. Indeed, one of the reasons that white is a traditional colour for baptismal garments is to mimic the funeral shroud, as in baptism we pass through death and into new life (language often used more for Believer's Baptism than infant baptism and for immersion rather than sprinkling). Jesus himself, in this week's reading from John (and other places in the Gospels) reminds us that sometimes the only way to live and grow is in fact to die.

What needs to die so that the word God has written on your heart can fully impact how you live your life? What needs to die so that we can be great stewards of the lives we have been given?

There is something written on our hearts and souls, something that would, if we let it, sink deep into the very fiber of our being, something that can guide and shape all of our lives. Will we let it? HOw will those words of promise change our lives?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to March 3, 2024 -- 3rd Sunday of Lent

 All are reminded that our Annual Congregational Meeting will take place following worship this Sunday. Lunch will be provided.

The Scripture Readings this week are taken from a suggestion in Discipleship Is Stewardship a United Church Stewardship Resource.  They are:

• 2 Corinthians 9:1-15
• Luke 19:1-10

The Sermon title is Life Changing Thankfulness

Early Thoughts: What happens at that dinner?

There are a variety of opinions on what is happening in the story of Zacchaeus. Some ponder if he was the short one or if Jesus was so short the crowd covered him up. Some ponder why Zacchaeus was so determined to see this Jesus. And then there is the end of the story.

Is Zacchaeus professing "I am not so bad, I already do these things"? Or is he so transformed by the encounter with Jesus that he is starting a whole new way of being? I have read both interpretations but I lean to the latter,

 I think we are seeing a moment of transformation, the sort of transformation that comes from having an encounter with the Living God. And as I re-read the story I think that part of that transformation is driven by gratitude.

As a tax collector Zacchaeus would be seen as an outcast by the rest of society. He was in league with those who exploited the population. There is every chance that he is rich because he is good at gaming the system and his wealth is not exactly morally acquired. By going to Zacchaeus' house for a meal (inviting himself if we want to be blunt about it) Jesus is naming Zacchaeus as a member of God's community,  as a son of Abraham. I think that this being welcomed back into community opens up his heart. His response is based on gratitude for what Jesus, the Word-Made-Flesh, is proclaiming about him.

How do we respond to an encounter with the Living God? Are we filled with gratitude? Are we driven to change our lives? DO we respond with generosity? Is that what makes us a cheerful giver, giving as we have made up our mind, not regretfully or under compulsion?

--Gord

Looking Ahead to February 25, 2024 -- Lent 2B

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Genesis 17:1-27
• Mark 8:34-37

The Sermon title is Promises with a Price

Early Thoughts: What price might you be willing to pay? What might seem too much to ask?

Abram/Abraham is once again reminded of the promise and God makes a covenant. This sign of this covenant is that Abraham and all the males of his household (meaning Ishmael [born of the slave woman Hagar] and slaves and servants since the promised son [Isaac] has yet to arrive). The male who is not circumcised will not be a party to the covenant, will not be a member of the household. The male who is not circumcised will not be a part of God's Chosen People.

The promise comes with a price.

Then we have Jesus. Peter and company have been invited into a new way of being, they have been invited into the company of the Kingdom. Jesus is sharing the promise of a renewed world. Peter has just professed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Chosen One of God. In response Jesus  predicts his death and rebukes Peter for questioning that. Now Jesus tells his friends that to follow Jesus means being willing to give up their lives.

The promise comes with a price.

What price are you willing to pay to be a part of the promise?

WE are invited to be a part of God's beloved community. We are invited to be heirs to the promises of abundant life and hope and love. But there may be a cost associated with that invitation. One of the hymns in More Voices (one we sang earlier this year) talks about different invitations to follow Jesus and includes the line "lives will never be the same again". That could be a promise, it could be a threat, it certainly suggests there is a price to be paid.

Following The Way of Jesus means to follow a different path than the rest of the world. IT might not cost our lives in terms of hanging on a cross but it will come at a cost. IT pushes us to "deny our very selves", to have a different set of priorities.

What price are you willing to pay to be a part of the promise?

--Gord

Looking Ahead to February 18, 2024 -- Lent 1B

This Sunday we begin the season of Lent and our journey toward cross and tomb.

The Scripture reading this week is Genesis 8:20-9:17 (we will also be using Psalm 25 as our Prayer for Grace)

The Sermon title is Promises Made

Early Thoughts: We are people bound together by promises and covenants. We are people bound to God by promises and covenants.

There is a lot that can be said about rainbows, both from a scientific and a metaphorical/symbolic point of view. This article is just one example, there are lots of others. Humans have used rainbows as a way to talk about many different things within different cultural settings. In recent North American history two that stand out are Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition and the Pride flag.

However in the Scriptures shared between Judaism and Christianity the rainbow is first and foremost a sign of God's promise. After the flood God repents over the destruction and promises to never do that again. The rainbow serves to remind humanity, and God, of that promise.

This covenant, one of many we find in Scripture, is mainly God making promises to humanity. There are few things being asked of humanity in return. Humans are again, as they were in the Creation story a few chapters earlier, given permission to eat of the flora and fauna of the world -- in fact here there are no limitations, Jewish kosher laws will come later. All that is called for from humans in this passage is to be careful about the spilling of blood. (I wonder how blood sausage/black pudding fits with this limitation?)

What does it tell us to be reminded that God has pledged never to cause such mass destruction again (I have always noted God says nothing about preventing humans from causing mass destruction)? What does it say about God that God, knowing that humanity will continue to miss the mark, is in it for the long haul?

More importantly, how could or should we respond to this promise? Will we say that we can do whatever we want or will we be humbled? 

Next time you see the bow in the clouds will you think of God's promise to not destroy the earth? Will you be reminded of the God who is in it for the long haul?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to March 26, 2023 -- 5th Sunday in Lent

The Scripture Readings this week are: 

• Ezekiel 37:1-10
• John 11:32-45

The Sermon title is Is There Life Here?

Early Thoughts: Sometimes we see what we are looking for and miss out on what else there is to see. Where we expect to see death we see death, and maybe miss the promise of life.

Ezekiel in a valley of dry bones. Jesus, Mary and Martha weeping at the tomb of their beloved brother and friend. Why would they expect to see anything but reminders of the reality, the finality, of death? But in both stories God brings life. God surprises with life. God opens the possibility of life. God helps people see that life is still a possibility

Because make no mistake, in both of our stories the life comes from God. In the midst of his mystical experience Ezekiel is asked if life can be found in these bones. His response is a politer version of “why are you asking me? You have the answer?". Before calling Lazarus out of the tomb Jesus addresses God in prayer, naming that in what is about to happen people will see that God is active in Jesus' ministry. Death is a part of the reality of the world. Life comes from God.

I think we can get caught up in the reality of death. I think we can get so focused on the losses of death (both big deaths and little deaths) that we can lose hope that life is possible. We don't even see that God could bring life into the situation.

Sometimes our expectations shape what we see. We can look at a situation that feels hopeless and the only things we will see are signs of why it IS indeed hopeless. We can be so afraid that the church is dying that we only see the things we are losing as it dies. Sometimes we may need to hear God asking if there is a chance for life -- and then give the same answer that Ezekiel gives.

Is there life here? What will that life look like? God only knows....
--Gord

Looking Forward to March 19, 2023 -- 4th Sunday in Lent

 This Sunday we will be celebrating the sacrament of Baptism.

The Scripture Reading this week is 1 Samuel 16:1-13.

The Sermon title is What Did God See?

Early Thoughts: Samuel sees with the wrong eyes. He starts out to anoint a new king and thinks he knows what God is looking for but is wrong.  

Samuel sees Eliab and is sure "this is the one". What did he see? Was Eliab tall and strong? Did he have wisdom in his eyes? Was he youthful and energetic? We don't know what made Samuel so sure, but he is wrong. God, we are told does not look at the outside but the inside. So what does God see in the youngest son, the one who has been out tending the flocks?

Source

Ironically, the text, having earlier said that God does not look at outward experience, then tells us how wonderfully attractive David was.

But the fact remains that David is the one who has been chosen. David, who we later will learn is far from perfect, is the one that God says "this is the new king". What did God see in this shepherd boy?

The text this week tells us that God looks at the heart. So God saw something in David's in-most being that stood out. As the story of David unfolds over the next several chapters we find out that David may well have a good heart, a focus on trusting God, a special relationship with God. David will slay Goliath [and do so trusting not in human armor but in the power of God] in defense of God and God's people. David will (according to tradition) write poems and songs showing his devotion to God. David will also fall mightily, he will go astray, he will sin grievously but will then fall before God in repentance and confession. Is David perfect? By no means. But God sees something in David and God stays with David to the end of his life.

I think God saw the imperfection but also the possibility. And God focused on the possibility. So Samuel was called to anoint David as the next king of Israel.

So what does God, who looks not at outward appearances but at the heart, see in us? In our baptism liturgy we affirm that we are commissioned, called, and claimed by God. In baptism we recognize the baptized as a beloved child of God. What does God see in us? What possibilities and promise does God see in God's beloved children? What parts of us does God focus on?

I suspect that we, like Samuel, often see with the wrong eyes. We look for the wrong things. We judge by the wrong standards. Can we try to see ourselves and our neighbours as God sees them?
--Gord

Looking Forward to March 5, 2023 -- 2nd Sunday in Lent

As this is the first Sunday of March we will be celebrating communion this week. Also our Annual Congregational Meeting will follow the service.

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Genesis 12:1-9
• Psalm 121

The Sermon title is Get Up and Go!

Source

Early Thoughts:  What would you do? Imagine you are minding your own business and your spouse comes home and says "God says we have to leave everything behind and go to some unknown future". How would you react?

We are not told how Sarai (later known as Sarah) reacted when Abram (later Abraham) came in and told her what God had told him to do. We are simply told that they packed everything up and left, taking one relative (and the whole household, which seems to have included servants/slaves), striking out to who knows where.

Imagine that. You are old and childless, in a society where the 'social safety net' consisted of family caring for family. [Maybe that is why they take Lot along?] And yet you strike out on a journey that will take you away from that safety net, going on the basis of a promise of land (sliding over the slight problem that the promised land was already occupied) and a great nation to follow. For all you know you will never see or even hear from your family again. Would you do it?

Of course countless people have done it for centuries. Before things like the telegraph, or telephone or the internet people struck out for new frontiers and rarely or never went home again. "Go west young man" was advice that came with a lot of loss and risk. It is an act of faith and courage to simply get up and go.

As I reflect on what I just wrote I am reminded of our Gospel stories. Jesus also invited people to get up and go, leaving behind everything they had known. And some did it. I suggest that in some ways Jesus continues to issue that invitation for us to get up and go. Maybe not in geography but certainly in terms of being counter-cultural. As Ken Canedo writes in the third verse of his song Fish With Me (#113 in More Voices):

If you want to follow me, deny your very self.
Take up your cross and walk the walk with me.
This might seem a hardship, and impossibility, but nothing is impossible with God.
Oh, Come and follow me. Oh, leave behind your nets I call you,
Oh, come and fish with me, and your life will never be the same again.

Source

How can we do this? If you read past chapter 12 in Genesis you will quickly find that Abraham and Sarah had a rough path ahead of them. The journey to God's promises being fulfilled was not a Sunday walk in the park. It had multiple hiccups and roadblocks along the way. There must have been times when they wondered if packing up and going was the best choice after all.

Through out the story of Scripture there have been times when people felt besieged as they tried to follow God's path. Some of them lost hope for a period of time. But some wrote songs about where they found hope. Bring on one of my favourite Psalms, #121.

When we leave behind what was once secure and safe we need some assurance. What do we see when we look to the hills around us? When we feel like we are out in the wilderness of life where do we find help? 

In a word..... God. The psalmist reminds us that God will not abandon us, that God will not slumber or sleep.

We are invited to 'get up and go". We are challenged to leave behind the familiar and secure in search of a new world somewhere they call the promised land (yes I know it is really a love song the Seekers sang but in a way it works here too). But we do not go alone. Abraham and Sarah were never alone. Jesus's followers were -- and are -- never alone. God invites us to go, but God goes with us.

And that is a very good thing.
--Gord

Looking Forward to February 26, 2023 -- 1st Sunday in Lent

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
• Matthew 4:1-11

The Sermon title is ...not into temptation...

Early Thoughts: This week we begin the season of Lent. Lent is the 40 days (not counting Sundays) leading us to Easter. Traditionally it is a time of somber reflection, sometimes (or often) with a good dash of penitence and confession for flavour.

Source

Many years we begin Lent with the story of Jesus being tempted in the desert. In the end, I think, this is a story of self-discovery. Jesus is tempted with three possibilities (feed the hungry, be a worker of miracles, political power) of how he could live out his calling. He turns all of them down, not because they are unworthy (indeed one could argue that the story of Jesus and the church has him doing all three things) but because to choose one puts something other than God in first priority.

Is that really what temptation is about in the end? Is temptation about getting our priorities wrong?

Paired with Jesus and the tempter in the wilderness this week we have Adam and Eve and the tempter in the primordial garden. Here the temptation is "you will be like God". Temptation here comes from the idea that something great is being kept from us and if we just do what we were told was wrong we will benefit greatly.

In both these stories I think we are mis-served by seeing the tempter as evil incarnate. In most of Scripture the Satan is not seen this way, that seems to be a later development only hinted at in Scripture. One online friend of mine likes to see the tempter in both these stories more like the Trickster figure we find in other mythologies. The Tempter is testing, perhaps even on God's behalf, Jesus and Adam & Eve not trying to lead them into evil. Jesus passes the test with flying colours. Adam & Eve, not so much.

Source

To be human is to encounter temptations. We are tempted to put the wrong things as our top priority. We are tempted by FOMO (fear of missing out). We are tempted by promises of how wonderful things will be "if you only...". Maybe this is why we regularly pray that God will "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil".

What is your biggest temptation? How do we resist? When do we give in?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to April 3, 2022 -- 5th Sunday in Lent

 This is the first Sunday of the month so this week we will be celebrating the sacrament of Communion.

During the Time and Talent Auction last fall one of the items up for bid was a chance to request a sermon topic. In discussion with the purchaser I determined that the topic fit best during the Lenten Season, a time when we are encouraged to be a bit more self-reflective. So this Sunday is the purchased sermon...

The Scripture Reading for this week is Luke 10:25-37.

The Sermon Title is Who Is My Neighbour?

Early Thoughts: Covid-tide has brought many questions. It has sparked discussions about when governments should bring in restrictions, and how restrictive those should be. It has created debates about freedom and when/if freedom needs to be limited. I think underlying all of those debates has been a variation of the question the lawyer asks Jesus in this week's reading. Underlying all those debates about masking and vaccine mandates and occupancy limits has been question about how best we can show love and support to our neighbour [or possibly if we should be forced to do that]. How do we make choices about making the safety of our neighbour a priority when it impacts how I am best able to live my life?

There have been many many memes and posts over the last two years.  Here are a couple that I came across recently that seem (to me at least) to touch on these sorts of questions:

Of course those don't answer all the questions. That is not the point of them.  But they do give a different point of view. In a world where much of our rhetoric and media push us to think of self first these are two of many quotes that remind us to think of us first, "we not me". That is a big step in figuring out how we follow the commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves.

But still there is a complication. For the last two years there has been a strong voice reminding us that social distancing, and mask wearing, and getting COVID vaccines were the best way to love our neighbour. From where I sit that is certainly true. At the same time the commandment is to love your neighbour, and the story suggests that we have to be pretty broad in how we define neighbour. So how do we love those who disagree with masking and vaccine mandates and other social restrictions?

Calling them selfish, saying they are misguided, dismissing them as "anti-science", talking about conspiracy theories, (as has often been done in the world of social media) is not how we love them. Even if we honestly believe those things are true we need to find loving ways to engage with those who hold different points of view. Even Jesus was known to point out that anyone can love their friends, we should also love our enemies.

At various times in the last two years (and many other times beyond that) the level of social discourse in our society has saddened me. I have seen wonderful things said and happen, signs of love alive and active in the world. But I have also seen terrible, unloving, unChristian things said and done. At times it has seemed that deep divides were being drawn, that disagreement over policy was turning into "if you are with me you are against me" language, that we were too willing to cast each other out.

It can be easy to say that we need to love our neighbour. It can be really hard to do it. It can be hard to love our neighbour in the midst of a generational crisis when that neighbour does not agree what needs to be done to help make a safe space for the whole community. This goes beyond debates about the science. It goes beyond the question of when restrictions are for the greater good (which is a wonderful concept but also a dangerous concept). It does get to the heart of building  Christ-like community.

Jesus tells us to love our neighbours, friends and enemies. We don't actually get to ask "who is my neighbor?" because the question makes the flawed assumption that some people are not our neighbours. We have to sort out how we will love our neighbours, friends and enemies -- assuming that every one is our neighbour. The pandemic has exposed some relatively ugly things about some of our societal operating assumptions. It has pushed people into uncomfortable spaces. Maybe this is a good time to talk seriously about the question the lawyer raises in his discussion with Jesus -- and the answer Jesus gives.
--Gord

Looking Ahead to MArch 27, 2022 -- 4th Sunday in Lent

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Psalm 136:1-16
• 1 John 4:7-12
• John 3:11-17

The Sermon title is Love Came Down

Early Thoughts: The story of faith, the overarching narrative of Scripture, is a love story. The song of faith is a love song. This weeks we have some snippets from that story, some verses from the song.

The Psalm reading reminds the people of the ways God has shown love to God's people. It reminds of creation, of Exodus, of being led in the wilderness.

The reading from 1 John has become one of my favourite passages about God and love. It pairs well with the reading from the Gospel of John which includes that very common verse, John 3:16 (God so loved the world...). 

When we take our part in the love story, when we sing our notes in the love song, we encounter God. When we enter into the Christian story: the story of Incarnation, of God-Among-Us, of the Word-Made-Flesh we meet love walking around teaching and healing.

The Gospel reminds us that the Christ-moment happens because God loves the world. It reminds us that the Jesus-story is not about condemning the world  but about redeeming and saving it -- because God loves the world. 

In Jesus, love comes down and walks among us. In Jesus we are invited-or commanded-to love each other as we have been loved. In Jesus we are encouraged to join in the harmonies of the ancient love song. And when we do that God lives in us, God is made known through us, God's love for the word draws closer to completeness.

As Christina Rossetti says in her poem Love Came Down at Christmas:

Love shall be our token,
Love shall be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and to all men [humanity],
Love for plea and gift and sign.

 --Gord

Looking Ahead to March 20, 2022 -- 3rd Sunday in Lent

 The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Genesis 3:8-21
• Romans 8:31-39
• Mark 13:14-22

The Sermon title is Consequences?

Early Thoughts: When have you felt ashamed? Why? What has helped you move past that feeling?

Our choices, our actions (or our inaction) have consequences. That is a truth that can not be escaped. It is true when we are talking about our individual choices and when we talk about our collective choices. How willing are we to accept that reality?

This story from Genesis is one that many of us learned at a very early age. The story of "the fall of humanity" is, for many people, a key part of the overarching narrative of salvation history. As such we may have learned the story with several layers of interpretation to help us know 'what it really means'. It is possible some of that interpretation is not helpful in the long run.

As the story tells us, the consequences of too much knowledge, and the consequences of disobedience, are that life is not easy. Because of the choices made in the story (choices which both primeval humans try to blame on somebody else) life is harder than it was. Leaving paradise bring labour and toil and sweat.

I think we can argue that the Mark passage is also about the consequences of choices. In his ministry and preaching and teaching Jesus is calling those who follow him to join in a counter-cultural revolution against the power of empire. Empire tends to hit back against those who refuse to toe the line. That push back can well seem apocalyptic. Certainly history has shown us that it can be violent and destructive.

The primeval humans are hiding in their story. They are ashamed because of their nakedness, their exposure (this could have both physical and metaphorical meanings). Plenty of Christian theology has tried to tell us that we should all be ashamed, that shame is a proper and natural consequence of our 'fallen' natures. Somehow this is intended to motivate us to live better. I don't think shame does that.

Certainly we have to accept the fact that our choices and actions have consequences. Some of those consequences seem fair and logical, some don't. Some we will whine or yell or complain about. But making us feel ashamed is not helpful. Appropriate guilt can motivate us to do better, shame does not. [My working definition is that guilt is about actions and choices, shame is about how we see ourselves/who we are, which is why shame can in fact hamper our efforts to grow and develop.] Luckily there is Good News, there is a cure...

Romans 8:38-39 are among my favourite verses in all of Scripture. In a world where many theologians have wanted to use the Genesis story to proclaim a fallen, depraved humanity hopelessly separated form God (if not for the saving work of Christ) Romans 8 proclaims the exact opposite. The cure to our feelings of shame is not being released from the consequences of our actions and choices. The cure for our shame is to be reminded that we are God's beloved children. Remembering that can, hopefully, help us accept and live with the fair consequences of our actions. It can help us deal with our guilt. It can help (and push) us to rail against unfair consequences, unjust systems, unequal treatment -- against Empire (which shows up wearing many different masks) even when we benefit from those consequences, systems, and treatment.

Actions have consequences. But underlying it all is the unfailing love of God. That is Good News!
--Gord