Looking Ahead to March 2, 2025 -- Transfiguration Sunday

As this is the first Sunday of the month we will be celebrating Communion. Also as we do on the 1st Sunday of each month we encourage people to support our Local Outreach Fund.

Following worship this Sunday all are invited to remain for our Annual Congregational Meeting.

The Scripture Readings for this week are: 

• Exodus 34:29-35 
• 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2

The Sermon title is See Through the Veil

Early Thoughts: "Now we are seeing a dim reflection, as in a mirror; but then we shall be seeing face to face" (1 Corinthians 13:12a, Jerusalem Bible)

ChatGPT Image

What if 'then' could be NOW? What if we could see clearly and fully, not just a dim reflection? What if the veil were removed and we saw God present in our midst? WHat if we were fully aware that the Shekinah , the divine presence of God was among us?

This Sunday is the last Sunday of the Season of Epiphany, next week we begin the Lenten journey to the cross. One of the traditional themes of the Season of Epiphany is recognizing that God is in our midst. Certainly that is one of the themes for this Sunday.

I invite you to think back to the Sunday right after Christmas (December 29). On that day we heard the story from Luke where Simeon and Anna both run into Mary, Joseph and their new baby in the temple. Both Simeon and Anna recognize who this baby is, and that morning I asked in the reflection "how did they know?". The next week was Epiphany Sunday when we remember the story of visitors from the East who have come to honour the newborn king -- they too knew something, they too recognized that God was present.

Source

Now this week we come to Transfiguration Sunday, a day when the Gospel story (which will be told during Children's Time) tells of an experience Peter, James and John have with Jesus on the top of a mountain. They have a vision of Jesus with the full glory of God shining through him. God is revealed in sight and sound in this man they have been following around, this teacher who inspired them to leave their old lives behind.

How might we becomes aware of where God is hiding in plain sight in our world? Do we really want to?

This week's reading from Exodus, which Paul references in his letter to the Corinthians that we are also reading, talks about how the people of Israel responded to seeing the glory of God reflected in the face of Moses. They were afraid so Moses had to veil his face, to mute the glory of God shining in him. Paul, after a slight diversion into what seems like a bit of an anti-Semitic argument about Jews  remaining unable to comprehend what God is doing, encourages us to remove the veil, to allow each other to see God reflected in each other as we are being transformed in to who God calls and creates us to be.

Can we take the risk to allow God shine through us?  If, as Genesis 1 tells us is true, we are all created in the image of God what keeps that image from  being what people see in us? How do we remove the veil(s) that life has pushed on us? How do we see through the veil(s) that other people wear?

I suggest that when Jesus takes Peter, James and John up the mountain Jesus himself is not changed --- the other three get a chance to see more clearly what has been in front of them all along. What have we been missing all along? Where has God been hiding in plain sight?  Is this why Jesus says (in Matthew 13)" Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear"?

I think one of the gifts God gives us is the ability to see the world as it is. Sometimes this is unsettling because we don't see what we wish the world was. Sometimes it can also be uplifting when we see God revealed in our midst. In practice I think we see without the veil in glimpses and flashes, but maybe with openness and faith we can see more. 

How do we see beyond the veil? Are we willing to take the risk of removing the veils we put up to protect ourselves?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to February 16, 2025 -- 6th Sunday After Epiphany

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Psalm 1
• Luke 6:17-26

Source

The Sermon title is Blessed or Cursed?

Early Thoughts: Looking at the Luke passage, where do you find yourself? Which category describes you better -- the ones told the are blessed or the ones who are told to expect woes?

Source

Or looking at the Psalm...
Are you in the happy folk who meditate on and delight in the Law or are you in the second stanza? Are you a tree planted by the water, growing strong in the word of God or chaff to be blown away?

I think I know where we all want to be....

Living into God has called and formed us to be pushes us to ask those sorts of questions. It pushes us to be honest with ourselves even when it is uncomfortable.

Many of us in the United Church, most of us in Canada in general are not usually among the poor, the hungry, the hated and excluded -- the people promised blessings. In the big picture we are among the rich and comfortable. Often in our culture we end up taking advice from 'the wicked', from those who lead us into the primary sin of idolatry -- putting something other than God in the place of highest importance.

Does that mean we should be dreading the times of woe?

Nor necessarily. It does mean we need to take an honest look at where we fit in the ecosystem. Certainly where it comes to the categories in the Psalm we can make a choice. We can choose what we put in the place of highest importance. As for Luke's categories of blessing and woes, well we can choose how to use our wealth and privilege. In the end, I think those choices are the path that leads us away from woes and toward blessings.

Together let us lead each other to the path of blessing. Together let us plant ourselves in the streams of wisdom so we can grow strong and fruitful. Let us be ready to be different from the world around us, even pushed out to the margins, as long as we are being faithful to the God who made us in their image.

At the same time, maybe we should be ready for the possibility that there will be woes along the way...
--Gord

Looking Ahead to February 9, 2025 -- 5th Sunday After Epiphany

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Jeremiah 1:4-10 
• Isaiah 6:1-8 
• Luke 5:1-11

The Sermon title is Not ME!!!

Early Thoughts: Annual Meeting season can be dangerous. It is the time of year when Nominating Committees are out and about and recruiting. How will you r4espond when asked to take on a task?

Source

This week we have a set of call stories, where the Divine nominator taps someone and says "I want you". ANd in all three stories the person feels unworthy.

Jeremiah claims to be too young. Isaiah declares himself a man of unclean lips. Peter declares himself unworthy of even being in Jesus' presence even before the invitation is issued. In all three stories the invitee is told that they are indeed the right one for the task, so don't be afraid. God empowers the one God has called.

There is almost always a reason to try and avoid saying yes to an opportunity. We are too busy. We don't know what we are doing. We might mess it up. We don't have the skills/knowledge/ability. What might make us move from "you got the wrong person" to "Yes, I would be happy to do that"?

I think there are several answers to that question. Sometimes organization try to guilt people into "doing their part". That might work, though it is, in the end a very unhelpful approach. Much more helpful and empowering is to share why you think that person is suited for that particular task. Sometimes, maybe even often, we need help to see where our strengths might lie. Many people would not think of putting themselves forward until someone else says "you would be good at...". The other key part in recruiting, especially recruiting those who are unsure, is to remind them that they are not alone, they have support to complete the task.

GOd, it seems, is really good at recruitment and convincing the reluctant. Over and over again in Scripture God taps someone on the shoulder and they are reluctant to respond. Moses insisted he could not talk well enough. Jonah got on a boat headed the exact opposite direction. But over and over again God convinces the person to agree to the task.

When have you been invited to take on a new role and were sure they had the wrong person? What changed your mind? When and how have you coached someone else to move from "no way" to "I'll give it a try"?

I firmly believe that we live in a time when something will be asked of all of us. (Actually this is always true, I just think that given the political and economic climate right now this is a bit more urgent.) God needs more voices sharing a different view of the world, a different understanding of what is truly important, a different vision for how we work together. God needs loud voices reminding us that we are ALL God's beloved children, made in God's image, worthy of life and respect and love.

What might GOd have in mind for you? What risks might God invite you to take so that the Good News of hope and love, renewal and re-creation, can continue to spread around Grande Prairie, Alberta, the whole world that God loves so very much? How will each of us respond?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to February 2, 2025 -- Epiphany 4C

This being the first Sunday of the month we will be celebrating the Sacrament of Communion during worship. Those joining us via YouTube are invited to have brad and juice available so we can all eat and drink together.

The Scripture Reading this week is Luke 4:21-30

The Sermon title is How Dare You?!?

Source

Early Thoughts: Local Boy Makes Good! That is how this story actually starts but then it takes a pretty drastic turn as the crowd moves to toss Jesus off a cliff...

One might honestly ask why. Yes crowds can be fickle, but still what did he do to upset them so much?

In essence Jesus annoys them by reminding them that it is not all about them, not all about their people. Jesus tells them that God cares for people outside the camp.

It seems to me that people still find that message hard to hear and accept. Maybe it is even harder or worse to hear that challenge from someone we were sure was 'one of us'.

We often talk about this scene in the Nazareth synagogue as the launch point of Jesus' public ministry in Luke's Gospel. And in a way, as Luke writes his story, it is, this is the first detailed description that Luke gives us of Jesus' teaching and preaching but at the same time it is not. In verse 14-5 we are told that Jesus returned to Galilee and "began to teach in their synagogues", in verse   we read "When he came to Nazareth..." and in this week reading, verse 23, we have a reference to the things he did in Capernaum. Obviously Jesus has been at work in public ministry before this day in his hometown synagogue. Maybe he had a soft launch and this is the grand opening?

At any rate, by now news has started to spread about this Jesus from Nazareth and what he can do. There is a sense in this reading that the people were excited to see the local boy come home after making a name for himself out in the world. Surely if he did great things in Capernaum he would do great things here...right?  Maybe not. He seems to refuse to do them, though maybe he could not. Maybe the people there wanted to see him perform great deeds of power but the curse of familiarity made it hard for that to happen. Note that when he first finishes his proclamation the people say "Is this not Joseph's son?", sometimes people have trouble seeing you as more than the person they once knew--no matter how much they want to do so.

Indeed when both Matthew and Mark talk about Jesus being rejected by his homies (though they set it later in his ministry) they say that Jesus was unable to perform many miracles in Nazareth because of their unbelief. In all three accounts Jesus uses a line about prophets not being honored in their hometown. It is hard to go home sometimes.

In Luke however, Jesus goes an extra step. It almost as if he is either trying to irritate these people where he grew up, to ensure his rejection or maybe he knows where they need to be pushed. At any rate he reminds them of two stories from their faith history. Both Elijah and Elisha are special prophets in the faith story. They not only spoke truth to power but they also were miracle workers in their own right (the later prophets would speak God's Word to the people but not perform miracles). Jesus reminds his childhood friends and companions that Elijah and Elisha carried the power of God to outsiders, sometimes instead of healing or aiding the people of Israel who were close at hand. In response the people essentially run him out of town on a rail.

Here is what ChatGPT came up with

Many times we dearly want to think we are special, that we should get special treatment for some reason or another. When we are reminded that we are not as special as we think we are it can be hard to hear. I think this is part of what happens in Nazareth. It is not just that they are too familiar with Jesus (they watched him grow up after all) to accept him in a new role -- thought that may well be part of it. It is also that he dared to talk about the God whose mercy is wider than the lines humans draw between the 'in' and 'out' groups, the division of who is worthy of help and who is not.

I think we need that reminder at times as well. I think of the storm of controversy last week following the prayer service at the National Cathedral in Washington when Bishop Budde asked leaders to be merciful to those who many push to the outside edges of society. I think of the many disparaging, even hateful, comments made about the people who live in the tent cities of Grande Prairie or Edmonton. I think of our tendency to ensure our people get their 'fair share' first and then decide how to divide what is left over.

Maybe we in the church need to be more daring. Maybe we need to be more vocal about challenging our leaders and ourselves to see the unended width and breadth of God's mercy. Maybe we need to take the chance of saying the unpopular things that nevertheless are the truth of the Gospel.

I just hope there is no cliff handy when we do it.
--Gord

Looking Ahead to January 26, 2025 -- 3rd Sunday After Epiphany

The Scripture Reading this week is 1 Corinthians 12:29-14:5.

The Sermon title is The Greatest Gift

Found on FB a while ago

Early Thoughts: Over the weekend a 50 year-old (though I thought it was 40-45 years old) song jumped into my head. The chorus says:

Oh oh, get that buzz

Love is the drug

I’m thinking of

Oh oh, can’t you see?

Love is the drug for me

The song has nothing to do with what Paul is talking about -- it is someone seeking physical encounters under the guise of love -- but the idea of seeing love as a drug, an addictive substance, and needing your next hit does I think speak to the importance of what Paul calls the "greatest of these".

This week we continue in Paul's discussion of gifts given through the Spirit. Last week in Bible study a couple of people looked at the end of chapter 12 and asked about what it meant to strive for the greater gifts. What is this more excellent way Paul speaks of? Time to answer that question.

Standing in the same line as Torah, Jewish Wisdom, and Jesus Paul affirms that the greatest gift is love. No matter how good you are at anything else, no matter what other gifts you might have, without love you are nothing. I suspect there may have been some people over the centuries who have found that a little humbling or off-putting. It means it doesn't matter how popular your, how rich you are, how many accolades you have received, what office(s) you have been elected to, how much power you have, how much you have sacrificed -- without love none of it matters. After all, all those other things will end someday. 

It seems we all need that reminder some days. In a world that has become so deeply divided and acrimonious, a world where 'what's in it for me' seems to be how we are told to make decisions, a world where we can often ask (as many have in the past) What about the love or Where is the love we need to be reminded about the greatest gift.

Paul challenges us to open ourselves to love. Paul challenges us to grow and mature in love. Paul challenges us to live in love, to act in love so that we can embrace who God has formed us to be, so that we can help the community grow in unity, in hope, in faith, and in love.

I am writing this piece on January 20th. As I type I believe that President Trump is giving his inauguration address (I am intentionally not listening). On both sides of the 49th parallel politics is taking an ugly turn. There are many voices demonizing 'others' as the cause of all our problems and sometimes it seems leaders are more interested in tribalism and picking fights than finding solutions where all benefit. Love is, I believe, an antidote to these tendencies. Love, not in a sappy sentimental romanticized version but in a scrappy, standing up for what is right, speaking truth to the world version is what we need in the world today.

Also found on FB

Today is also Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the US (And many people have commented that Trump being installed in office on the same day as Dr. King is honoured seems a big disconnect). Dr. King never called his followers to hate the other side. Dr. King was, after all, first a preacher who knew the Scripture story deeply. He knew that love was the prime virtue for life.

Paul challenges the Corinthians, and us, to seek a more excellent way. That more excellent way is the way of love. As John's Gospel reminds us, Jesus calls/commands us to love each other as we have been loved. Jesus tells us that this is how people will know that we are his followers -- that we have love for our neighbour.

The Greatest Gift. Love. It makes a difference in the world.
--Gord

Looking Ahead to January 19, 2025 -- 2nd Sunday After Epiphany

The Scripture Reading this week is 1 Corinthians 12:1-31

The Sermon title is What Is Your Gift?

Early Thoughts: We all have gifts. Sometimes we don't recognize them. Sometimes we don't give them the honour they deserve, and sometimes others do that to us.

The church in Corinth had issues. They were divided in factions, apparently along a variety of fracture lines. Paul spends much of this letter trying to get them to move past these divisions. One of the lines of division seems to be that some members of the community thought they were superior to others because they had the Spiritual Gift of speaking in tongues (or glossolalia to use the technical term). 

In response to that particular issue Paul spends chapters 12-14 talking about Gifts of the Spirit. Chapter 12 talks about the variety of gifts, and the fact that they are ALL needed and important. Chapter 13 is Paul at what I consider his finest with a discourse about the Greatest gift (we will look at that next week). Then the first 2/3 of chapter 14 is Paul specifically dealing with the gifts of speaking in togues and prophecy.

Paul lists a set of roles in the church, a set of gifts if you will. They are important roles in any faith community. I don't think they are the only gifts that God bestows upon people. Just as there are many more body parts than Paul lists in the second section of this chapter, there are many other gifts that go into the building of God's Beloved Community (a term that has been used for the church).

So what gift(s) do you bring into the community? Are we also guilty of seeing some gifts as superior to others?  Do we think some body parts are more important or attractive than others?

A community functions best when there are a variety of members, with a variety of strengths. As such it is incumbent on all of us to help raise up the gifts we see in the community. 

How have people helped you see where your gifts and strengths lie? How have you helped others see that in themselves?

I also think we need to recognize that different gifts/strengths are need in greater or lesser proportions at different times. As I remember hearing during the 'equal pay for work of equal value' debates 40 years ago: "if your plumbing is leaking the work of a plumber is far more valuable than the work of a typist". Over time all gifts are needed, at a specific time one may be needed more than another. That is not a statement of ultimate value.

In the same vein, though a bit of a different branch, I suggest that we as individuals have different gifts or strengths to offer in different seasons of our lives. Part of our task is to discern what season has past and what new season is beginning.

As a community we rely on the shared gifts we all bring to the table. As individuals wee need to claim what we bring (and be humble enough to admit what we don't bring) and we need to help others recognize what they bring. That is how a strong body is built.
--Gord

Looking Ahead to January 12, 2025 -- Baptism of Christ Sunday

One description of the Liturgical Year is that from Advent through to Easter we look at the life of Jesus and then from Easter to Advent we look at the life of the church/life of the faithful. I am not sure I fully agree with that breakdown because I think we do both things all year but in that model we find an explanation for this Sunday. Traditionally the first Sunday after Epiphany is set aside to mark the Baptism of Jesus, which Matthew Mark and Luke use as the launching point for his public ministry.

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Acts 8:14-17
• Luke 3:21-22

The Sermon title is Spirit-Filled

Early Thoughts: What does it feel like? Being filled with/receiving the Holy Spirit, what does that mean to us?

Both the passages for this week make a clear tie between baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit. OR at least a complete baptism involves receiving the Holy Spirit as it appears that the people in Samaria had only had half a baptism before Peter and John showed up. For the early church it seems clear that part of becoming a child of God is baptism with water and the Spirit -- which in fact is what John the Baptist told folk to expect.

That, to me, is part of why we give families a baptismal candle. Fire/flame is an ancient symbol of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

But back to the key question --what does it mean? How can we tell if a person or a community is filled with the Spirit?

I don't think there is one way, one litmus test that answers that question. I think the in-dwelling of the Spirit in us as individuals and as communities shows up in a variety of ways (coincidentally, the next couple of weeks we will be reading from 1 Corinthians 12-14 where Paul talks about some of the gifts the Spirit gives). In A New Creed we talk about the God "who works in us and others by the Spirit". Being filled with the Holy Spirit helps us grow as disciples, as learners and followers of Jesus. It strengthens and emboldens us. The presence of the Spirit in our lives also serves to comfort us, to remind us we are not alone. Being Spirit-filled would, I think and hope, spread through every part of our lives. It would help us see the world differently. It would guide our actions and choices.

As a Baptized and Baptizing Community we are called to be Spirit-filled as individuals and as a collective. If we allow that to happen (sometimes we might fight against the leadings of the Spirit) it has the potential to change how we live.  Are we willing to take that chance, not knowing where it might lead us?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to February 4, 2024 --5th Sunday After Epiphany Year B

This being the first Sunday of February, we will be celebrating the sacrament of Communion.

The Scripture Readings for this week are:

• Isaiah 40:28-31
• Mark 1: 21-45

The Sermon title is The Healer, the Renewer

Early Thoughts: Where do you need to be healed? What part of your life cries out for renewal?

The Gospel accounts are clear. The ministry of Jesus included a ministry of healing. Jesus healed people. Jesus cast out demons.

This is sometimes a challenge for those of us whose rationality tends to discount the supernatural. And demon possession/exorcisms?

However the Gospels are clear. Even if the (sometimes overly) rational 21st century Christian finds the concept unbelievable Jesus healed, Jesus cast out demons.

Moreover, I would suggest that the ongoing work of the Risen Christ in the world continues to include healing. The presence of God in our lives brings healing and renewal. God's activity in the world continues to silence demons and take away their power.

I also suggest that there may be times that there is a difference between having our selves healed/renewed and having a physical condition cured.

So back to the questions I started with. Where in your life do you need healing and renewal? I might even ponder what demons (because in one way or another many of us have demons) need to be silenced and robbed of their power. Are we able to name those things? Are we able to ask for healing? Are we able to receive it?

And more to the point...HOW?

The how has to do with our willingness to ask and seek, but also our ability to see and recognize. Sometimes healing and renewal might look different than we want them to. Or sometimes we are so focused on how we understand the world to work that we can't see what is staring us in the face.

When I read those few verses from Isaiah I see another clue to the how. "They who wait for the Lord...". We might have to wait and allow God to work. We might have to wait an allow God to reveal what God is doing so that we can participate in the healing and renewal that is already happening around us.

That might be true both for us as individuals and for us as communities (including congregations). This weekend I started to read a book that a colleague had recommended: When Church Stops Working.
One of the things that has been suggested in the opening chapters is that the path forward is not about new or more programs but starts with waiting. Renewing the church begins with waiting. I look forward to seeing where they go with that line of thought.

Assuming that we, as individuals and communities, are in need of healing and renewal and assuming that God's activity in the world includes bringing healing and renewal, are we ready to look and see where that healing is occurring? Are we ready to pause and wait, to stop doing something, so that the healing can happen?

What might happen if we opened ourselves to the possibility of healing, of renewal, of demons being silenced? How might our lives be different?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to January 28, 2024 -- 4th Sunday After Epiphany, Year B

The Scripture Readings this week are: 

• 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
• 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

The Sermon title is To Do or Not To Do

Early Thoughts: If all things are permitted why not do them? And what criteria do we use to decide what to do and what not to do.

I see three possible answers in these passages from 1 Corinthians:

1. Self-control. We may be permitted to do something but we should not be dominated by it. We need to set limits
2. Does doing the thing bring glory to God? We should choose to do things that are in line with our identity as beloved children of God. Our choices should show that God is active in our lives.
3. Care for our neighbour. Do the choices we make lead others into confusion? We are called to build a community, not to indulge our own desires.

 It appears that among the many issues being faced by the Corinthian church was a failure to understand those three points.

I wonder if we are that much different today? Culturally we have moved through a few cycles in recent generations. In the 2020's we may not be quite as deep in the "if it feels good do it" mindset of previous decades but we are still living in a culture that is coloured to some degree by that ideal. I think it goes along with a "me first" mindset (something else that has marked the last 50 or 60 years).

At the same time we are not as puritanical as some earlier generations, and I believe we never will be. The pendulum might swing between permissiveness and restriction but each time it swings the center of the movement pushes over slightly to the permissive side. Whether that is a good thing or not is a matter for debate.

So how, in the 21st century, do we decide "to do or not to do"? How do we decide what limits to place on ourselves -- particularly when we are talking about placing stronger limits than the wider culture?

I encourage us to return to the three points I named above. It turns out Paul might have know what he was talking about (even if his discussion of eating meat in chapter 8 seems to say both yes and no).

What things are you allowed to do but choose not to? When do you say "well I could but it would be better if I didn't"? Are there times you choose care for your neighbour to override your desire to do something?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to January 21, 2024 -- 3rd Sunday After Epiphany, Year B

This week during the Time for the Young at Heart we will talk a bit about Christian Unity

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• 1 Samuel 3:1-10 
• Jonah 3:1-5 
• Mark 1:14-20

The Sermon title is Open Ears

Early Thoughts: There is a song, #272 in Voices United, which says: 

Open your ears, O faithful people, open your ears and hear God's word.
Open your hearts, O royal priesthood, God now speaks to you.
God has spoken to the people, Hallelujah!
And those words are words of wisdom, Hallelujah!

They who have ears to hear this message, they who have ears, then let them hear.
They who would learn the way of wisdom, let them hear Gods word.
God has spoken to the people, Hallelujah!
And those words are words of wisdom, Hallelujah!

This week we have three very different stories about people who make a choice to hear. One is a story of someone who takes a while to recognize what is happening. One may well be the most effective call to repentance one finds in Scripture. The third is the familiar story of fishermen leaving their nets behind to follow this Jesus fellow.

There is an interesting line at the beginning of the Samuel story: "The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread". I always wonder if God had gone silent for a time or if the people just were not listening carefully enough. Maybe it is a variation on the old conundrum "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around does it make a sound?". If God is speaking but nobody has open ears to listen/is tuned in to the right frequency (to use a radio image) is God really speaking? Of course the tree in the forest DOES make a sound, even if nobody is there to hear it, but how useful is an unheard sound?

That story of young Samuel resonates with me. Do we recognize when God might be calling out to us, whispering in our ears? Are we ready to say "Speak, for your servant is listening"? Who will be our Eli, eventually helping us to recognize what is happening?

Or there is the story from Jonah. Having finally arrived in Nineveh, where he never wanted to go in the first place, Jonah shares the message that God has given him. He warns the people to change their ways or the city will be destroyed. To his surprise (and possibly to his dismay) the people of Nineveh listen. They hear the message clearly and respond. [It appears Jonah was all excited that he might get to watch them be destroyed and is very disappointed that this does not come to pass. Sometimes we get listened to when we don't really want to.] For some reason the people of Nineveh had ears that were open and ready to hear.

Then there is our third story this week, one many of us have heard before. Jesus shows up along the shore of the sea of Galilee and calls four fishermen to join him. Immediately they get up, leave their nets behind, and follow him. What made them so open to hear the call? Or what was it about the call-er (Jesus) that made the message so compelling that they responded so immediately? What might make us respond that quickly to an invitation?

Several years ago the United Church of Christ in the US reminded us that God is still speaking. Judging from the ads I saw that used that phrase, in large part this was a call to "not put a period where God has put a comma", to remember that the world and our understanding of who God calls us to be is not fixed and unchanging. God is calling us to new understandings. But I also think it is a reminder that we need to stop, unplug our ears, tune in to a different frequency, and listen for God. 

Doing that might change life completely...
--Gord

Looking Ahead to January 14, 2024 -- 2nd Sunday After Epiphany, Year B

 The Scripture Reading this week is John 1:19-51

The Sermon title is Curiosity – a Virtue

Early Thoughts: What makes you curious? is It a good thing to be curious? Is it a dangerous thing? Is it a healthy thing? Is it maybe good, dangerous and healthy all at the same time?

Then again they say that curiosity killed the cat....

I suggest that without curiosity this week's story from John's Gospel would never have moved forward. This is John's account of the calling of the first disciples  but if a number of people, starting with the Baptizer, had not piqued the curiosity of others in the story they may not have been there to be called.

In his ministry John the Baptizer has laid the foundation. He has talked about the one who is yet to come, the one who is greater than the Baptizer, the Chosen One. Then he sees Jesus walking along and says "there he is". This gets two people curious and they go investigate further. Then Andrew shares the news with his brother and gets Simon curious so he too goes to check it out.

In our final scene this week we find Phillip and Nathanael. Nathanael's curiosity has a tinge of skepticism in it. "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?". But he too is won over. The story moves forward because of a combination of curiosity and (possibly more important) people who invite others to come [or go] and explore.

In this story, and in the ongoing story of inviting people to follow The Way of Christ, curiosity is certainly a virtue. It leads us to new places. It opens us to new possibilities , new understandings, and and new experiences. It takes us to a healthier place. 

But there is possible danger in all that goodness. There is something unsettling in being led to new places, understandings, and experiences. There is a risk in following a path that diverges from the tried and true. There is peril in not following the crowd at times.

So what makes you curious? How do we make others curious about this path we call The Way? And then what do we do with that curiosity?  

I suspect that there is sometimes a desire to push our curiosity aside, to stick with the way we know. Familiar often brings comfort. But we need to indulge ourselves. We need to let ourselves explore those places that curiosity leads us even if, or maybe especially if, it sometimes makes us uncomfortable.

We also need to invite others to join us along the path. We need to be ready to spark a desire to go further. We need to be open to hearing and exploring, maybe even answering, questions about who this Jesus is and where does he want to take us.

God is always at work in the world. God is always up to something. When we allow ourselves to be curious, to check out the new thing that is happening transformation can occur. It might be unsettling. It might seem dangerous. It might even have killed the cat. But in the life of faith curiosity is indeed a virtue.
--Gord

Looking Ahead to January 7, 2024 -- Baptism of Christ Sunday

 Welcome to a new year, and of course a new month. As this is the first Sunday of January we will be gathering to break bread together as we celebrate Communion.

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Acts 19:1-7 
• Mark 1:4-11

The Sermon title is Washed With Spirit

Early Thoughts:  Every year we begin January with a remembrance that Jesus was baptized. In part this serves to remind us that we are a baptized and baptizing community. Remembering the act of baptism also serves to reminds us that we are God's Beloved children. As people who have been baptized into Christian faith we have all been washed by water and the Spirit.

Our story from Acts this week intrigues me. For a long time I assumed (always a dangerous thing to do) that baptism was always the same within the Christian community. Certainly it has been the rite of initiation into the community from a very early time. But this week's reading from Acts shows that even then there were differing understandings of how Christian baptism might be done. It seems that in the early days there were still people (in the Christian community) out there baptizing in the same way that John the Baptist baptized. So Paul shares a different teaching, one that has become a norm for Christian baptism and brings the Spirit into the act of baptism.

Do we baptize into John's baptism or into Jesus' baptism? 

Jesus, as far as we can tell from reading the Gospel accounts, never performed baptisms himself. However he was baptized [even though Matthew's Gospel seem to suggest there was some scandal about this in the early church -- why would Jesus need  to get a baptism of repentance? why would John baptize the one who is greater than John?] and so we are baptized because Jesus was himself baptized.

But our understanding of baptism is different from John's. Especially when baptizing infants/young children we don't really emphasize the "repentance to wash away your sins" aspect. At least I don't. We talk more about initiation, membership in the family of God. We might highlight the idea of that the Holy Spirit is a part of this action, that we invite the Holy Spirit into the life of this person (and by extension re-invite the Holy Spirit into the life of all those members of the baptized and baptizing community). We might not talk about washing clean of sin. We might not talk about dying and rising to new life -- though in practice I think we talk about the new life without the somewhat disturbing talk of dying first. So what do we mean when we talk about being wash with/in/by the Spirit?

I think it is in fact about new/renewed/transformed life. I think it is about being reminded that we are part of the circle of God's Beloved children. I think it is a symbolic action that marks us as a different person, set apart, called to a new way of being. I think it is what empowers us to keep on following The Way of Christ in a world where often we are encouraged to follow a very different path.

THere is a story that Martin Luther, a man who had deep concerns about his sinfulness and worthiness before God, when he felt especially unworthy would simply remind himself that he was baptized. My reading of this story is that he remembered the promises of baptism. He remembered the transformational work of the Holy Spirit. And that made a great difference.

What does it mean to you to remember that you are baptized, born of water and the Spirit?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to February 12, 2023

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Deuteronomy 30:15-20
• 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

The Sermon title is What Helps You Grow?

Early Thoughts: Who has helped you grow? What choices have influenced your growth over the years?

This week's passage from Deuteronomy is one of my favourite pieces of Scripture. It reminds us that our choices matter. It reminds us that while God has offered us a way to live, a set of rules or guidelines to follow, we still have the ability to make choices. It reminds us that we have to make good choices if we are to have abundant life for ourselves and our community.

I would suggest that God wants us to grow as individuals and as communities (I think this is part of the logic behind much of the Law in Torah, that these are ways we can grow to be the people God wants us to be). As we grow we make, and learn from, our choices. Consequences are often a really good teaching tool.

Then we have our fifth (and for now final) passage from 1 Corinthians. Paul jumps back to a more explicit discussion of the things that seem to be dividing the Christian community if Corinth. And still one of those issues is that some people think one teacher is better than another. Paul wants the Corinthians, and us, to see that they are all part of a larger picture.

How many teachers have you had in your life? Some were formally called teachers or mentors. Some were people who were a part of your life and happened to teach you something, either intentionally or by happenstance. Many of us probably have teachers/mentors in our lives that we call favourite, and teachers/mentors who we disliked. But if we are honest, we have to admit that we are who we are (for better or worse) because of all of them.

Paul says that he planted the seed, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. And the important one is the one who gives the growth. 

So how has God helped you to grow? How has God helped us as a community to grow? Many people have planted seeds. Many people have watered and weeded and tended. But has God given growth?

How have we embraced the growth God has offered? How have our choices led to more opportunities for growth? How have we resisted the growth that God has offered? When have we chosen not to grow?

A couple of other things occur to me as I write this:

1. Growth means change. An acorn does not look like an Oak. I remember a Continuing Education Event I attended a few years ago. The presenter, whose family had grown through fostering and adoption, said that they were always clear that each time a new member joined the family they were a different family. They were not the same as they had been before. To grow is to change. I suspect this is why we sometime resist growth both as individuals and as communities.
2. While we all have our list of those who have fed/watered/tended/taught us, it is also true that we have all been the ones to teach/tend/tend/water/feed others. Seeds have been planted in our lives and souls, we have planted seeds in others. Some may be fruitful, some may have been weeds. How do we help (or maybe hinder) each other to embrace the growth God is causing within them?
   

Tris week I invite us all to think about growth. In some ways it is a mysterious thing, as the children's song asks: "Do you or I or anyone know how oats peas beans and barley grow?". In some ways it is a scary thing, we don't always know (and we can't always control) what we, our communities, our children will grow into. But in the end the promise of growth is a sign of hope, a sign the God is with us.

So how is God causing growth in and around you here in 2023?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to February 5, 2023 -- 5th Sunday After Epiphany

 This being the first Sunday of February we will be celebrating the sacrament of Communion.

This week we continue our exploration of the first few chapters of Paul's letter to the church in Corinth as we read all of 1 Corinthians 2.

The Sermon title is Hidden Wisdom

Early Thoughts: At the end of Chapter 1 Paul talked about the foolishness of the Christian message. In Chapter 2 he starts to talk about wisdom (indeed in the NRSVue most of the chapter is under a heading "The True Wisdom of God").

I have come to believe that the deepest, truest wisdom in life is usually a little bit hidden. It has to be sought out, explored. It doesn't just fall into our laps.

I have come to believe that the deepest, truest wisdom in life often challenges "what we all know". It comes with a different look at things. It makes us question the way things are, the way things "have always been".

So it is with the wisdom of God, the wisdom of Christ. It comes through different paths than "common sense". [And as mentioned last week it often is not common sense when it does arrive.] It comes from opening ourselves to the movement of the Holy Spirit. It comes when we are open to other possibilities than worldly/fleshy/human wisdom.

I truly believe that this true, deep wisdom is life-transforming -- maybe even world transforming -- in ways that worldly/fleshy/human wisdom is not.  That is why we seek it out, because we want to be transformed. It is, as Narnia's Aslan might say, Deep Magic from the depths of time. It may get applied in different ways in different eras and contexts but the wisdom runs deeper than any particular example (all good wisdom does, I think).

Will we search for the true, deep, transformative wisdom of God?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to January 29, 2023 -- 4th Sunday after Epiphany

The Scripture Readings this week are: 

• Matthew 5:1-12
• 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

The Sermon title is Holy Foolishness

Early Thoughts: Do you like to be told you are foolish? Or silly? How about out of step?

[As a father of four I get told all of the above on a regular basis.]

Maybe your were being foolish or silly. Or maybe you were simply marching to the beat of a different drummer (or  maybe dancing to the music in your head?).

Following the way of Christ is often to follow a different wisdom (to be charitable). Following the way of Christ means doing and believing things that are foolish according to most common standards.

I mean look at the Matthew reading this week.  Blessed are the meek or blessed are you when you are persecuted, or those who mourn? Even those beatitudes that Matthew has made much more philosophical like blessed are the poor in spirit or those who hunger and thirst for righteousness don't seem like qualities that are often rewarded in our society these days. Not even being peacemakers or being merciful seem to match common wisdom some days.

We are supposed to take this stuff seriously?

Yes. Yes we are. Following Christ, living a life aligned with the Reign of God, means we have to embrace a different form of wisdom. It means we have different priorities. It means we do and say and promote and believe things that 'common sense' would define as foolishness.

Paul calls the people of Corinth to this foolishness. Paul reminds the people of Corinth that God works in mysterious ways, ways that don't match expectations, ways that are different than the ways of Jews or Greeks.

Are we ready to embrace holy foolishness? Are we ready to view life by a different set of standards?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to January 22, 2023 -- 2nd Sunday after Epiphany, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

 The Scripture reading for this week is 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

The Sermon title is Get Together!

From Naked Pastor

Early Thoughts: This passage seems very appropriate for a Sunday that falls in the middle of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. 

One of the issues Paul seeks to address in his letter to the Corinthian Church is that they are divided. They are terribly divided on a variety of fault lines. Paul wants them to not be so divided. Or at the very least Paul wants them to be able to be unified in their diversity. 

One of the fault lines appears to be which leader/teacher people choose to follow. People are choosing sides and claiming that Paul or Apollos or Cephas (Peter) provides the best, truest, most complete understanding of what it means to follow Christ.

Of course we would never have that happen in the modern world....right?

[Side Note: I think this passage makes Paul the patron saint of all who have trouble keeping their records in order.  Does he even know who he baptized?]

Paul wants the people to understand that there is one Christ, and that whichever teacher you follow you still follow Christ. Looking at the cartoon above, note that they are all drawing water from the same aquifer. We all draw from the one source. Why can we not get our act together and celebrate our diversity while acknowledging that we all draw from the same source?

There is a quote from Church History that comes to my mind  at this point: In essentials, unity; In non-essentials, liberty; In all things, charity. I had always believed that to come from a German Reformer and compatriot of Luther, Philip Melancthon, however some searching this morning shows me that it has been credited to a variety of people ranging in time from St. Augustine to John Wesley. Whoever said it first, the point remains the same.

In those things that are essential we should find unity and agreement. In things that are not essential we should be ready to recognize that there can be more than one right answer/method. In all things we are to love each other, in agreement and disagreement we are to love each other, in unity and in diversity we are to love each other.

The church in Corinth seems to have been having trouble with that third point. The worldwide church in 2023, how are we doing living out the dictum?

Yes part of the challenge is in agreeing on what counts as essential and what counts as non-essential. That is an area of discussion that has cause much ink (and not a little blood) to be spilled over the centuries. But I think we can all agree that the key essential, the key thing that keeps us unified as Christians is Christ. We can agree that the source from which we draw our life, our hope, our understanding of the world is Jesus of Nazareth, the Risen Christ and the God whom he reveals/to whom he points. God made known in Jesus is the aquifer from which all Christians draw their water. [I suspect that aquifer is then linked to other aquifers from which other faiths draw their water making one larger aquifer with separate points of access.]

I wonder if as we read thee words from Paul chiding the Corinthians for their divisiveness, we might feel ourselves a little chided as well. We tend to say our way is the best, not just for us but for all. We tend to be a little divisive ourselves at times. And so I close this with these words sung by the Youngbloods a few decades ago:

If you hear the song I sing
You will understand (listen!)
You hold the key to love and fear
All in your trembling hand
Just one key unlocks them both
It's there at your command

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

--Gord

Looking Ahead to January 15, 2023

The Scripture Readings for this week are:

• John 1:29-42
• 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

The Sermon title is Sharing, Welcoming

Early Thoughts: Over the next few weeks we will be reading through the opening chapters of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians.

This week we have the opening salutation and words of thanksgiving for the community who is receiving the letter. These are common features of letters in the ancient world, but what might we find in here that goes beyond etiquette and form?

Pairing these opening words with the story in John of the gathering of the first disciples got me thinking about what it means to be called to be part of the community. Along with that is the idea of testimony, of sharing. It is testimony that leads to the gathering of the first disciples. Paul names that testimony of Christ is part of the strengthening of the Corinthian community. It is well established that testimony, the sharing of one's experience of what God is doing is the way the community grows. That testimony may be in words or in actions or, more appropriately, both. We share our experience as a way of inviting others in.

In later verses Paul will start giving the Corinthian church some pretty hard words. The community is hardly a perfect community of faith. But he starts with these words. He starts with lifting them up. He starts with reminding them who they are called to be and in whose name they are called together.

What does it mean to be a welcoming, testifying (sharing) community? In John, testimony leads to exploration and being welcomed. In Corinth testimony is building up the community as they experience the gifts of the Spirit. Does that help them welcome each other (spoiler alert, it is not at all sure they do a great job of welcoming each other)?

As a gathered community of faith, a community of those called together to witness to what God is doing in our midst, what might it mean to hear these opening words addressed to us? That is what I will be pondering for the rest of this week.

--Gord

Looking Forward to January 8, 2023 -- Baptism of Christ Sunday

This Sunday we will be celebrating the sacrament of Communion.

The Scripture Readings for the week are:

• Isaiah 42:1-9
• Matthew 3:13-17

The Sermon title is Beloved Servant

Picture Source

Early Thoughts: It is traditional that the first Sunday after Epiphany (which falls on January 6th, right after the 12 Days of Christmas) we commemorate the Baptism of Jesus. This moves us from the birth of Jesus to the beginning of his public ministry.

There are a couple of things that I always notice in Matthew's account of the baptism. The first is the reaction of John. John is all about baptism but he is reluctant to baptize Jesus, recognizing that Jesus is the one whose coming John had been foretelling, the one who John describes as "I am not worthy to carry his sandals". So Jesus has to reassure John that the baptism is the right way to go. The other is that Divine blessing. Who all hears those words of blessing? Jesus? Jesus and John? The witnesses present? And does it matter who all hears the voice?

I think that the pronoun references imply that only Jesus sees the dove and hears the voice. And I do think that matters. The blessing part of this story is not a time when people are being told who Jesus is. The blessing is Jesus being told who Jesus is. Jesus is being told that he is God's beloved son and that God is pleased with him. I can not help but think that those words of blessing at the beginning of his ministry might have carried Jesus forward when things got difficult.

Other people have to figure out who Jesus is as the story continues.

Our reading from Isaiah talks about God's servant. This is an image used many times in the book of Isaiah (often referred to as the Suffering Servant or the Servant Songs). Just who Isaiah understands the servant to be is a matter of some controversy. Is it the people as a whole? Is it an specific individual, such as a king or leader? Is it the Messiah? A standard Christian understanding is that the servant passages refer to Christ. I think that interpretation works, but at the same time I firmly believe this is a re-interpretation by followers of Christ that may not match the original understandings. Sometimes new experiences, new understandings of how God acts in our world give us a different point of view. Often there is more than one 'correct' interpretation or understanding of ancient texts.

If we look at the servant in Isaiah with eyes that see Jesus described in there what does that tell us about who Jesus is. Jesus is a servant (and in the ancient world there was little or no difference between servant and slave) of God. Jesus is chosen and upheld by God and God's delights in him. Then the passage describes what the servant, Jesus, is to accomplish, the passage is a commissioning of sorts for this servant. Finally we close with the affirmation that God is at work doing a new thing, which firmly suggests that the servant is a part of this new thing God is doing.

As followers of Jesus we are called to emulate Christ. To be a Christian is to allow ourselves to be transformed and become more Christ-like. How do we take these passage in that light?

As baptized people does God call us beloved children? As a baptizing community do we help others see themselves as beloved children of God?j

Looking at those words of commissioning in Isaiah, how well do we follow the job description of God's servant/slave?

Jesus was God's Beloved Servant/Slave, God's Beloved Son. Jesus preached, proclaimed and advanced the new thing God was doing. As those who profess faith in the Risen Christ, who follow the Way of Jesus, are we ready to proclaim the new thing that God is still doing? Will we carefully tend the bruised reed or the dimly burning wick? Will we faithfully bring forth justice?

Will we live as though we are God's beloved servants/slaves?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to February 27, 2022 -- Last Sunday of Epiphany

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Zechariah 8:1-8
• Psalm 95:1-7
• Luke 7:24-35

The Sermon title is Celebrate Renewal!

Early Thoughts: What is being renewed in the world today? What is being restored? Does it make you want to celebrate?

In this Zechariah passage the prophet is sharing a word of hope. The hope is that restoration is possible, indeed that it will actually happen. The Psalm reminds us that God is in charge, that (as another Psalm puts it) "the Earth is the Lord's and the Fulness thereof" (Ps 24:1, KJV). The Luke passage challenges expectations about how God is at work in the world. 

Sometimes when God is at work renewing and restoring things it is hard to recognize what is happening. Often, I suspect, that is because we are not seeing what we expect to see (or what we want to see) in that work of restoration and renewal.

What restoration and renewal do we need in the world as we approach 2 years of COVID-tide? What restoration and renewal do we need in a country that seems so deeply divided, as the recent events in Ottawa have revealed? Where do we see God at work restoring and renewing the world around us?

When the people returned from exile and looked for restoration and renewal they had a shock. It was not what it had been before. It was not as easy as it had been hoped. 

Jesus points out that John the Baptist was different from the normal power brokers in that place and time. Jesus points out that while people complained about John's asceticism they now complain that Jesus is not ascetic enough. Both Jesus and John were part of God's work of renewal in the world.

In our faith story God invites us to be transformed. In that transformation we will find renewal. We may find some things built new, we may find some things to be restored, we may find that some things can not be totally restored but that the new build still has aspects of what once was. I believe that is how restoration and renewal are meant to work as we live in to the Reign of God. It is in touch and continuity with what has come before. It is also a new heaven and a new earth.

AS we come out of COVID-tide we seek to be renewed. We may seek to go 'back to normal'. I suggest that as people of faith we are called to look for what God is doing in the world. We are called to ask how the world has been changed and reflect on how those changes match our understanding of God's hope for the world.

God's been at work restoring and renewing the world for a LONG time now. God continues to be about that work. How will we celebrate the work God is doing in and around us?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to February 20, 2022

 The Scripture Passages this week are:

• 1 Kings 17:17-24
• Psalm 116:1-9
• Acts 9:36-42
  

The Sermon title is LIFE!

Early Thoughts: With God comes life. Or at least with God comes the promise of life. This week our scripture stories remind us of that. They remind us of possibility. They remind us that sometimes we lose hope before the end. And they remind us of that claim that strike close to the core of Christian faith -- Life Wins!

Last week we heard about a widow who met the prophet Elijah and her never-emptying jar of flour. This week we hear some more about the time Elijah sojourns with her. The son dies. The widow reproaches  Elijah (and perhaps through Elijah the God whom Elijah serves). Elijah also reproaches God for the death of the child, and calls on God to intervene. God does and the child is restored to the widow. This probably also helps restore future possibilities to the widow. It appears she is a woman of some means (thou house has an upper room) either due to inheritance or her own labour. But who will take care of her in her aging years?? The restoration of her son gives her that support system.

Our Psalm reading is a plea for God to help. With great trust that God has been, is, and will be present in times of trouble the poet calls upon God for deliverance. Do we express that level of trust? When life falls apart where do we look for solutions? How have we met the deep love and compassion of God in our own lives?

Some of you may remember the story of Jesus and Jairus' daughter. In that story Jesus is approached by a father whose daughter is ill. By the time they get there the daughter has died but Jesus insists she is merely asleep. He then proceeds to wake her.  (This story is found in Mark's Gospel) This week's passage from Acts has many deep resonances with that story. It also has many stark differences.

Tabitha/Dorcas appears to have been a leader and financial supporter of the Christian community in Joppa. Her death has caused great distress within the community, possibly in part because her financial support has been keeping people fed and with her death who knows where that support will come from. Peter is close by and is sent for.  Did the people send for Peter so he could offer words of comfort? Or did they trust that Peter could call upon God and intervene in the situation? Did they expect, or at least hope, that Peter could bring life back into the situation?

At any rate that is exactly what Peter does. Using words very similar to the word Jesus uses in the story of Jairus' daughter Peter calls Tabitha/Dorcas back and there is great rejoicing. Many people see this as witness to Christ, remembering that in Christ God also brought healing and life.

Where do we find life that surprises us? Where/when do we start to mourn and then in a big turn around life pops up and takes us by surprise? 

Last Sunday the sermon talked about compassion. In our stories this week (including a story from Luke that is also about a raising that may get a mention in Sunday's sermon) we see compassion in action. I believe Elijah is moved by compassion for the widow. I believe it is possible that Peter, seeing the great distress within the Christian community at Joppa, is also filled with compassion. After all Peter has learned at the feet of Christ and more than once in the healing miracles stories of the Gospels we are told that Jesus is filled with/motivated by compassion.

And so I am forced to suspect and suggest that the path to life is marked by compassion. The path of love is marked by compassion. Where there is compassion there is life. There may be pain as well, but there is life. ANd in the end Life Wins. Does that mean compassion wins as well?

--Gord