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and Story Resources -------ooooo------ To search beyond this page,click on the following: Bible *Advt.-Xmas- Ep. * Lent -Easter * Pene. 1-14 * Pent 15f * Child + Story * Liturgy * Social * Pastor * Mission Something New Again?!! <LntC5> Isaiah 43:16-21 Second Isaiah, who has great respect for the legacy of God's salvation, advises: Don't be so fixated on what God has done, that you cannot see what God is about to do. Psalm 126 Lead us into good times,God, like you did in the old days! Philippians 3:4b-14 Paul is willing to cast off that which he once valued highly in order to have now the surpassing value of knowing Christ. John 12:1-8 In the midst of a celebration of Jesus ministry thus far, Mary extravagantly anoints Jesus for what he is to offer next, his life
Liturgical suggestion: Sermon notes:The focus of today's worship on this Sunday leading up to Holy Week is: Being ready when God does a new thing. Christians of all people should be sensitive to this, and ready for it. After all, we are the people of the New Covenant. This new covenant which God brought into being through the singular life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. Our special part of the Bible is called the New Testament. However, in a strange way the New Covenant, and the New Testament have become for us the last new thing God ever did. In fact there is a danger of every new thing becoming the last new thing we allow. We don't like a lot of change. Yet, some would argue that God is almost constantly doing new things, and we are expected to follow. So, while we are resistant to change, we are called by God to follow God down a new path. Isaiah said to his people: 43:18-19. However, Isaiah doesn't say this to reject the past. He announces a new day after he reminds his people of God's new works in the past: 43:16-17. Keeping the old and taking up the new seems always to be with us in church and world. Last week I noticed that the City of Portage la Prairie has put up a new sign on the road into town. The sign proclaims that Portage is ready both to honor its past and to move into a new future. Now, it seems to me that honoring the past is the easy part. The hard part is taking up a new thing for the future. I saw recently on television an ad urging farmers to use old skills in a new way by raising alpacas. The ad said that this would be a whole new source of income for farmers. I thought to myself:, "If I were a farmer would I be ready to risk an investment in such a new venture. Maybe the market for alpaca wool will take a nose dive. I might end up losing my shirt!" We can feel this way in the church too. If we change or support something new, we might lose something else. We may do something to appeal to young people, but offend the elderly. How do we know that some new thing will be a success? Also, even more important: How do we know what that the new thing is what God wants? If only we could just stay as we are! Well, it seems to me that we of the church have the scripture and our tradition to help us in these matters. It seems to me that the new thing God calls us to is always an evolution of what we already have. Our past is a pointer to our future.
I see at least
three pointers: As I see it, any new direction from God will be in keeping with these three pointers from our past: interacting with the holy; sharing the Good News; increasing grace, love, justice and peace. When we check with scripture and tradition these are three directions to which God has always called us and our forbearers. We often name these pointers: worship or piety; evangelism -sharing the Good News; and the New Covenant or Love of God. Let us look at some examples from the life of the church.
The
Protestant Reformation.
[The preacher may want to remind people of the Reformation]. These all seem like old hat to us, but in the 1500's all this was novel, refreshing and troubling for many. Christians fought over these things. In the church today, also, we find new things that fit these same criteria, even though we may not all agree.
Let us take
the New Hymn Book
as an example. -Also new hymn books are put together in order to proclaim the Good News to all generations through tunes and words ancient and new. -Finally, a new hymn book will seek to make God's grace, love and peace even more clear by drawing on music and poetry from ancient times and through tunes and words written by authors alive today. Here's a different sort of example, an outdoor Christmas Pageant. A few weeks ago I visited a small rural congregation of about 60 worshippers on a good Sunday. They wondered how they could share the story of the birth of Christ with an increasingly secular society in which few people came to the church. Their solution was to hold an outdoor Christmas pageant on a farm. To their delight three hundred people attended this pageant, and brought their children. They said they wanted their children to know of the birth of Christ. This was a new way for people to interact with God, a fresh way to announce the Good News, and an appealing way to tell of God's love and grace for the world and its inhabitants. Now, let me take a modern troubling example, the acceptance of Gay and Lesbian people into the church. Does this meet the criteria I set? I believe it does and I don't expect everyone to agree with me. I am convinced that the acceptance of Gay and Lesbian people opens the doors of faith to a people long excluded. It also carries the gospel to a group in society who have been told that they are outside salvation. Thirdly, it expands our understanding of God's grace, love and justice for us all. In all this it brings into the church individuals who have resources that will enhance the church. May we open our hearts and minds to hear God's call to follow God as God leads us to new ways of knowing God; to fresh ways to announce the good news, and novel ways to expand our grasp of God's grace. May God's peace be with us all as we celebrate in these coming days God's new revelation through the Risen Christ.
Search by category: Bible *Advt.-Xmas- Ep. * Lent -Easter * Pene. 1-14 * Pent 15f * Child + Story * Liturgy * Social * Pastor * Mission * Contact Bob The Promised Land of Reconciliation < LntC4> Joshua Chapters 5- 24, A recital of the Deuteronomy political-theological interpretation of Israel's migration into Palestine: God gave them salvation by bringing them from Egypt into Palestine and handing over to them the inhabitants of Palestine and by giving them the land on which those people lived (24.11-13). Psalm 32, a song celebrating the experience of salvation. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, In Christ God was bringing salvation by reconciling the world to God's own self. Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 A child experiences salvation through a reconciling parent. Today's scripture lesson provide us with two of the most powerful spiritual teachings in all of scripture. They are "Promised land" and "Reconciliation." The whole book of Joshua speaks of one of these concepts, "promised land." This is a powerful and dangerous theological concept. "Promised land" as used in Joshua, is the belief that God will displace local inhabitants from their land in order to give another people, God's favourites, a "promised land" in which to dwell. Put simply, Joshua teaches that God will drive one people out of their homes, towns and farms to provide living space for God's "chosen" people. Since a people do not give up their space without protest, God will us military violence to destroy them (Josh. 20:21-23). This is how the theologians who wrote Joshua understood God's saving work, salvation. The writers of Joshua saw the world as a battle ground between the believers in the true God, and those who worshipped idols. When they noted how the true believers escaped from slavery in Egypt and then defeated the idol worshippers of Palestine, they believed that this was the work of God. This was salvation.1. Now, I ask you to hold that understanding of salvation in your mind while we turn now to another view of salvation; to be reconciled. We find that other theological position in the writing of St. Paul. This is the belief that the saving work of God is reconciliation. In his second letter to the church at Corinth Paul writes: Through Christ God reconciled us to God's own self, and has given us a ministry of reconciliation. According to Paul, God's saving work through Christ was reconciliation, and those who believe in Christ are called to a work of reconciliation. We have been reconciled to God, and we are to work toward reconciliation between ourselves and our neighbours. The Oxford English Reference Dictionary's definition of reconcile that best fits St. Paul's use of the term is: "To harmonize, make compatible." So, this morning we have before us these two ways of seeing God: Giver of Promised Land and Reconciler (One who harmonizes). Both these ways of seeing the work of God are relevant to our world today. We can see many ways in which the "Promised Land" concept has been and still is enacted in our world. Most often today we see it as a secular concept employed wherever humans feel they have the right to take land that belongs to others. It is at the root of the present Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Many Palestinians still live in refugee camps which ere established when Israel took their homes in the 40's. We can see it also in the human encroachment into the living space of other creatures. Almost every wild species one earth, from elephants to Great Apes, to Grizzly Bears, and whales is at present threatened with extinction due to human invasion of their habitat. Present North American society is built on the "Promised Land" concept. The incoming European explorers and settlers were the faithful ones who felt they had the God-given right to inhabit the land with almost no consideration given to the people already here. I grew up on Cowboy and Indian movies in which the aboriginal people were portrayed as wicked savages who dared impede the progress of the European settlers into their Promised Land. It never occurred to me until very recently to question this portrayal taken right out of Joshua. We are still living with the fall-out of this land grab. In every instance of a land grab there are those who seek to bring justice to the situation; to reconcile, to harmonize, to find a way for each to have their living room. It is rarely reported in our media, but there are many Israelis and Palestinians who want to right the wrongs and bring reconciliation. The same is true in the case of the endangerment of species. Recently, I visited the Bay of Fundy and discovered people working to protect whales from the intrusion of tourists whose presence is interfering with the whales mating rituals. Beginning in the 1950s the aboriginal people of Canada and justice-seeking non-aboriginal church people have been seeking the fulfillment of St. Paul's assertion that reconciliation is the proper work of humankind. More and more nation's are seeing reconciliation as the hope for the whole world. Canada has taken a lead in this when our Lester Person put forward the idea of using armies to help people resolve their differences peacefully. At the same time, the concept of "Promised Land" can be seen not as a land grab,but as a vision of harmony. Just before his death, Martin Luther King Jr. preached a sermon in which he proclaimed that he could see the "Promised Land" for the Black people of his nation. I his vision Dr. King did not picture the black people dominating or vanquishing other people. Rather he saw the Promised Land as a state of justice for his people within society in which all could live together in reconciled harmony. This gives us a whole new way to see the Promised Land. This Promised Land a state of affairs among people where reconciliation and harmony among people and between ourselves and nature are the goals and aims of governments and citizens. God in Christ was reconciling us to God's own self, and now calls us to the Promised Land of a ministry of reconciliation. 1.Preaching Rev. Lect. Lent/Easter, Fourth Sunday, Abington.Thos Dozeman p.49. search by category: Bible *Advt.-Xmas- Ep. * Lent -Easter * Pene. 1-14 * Pent 15f * Child + Story * Liturgy * Social * Pastor * Mission * Contact Bob Lent 3 Yr. C, Food and Drink for Holy Thirst <LntC3> Isaiah 55:1- 9 The conclusion to Is. II (Is.40-55). Is II is a call to rely on God's eternal covenantal promise to return the Babylonian exiles to Jerusalem. This is true spiritual food. Psalm 63 My Soul Thirsts for God 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 The Corinthians can look to the Exodus from Egypt as a lesson: God's people where given spiritual sustenance (Christ) and were tested, many failed the test. God provides strength enough to meet any test. Luke 13:1-9 First, Luke warns, repent or die, then announces a second chance for those who bear no spiritual fruit.
Liturgical suggestions: Sermon: I wonder how many of us drink 8 full glasses of water every day, or even on some days. Recent health guidelines say that good health requires that every couple of hours we drink a full 8oz.glass of water up to a total of 8 glasses at least every day. Water in coffee, tea or soft drinks doesn't count. In fact, they say, caffeine drinks are counter productive. For every cup of coffee we should drink an extra glass of water. Apparently, few of us drink anywhere near this amount of water. I have tried to drink 8 glasses of water a day, and found it took a fair bit of intentionality to drink even near that amount- especially when I drink 5 or more cups of coffee every day! One of the surprises about this is the discovery that while good health requires 8 glasses of water a day, we are able to get along without it. You would think that thirst alone would ensure that we drink the water we need each day, but thirst doesn't drive us to drink - at least not water. I suppose we trick our body's into thinking it is getting water by drinking other things, tea, coffee, soft drinks. We may be dying of thirst, and don't know it. You may be wondering why I am going on about this. The reason is that this is an excellent example of what can happen to us spiritually. One could say that to be spiritually healthy we need to take in a certain amount of spiritual refreshment every day. The writers of today's biblical passages seem to believe that we need spiritual drink and food, and God has always been ready to provide it. St. Paul reminds us that when he Israelites fled from slavery across the wilderness, God sustained them with spiritual food (I Cor. 10:3-4). Second Isaiah speaks of God's provision by portraying the prophet as a street hawker, like we see on the midway of the summer fair. Isaiah is calling out to the people going by: Hey everyone, free food and drink, free food and drink, come and buy with no money or credit card! The free food and drink which the prophet is offering is God's gracious provision of spiritual sustenance, food for the soul. The psalm writer confess a deep need for such food: I am thirsty for God. Is this not a major reason for us being here today? Is it not true that we are thirsty and hungry for that which God provides for our soul? Come and get it while its available, cries the prophet. Now is the time to get the nutrition which your soul needs. Seek while God may be found, and ask while God is near (Is. 55:6). Our forbearers in the faith who, wrote these words all realized that feeding on God's spiritual food means a change in diet. Like when we set out to follow Dr. Aitken diet we have to give up carbohydrates. The hawker in Isaiah cries out: Change your ways! Give up those other ways by which you have been trying to satisfy your thirst. Give them up and feast on that which God provides. Why spend your money for that which is not bread? Why work your work for that which does not satisfy? (Is. 55:1-2). In Luke's Gospel Jesus calls this change of food for the soul, repentance. Repent and believe the Good News. Luke particularly warns against worrying about what other people are living on. Never mind thinking of others as sinners, take care of your own soul (Lk. 13:25). Now, when I get this far I wonder, how would I do this? Maybe spiritual health requires a full glass of holiness every couple of hours. I wonder how many of us could consume food for the soul as often as we take a drink of water? As far as I know every religion advises a regular in take of holy food. Moslems are to face Mecca and offer prayer several times a day. In Christianity children used to be taught to say their prayers every morning and every night, and to give thanks to God at every meal. Many adults use a little booklet called "The Upper Room" that gives them a scripture lesson to read every day. These are simple ways we can respond to the prophets invitation. Giving thanks all day long is another way. We can do this by silently thanking God for each good thing that comes our way from the time we awaken until lay down to rest at night. Praying for our family and our neighbours is another way. For instance if you have a child or grandchild at school tomorrow, offer an hourly prayer for them as you going about your day. Another way to feed your soul is to practise loving, moment by moment. I'd be interested to know how you feed your soul. If we have have forgotten to feed out soul every day, Lent is a good time to repent and call upon God while God is near. Hey You that thirst, some to well of God's love and be satisfied. search by category: Bible *Advt.-Xmas- Ep. * Lent -Easter * Pene. 1-14 * Pent 15f * Child + Story * Liturgy * Social * Pastor * Mission * Contact Bob Lent 2 Yr. C, Responding to God's Initiative. <LntC2>
Genesis
15:1-12, 17-18 (with reference to17:1-22; 18:1-15 & 21:1-7) A
promised child is born.
Liturgical suggestions:
Sermon: When we think of it, our choices in life are fewer than we might imagine. When we come into this world we soon discover that they have already named the streets, and we have been born into a certain nationality and culture. This morning's scripture passages tell us that something like this is true in our relationship with God. CBC television recently followed two Canadian Moslems on their pilgrimage to Mecca. In the Moslem faith Mecca is the most holy place on earth. It is the responsibility of every Moslem to travel there at least once. They believe that travelling to Mecca is not something Moslems thought up as good religious idea. Rather it is a pilgrimage initiated by the command of God. What about ourselves? Did you choose to be a Christian, or did God choose you? Did you take the initiative and ask God to come into your life, or did God take the initiative and invite you to be with God? Faith is a venture in which God takes the initiative. We might like to think that we choose God, that it is our longing for God that sets things in motion. The three great religions, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity all teach the contrary. They tell us that the motivation comes from God. it is God who longs for us. If we have a desire for God it is because God has planted a desire for the holy within us. We see God's longing for us in the picture Jesus gives us in this morning's gospel lesson. It is a picture of chicks following their mother across the farm yard and of the hen gathering her chicks under her wings. Some of us may have seen this the older farmyards. David Suzuki ( the scientist and broadcaster) tell us that modern farming denies domestic animals these acts of parenthood, but in nature it still happens that chicks follow the hen and when a hen sense danger, she calls to her chicks and gathers them under her wing. Jesus compares himself, and therefore the creator, to the hen leading her brood and calling to her chicks: come gather under my wing. So the Creator calls each of us by name: come to me, __________. God calls us by our personal name, and by the name of our communities. Just as Jesus called Mary and Peter; just as Jesus called Jerusalem and just as Jesus longed for the Temple to be a place of true worship, so also the call of God goes out to each of us and to our cities and churches and to our most intimate communities. God calls [give personal names] come with me; be my holy Child filled with my Spirit. [name your town] how I would gather you to myself, and make you a place of shalom, a location of love and peace, where people dwell in safety and every citizen is honored. God calls also to the church: travel with me as my body in the world; have a ministry in my name. The Bible tells us that God has thus been beckoning to to human communities for at least three thousand years; for at least that long God has been working under a self imposed promise never to abandon us. The beginning of this divine assurance of love is preserved for us in the stories of Abraham and Sarah, our ancient mother and father in the faith. As the story opens Abraham and Sarah are a elderly childless couple. Even though they have no progeny they are told that God will work though their descendents. When Abraham heard this he was dumfounded and cried out: "Can a child be born to a man who is 100, and to a woman who is ninety?" When Sarah hears this news she laughs out loud and protests that she is well past the time of child bearing, she has no more eggs. But miracle of miracles a child is born to Abraham and Sarah, and they name him, Isaac which means,"laughter." Now, let us put the biblical stories on fast forward and run ahead a thousand years - run quickly by all the stories of God's promise being fulfilled: past Joseph of the coat of many colours, past Miriam and Moses, past David and queen Esther, past the ethical prophets until finally we come to Mary of Nazareth, and to her child, Jesus. Here we find God taking the initiative again, coming to us in the flesh, seeking the lost, gathering the marginalized, making holy disciples of ordinary men and women, saying, "Come unto me all ye." So, this morning God's invitation comes even to us in our day: to us personally in our most intimate circles; also to our city and to our churches (The story of Abraham and Sarah has application for many Christian congregations in Canada today. Many of us are elderly, some of our congregations have few youth in them. Can we believe that we can give birth to a child through whom God's promise will continue? Maybe we need to believe that something regenerative will come through us too.) God calls to us: In Christ's name, gather under my wing, follow me into the streets, and homes, and churches and I will dwell with you and you shall be my people of Shalom. search by category: Bible *Advt.-Xmas- Ep. * Lent -Easter * Pene. 1-14 * Pent 15f * Child + Story * Liturgy * Social * Pastor * Mission * Contact Bob Lent 1 Yr. C, Resisting Satan 's Seductive ways <LntC1> Luke 4:1-13 The temptation of Jesus (see also "Jesus in Wilderness.")
Liturgical suggestions: Click here for a corny Jesus vs Satan joke that came via e mail. Today I want us to reflect on Satan's everyday seductive ways and how Sunday worship helps us deal with that Lent begins with the story of Jesus' temptation. This follows right after Jesus' baptism, right after the holy Spirit comes upon Jesus. Right after Jesus is declared to be God's Holy Child, the Spirit carries Jesus out into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. This is a terrible situation for a human being to be in (in the true sense of terror-able). Satan is no small potatoes, no inconsequential personage. Stan is a supernatural power; an evil angel. Image yourself in a similar situation - alone in a back alley, on a deserted country road when suddenly you are surrounded by a biker gang, the Hell's Angels. Or picture yourself, a small creature in a city standing next to a towering skyscraper, or beside a country grain elevator. Jesus is like this and Satan is as tall as the skyscraper, towering above him.
If you doubt
Satan's size or power, read again the account of the temptation: Not only is Satan a huge apparition, Satan is also charismatic. Satan is hard to resist. Satan is a cosmic seducer, a sales-person par excellence. Satan has already won the heart and mind of much of humanity. Now, Satan turns all his 100,00 volt charm on Jesus: "If you but worship me all this will be yours!" Remember it is God's Spirit who has brought Jesus to Satan. It makes me wonder: "What holy purpose did God have for doing this?" Why take Jesus from his baptism, and put him nose to nose with Satan before he'd even had a chance to begin? I think it is because with Jesus as with us, meeting and denouncing Satan is a necessary step in following the faithful path. Satan is a metaphor for all those powers which seek to draw us away from our Creator without us noticing it. Satan is a literary figure who represents all those dark forces that attempt to lead us away from Christ, while still counting ourselves as Christian. The Sunday liturgy assumes that you and I have met Satan this past week. The Sunday worship takes it for granted that you and I are in a position like that of Jesus when he was confronted by Satan. The order of service, the confession, the assurance, and the sermon assume that some time last week Satan attempted to seduce us. The whole service is influenced by the notion that, like Jesus you and I have met with Satan and are in danger of being sold one of Satan's confidence schemes. Is that assumption correct? How are we to recognize having been visited by Satan? In some ways it is not easy to identify Satan's approach because it is subtle and appeals to what seems like common sense. For instance, Satan will come to us and say: "It is good to go to church, teach Sunday School, sing in the choir, but God didn't mean you should really love your neighbour." Or Satan may whisper in your ear, "Read your bible every day, but you are not really responsible to do anything about the hungry children of the world! O my, no!" So, sometimes Satan is difficult to recognize because Satan is to reasonable. However, it is also true that Satan is easy to notice when we realize that Satan likes to influence us through very huge entities. Satan is easy to spot because Satan often comes to us in the form of some very prominent leaders and institutions of our society. Satan comes to us through political parties, or our governments, or through multinational corporations, or even through the church. Satan likes to speak to us through these giants because they have so much power, authority and influence and because they have access to the media. Through them Satan seeks to teach us that their way is the best way. However their way is so very often the very opposite to God's way. International corporations often teach us that it is OK that many of our goods have been made by poorly paid women and children. Our governments often seek to teach us that it is OK for there are many of our fellow citizens are poor while the few who are very wealthy. Sometimes the church seems to teach us that religion is a good substitute for being faithful. This is why a confession of sin is almost the first item in the order of service. The confession of sins is there to help us recognize the fact that Satan has made an impression on each of us and all of us during the past week. Then through the confession and the assurance of grace, we have that impression taken away, and we can start again. I think that even Jesus had to struggle with Satan's temptations. (Mt.16:23). The liturgy leads through our encounter with Satan in manner very much like the way Jesus handled it. Like Jesus, we reject Satan's sly words, and again, like Jesus, we turn to the word of God in Bible and sermon to hear what is true and good. Then, like Jesus we go back into the world with the Spirit of God in our hearts ready to follow Christ as Children of the Creator, seeking to live in love with our neighbour. Like Jesus, we acknowledge the power and presence of Satanic figures and powers, but we use the word of God to defend against these powers, and reject their seductive ways seeking to live as a people people faithful to God search by category: Bible *Advt.-Xmas- Ep. * Lent -Easter * Pene. 1-14 * Pent 15f * Child + Story * Liturgy * Social * Pastor * Mission * Contact Bob ----------000000000000----------- Jesus and Satan were having an ongoing argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and God was tired of hearing all the bickering. Finally, God said, "Cool it. I am going to set up a test which will take two hours and I will judge who does the better job." So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away. They moused. They did spreadsheets. They wrote reports. They sent faxes. They sent e-mail. They sent out e-mail with attachments. They downloaded. They did some genealogy reports. They made cards. They did every known job. But, ten minutes before the time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, the rain poured, and of course the electricity went off. Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed in every curse word known in the underworld. Jesus just sighed. The electricity finally flickered back on, and each of them restarted their computers. Satan started searching frantically screaming, "It's gone! It's all gone! I lost everything when the power went out!" Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all his files from the past two hours. Satan observed this and became even more irate. "Wait! He cheated! How did he do it??!!" God shrugged and said, "Jesus Saves."
search by category: Bible *Advt.-Xmas- Ep. * Lent -Easter * Pene. 1-14 * Pent 15f * Child + Story * Liturgy * Social * Pastor * Mission Contact Bob Seventh after Epiphany Generosity <EpC7> Gen.45:3-11, 15 Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers Ps. 37:1-11. 39-40 Do not worry about the wicked, but trust in God I Cor. 15:35-38, 42-50 How will the dead be raised at the last trumpet? Lk. 6:27-38 Love enemies, do good, give and God will give to you. The faith element I find in today's scripture lessons is "generosity." Joseph is generous to his brothers who had sold him into slavery. Jesus invites us to be generous toward our neighbours as a part of our relationship with a generous God. The Psalm calls us to place priority in trusting God's generosity which St. Paul declares to extend beyond this mortal life. It is the nature of God to be generous. I would place generosity as one of the essential marks that defines a person of of faith. I find that nothing marks a spiritual person more than generosity. It is of the nature of faithfulness to be generous. I see the truth of this in many generous people within our communities of faith. If it is of the nature of faith in a generous God to be generous in return. (so says Luke 6:28), it is in the nature of sin to be ungenerous. No individual or corporation can fairly claim to love God or neighbor and be miserly, mean or greedy in policy, pocket, or heart. As I look out upon the world I see a huge struggle taking place between generosity on one side and and meanness and greed on the other. This is a challenge for us and our country and our corporations. Individually, each of us needs to choose which side we will be on. This is also true of us as a nation. Will we be a generous people or not? At one time not so long ago it seemed to me that human society was on the road to becoming more generous. Following the, hell and inhumanity of the Second World War, there was a strong will to create a generous world in which the whole reason for being would be to care for one another. Of course there were serious exceptions to this. They were the Soviet Union and China. None the less, the United Nations was formed around a charter that spelled out basic human rights for families, students, and workers. There seemed to be a commitment to making this charter the foundation for all human society. Christians saw this as a desire to fulfill the teachings of Jesus. In theological terms, every person was to be treated as a child of God. So, an era came into being in which sharing and caring and social justice became watch words for both the people and those who sought leadership. We were to do everything we could to remove the blights of racism, poverty, and ignorance. More importantly, people who were marginalized took it as their right to assert themselves as full participants in the world. This was evident in some of the great movements of that era. During this time many people's shook off the chains of colonialism. Also, Blacks in the United States and South Africa won significant human and political rights. What I am calling an openness to generosity was seen in Canada too. For instance, every mother was given a monthly family allowance cheque to help raise her family. Also during this time the cost a university education was such that few students graduated with a huge debt as they do today. Many workers gained the right to collective bargaining, and unemployment insurance. Aboriginal people in Canada took their land claims and other treaty rights to the supreme courts and got favorable rulings. At the close of that era the Berlin Wall was breached by East Germans, and the people of the Soviet Union claimed democratic rights. The era was far from perfect, yet as I see it, humanity did set out to make some very significant advances, and actually did gain some important yards toward the goal of a more generous world - a world which bears signs of the Realm of God that Jesus announced. However, during the time that all this was happening, there was a growing movement in the opposite direction. This was and is today a movement away from generosity and toward meanness. That is, it was and is a movement whose hallmark was and is the belief that we are not responsible for one another, we need only care for ourselves. It flowered first in the "Me" generation of the seventies. This movement has rights too. Those rights are the rights of the few to gain control of the earth's resources, including its water, its minerals, its land, and its political and economic levers. So today, we live in a world in which the rights of the few are more and more overriding the rights of the many - a less and less generous world. In this atmosphere, the generous God is being ushered out the door as irrelevant. Signs of this lack of generosity are all around us today. For instance, Steven Louis the Canadian ambassador for the millions of people dying from AIDS in Africa and in India, was asked recently how he accounts for the world's lack of response to this crisis. He was unable to answer. He was unable to understand our lack of generosity, and our willingness to allow children and grandchildren to suffer and die when drugs are available. This is just one of the many signs of this new ungenerous age we live in. However, let us not lose hope. For there still are many who are champions of generosity. Generosity can take many forms There are for instance, many African and Indian doctors and nurses giving themselves in generous service to the mothers and children with AIDS. Also, there are those who are generously giving time and energy. For instance, there are those who devote time to pressure governments of wealthy nations and drug companies to make medicine available at cost to people in poor nations. There those who generously give from their own God -given bounty. The Canadian Food Grains bank is just one such example. There many secular and church non government agencies working to bring health, peace and human rights around the world. Just a few weeks ago Canada and some other nations agreed to forgive the debt of Iraq, so that troubled nation could move forward without this burden. When you take even a small part in the life of your congregation and community you are you are taking part in God's generosity. [ use an instances of this as examples - ie hospital visiting, church school church, board, women's and men's groups, supporting mission finds.] The spirit of the generous God is showing in these works of love. God's work in the world is utterly dependant upon generous hearts and wills. Every day in our homes, in our church, and in our community each of us will be given an opportunity to be generous. May we be generous in heart, generous in hand, generous in will, generous in sharing from our bounty. As God is generous in this this life and the life to come, let us show with generous hearts and actions that we are a people of this generous God. search by category: Bible *Advt.-Xmas- Ep. * Lent -Easter * Pene. 1-14 * Pent 15f * Child + Story * Liturgy * Social * Pastor * Mission Contact Bob Sixth after epiphany, Curses & Blessings <EpC6> Jer. 17:5-19 Those whose trust are in the Lord is like a tree growing by a stream Ps. 1 Those who delight in the law of the Lord are like a tree fruit bearing . 1Cor. 15:12-20 If Christ has not been raised we have nothing Lk. 6:17-26 Poor and humble can happily look forward to great expectations The message in the biblical passages for today all carry a message like the one that we first heard at our parent's knee, certain actions lead to trouble while other behaviors lead to blessings. Our parents wanted the best for us, so they sought to guide us along the best path. If they saw us going toward hurt they warned us: You better change you ways or you will be sorry! Certain paths lead to trouble and sorrow, so don't go that way. They also give us positive guidance. They taught: there is a good path to follow, one that opens to vistas of beauty and leads to the good. In various ways they demonstrate this better way. The better way is avoiding reckless dangers, while practising sharing and caring, respect for yourself and others, taking care of your health, being a good friend and so on. If I were to take a poll among us here it would likely reveal that we have received many such instructions in our lifetime. Did your mother father or grandparents not warn you of the dangers in some activities, and the blessing of others? This morning's scripture readings give us similar messages. These biblical writers want the best for us, and so seek warn and to guide us. I am going to begin by sharing with you How the warning and guidance that I see in each of this morning's authors (Jeremiah, Psalm 1, Luke and St. Paul.) . Jeremiah and Psalm 1 see it as a matter of choice of values. We choose either to live like a tree planted by a holy stream, with wholesome spiritual roots reaching out into the damp earth, and drawing nourishment by which we produce fruit, or we decide to grow with materialistic unspiritual roots where the ground is dry and nothing grows - like the pictures we recently have seen of Mars. They suggest a challenge: "Which have we chosen?" When we turn to Luke we find a different take on this matter. According to Luke Jesus teaches that whether you get a blessing or a curse in life depends whether you are rich or poor. According to Jesus it is very difficult for the wealthy to find true blessings, while the poor can expect a blessing just by being poor. Luke portrays Jesus as speaking to a crowd made up of both the poor and the rich. To the common people he says: "Blessed are you poor, God's realm is yours." Then he turns to the well-dressed in the audience. To them he announces: "Woe to you who are rich. You have had your good times!" Our mothers were telling us something like this when they said: "You can't buy happiness." This is a very difficult teaching in our society. We have accepted it as good that some earn 10 times or a hundred times more than others. The way our society works, great wealth is a blessing, and to be poor is a curse, According to the public values of our society, the blessed live in mansions, the cursed sleep on the sidewalk! Our economy teaches: if you have to make a choice in life, choose to be rich! Jesus is warns against that logic. It is false wisdom that advocates a community in which we do not care for one another. To continue that way will ultimately bring a curse on our society. No people can exist in peace and harmony when the gap between rich and ordinary gets wider and wider as ours is, or when we use one another for profit. I learned recently of a local successful company which regularly calls meetings of it managers to decide who to fire every time the company's income sags. This is a common practise in this company: fire when profits dip, hire again when it picks up. No thought is given to sharing the pain; having everyone take less pay until the company's fortunes rise again. A manager told me that to be in these meetings, firing a colleagues, was a curse, and infected the whole company with a deep fear. On the other hand, we do know of people who choose to use their wealth in ways that give life. Recently, Bill Gates gave over twenty million to the University of Manitoba to support AIDS research in India and Africa where it is bringing death to thousands of women, men and children. I see a connection between what Bill Gates did and today's reading from St. Paul. This passage from 1 Corinthians 15 seems to be out of step with the theme I have chosen for today. Here Paul is writing about death and resurrection, which seems to have little to with blessing or curse. However, I do see a strong connection. St. Paul writes that Jesus resurrection is of absolute importance to receiving the blessings of the Christian faith. If Christ was not raised there is nothing to the faith, and Christianity itself is a dead thing, and believers are fools. To belive in the resurrection is more than accepting "Christ is risen" as a matter of doctrine. To me it means living in a way that gives life where there is death. So, from these four I find the following guides for a life with blessing. Jeremiah and Psalm 1 recommend choosing to plant our life in God, like a tree by water. Then we have Jesus teaching that blessing is much easier to come by when we live the common life of ordinary people caring for one another, while living worldly riches bring the danger of curse. Then, Paul reminds us that the blessings of the Christian faith comes with Christ's victory over death. I know many people who live this life and who know these blessings. The church is full of folk who are planted firmly in God, who live generously with modest incomes, who by faith in the risen Christ, strongly affirm life over death. May we continue to live by these values and see them grow in our society, so that we and our neighbours may be blessed by God's peace. search by category: Bible *Advt.-Xmas- Ep. * Lent -Easter * Pene. 1-14 * Pent 15f * Child + Story * Liturgy * Social * Pastor * Mission Contact Bob fifth after epiphany, When God Appears <epC5> Is.6:1-8 Isaiah experiences the Holy within the Temple through sight, sound, touch and aroma Ps. 138 A worshipper experiences the presence of God in answer to prayer. 1 Cor. 15 Paul claims to have shared in the apostolic experiences of the risen Christ. Luke 5:1-11 Peter experiences the holy in Jesus. This season after Epiphany is all about "epiphany," by which we mean: the holy is made manifest to us, God appears to us. The Bible is full of stories of God appearing to men and women. From Eve and Adam being visited by God in the Garden (Gen. 3:8) to St. John having a vision of the Lamb at God's right hand, the Holy Eternal One appears to mortals (Rev. 5and 6). This is our focus for today. God's appearance isn't limited to the figures of the Bible. We too have experiences of God being made manifest. I am sure we all have had a sense of God being with us. God has made God's presence known to each of us and to all of of us. My guess is that we all have had that experience or we wouldn't be here today. I think it very common for Canadians to experience God in nature. There is a popular hymn which opens by recognizing this kind of epiphany. It declares that we experience the Holy in "all the works [God's] hands have made," including the "stars," the "rolling thunder," "forest glades," and the song of birds. I have had many people tell me that they always find God in nature. Is that true for you? Also, many experience the company of God in a place of worship. Isaiah tells us that he was overwhelmed God's appearance in the Temple. Perhaps that has been your experience too. Have you ever come into a church sanctuary when it is empty and quiet and sensed the presence of God there? The symbols some churches display in their sanctuaries are there surely to invoke the attendance of God in this place. What do we have here which may call to mind that God is with us? If not the sacred space, surely some part of the worship has revealed God to you. Many of us have come to a strong impression of God's holiness in the singing, or through the act of holy communion, or baptism, or in reading and preaching of the Word. Psalm 138, which we read this morning, tells of experiencing God in a sense of being loved and cared for in the midst of need. Surely this is an experience many of us have away from the church. Some great hurt comes to us, or we experience a great loss and in the midst of that we have a sense of God with us that is so strong we can feel it. On the other hand, It may be even more common to find God in moments of great joy. I particularly remember visiting families soon after the birth of their child and finding them to be in awe and wonder at this gift from God, such that they see God in the child. Wordsworth sang of this as "trailing clouds of glory we do come from God. Heaven lies about us in our infancy" (1807, Intimations of Immortality) St. Paul reminds us that many in the primitive church had the Risen Christ appear to them. He counts himself among them. I wonder how many of us would claim that experience. I once heard of a family who always put an extra place at their table - a place set for Christ who was with them at every meal. A young woman told me that when she came to the front of the sanctuary to renew her baptismal vows she felt Christ was there to welcome her. Many Christians who practise regular prayer do so with the conviction that Christ is with them, and that the Holy Spirit is there receiving even their groans and tears as prayers. (Rom. 8:15-16;26-27). Surely Christ is among us every time two or more of us gather in Christ's name. At the opening of every church meeting we acknowledge that Christ, and the Holy Spirit are with us. Have you ever sensed that? Of course our faith s that God is there even if we don't feel it. God is also known on the frontiers of the church's mission. In many inner city outreach ministries those who live on the margins of society know God through the care of staff and volunteers who work there in Christ's name. It is also true that the staff and volunteers experience Christ in the people they seek to serve. Jeannette Brigit who once served at Winnipeg's Oak Table ministry tells of experiencing God in the care the poor showed for one another. Much more could be said about God being revealed to us in the midst of life. One question that I find important to ask before we close this topic is this: What is it that God says to you in those appearances? Surely God comes to us always with a message. It may be a message of hope, or good cheer, or of encouragement. It may also be a message of challenge urging us to be the presence of God ourselves. The highest to which we can aspire as Christians is that we may so be attentive to God among us that God may appear in us; that we would be an epiphany our selves. It happens many times. I confess to finding God in you. search by category: Bible *Advt.-Xmas- Ep. * Lent -Easter * Pene. 1-14 * Pent 15f * Child + Story * Liturgy * Social * Pastor * Mission Contact Bob fourth after epiphany, Called <epC4> Jer. 1:4-10 In his youth Jeremiah is appointed by God to the office of Prophet over nations and kingdoms with a commission to call Israel back to the devotion of its earlier history. Ps.71 A cry from a youthful person who remains faithful even in the face of opponents who call for his arrest, claiming that this one is not truly called of God. I Cor. 13:1-13 Love is the essential and necessary mark of one who is called of God. Lk. 4:14-30 Jesus claims evidence of the Spirit as the sign of his calling which is not accepted by his neighbours. (Is. 61:1-2). At one time in our culture it was assumed that everyone was called to their place in society. That, of course is the root of the the word, "vocation;" God vocalizes everyone into their career, and role in life. I think we can continue to think this way about one another. Do you feel comfortable saying about yourself, "I have been called to be __________"? This may feel like a bit of a straight jacket - like being locked into one calling. At one time it was assumed that a person had one calling for their whole life - they never changed vocations. Today, however, a person may go through several vocations in a life-time, and God has always called us to fill two or more roles at the same time. Some say of themselves, "I have difficulty finding my vocation," or "I never came to my true vocation until later in life." It seems to me that there are two central meanings of being called: each of us named to play particular roles within creation. Not only are we chosen to play particular roles, we also are called to play those roles in certain ways - according to certain values. So, if this is true, whatever it is that you and I are doing in and with our life just now, we were elected by God to do that and to be that. Having said that, the next thing that occurs to me is to ask: "Is that OK with you?" Every role, job or position has something about it that we would rather not be doing. In our faith, there is a strong tradition of people being called to do things that are not always pleasant, and not what we might choose for ourselves. Yet we each are called to do our work with hope and love. This is how it was for Jeremiah. He experienced his call to be a prophet when he was just a youth. I don't know what young people aspired to in those days - a camel racer, a teacher, a soldier. Whatever it was - it was, Jeremiah had not planned to be a free-lance prophet. In Jeremiah's mind it was an old person's thing; something he might do in forty years when he had a long white beard. Also it was not a way to become popular. Prophets were critical of the rulers and when you said things the rulers didn't like they were liable to put you in jail or worse (ER 18:18f). Jeremiah did not choose to be a public scold, but he could not resist God. He saw that the people and even the priests had turned their back on the God who had brought them from slavery. instead they started worshipping idols made of wood. Also he saw how they were is-treating the poor. He couldn't help but say: "This is wrong! Come back to God. Start showing kindness to your neighbour!" (Jer. 2:26-28; 34). Fortunately, God gave Jeremiah more than scolding words. God also gave Jeremiah words of hope. God gave Jeremiah a vision of a day when God and people would be brought back together in a new covenant (ER. 31:31f). Behind all his criticism was love for his people and a vision of hope. In fact, without the hope there would be no point to the scolding. Some of us today are called to this Jeremiah kind of work. In every age God calls some of us to tell it the way it is and to urge change. Some in our day are daring to point out the damage being done to the environment by our gas consuming consumer society. Some can't help pointing out the great growing gap there is in Canada between rich and working class people. They say we call ourselves a great people, but look at what we do! Like Jeremiah, they cry out: "We must have change!" Again, like Jeremiah, they are full of love for Canada bursting with hope for a better world. I wonder if any of us could be A Jeremiah as a part of our calling. Could we as home maker, or carpenters or farmers or health care workers, seek good change in the world because we love the world and have hearts filled with hope. St. Paul tells us that no matter what our calling, we are doing it best when we carry out our role with love. Jesus attributed his calling to the power of the Holy Spirit within him, moving him to bring good news to all people. However as Jesus, Jeremiah, and probably Paul experienced, sometimes our calling leads us to be abused, and the question arises, "Do we stay where we are not being appreciated but being abused?" This is not an easy question to resolve - especially if you don't see alternatives, or do see that you are doing what meeds to be done in spite of the non support. The best answer I can come to is, "Talk about it with someone you trust, and see if you can build support of you decide to stay. Each of us has been given the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at our baptism, and we have God's love for planted deeply in our hearts. Each of us are being called each day to exercise our calling in love and hope with this power moving us to be good news in all we God has given us to do - sometimes in spite of the hurt we experience.
search by category: Bible *Advt.-Xmas- Ep. * Lent -Easter * Pene. 1-14 * Pent 15f * Child + Story * Liturgy * Social * Pastor * Mission Contact Bob Third Sunday After Epiphany Holy Law <EpC3> Nehemiah 8:-1- 10. The community hears and receives the Law with their minds , hearts and wills Psalm 19:7-14. Receiving God's Law nurtures the core of life. 1 Cor. 12:12-13. The Law of the community is like that of a body; all members doing their parts in harmony Luke 4: 14-21. The Law is fulfilled by the indwelling of the Spirit. The spiritual concept we are reflecting on today is, Law. As a spiritual concept the law pertains to the very essence of our relationship with one another. For instance in the Hebrew Testament the law, which is called the Torah, begins with our total relationship with God, and then finishes with the total of our relationship with our neighbour.* When we think of law today, I suppose we usually mean a code which defines some actions as legal and other behaviours as illegal. Like in the children's game, one is permitted to go on the the green light and forbidden to go on the red. But we also know that there is a spiritual understanding of law. A spiritual understanding of law has to do with the way we agree to live together, to care for one another, to support one another. This spiritual law includes what is legal and illegal, and so much more. This week I have been reflecting on Psalm 19 and its praise for God's law. In the Bible we find law to be one of God's most precious gifts. We see this celebrated in Psalm 19's praise for God's law. Let us read it together once more. The writers of this psalm experienced the law of God as refreshment, as enlightenment, as the true root of of the good life. All this flowed from God's holy law. That led me to ponder how valuable spiritual law is in our lives; our homes and our nation. Think for a moment about your home. What are the codes that you follow to make life good in your particular your home? There will be some behaviour that is not welcome in your home. Then, what are the behaviours that are a must in your home - ways of being together that make it work? Law of course is central to our wider community and nation. For instance, our constitutional law has just brought us through a peaceful change in national leadership. We got a new prime minister and cabinet in a very simple swearing in ceremony - less elaborate that most weddings . Many of those who have had power under the former prime minister, Jean Cretien, lost power under the new P.M., Paul Martin. This is all happened according to democratic constitutional law. During all this our law also permits political satire, making fun of the powerful. Already the cartoonists and stand-up comedians are showing us the clay feet of those to whom we have given power. Within the law we both give power and laugh over the foibles of our rulers. In all this, no one shot, or put in jail, no government offices were bombed. I would put forward that this was a deeply spiritual event for our country. The spirituality of this event was illustrated by the inclusion of a smudging ceremony of purification performed on the Prime minister elect by Aboriginal elder, Elmer Courchene. Of course, the spirit of the law is very import to the well-being of many nations just now. For instance, a couple of weeks ago I listened to a interview with Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan. In this conversation he described regular meetings he has with those who hold sway in the various regions of Afghanistan. These are men who enforce their rule by the power of private armies. President Karzai meets with these so-called war-lords to convince them that the democratic rule of constitutional law would be better way to distribute power and ensure peace. He asks them to give up their rule by an elite force, and welcome democratic insinuations. He argues that agreed upon democratic constitutional law established by the people and its leaders is the only way for the nation of Afghanistan to have order, peace, prosperity, and a healthy future. He is asking his people to make a spiritual change in how they will relate one to the other. It is no surprise that the ancient Hebrews also saw holy law as the basis of their society. Like Afghanistan, the Hebrew people went through a time of chaos followed by a time of rebuilding. They were defeated in war, Jerusalem was turned into ruins, their leaders and skilled workers taken away in bondage. Then a generation later some of them came back to rebuild. A key to that rebuilding was a reaffirmation of the rule of law. That was this morning's lesson from Nehemiah. Their constitution was the law of God as they understood it. This holy law includes both injunctions for living today and promise for the future. Matthew tells us that Jesus came to fulfill these promises (Mt. 5:17). When Jesus was asked which part of the law was the greatest he replied: Love God and Love neighbour. When he did this he was reciting a Hebrew summation of the essence of spiritual law.** This is to be fulfilled in us: (read Mk. 12:29-31). Let's think some more about how this spiritual law may come to fullness in us. I referred earlier to the spiritual laws we have at home. Now, let's consider the church - our congregation. Think of the ways we have agreed to be together as a community of faith which are not written down anywhere. I see some of these in the way we work together. Every time the women of the church put on a Fall dinner, I am impressed at the way they have agreed to work together with care and respect, honoring one another's gifts. I experienced this personally when I joined with the men to paint the church. We worked together in a wonderful sense of harmony. I see this same spiritual law at work in the larger society. For instance, every morning I go for a walk down a certain street. As I go I often meet coming toward me an elderly gentleman wearing a turban. As we pass we acknowledge one another with slight bow of the head,a smile,and verbal greeting,"Good morning." Think of the things we don't do. We don't sneer at one another, thinking we are superior to the other; nor do we ignore one another as if the other was of no importance; neither do we push one another off the side walk. Rather, in that brief encounter he and I honour an unwritten spiritual law. Since we are both men I can call it a law of brotherhood, mutual respect and shared citizenship. I know nothing of the background of my brother with the turban, but from my perspective, this spiritual law is supported by the understanding of law which we find in the Bible. In the Bible, the law of God is not just a lists of rules such as the Ten Commandments. In the Bible God's law refers to the totality of our relationship with our Creator and our neighbour. As the Creator loves us so we are to love one another (Lk. 6:27-36). Jesus placed his ministry within this law when he read from the prophet Isaiah in his home synagogue (Lk. 4:18-21) He announced that the Spirit of God was moving him to fulfill the Torah, the holy law, by proclaiming the year of the Lord's favour: good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed. You and I are all called to this same ministry of holy law. St. Paul understood this when he wrote that we all are members of the one body of Christ. Just as the law of a person's body ascribes functions to each part of the human body, so there is a similar law operating in the body of humankind. Each us has been given our own law-fulfilling function by which we bring God's peace to our community and world. May we and all human kind learn to live together in a holy law of peace in our homes , churches, villages, and nations. *Theological Word Book of the Bible, "Law," W.A. Whitehouse ** Dt. 6:4-5; Lv. 19:18 Search by category: Bible *Advt.-Xmas- Ep. * Lent -Easter * Pene. 1-14 * Pent 15f * Child + Story * Liturgy * Social * Pastor * Mission Contact Bob Second after Epiphany, Yr. C Delight <EpC2>
Is. 62:1-5 As one wedding
partner is delighted by the other, so God is delighted by Jerusalem, During this season of the Sundays after Epiphany we are remembering and reclaiming significant concepts of our faith as they are suggested by one or more of the Sunday readings. Last week the concept was redemption. If anyone is interested in what was said about Redemption, a copy is available. This week's word is Delight, God's delight in us and our delight in God. This one faith aspect of our faith that gets very little play in our churches. Until very recently we have been far too solemn to relish either God's delight or our own.* Meanwhile, the bible we read each Sunday often makes reference to delight. We have often been told that God can be angry with us, but in the Bible one of the chief characteristics of God is God's delight in creation generally and in us particularly. The biblical writers often show God to be acting out of delight for the people. For instance, when the people of Israel who had been wandering in the desert for forty years, came upon the Jordan valley, their leader Joshua said to them: "If God is delighted in us, God will give us this valley for our home." (Num. 14:8) What makes God delighted with us? One thing that gives God delight is our fairness toward one another. Proverbs 11:1 says that a false measure is an abomination to the lord, but an accurate weight is God's delight." God is tickled pink when we treat one another with justice. The prophets tell us of the great sorrow God feels over the hurt we do to one another (Amos 5:10-14). The opposite side of this sorrow is God's great delight over the good we do to one another. This raises a question for me: How many times have you and I caused our Creator to be delighted in us? Take a moment now to count the ways you have delighted God: within your family (pause), with your friends (pause), at work (pause), within community groups you are a part of (pause). How many times have you and I delighted God by our generosity of spirit, our generosity of time, our generosity with money? Surely God is delighted with much of what we are and do! How much of our life as a community of faith gives God reason to be delighted with us? I know that you have done much that gives God joy! (pause). [Name a few such as world outreach projects, local church sponsored programs. Activities within the church that bring joy and comfort.] Also can we think of things going on in the world that must delight our Creator? [name a few such as Doctors without Borders, Peace activists, Canadian Food Grains Bank, etc]. Of course, God's delight in us is not dependent on our good works. Like a parent takes delight in her child, so God is delighted with us just because we are; just because we are God's creation, God takes delight in us. This morning's reading from Isaiah compares God's delight to the way a couple feel toward one another on their wedding day: "As a bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall God rejoice over you." God's joy over Creation is expressed in the Bible from the very first chapter. The authors of the first 35 verses of Genesis believed that creation is good; the good work of a good God. So, after they described the wonder-full acts of God's creation they wrote this: "And the Creator saw that it was good" (Gen 1:25). Then, wonder of wonders they describe humankind as being created in the very image of God. Then, God was so delighted by this final act of creation, that all this wonderful world was given into in our care. Surely they understood God to be delighted by all that was made, including us. Of course we human have not always acted in ways that were likely to please our creator. Yet God could not abandon us. In the psalm for today the poet sees that God's delight in creation is transformed into love. Humans may plot mischief, but you, God, give them drink from the river of your delights (Ps. 36:4-8). What a powerful rich image this is! Imagine dipping your cup in the stream of God's delight,and drinking deeply of it. Let yourself take this in - the delight of God filling your whole being. This psalm is full also of delight in God. Its poetry is ecstatic over God's love: "Your faithful love extends to the heavens, How precious is your love!" Then there is a third dimension to this regime of delight. As well as God delighting in us, and us delighting in God, there also is you and I delighting in one another. St. Paul says that the Spirit of God gives us each a gift. The wonder in this is not simply that each person has something to contribute to the community. That can be a petty and condescending thing to say. No, the wonder is that in each person's gift we a manifestation of the Spirit. If this is how we see one another, how can we do anything but delight in one another? Surely this is the way that leads to peace and away from spiteful hatred and competition. In Canada we have been trying to build a society that honors people from every part of the world, and it seems we have a way to go before we become fully a society in which we delight in one a other's gifts. We continue to give the top positions to the "white" races, and there can be murderous tensions between our various groups. Paul's way of seeing one another as bearers of our own Spiritual gifts would lead us away from hatred and superiority and in the direction of taking delight in one another. This something to practise in our homes and community and churches. Who are the people in whom you most take delight? Who are the people in whom you forget to take delight? Do you see yourself as one in whom others take delight? Yet, there is a fourth delight. In John's Gospel Jesus begins his ministry by delighting his friends; turning water into wine. We too are called to a ministry of delight and the spirit enables us to carry it out!. I often see this to be true. I see it in the joy of friends who start everyone laughing as soon as they enter the room, and I see it all the mittens on my congregation;s mitten tree. Today, I found it in a letter from Ian Macdonald, a colleague in ministry. It's a message about a delightful ministry he is a part of. Many years ago Ian and some friends formed a ministry of song; composing and singing delightful tunes and texts of the faith. So, Ian wrote to let me know about the newest Common Cup CD, "Like Water Through Rock." Now I can take delight in Ian's ministry and share this delight with my family by sharing the music of Ian and friends (www.commoncup.com) We are called to a life of delight: God delights in us, we delight in God and in one another and we please God and bless our neighbours through the delight of our ministry. *For instance, in the congregation in which I joined the church i n 1956, the service of the Lord's Supper was focused almost entirely on the grim reality of Christ's death, and our own sinfulness. The communion hymn (Here O My Lord, I see Thee Face to Face") actually described communion as "a foretaste of the festal joy" of heaven, but it was sung as if it were a funeral dirge - at least that is how it seemed to me. Since then I have learned and attitude toward communion as expressed in another hymn, "I Come With Joy." It does devote a line to Christ's death, both in word and music it makes this a reason for rejoicing. 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