Looking Ahead to June 2, 2024

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Deuteronomy 5:12-15
• Mark 2:23-3:6

Sabbath Evening

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I Like this option (source)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In our baptism liturgy we proclaim:

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

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

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

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

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

Looking Ahead to May 19, 2024 -- Pentecost Sunday

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

The Sermon title is Drunk on God

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Newsletter Piece on Peace

What does peace mean to you?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Looking Ahead to May 5, 2024 -- 6th Sunday of Easter, Marking Ascension

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

The Scripture Readings are:

• Luke 24:44-53
• Acts 1:1-11

The Sermon title is Hurry Up and Wait

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Early Thoughts: Easter has come and gone. New life is bubbling in the community. Now what?

Both the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke end with a story of Jesus making a final appearance to his followers and leaving them with an instruction. But the instructions are very different.

In Matthew the Risen Christ meets the disciples in Galilee (on a mountain because everything important in Matthew seems to happen on a mountain) and tells them to go out into the world teaching and baptizing. Seems straightforward enough as we launch from the Gospel into the next phase of the story of God's action in the world. Luke takes a different tack. In Luke the final appearance takes place in and just outside Jerusalem and the disciples are told to wait for a sign that the next phase is going to begin.

SO are we supposed to respond to Easter with action, teaching and preaching and making new disciples? Or are we supposed to wait for God to do something else that will then move us into action?

There is some odd art out there...

The Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts are written by the same person. Luke is writing to his friend Theophilus to tell the story of Jesus and the Early Church. Luke ends the first volume and begins the second with different accounts of the same event. Which makes a nice linkage between volumes, though it does make one wonder what the event really looked like. There is one important piece that stays the same. Before Jesus leaves, before being taken up into heaven, he tells his friends to remain in Jerusalem and wait for God to act. Once God acts and the disciples have been filled with the power of the Holy Spirit then they can act.

Waiting can be hard.

We are so often told that we should "don't just stand there...do something" that it feels wrong to reverse it and hear "don't just do something...stand there". We can so easily see reasons to act that we want to jump in and make things happen. If we are honest, we sometimes (often?) get impatient waiting for things to happen "in God's time". Or maybe we are afraid that if we don't act now it will be too late: the window of opportunity will close or we will be too far behind to catch up.

It can be hard to know when to act and when to wait on God. It can be hard to know which one of those God is calling us to in the moment.

Earlier this year I read this book. It has pushed me to think about how we (both as individuals and as communities) respond to moments of crisis. Generally we are sure we have to act quickly, strategically and (hopefully) decisively to get things back under control. Sometimes that is true, at least as a temporary reaction. But I have to wonder if sometimes the perceived need to act quickly and decisively gets in the way of our need, as people of faith, to listen for God's wisdom and discern what God would have us do/who God would have us be.

In the end it is going to be God's action (remembering that God acts in a variety of ways using a variety of tools) that is going to matter the most. As a community of faith it is God's action that is going to bring us life and hope, not our own. If we read a bit further into Acts we find that the early church actually had trouble knowing that, they also found waiting hard and wanting to get into the action phase. But once God acted, once God filled them with the Power of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, then wonderful things happened.

What might happen if we paused to ponder and listen and wait? (And continue to gather for worship and praise as Luke tells us the disciples did continuously)
--Gord

Looking Ahead to April 28, 2024 -- 5th Sunday of Easter

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Galatians 5:22-23
• John 15:1-17

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The Sermon title is Fruit of the Vine

Early Thoughts: The first commandment God gives humanity in Scripture is "Be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:28). What does it mean to be fruitful?

Or maybe the better question is 'what sort of fruit should we produce?' and then ponder how it compares to what we actually do produce.

Looking at the passages for this week I find myself calling to mind another piece of Scripture, Matthew 7:15-20, which reminds us that trees are known by the fruits they produce. Jesus calls us to see ourselves as branches growing from the True Vine (which is Jesus) rooted, I assume, in God. Paul calls us to strive to produce the fruit of the spirit (with all its multiple flavours) that stands in direct contrast to what Paul, in verse19-21, calls the works of the flesh.

What fruit are we producing?

If we live into our identity as followers of Christ, branches of the True Vine how will people know that to be true? As the folk song goes "They will know we are Christians by our....love". We are called to bear fruits of love (the first flavour Paul lists). Growing from the core of Christ, who has been called Love Incarnate, we bear that fruit first and foremost. John's Gospel even suggests that if we fail to remain connected to the vine, if we fail to bear good fruit the branch may be cut off/pruned/cleansed, it will no longer have the life in abundance that Jesus promises to bring.

We can only be fruitful if we remains connected to the core, drawing strength and nutrition from the vine and the root. We are the branches stretching out into the world, may we be healthy branches, full of good, sweet, fresh, life-giving fruit.

What do you grow?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to April 21, 2024 -- 4th Sunday of Easter

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• John 20:24-29
• Luke 24:36-49

The Sermon title is Touching, Seeing, Believing

Image Source

Early Thoughts: What would it take for you to believe? What would make the Resurrection real to you?

Our stories this week come from the first days of the post-Easter community (the Luke story is either the evening of Easter Day or possibly the day after [depending how fast the walkers to Emmaus got back to Jerusalem], the John passage is a bout a week after Easter Day). There are rumours and stories about this remarkable event. Some people have had direct encounters with the Risen Christ and some only have the stories to go by. Some people believe, some are still a little unsure what is going on.

So Jesus shows up and offers proof.

A number of modern folk struggle with the Easter story. One of the areas of struggle is "was it a real body?". Were the appearance stories people seeing the raised body that had been taken off of the cross or were they mystical visions? Certainly the history of Christian theology and mysticism shows that people continue to have visions of the Risen Christ well beyond the time period of Scripture and those are clearly visions, not a visitation by the body that came off the cross. I would argue that Paul's experience of the Risen Christ, the experience that led directly to his conversion, is in that category.

But what about those Easter stories in Matthew, Luke and John?  What were/are they?

The witness of those Gospel writers clearly attest that these appearance stories are not mystical visions but are physical visits by a flesh and blood body. And in the stories we read this week the narrative goes to great lengths to prove this physicality. The Risen Christ eats, can be touched, hears and speaks. This body still carries the wounds of his death (I think this is an important piece, though possibly a whole other sermon). And it is in these signs that belief comes for those early disciples.

What does it take for us to believe Resurrection is real?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to April 14, 2024 -- 3rd Sunday of Easter

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• 2 Corinthians 9:7, 10-15
• John 13:1-5, 34-35

The Sermon title is Gratitude

Early Thoughts: What fills you with gratitude? How does being grateful change who you are and how you act? 

I believe that the foundation of good stewardship discussions is gratitude. Gratitude shapes us into people who are more likely to share our gifts with the world around us. Gratitude shapes us into people who are more able to love our neighbours as we have been loved.

I think gratitude is important in two (at least) ways. First when we have grateful hearts we see the gifts as gifts, we see the abundance we have rather than seeing life in a scarcity mindset. This opens us to the possibility that we have something to share. Second when we tell others how grateful we are for the ways they have shared gifts with us and our community it provides an incentive for them to continue to share.. Gratitude can lead us to share and then it can lead us to share again.

So again I ask. What fills you with gratitude? For what are you most grateful in your life?

How do you live a life based on gratitude and abundance?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to April 7, 2024 -- 2nd Sunday of Easter

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

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Acts 4:32-35
• 2 Corinthians 8:1-7

The Sermon title is: Sharing Sharing Sharing

Early Thoughts: It is one of the first life skills we learn. It is a key part of how we get along. Many years ago when Robert Fulghum shared his list of All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten the first item on the list was "Share Everything". 

In both Guiding and Scouting the youngest groups are reminded of the importance of sharing at every meeting.  This week's sermon title is the Beaver motto (and has been for decades, I remember learning it when I was a Beaver). The Sparks promise is captured on the t-shirt pictured above -- which used to be the official uniform for Sparks when our girls started in the program.

Turns out it is a Biblical injunction too. Both in this week's reading from Acts 4 and earlier at the end of Acts 2 we are told that the early church survived by sharing what each had for the benefit of the whole community. [If you read the beginning of Acts 5 you will find a tale about a couple who tried to skirt this requirement of being a part of the community.]

Both Christianity and Judaism (from whence Christianity sprung: Jesus, Peter, Paul and many others--all the earliest Christians were Jewish) place a high priority on the communal well-being. I am sure the same is true of many other faith traditions. Jewish law has in it restrictions aimed at ensuring the well-being of the whole community. More than once the Gospels tell of Jesus warning about the dangers of accumulating wealth (in human communities the accumulation of wealth often happens at the cost to other members of the community). We are called to share what we have for the benefit of all.

Some might call that Stewardship. Some might call it love in action. Some might call it ridiculous Marxist thought.

The faith community we call St. Paul's United Church only exists because people have shared. For over 100 years, starting when Alexander Forbes first began to create a Presbyterian church on this site, people have shared what they had with each other and with the larger community of Grande Prairie. For this faith community to continue to exist and move from surviving to thriving we need people to continue to share.

This week I ask you to prayerfully consider what you have to share. What can you put in the common pot? What do you have that can help the community bloom and grow? Yes that includes cash, the bills have to be paid. It also includes all sorts of other gifts. We pool our gifts of talent, time, treasure, prayer and love together and find that the sum is greater than the total of its parts (or at least that is the hope).

Sharing. It's a good thing to do. That is why we teach it to our kids so early in life. (And both when we are young and when we are older it can also be a challenge.)
--Gord

Looking Ahead to March 31, 2024 -- Easter Sunday

The Scripture Readings we will hear this Easter Day are:

• Isaiah 25:6-9
• Mark 16:1-8

The Sermon title is Fearful Joy

Early Thoughts: A great surprise! A wondrous terror! Run and hide! Share the news!

Or maybe we could sing:

Refrain:
This is the day that God has made!
Rejoice! Rejoice, and be exceeding glad!
This is the day that God has made!
Rejoice! Rejoice! Hallelujah!

Christ has conquered death at last,
left the tomb that held him fast!
Gone the sorrow, gone the night,
dawns the morning clear and bright!
(beginning of This is the Day that God Has Made, #175 in Voices United)

Thine is the glory, risen, conquering Son;
endless is the victory Thou o’er death hast won.
Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
kept the folded grave-clothes where Thy body lay.
(beginning of Thine is the Glory, #173 in Voices United)

On Easter Sunday we announce boldly that they powers of death and destruction do not have the last word. Life and love will win. Who could help but sing and dance and share the news where ever they go?

Well, according to Mark, the first witnesses to this surprising victory had a very different reaction. In what is commonly believed to be the earliest, original, ending to Mark's Gospel we read "So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.". 

To be honest, I get that. When your whole understanding of how the world works has been challenged, when you expect to weep at a graveside only to find an empty tomb and news of resurrection, when the world has been turned upside down terror and amazement seem natural. Maybe later you might tell someone else about it (which obviously Mary, Mary and Salome did) but first you might need some time to process what has happened.

Easter is a surprise. Easter is a shock. Easter is, to someone who is not really expecting it, terrifying. Easter disrupts life (with life itself ironically). This is not a comfortable experience. It may be wonderful news but that does not make it comfortable. In some ways this original ending of Mark's Gospel is my favorite Easter story. It captures that mixture of joy and disruption, wonder and fear so incredibly well.

For the Easter season our worship question about finding God is going to be "where did God surprise you?". AS we celebrate the Good News of an empty tomb this year I invite all of us to consider what times we feel that mix of fearful joy. Where is God surprising, elating, and terrifying you all at the same time?
--Gord