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Getting ready to call a minister to share in your mission A002
"You
will be my witnesses" Acts 1:8
click
here for scripture passages related to mission
see
also Three Good Things
Introduction: The suggestions set out here are based on the conviction that when a congregation calls a minister, it is inviting that person into its mission.
So, when your incumbent minister has told you she's leaving, and you have started to grieve and give thanks, it is essential that, before you call a new minister, you get clear about the Creator's mission for you. That is, to prayerfully and playfully inquire of the Spirit: "What are we here for - what is our mission - in the name of Christ, what do you want of us now?"
My suggestion is that your Mission Statement is a key tool in deciding the skills and qualities you need in your next minister.
If you know your congregation and community very well, and have a recently written statement of mission, try applying the following Personnel Resource form to your congregation's programs in light of your mission and see what you get.
Example- using your Mission Statement to discover the ministerial qualities you need
Here is an example of how you can use your Mission Statement to identify skills and qualities in both laity and minister that would be valuable to your congregation as it seeks to fulfill its mission.
My sample mission statement shows some of my own biases. It assumes some interest in innovative worship, in welcoming newcomers and ideas from the community, in joining faith to practice and mission, and in lay leadership.
The Mission of St. Withits Community Church
"Our mission is to employ the gifts of each of us and all of us all of us to be the Body of Christ through creative ministries of - Worship; Learning; Welcome; Care for One Another; Compassionate and Justice-seeking Social Outreach; and Care for the Earth."
PERSONNEL RESOURCES FORM: Apply this form to each program and ministry of your congregation in light of its mission, working from left to right. For this example I have chosen worship, the central ministry of every congregation
|
Ways To Fulfill Our Mission |
Goals for this way- in light of our mission: |
Skills and personal qualities needed in Min. and lay to meet these goals |
Ministerial duties and responsibilities, time |
|
1.Sunday morning public worship (Some ways may be in the planning or "envisioned" stage, and would be noted as such) |
To meet the God of grace, hope, nurture and challenge within our tradition and through music, and media that speak to youth and elders. -Preaching that relates faith and scripture to our personal needs, our mission and community. -Use drama, liturgical dance where appropriate. -Strong lay leadership |
Ability to plan with others, -Be grounded in liberal faith tradition. -Can work well with musicians. -Can encourage and train laity, and learn from them. -Qualities of openness to others and their gifts. -Imagination and creativity |
-Work closely with worship committee and musicians (and others - i.e. mission committee) to plan and lead in liturgy. -Be the principle preacher, -Encourage & train laity to plan and lead in liturgy Time: 20 hours per week |
DON'T HAVE A MISSION STATEMENT? - WANT TO WRITE A FRESH ONE?
Here are a few of the many biblical passages that would be helpful to discuss when writing a congregation's Mission statement. For each passage, reflect on the mission God's people are called to, its context, and whether that mission continues today.
The
Mission of:
-Noah
Gen. 6:18 - 22;
-Abraham
and Sarah Gen.12: 1-2, 15:5, and 17:15-16;
-Shiphra,
Puah, Jochebed (Ex6: 20), Miriam, and the princess Ex.1: 15-2:10;
-
Moses Ex.3:7 - 12;
-
Ruth 1:16 f
-
Jesus Jhn.1:16-17 and Lk. 4:16-20
-
Mary Magdalene, Joanna etc. Lk. 8:1-3 and 24:1-10
-
Paul and Barnabas Acts 13:1 -3
-
Lydia Acts 16:13-15
-
Aquilla and Priscilla Acts 18:2, 1 Cor
-
The Church Acts 1:8, Jhn.15: 11-12, Mt. 25:31-34; 1 Cor. 16:1 - 2.
Congregations Without ministers ecclesicakes.ca A003
Psalm 149; John 15:7 - 17; Acts 1:6-14; 2:1-4; Phil 1:3-11.
My home congregation has just been informed that their search for a minister has not been fruitful, so they may be without a minister for a couple of months and perhaps longer.
We are not alone in this. The May 2001 issue of the United Church Observer tells us that all over North America churches are experiencing a shortage of ministers. So, many congregations in Canada and the USA find themselves functioning for a while without a minister. Some congregations have lived without a minister for up to three years. There are those in small remote areas who have concluded they may never again have a minister of their own.
I want to say, "that would not necessarily be a bad thing - perhaps it is even a good thing."
Congregations who have gone for as long as three years without a minister, have found that to be a very creative time. I have heard reports of this being true, and I witnessed it when I supervised a congregation which had had no minister for a year.
During that time they reclaimed their purpose and identity as a congregation. In doing for themselves a lot of the work a minister usually does. They discovered that they really were the Body of Christ.
Not having a minister also means having some money available from unpaid ministerial salary. These funds can be used creatively to encourage the ministry of the people, their visioning and planning. For instance, one congregation without a minister used some of this money to hire a theologically aware lay manager to work out of the church office in support the work of its committees. This money could also be used to employ people with special skills in planning to help congregations develop mission statements, and programs. It can also be used to train the laity.
From my perspective there are at least three positive outcomes possible for a congregation which lives for a year or so without a minister.
1. Purpose: it can be a time to remember why God created your congregation,
2. Identity: It can be an opportunity to recognize your congregation's identity,
3. Being a Congregation: It can be a time to rediscover congregations as God's strategy.
Overall, it can be a time to set your own agenda while you are free of a minister's agenda. All ministers come to congregations with their own agenda. So, a time without a minister is an opportunity for a congregation to explore its own agenda.
Let me expand a bit on three good things that can happen when you have no minister ofr when you are seeking one:
1. Purpose: We can recall why God created this congregation, and why God still wants it.
I believe that congregations exist because God wants them to exist. A time with no minister can be a time to delve into your congregation's story both to rediscover the purpose God had in mind when God created this congregation, and to inquire prayerfully of the Spirit: "Is this what God wants of us today. "
Such an exercise can be a very big help in deciding what kind of a minister to call next. You can say: "We are sure that God wants us to do this and this, now lets get a minister to help us do it!"
2. Identity: I have seen that a time with no minister gives a congregation some time to rediscover its identity as a people of God. A few years ago, I had a job that led me go to many different congregations. I came to see that each congregation has its own personality and gifts.
Some congregations are similar to Martha of the Gospels as she is sometimes portrayed. These congregations like to keep busy. They don't have a lot of study groups, but just watch them put on a lunch or fix a roof, or take practical action in mission.
Other congregations are more like Martha's sister, Mary, who sat at Jesus feet as a student. These like to study, and delve into the depths of the faith.
Also, I have known congregation's who were primarily Sunday worshippers, they gave a lower priority to mid week programs, and good works; they just loved to praise God on the Sabbath. Liturgy was indeed the work of this people.
Then, I have known other congregation's whose main energy went into mission. They saw Sunday Morning as a time to get inspired so they could get back to their mission.
Again, I have experienced congregations who saw themselves as family. They just loved to have pot luck meals, and programs that would bring them together. When one of their members was sick or in trouble, they responded like a family would.
Knowing your personality as a people of God can also be a big help in choosing a minister to work with you, and help you develop some areas of ministry you have neglected.
3. Thirdly, a time with no minister can be a time when you discover the profound truth that congregations are one of God's strategies for bringing the Realm of God into the world.
We can see this in the ministry of Jesus. Jesus did not write a book with directions for building the Realm of God, nor recruit an army to enforce and guard the Realm of God, or accumulate money to set up a foundation that would forever fund the Realm of God.
What Jesus did do was gather a congregation of men, women sand children. To that community of faith God trusted the Good News, and they had no minister to help them - except that they all were ministers. That community of faith sent people out to create more communities of faith, and that is how the Good News spread around the world.
A time with no minister can be a good time to remember that congregation's, are one of God's basic strategies for planting God's realm among us.
your ministry, and to reassert the importance and value of your congregation, with its own personality. You are a people whom God has called into being as a basic tool for the planting of the realm of God on Earth. Then, call a minister to work with you in your high calling in Christ's name.r. a. .k 7/01
Minister and People; Homebodies and Transients ecclesicakes A004
The middle of the season after Pentecost is a time when many newly settled ministers and congregations are meeting for the first time. As an incoming pastor, I have found this to be an opportune time to develop an understanding of how we will be in ministry together. This paper suggests that one way to do this is to look at one of the most obvious ways pastors and congregations differ. That is, some are Homebodies and others are transients.
The Homebodies carry out their ministry mainly in one place or neighborhood or city where they have had their home for all or most of their lives. Their ministry is among friends and family whom they have known for a long time. The Transients, on the other hand, enact their ministry by going from place to place; home; always meeting new partners in Christ. Each of these categories of disciple has its peculiar opportunities, and challenges within the mission of the church I can identify three important characteristics of the Stay-at-home disciples. First, they are challenged to be a sign of God's love, acceptance and righteousness in the midst of their long time neighbors, who may have known one another all their lives. It can be difficult to live out the Gospel among people who know you and your family, your personal history, and your foibles as well as your strengths. Yet, this relationship provides a special the opportunity to represent the gospel within long time friendships, and to see the grace of God working in your neighbors over time - sometimes where it is least expected.
These homebodies also bring a special perspective to the life of the church because they know its stories. Some of the homebodies will remember who started the first Sunday School, and Women's group. There will be those who served on the first building committee, or can recall who did. They remember working with former ministers and the gifts and agendas they brought. They know of the many struggles and celebrations, losses and gains. The Homebodies can remember the reason this church was built in the first place. This store of memory is very important to the future of a congregation. The insights of Interim ministry have taught us that a clear knowledge of original vision, and history are key ingredients in setting today's direction.
Finally, Homebodies are committed to a particular place where the Gospel has flourished for many years. A great deal of their energy comes from loyalty to their church and the community in which it is set. Given the opportunity, they will use their knowledge of the community and their loyalty to form the church's mission for that place. On the other hand, if it should be that their congregation is dying, it will cost these homebodies dearly to plan the closing, and to experience resurrection in this death. They will be the ones who will do the deepest celebrating and grieving.
Along with these homebodies, every congregation has a number of transients; Christians who are called to go from place to place, being at home where they find welcome. As I see it, these folk come in two varieties: the Ordered, and the Transient Laity.
There are in every congregation, Transient Laity who have moved from another town, region or nation. Some of them will have relocated many times. They bring with them a mix of special gifts and experiences from other congregations, and sometimes other cultures. From their different experience they offer alternate ways of enacting the Gospel, and from their travels they are a reminder of the world church. I have seen that they may also offer new possibilities of friendship for some of the homebodies who feel estranged within the local church. A wise congregation and pastor will warmly welcome these newcomers, so that by their gifts they may enrich and challenge their new church home as members working within it.
The Diaconal Ministers, Dedicated Lay Ministers and Ordained Ministers contribute some of these same gifts, but the special gifts they bring are accountability, training, and a link to the world church.
It seems to me that this mix of transients and homebodies, is one of the ways by which God keeps the church alive. God's Grace, Challenge, Peace and Hope are renewed by bringing together those who go from home to home, with those settled in a particular place. Thus the Spirit brings into being a creative mix of perspectives, experiences, and training that can provide stability and roots, while overcoming stagnation. In this way, the ancient faith is honored, and fresh insights into the gospel are enacted in the world by people who love one another either as long time neighbors, or as new friends.
r.a.k. 07/01
The Bible tells of many who found their calling by leaving one home for another, even if it meant they might stay in that new place a few days or weeks. Our spiritual ancestors, Sarah and Abraham, were called by God to pick up and leave Haran, and move to the far off land of Canaan. The early prophets Elijah and Elisha regularly went from place to place, teaching and healing, and staying with people who welcomed them in (often widows). Genesis 12; 1 Kings 17:9; 2 Kings 4:8.
Matthew tells us that Jesus made his home in Capernaum, but he never stayed there for long. He called men and women to leave their homes and come with him into the towns and cities of Palestine. Rather than sleep in a familiar room every night, they were to go on the road and be at home wherever they found welcome. Mathew 4:12-13,18-19; 8:20; 21:17; Mark 6:7-12; Luke 8:1-3; 10: 1-12,38.
The church continued this practice. It seems that Philip was among the first to follow Jesus' example. When the authorities began to persecute the church in Jerusalem, Philip traveled to Samaria, where he taught the Good News and baptized. Soon, we see the Holy Spirit instructing the early church to send Barnabas, Paul, and John Mark to set out on a walk-about taking the Gospel to the Jewish congregations in the towns of Cyprus and Asia Minor. Acts 8:4-8; 13:1-3.
However, all disciples are not expected to be on the move. God called many to stay primarily in one place, or to find a hometown and stick there. Ruth, who went home with her mother-in-law, Niaomi may fit into this category. Some of the biblical prophets never left home. Isaiah, for instance, was called to be a prophet in his hometown - which he found a very difficult thing to do. In the Gospels, Martha, Mary and Lazarus were stay-home-disciples in Bethany - Jesus often was at home at their place. In the book of Acts, we find Tabitha, who was a residential spiritual healer in her town of Joppa and member of the congregation that grew up there. In the city of Philippi there lived a businesswoman named, Lydia, who started a church in the living room of her home. Ruth 1:14-19; Isaiah 6; Luke 10:38-41; Acts 9:32-43; 16:11-15.
A married couple of Corinth, Priscilla and Aquila, who made their living making tents, became transient disciples after meeting St. Paul. Wherever they went, they make their home a church.
Acts 181-2, 18-19, 26; Roman 16:3-5; 1Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19.
One role played by the stay at home believers was that of providing a temporary home for the transients. In Joppa, Simon the tanner had Peter stay with his family when Peter visited there. Acts tell us that on his second missionary journey, Paul was hosted by Priscilla and Aquila. When Silas and Timothy arrived in Corinth, a Gentile named Titius Justus provided a place for them.
Acts9: 43; 18:1-7, 26.
r.a.k. 07/01
Today is the
first Sabbath day in our new relationship of congregation and pastor.
You and I are now in that very special association of pastor and
people. It is a wonderful alliance we have made with one another. In
this coalition we will do together many things which have deep meaning:
We will get
to know one another in your homes, and in meetings,
We will
share our faith, and grow together toward God,
we will pray
for one another in times of sickness and sorrow,
We will weep
together in life's tragedy and laugh together over life's comedy,
We will
grieve together at gravesides,
we will sing
together around the baptismal font,
We will
rejoice together as couples are joined in matrimony.
By our many
gifts we will grow together in our shared ministry,
we will
consult together to imagine programs and bring them into reality,
We will meet
together to set budgets, and plan stewardship, and care for the
church building,
and we will
eat many communal meals together.
Over all, we
will we will worship God, and seek together to know God's will for us;
We will work
together as a team to proclaim the Good News of God's love.
Now, what name can we give to a relationship that has so many facets? What do we call this kinship we are starting?
It could be labeled a sort of arranged marriage. There has been no courtship, but the terms of marriage have been negotiated, and we who are strangers are now expected to have an intimate life together. So, our coalition could be compared to an arranged marriage.
Or it could be compared to a business or farming partnership. We have agreed to work together on a project in which we each have an investment, and to which we are committed. We all want this business to succeed.
Again, our togetherness could be compared to an agency such as a hospital, or school in which many people with a variety of skills are joined together to employ their gifts for the benefit of the whole community and indeed, the world. We are like this; called to be an effective organization delivering the peace of Christ to our parish area.
All these could be ways of identifying what we are together: an arranged marriage, a business, an agency. They all are very positive analogies of what the church is, they are good models to follow. Each of them can be used to identify a portion of what we are to be.
However, along with these analogies, there is a particular concept that we use to capture what joins pastor and congregation into one whole. That, is the notion of covenant. A congregation is covenanted community, and a pastoral relationship is a covenanted association. In a few weeks we will make a covenant with one another in a special worship service. In the presence of God we will take vows that are intended to define our life together.
A covenant has its own special features that make it different from an agreement or contract.
For instance, when people covenant together, they accept the possibility of sharing their whole being with one another. Pastors often experience this on their first day with a new congregation. On that first day, they may be called to lead a family through a funeral, or have a new born child placed into their arms for blessing. One day they may be helping a person with their grief, and a day later working with that same person to plan a Church school session. In a covenant we touch one another at many levels of our life.
Secondly, a covenant assumes that those who enter into it will mutually want the best for one another. When we make our covenant, it will be understood that I will want the best for you, you will want the best for me, we will want the best for the church, the church will want the best for the community at large.
Thirdly, and most importantly, our covenant begins with God. God has made a covenant with us. Our covenant with one another is inside that greater covenant.
We dare to enter into a covenanted relationship because we have the guarantee of a covenant in which God promises never to abandon us, to always hold us in God's holy care. As out Creed says: "We are not alone&ldots;"
God has renewed this covenant down through the ages, and makes it new again in our covenant with one another.
God first made this covenant with Noah after the Flood, and gave the rainbow as a sign of it. Then, God promised to bless all humankind through a covenant with our spiritual parents, Abraham and Sarah. It was affirmed when the people of Israel were led from captivity by Moses and Miriam. Christians believe that this covenant was made anew through the life, work, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Genesis 8:14-917; 12:3; 17:1-26; Exodus 19:1-6; Romans 8:31-39.
We will make our covenant as a fulfillment of all these ancient promises from our Creator. However, our covenant will also have to do with the future when God's covenant is fulfilled in a world of peace. The prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah envisioned that a day was coming when the knowledge of God's covenant would reside in the heart of every woman, child, and man. In us, the Holy Spirit creates a community within this ancient promise and hope. Revelations 21:1-27; Isaiah 9:6-7, 42:1-4, 11: 1-9; Jeremiah 31:31-34.
So, while this May seem like an arranged marriage, and while our enterprise May seem somewhat like a business, and although we are an agency, the best way to describe the time ahead of us as congregation and pastor would be to say: We are those who have been drawn together by the Holy Spirit into a covenant in Christ's name to do the work of God.
r.a.k. 07/01
The church's chaplain-outreach to the unchurched. ecclesicakes A007
Mark 2:15-17; Luke 4:25-27; 11:25-28
In my work as a pastor in small rural and tourist towns, I came to see that my work, and that of my colleagues, included duties not spoken of in my settlement, or written into the congregation's statement of mission . These duties came within what I called the role of chaplain to many members of the larger community who were outside the congregation's membership.
I found this ministry to be a compassionate outreach and evangelical ministry, which I shared with congregations. In this ministry the congregations and I acted out and spoke the Good News through weddings, cooking for receptions, grief work, pastoral care and friendship.
It was "evangelical" in the original meaning of being a messenger of the Good News of God's love through Christ. So, while the congregation would very much wanted to have these unchurched with them in the community of the church, their motivation in this ministry was clearly nothing other than loving their neighbor, believing that God was ahead of them leading the way in loving these people.
Very often, members of the congregation took the lead in this work, knowing before me of a need in the community, and acting on it. Many times my involvement was at the direction of a member of the church.
The following examples of this ministry will sound familiar to many of my colleagues. I remember, for instance, the Churchwomen's response to the plight of a young unmarried woman who gave birth shortly after the accidental death of the baby's father who was killed while driving under the influence of alcohol. The young woman was a stranger in our town, having moved to the community to take a job in a local hotel. The family of the baby's father had no connection with the church, although everyone knew them.
The congregation's response was immediate and compassionate. I was phoned and told of the situation: "Would I visit in hospital the dead man's brother who had been badly injured in the accident? Would I make contact with the baby's mother and the parents of these young men?"
The women of the church had already sent two of their members to the young woman to ask what her needs were, and were planning a baby shower.
On another occasion, the Pastoral Committee asked me if I would conduct a wedding for a non-church couple from a low-income community on the edge of town. I agreed to meet with them to discuss the meaning of marriage and the order of worship for a Christian wedding. We found that their view of God was not essentially different from my own, which I must confess is rather undogmatic. So, we found common ground for proceeding with the wedding in the church building.
One night my sleep was broken by a phone call from a young woman of our congregation: "This is Margaret Brown, would you come to the home of my friend, Jane and Robert Smith? A train accident has killed their two children, and her parents." Margaret and I ministered to this family for the next two weeks.
As you can see, Chaplaincy was very much an accepted part of these congregation's mission. This not to say that we did not, on occasion, feel "being used," and angry toward our unchurched neighbors, or feel disappointment that we were not able to bring these folk within the fold of the church. After all, we were human, and sinners to boot.
On a few occasions this work did lead to the people served coming into the church. One particularly moving incident was the baptism of a father and son who had lost their wife and mother through cancer.
I know that some Churches do not have this tradition, and choose not perform a wedding for non-members, and they see any contact with the unchurched as an opportunity for quite assertive proselytizing. Recently, I have heard members of my own denomination advocating that we stop our present practice, and offer pastoral care to members of our congregations only, or make "joining the church" a condition of receiving our ministry.
I hope that we never take this step. Rather, I would propose that where they have not already done so, congregations study this ministry and its roots in the ministry of Jesus, celebrate this calling from God, and write it into their Mission Statement.
"The Smile of the Empress and the Emperor. "ecclesicakes A101
A Story
for White Gift Sunday
Is.61:10;
Ps. 126; Rom. 14:17; Philip 4:4
Optional beginning: I'm going to tell you a story about smiles. But first, before I tell the story, I'd like you to tell me what makes you smile. What makes God smile?
My story for this morning is about two friends; Ching and Chang who lived a long time ago in a land called Woo. (Show two figures to represent these characters. Put them an easel or flannel board).
Woo was a very smiley country. Almost everyone in the land of Woo liked to do things to make one another smile. In fact, there was just one law in all the land of Woo. That law was: SMILE on your neighbor! This made God smile too.
Like everyone else in Woo, Ching and Chan loved to smile, and giggle, and laugh. So, when they were together, Ching told funny stories that made Chang laugh, and Chang performed magic tricks that made Ching grin. Can you say Ching grin?
Can you guess what they called the biggest holiday in the land of Woo? Of course, it was SMILE DAY! On the second Sunday of December, they celebrated Smile Day. What do you think people did on Smile Day? (Wait for answers from children and adults present - someone is sure to say, "Smile!") Yes, on Smile Day almost everyone smiled and almost everyone tried to put a smile on someone else's face. So, on Smile Day Chang and Ching made all their friends and family smile with jokes and magic tricks.
Now, in that land there also lived an Empress and an Emperor who lived in a beautiful palace, but were too busy to smile. (Put up picture of a palace with the emperor and empress looking out a palace window with their mouths drawn as upside down smiles).
The Emperor and Empress were too busy to smile, even on Smile Day. Every year the people tried to get the Empress and Emperor to smile, but they would not. Some people told silly jokes, but the Empress would not smile.
Other people showed the Emperor silly magic tricks, but the Emperor would not smile. Mothers brought their babies to the palace, but the Empress and the Emperor did not smile at the babies.
Chang and Ching thought they could get the Empress and the Emperor to smile on the second Sunday in December, so this is what they did:
First, they went to the shopping mall and bought a mirror, and a box, and some plain white paper, and some string.
Then, they put he mirror into the box; they wrapped the box in the plain white paper, and tied it with a string. (I suggest that you do this as you tell of it).
Then they took this White Gift to the palace, and knocked on the palace door (make knocking sound). When the palace guard opened the door, Chang and Ching handed the guard the White Gift, and the guard asked: "What is this?"
And Ching and Chang said: "It is a White Gift for the Empress and the Emperor."
So the guard gave the White Gift to the palace butler. The butler asked: "What is this?" The guard said: "It is a White Gift for the Empress and the Emperor."
So, the butler took the White Gift to the Empress, and the Empress said: "I'm busy! What is this?" The butler said: "It is a White Gift for your Majesty and the Emperor!"
So, the Empress took the box to the Emperor, and the Emperor said, "I'm busy! What is this?" The Empress told him: "I don't know!"
Then they both looked at the gift wrapped in plain white paper, and said together: with their upside down smiles, "What can it be?"
"I'm very busy," said the Emperor, "Hurry up and open it!"
So, they untied the string, and unwrapped the plain white paper, and opened the box. And what did they see? (Wait for answers, have children look into the box).
They saw a mirror, and in the mirror they saw their own upside down smiles, and they began to laugh, and they laughed and laughed and laughed. Probably, they still are. (Fasten smiling faces to the heads of the Empress and Emperor)
Now, if ever you go to the land of Woo on the second Sunday of December, you will find many smiling people wrapping packages in plain white paper. They make these White Gifts for anyone who may find it hard to smile on Smile Day.
And did you know that we also do that, right here in (our town). There are people in (our town) who may have trouble smiling. It is not because they are too busy to smile. Rather it often is because they are poor or hungry. So we have wrapped food in plain white paper, and on this Sunday of December, we have brought these White Gifts to the church, and every one of our White Gifts will give a smile to the person who opens it. And that makes God smile too. r.a.k.
White Gift Sunday and the Feeding of the Multitude ecclesicakesA102
The following is conceived as an extended "Children's Time" in a regular morning public worship service which takes place on your congregation's White Gift Sunday (The Sunday at which food and other items are gathered along with money to make up Christmas hampers). In this service the congregation enacts an interpretation of the feeding of the Multitude according to John 6:1-14, and makes an offering of White Gifts. Time considerations may mean no sermon this Sunday.
ENACTMENT OF John 6:1-14
- At the
Children's Time, have the children and other players assemble at the
front of the sanctuary. Inform everyone again that the total group,
children, youth, and congregation, are going to act out an
interpretation of the Biblical story known as the Feeding of the
Multitude as found in John 6: 1- 14. "Everyone will have a part
to play, so let the play begin!"
Scene 1 Hymn (two verses?). Ask the congregation (AS THEY ARE ABLE) to remain standing after the hymn is over
Narrator,reads John 6:1-5a
Jesus,speaks John 6:5b (the words of Jesus)
Narrator, John 6:6
Philip, John 6:7 (the words of Phillip - astounded at the prospect)
Narrator, John 6:8
Andrew, John 6:9 (comes walking hurriedly in with this news, leading a child bearing a lunch bag.
Change "boy" to "child.")
Child, "My Mom and Dad told me to share!"
Philip (Philip laughs in derision) "Five loaves and two fish for all these people?"
Jesus, John 6:10a
Mary of Magdala, * "Jesus wants everyone to sit" (speaking
directly to the congregation, motioning
them to sit).
Congregation sits
Narrator, John 6:10b. (Add to end of verse 10, "along with women and children.")
Jesus, John 6:11 (lifts the lunch bag and asks a blessing), for instance: "O Holy Creator of the
World, who provides food enough that all can eat and be satisfied, we thank you for this act of sharing, and ask your blessing on this bread and this fish, and on we who eat it." (Hands the bag to Johanna*)
Johanna, and the Child, (take the lunch bag to the people in the first pew of adults)
Philip, (in loud stage whisper to Andrew) "I still don't see how this will be enough! It is not possible to feed all these people with five buns and two fish cakes!"
People in the pews with extra lunch bags, (Begin to stand and call out) "We too have some to share! We too have some to share!" (Share with others in their pew, and with the children and liturgists who are at the front).
Scene 2 After everyone has "eaten," gathering the left-overs
Narrator, John 6:11-12a
Jesus, John6: 12b
Disciples, all the youth and children assisted by Church School Teachers as necessary, go into the aisles and collect the bags of leftovers, bring them to the front where Jesus receives them. Plan to serve the leftovers at refreshment time after the service.
Narrator, John 6:13
Liturgist, announce an appropriate hymn to conclude the play.
The theological /mission basis for this enactment rests on two convictions:
First, that the "miracle" was in Jesus' assumption that God would provide, and in the sharing, first by the boy, and then by others in the crowd in response to the child's gift, and Jesus' prayer and distribution.
Secondly, that the telling of this story is a call to the mission of generosity. As God is to us, so, we are called to be toward our neighbors. There is an aboriginal teaching, which I first heard from the Rev. Stan McKay, a Cree: The essence of what the Creator wants from us can be summed up in two words, Caring and Sharing.
If there are those who argue that "sharing" is not a miracle, I would reply, "Just look at the world around you." It seems to me that the most natural behaviour in humans who have, when they are surrounded by those who do not have, is to keep and to hoard. To share is a true miracle that arises from an altered heart and will. For many years, those who work in the world of resources have shown us that it is not a shortage of food that causes hunger and poverty. Rather they exist because of our failure to put in place fair systems of distribution, and employment. We pray daily for this miracle.
* Re Mary of Magdala and Johanna, see Luke 8:1-3
TO USE THIS ENACTMENT
Planning and Preparation
Name two or three people to look after the details, including: copies of the script, the cast, properties, public address system, a rehearsal, an Order of Service written and published, and ensuing that everything is in ready and in place on the morning of White Gift Sunday (also being flexible enough to adapt when things don't turn out as planned).
To do list
Preparing a Script - Print a version of the script with the Biblical passages copied into it.
Worship Leader and Order of Service - Identify who will write the order of service, and see to its publication, and be the principle liturgist to work with children and others to carry out the service (gentle order in the chaos).
Youth/Children liturgists - Recruit Youth and/or children to participate with liturgist in leading the portion of the service for which the children and youth will be present.
Casting - Recruit youth, children, and adults for all the parts, including White Gift Offering roles.
Staging - Use microphones, and have all players practice using them. Do a mic. check well before the service begins.
Costumes- simple T shirts of several colours would do.
Rehearsals - Have the liturgists, and players rehears separately with microphones before bringing the whole troupe together for dress rehearsal.
Ushers - recruit youth and/or children to be at the doors with the regular ushers, to:
-Greet the
worshippers, and to ask them to take their White Gifts with them into
the pews,
- Inform
them that the children and youth will come for their gifts during the
Children's Time.
Home Involvement - On the Sundays before White Gift, invite families to read John 6:1-14 at home, and to talk about the special sharing, giving and receiving they experience at this time of year.
White Gift -Two weeks ahead, publish a list of what is needed for the hampers (no used items, please).
Refreshments after the Service - Plan to have a community time after the service. Among other foods, serve the "leftovers" from the enactment.
Properties
A school lunchbag or box holding five buns and three fish-shaped edibles (fish crackers?). Could this be prepared by the family of the child who offers the "loaves and fishes" in the enactment?
More Loaves and Fishes for Sharing, and for Leftovers. Arrange to have two or three families in each pew and in choir bring with them to church on White Gift Sunday, a lunch bag of "loaves and fishes" to be shared with other people in their pew, players and liturgists.
Left overs - Bring enough, so that as in the scripture account, there will be leftovers.
Instruct these folk so that they are clear about their role in the play, and see that before White Gift Sunday, they have a copy of the script with their role highlighted.
Baskets, or Boxes decorated by Church School, to receive the White Gifts
WHITE GIFT OFFERING
Connect the enactment and White Gift: Speaking to the congregation, youth, children and adults, see that all know what White Gift Sunday is, and share one of the connections you see between the Feeding of the Multitude, as just acted out, and the offering of our White gift. Ask them to share any connections they see.
One such connection may be: As God moved the child to share the loaves and fishes, God also calls us to share. Ask the people to name some ways we carry out sharing - White Gift being just one. Do we ever give or share as fully as the boy in the story did - risking going hungry ourselves?
White Gift Offering: When this conversation is finished, announce that the White Gift offering will now be received, and have children, youth and White Gift committee collect the gifts from the people and bring them to the front. Allow a lot of running around as the gifts are collected, and brought in armloads to the front. The minister/s may be at the front receiving the gifts, and placing them into baskets or decorated boxes.
White Gift Committee- Thank the people for their Gifts, and invite people to come for refreshments after the service.
Child or Youth- Offer a prayer of dedication
Liturgist - Thank Planners, Players, Ushers, Food Bringers, Liturgists, White Gift Committee, Congregation.
- Announce a hymn,
Church School - leave sanctuary for church school area?
Christmas is Hugging ecclesicakes A103
For
Advent and Christmas. Kaitie-isms
Isaiahs.11:6b;
Mattthew.18:4-5.
Kaitie at 23 months
Kaitie was
helping her grandmother decorate the Christmas tree. She was given
two unbreakable mouse figures to put on the lower branches. It took
her a while to learn the new skill of opening the loops of string by
which the figures were to be hung. When she was finished, Nanna saw
that she had placed both the mice on the same twig, so that they were
touching. She suggested to Kaitie that the décorations could
be spread out a bit, and not all on one branch. Kaitie explained her
action with a one word sentence, "Hugging!"
Christmas is Sharing
Kaitlyn's Mom had taken her to visit Santa on two previous occasions, and on both those times, Kaitie looked but declined the offer to climb onto Santa's knee.
So, early in the morning on the Thursday before Christmas, soon after the Mall was open, when there would not be a long tiring line to wait in, nor the pressure of many other children waiting their turn, Kaitie's Mom took her to Santa for a third time. This time Grandpa "Poppa" came along to help by playing with Kaitie until Santa was ready for her.
Some families with children in wheelchairs had also come early, so Poppa and Kaitie walked around in the Mall, looking at Poinsettias and into mirrors until it was Kaitie's turn.
This time she went right up to Santa, sat on the arm of his chair, and smiled for the camera. However, she couldn't say what she wanted for Christmas. Poppa's guess is that it had not yet occurred to her to want anything. She already had every-thing she needed; a safe and loving home, hugs, Mommy, Daddy, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandfolks. While she did not tell Santa what she "wanted for Christmas," she did announce the presence of "Candy Canes," when she noticed a large basket of those red, white and green candies beside Santa's chair and within her reach. Very intentionally, she selected a Candy Cane and held it up for "Mommy," then another for "Poppa," and a third for "Santa," just as her Mom, Dad and Playschool had taught her to share. Finally, she took one for "Kaitie."
Annual Meeting Sunday, Children's time, Finger Play (this is the Church) A104
Acts 2:37-47, the earliest church
If, on this Sunday, you want to be clear that it is the people who make a church, one very old and simple way to illustrate this is the finger play: "This is the Building, This is the Steeple, Open the Doors, and here are the People."
If you've never done this, ask a person of the congregation. There is bound to be several people who can show this to you and the Children.
Then, get the children and the congregation's adults doing it.
Let the lesson be: The people are the church - without the people there is no church. If there is an unused church building in your area, that is a good example of, no people - no church.
Discuss with Children and cong. which is the most important part of being church. After some have identified matters such as God's love and Jesus, ask what then is next in importance? Maybe ask, "can we have church with no building?" etc.
Conclude with: "Today is a special day in the life of this church. It is Annual Meeting day, when we celebrate all that God's people of this congregation have done, by the power of God's Spirit.
Teach the hymn: "The Church is Wherever," words by Carol Rose Ikeler
Kaityism: God Too! ecclesicakes.ca A105
Any Season
At 28 months Kaity has not yet been to church or Sunday Church school. However, she has learned to say grace with her family at meal time, and has some books about God.
Kaity's favourite video character is Calou, a boy about her age. As usual, just before supper Kaity watched one of her Calou videos. In this episode, Calou told his parents that he wanted to grow up and be big like his older friend. His father told Calou told that to grow up and be big he must eat his supper and get lots of sleep.
That evening at the bed time story reading hour, Kaity told her Mom that she wanted to grow up and be big too.
"What do you need to do to grow up big?" coached Mom.
"Eat my supper, and get lots of sleep, " replied Kaity.
"That's right ."
"And God too!" Kaitlyn added with conviction, as she snuggled in to her Mom's lap.
r.a.k. 7/01
Covenanting at the beginning of a year of a Church School. ecclesicakes A106
Liturgist to congregation: We are at the beginning of a new year of Church school and a fresh curriculum. To carry out this God-given ministry with children requires the commitment of us all: parents, teachers, congregational members and church staff.
Because we believe that this is a vocation from our Creator, the story-telling God, who calls us in the name of Jesus to communicate the Gospel through the art and discipline of story, I invite you to participate in the following litany of commissioning.
Church
school student a): We students are glad that you are doing this with us.
We look
forward to being on a quest into the stories of our faith,
In which we
will learn about the saints of every age. It sounds like fun!
Ch. Sch. Student b): this is one of the ways by which God enables us to grow and develop so that we ourselves become stories of God's Love.
Teachers: We
are pleased to be in this ministry with children and to be in a
partnership with you parents who desire that your children to have
this experience.
We thank God
for calling us into this ministry in Jesus name.
A parent who
is not a church school teacher: Through preparation of yourselves, by
planning teaching materials, and by preparing the classrooms, you
teachers have already given many hours to this ministry. Through the
coming seasons, you will devote your time each week to the adventure
of exploring Holy Scripture with the children of this congregation.
On behalf of
the congregation and especially the parents of these children, I give
you our thanks, and recognize your commitment.
Lit: (Invite all to stand, as they are able) We all are called In the name of Jesus, to have a part in this church school quest. Parents, and other members of the congregation, you are called to the support of the church school, and to encourage our children as they go on this quest.
Students, you are called to the adventure of exploring and learning.
Teachers, you are called to the ministry of Story Teller.
Lit: Therefore, I ask you parents, students, teachers, and other members of this congregation, do you accept this high calling, will you carry out your particular role in the ministry of the Church School?
All - We do, and we will.
Lit: In communion with the saints of every age, I commission you all.
Let us join in a unison prayer:
O HOLY CREATER GOD, AS THE BODY OF CHRIST WE OPEN OUR HEARTS TO YOUR HOLY SPIRIT.
COME IN AND FILL US WITH A SENSE OF WONDER AND ADVENTURE.
WE KNOW IT WILL BE EXCITING AND FUN TO BE ON THIS QUEST WITH YOU. Amen.
r.a.k. 7/01
Congregational
Litany for Opening of a Church School Year ecclesicakes
A107
Liturgist: We are gathered here as a People of Story
Church School Member a): What does that mean? What do you mean when we say we are "a People of Story?"
Congregation:
It means that God speaks to us through stories.
It is
through stories that we come to know of God's love,
and what God
wants us to be.
Lit: Yes, that is true. God shows God's Love and challenge through stories.
School b):
Like, what stories? I think I know the answer, but I want to hear
what you say.
Cong:
The story of Joseph and his cool coat,
The story of
David who bonked Goliath,
The story of
Miriam who saved a baby from the wicked government,
The story of
Teen-aged Mary, who took courage and said to God, "Yes, I'll do it!"
All the
stories about Jesus,
And many others.
School b):
you didn't mention the parables Jesus told.
Cong:
O.K.! And the parables Jesus told!
School a):
So, we are a People of Story.
We have
stories that tell us of God's love, and what God expects of us?
Cong:
Yes that's it!.
Schoolb):
Are there other stories that make us a "People of Story?"
Cong:
Yes, there are other stories!
There are
the stories of the saints and heroes who lived after the days that
the Bible tells of.
Some of them
are alive even today.
Sch: b):
Name some for me.
Cong:
There is Francis of Assisi, who loved all creatures Big and Small,
There is
Mother Teresa, who looked after people that nobody else cared about,
There is
Lester Pearson the Canadian politician, who won a Nobel Peace prize
because he
put forward the idea that armies could be used to make peace instead
of war,
Sch. a):
You didn't mention Terry Fox, or David Mctaggert, the Canadian who
began Greenpeace.
Cong:
No, we didn't, and there are so many more.
Lit.
Each of us is a story too.
God can
speak to the world through the life of each of us.
Sch. a):
So, our own lives are stories through which God speaks to the world.
Cong.:
Yes, we are stories that tell of God's grace
Sch. b): there are so many wonderful stories through which God speaks.
Sch a):
So, we have gathered here today as people of story.
Let us open
our ears, eyes, hearts, and our minds to the stories of the Bible,
Sch. b): and to the tales of the saints and of today, and of long ago!
Lit & Cong.: Indeed! Let us open our selves so that these stories will enter us and transform us into living stories of God's Love, and Grace and Call.
r.a.k. 07/01
Mary Remembers. ecclesicakes A108
A Christmas play in which an elderly Mary tells the Nativity to her grandchildren
inspired by a play by Carol Christians
Characters in order of appearance: Narrator, Gabriel, Elderly Mary, Judith and Samuel (her grandchildren), Young Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Magi.
Archives! This play has been placed inArchives If you want to read it contact Bob and he will e mail it to you.
ecclesicakes@hotmail.com
Remember to Quote the play's name and catalogue number.
STEVEN SEES THE LIGHT ecclesicakes A111
Genesis 1:1-5; Mark 4:21; John 8:12, 9:4-5
Epiphany
The family sat
watching the T V oblivious to the thunderstorm raging outside. A
typical family
night, until the lights went out. There were screams from the
little ones, and the older ones joked "that God had turned out
the lights." Daddy searched for candles, and soon there
was a dim light again. This seemed like a very forgettable
storm, and it was soon put in the past by all except for Steven, who
was three years old.
The next Sunday as we were getting ready for church Steven asked, "Is God in church?" "Yes honey," I replied pleased that he was beginning to know who God was, and make some connections between God and church. Seconds later I was disappointed when Steven said, "Well then I don't want to go!" I hurried him into his church clothes telling him that he would have fun with all the kids. That incident was also put behind me to be soon forgotten.
Forgotten, that is, until later that week when Steven brought it all to mind again. We were driving past a church when he informed me that, "God makes a big boom, and Daddy has to find the candles." Suddenly I was able to put the pieces together and see what my three-year-old had seen. The storm had made a big impression on him, and he thought that God had been the cause of the fearful darkness. Daddy had rescued him when he found the candles and made the dreadful darkness go away. Steven had never liked the dark and now he had someone to blame it on. God in his mind had become a frightful thing. I quickly told Steven that God made the candles. We talked about God and the light that he had given to us (including candles). Now if you ask Steven about God he will tell you that God makes light and candles. By Karen Osburn
Spanking ? ecclesicakes
A113
Mathew
18:1-5; Matthew ch.27
A Response
to a pro spanking column in a newspaper
I disagree.
The state, which in Canada, is understood to be the way we decide to
live together, must take action to protect the least powerful in our society.
I did spank
my children, and am sorry every day that I did so. I am now a
grandfather with children who do not hit their children or anyone
else. I find this new atmosphere of no- hitting-allowed tom be wonderful.
It has shown
me that my grandchildren can be taught and disciplined without being
hit, and with love being shown. Patience and care-filled instruction
beats hitting every time.
I have come
to believe that children have the same rights as the rest of us. We
would not tolerate an adult hitting another adult in the supermarket,
or at home or at work, so why should we tolerate a parent striking a child?
Also, I have
come to see that a more powerful person hitting a less powerful
person is no way to build a world of peace. The might is right logic
is being played out in many places in the world today. While it may
seem to bring a temporary peace, it cannot be the foundation for
happy family or society or world, because at bottom there always is
the background right of the strong to employ violence to enforce
their will and take over.
On the week
this was written, the world was trying its first national leader for
the way he struck his people. This is no time to advocate spanking.
Biblically,
I don't believe that Jesus, after asking us to see a child as our
model, would then ask us to strike them. (Mt. 18:1-5)
Take Care, I
hope no one hits you today.
Bob Kayes
The Midwife's Letter, an adult's Christmas Pageant Service A203
This Christmas Pageant was written to be enacted by older adults. It was first done by St. Stephens - Broadway United church, Winnipeg, at a time when that congregation had no children, and wanted a Christmas pageant anyway! This resource includes the order of service in which the pageant is set.
The
Midwife's Letter
Setting,
The "Inn" of Bethlehem
Reader 1. the following introduction:
A long time ago in the land of Judea, there lived a gentle couple, Isaac and Rachel. They were very faithful, and drew great peace from hearing the Holy Torah being read. So, every morning, and evening Isaac read aloud a passage from Scripture. Isaac was a Rabbi and therefore one of the few people in Bethlehem who had been educated to read, or would have access to the Torah.
Rachel and Isaac had one child, a daughter they named Sarah.One day, when Sarah was five years old, Isaac wondered: "Who will read the Torah to us when we are old and my eyes are dim?"
Rachel thought about this a great deal, then she suggested they teach their one child, Sarah, to read. Isaac was startled by this proposal. He had never heard of a female child being taught to read. But, in the following days, he could not get the notion out of his mind, until one night an angel came to him in a dream, and told him that he was to begin Sarah's reading lesson that very day.
So, a rare thing for those days came to pass. A girl child learned to read and to write, which was a great blessing to her parents. This began a tradition in that family, as Sarah taught her daughter, Miriam in the same way.
Now, let us go back in time to the home of this Sarah of Bethlehem, where we find her about to use her rare ability to set down in Hebrew script her version of the birth of Christ.
Scene I, Midwife decides to write a letter
Choir or congregation sings, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel."
Reader 2: 1st Reading: Isaiah 9:1 - 7
Midwife: enters. A woman in her fifties or more, wearing apron, and kerchief. Her facial and body expression is that of one who has just had an astounding experience that she wants to share.
Archives: THIS RESOURCE HAS BEEN PLACED IN ARCHIVES UNTIL OCTOBER 15.
If you wish to read it now, contact Bob with the article name, and catalogue no. A203 and he will e mail it to you.
Holy Stepping Stones to Christmas A 204
Advent/Christ. Eve. Candle lighting
This material is arranged to help worshippers see Advent in the context of some particular revelations of our Judeo-Christian heritage (Creation, Noah, Abraham & Sarah, Miriam and Moses, Isaiah, the Gospels), . You are invited to use it as it is or to adapt, expand, or change according to your own insights.
People receive a personal candle as they come in
Introduction to the service, opening prayers and Carol or hymn.
First Lesson: This evening we stand at the doorway to Christmas. We are about to enter the mystery of the Creator coming to be among us as Mary's Child, Jesus.
As we pause at this moment before the birth of Christ, I invite us all to remember that God is the Source of our being; we are God's own creation, made from Holy love.
Our first lesson is a selection from the Bible's poetry of our creation. Let us listen and know from whom we have come.
-Reading: Genesis 1:1-5; 20-27; 30-31; 2:1-2.
(In bulletin, print brief synopsis of each reading where it is listed)
-Prayer, confessing that we are creatures of God's making.
Creed: for instance, the "New Creed" of the UC of Canada
-Carol or hymn
- Light 1st Advent Candle
Second Lesson: Our second lesson is from the story of Noah and the Flood. This story tells us that God caused the great flood to cleanse the Earth because the wickedness of humankind was very great.
However, after the flood, God made a promise never to do that again. We are not to be afraid that God will bring great punishment upon the Earth ever again.
-Reading:
"Our reading begins after the Flood, when Noah and his family
and all the animals are out of the Ark." Gen. 8:20-22; 9:8-17.
So, in the
end, the Flood story teaches us that the Creator is not a God of
wrath and punishment, but rather a God of new beginnings. The rainbow
is the sign of that promise.
-Prayer of
Confession (communal), and assurance of Grace.
O God of
righteousness, generosity and grace,
We recognize
that we live in an era
That has
turned from you in many ways.
We
have become a nation which places money,
Material
gain and tax cuts ahead of public services
and Care for
our neighbours who are sick, or poor or young.
We confess
that in our personal lives,
We are
liable to get caught up in these materialistic values.
We prone to
becoming deaf your call to compassion and equity.
Therefore on
this holy night, we, like Noah,
Open
ourselves anew to your promise of grace
Committing
ourselves to the new life you offer,
Patterned
after your Truth in Christ.
-Carol or hymn
-Light 2nd Advent Candle
Lesson three: Our next lesson tells us of the new way God will work with humankind. God now decides to begin with one faithful family, and through them and their descendents, God will bless all humanity, and the Earth itself. Beginning with this one family and their faithfulness, and their shortcomings, God will lead us all to fulfill the purpose for which we were created.
Let us
listen then to the story of God recruiting Abraham and Sarah, and
Hagar to be the founders of a great and wonderful enterprise of blessing.
-Reading:
"Our reading begins with God inviting Abraham to be a pioneer"
Gen.12: 1-5; 17:1-6;15-16:1-3.
Prayer
(communal?), thanking God for calling Abraham and Sarah, and for
inviting us to be a part of this enterprise in the name of Jesus.
Enable us, O
pioneering God,
To be
faithful descendents of Abraham and Sarah.
Help us to
leave behind the ways of rejection
As
experienced by Hagar and Ishmael,
And to form
a new society, and personal life
In which all
people will be valued as your children;
Sisters and
brothers of Mary and Jesus.
-Carol or hymn
- Light 3rd
Advent Candle
Lesson four: In the years between Sarah and Mary the mother of Jesus, the descendents of Abraham and Sarah became a tribe living in Palestine. Then, a great drought came upon that land, so they moved to Egypt where their kinsman, Joseph gave them food.
But later, after Joseph died, the Egyptians made slaves of them.
They were given very hard labour. So, they cried out to God in their distress. God heard their cry, and rescued them from bondage through Moses and Miriam.
Once they were free from servitude in Egypt, God gave them Ten Commandments to live by as God's nation. You will remember all this from Cecil B. De Mills movie, "The Ten Commandments."
God used this time to teach them that their God is a God who rescues them from bondage, and gives them rules on which to build a faithful community.
-Reading: "Our first reading tells of the people escaping through the Red Sea." Exodus 14:21-25.
The second comes from the time after the people escaped from slavery, and are camped at Mt. Sinai, where they receive the Ten Commandments." Exodus 20:1-4a; 7-17.
"Jesus was later to sum up these rules in one commandment; "Love one another." John 13:34
-Prayer (communal?), Thanking God for bringing us from bondage into a community built on love, and from tyranny into the rule of law:
O Liberating
and Community Creating God,
Where we are
enslaved, set us free;
Where there
is tyranny in our lives, give us communities of mutual respect.
-Carol or hymn
-Light 4th Advent Candle
Lesson Five: After receiving the 10 commandments, the people migrated from Sinai into Palestine, the Promised Land. There they settled down, and thought that this was the blessing that God had promised through Abraham and Sarah. However, God had plans for something even greater than the Promised Land. God had plans for a society of all humankind that would live in peace and harmony with one another and all creation.
So, God sent prophets among the people to tell of this New Day that God would bring into being.
Reading: "This lesson is Isaiah's great vision of the Peaceful Realm."
Isaiah 11:1-9
"Christians believe that in Jesus Christ God came among us to usher in the start of this New Age."
-Prayer
May the vision you gave to Isaiah, become our vision too.
Enable us to deal openly and fairly in our disagreements and conflicts.
Make us to be a people of peace with justice and of love with caring.
-Carol or hymn.
Lesson Six: Now, let us step into Christmas.
-Reading: [Gospel readings of the nativity].
-Light Christ Candle, and the people's candles
-Carol
-Closing Prayer, Commissioning and Benediction
Be born in us this night, O Christ, Come and occupy our minds,
Our hearts, our wills. Let your thoughts be our thoughts, your hands, our hands.
May our whole being be an expression of you, O Christ, on this night and throughout the year to come.
Second Sunday After Christmas, "Taking Light From the Advent Candles" A205
Leaving the Advent Wreath alight through the Sundays of Christmas, then ritually taking the light from it at the close of the service on Christmas 2 or on the First Sunday after Epiphany
In my experience, many congregations have the caretaker unceremoniously remove the Advent Wreath and its candles after the Christmas Eve or Christmas Day service. Some of us felt that something more was needed to recognize the commitment that went into the weeks of lighting those candles, so we developed the following ritual for taking the light from the Advent Candles. Our plan was that during the Sundays of Christmas we would light the candles on the Advent Wreath during the musical prelude to the Sunday service, and ceremoniously take the light from it just before the sending- forth hymn on the second Sunday after Christmas, with the church school present, and participating.
We take the Light from the Advent Candles
Liturgist: Draw the congregation's attention to the Litany at the end of the service, or if on Epiphany 1 at opening of the service.
Call forward four Candle Lighters, a Candle Snuffer, and a reader who will lead in the ritual.
Give a taper to each candle lighter and to yourself.
Have this party stand on either side of the wreath, so the
congregation has a view of the wreath and the action.
If used on the first Sunday after Epphany, read Genesis 1:1-5 at this point.
Reader: Through the Sundays of Advent and into Christmas Eve, we lit these candles to
Symbolize Christ and the Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy, which are God's gifts during this holy season.
Today, as we leave this service, and move on from Advent and Christmas into Epiphany, we
are invited to take this light and this Hope, Peace, Love and Joy into our individual lives and
into the life of this congregation.
People: By the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, may we receive into our lives, the Christ whose coming we have experienced through the holy seasons of Advent and Christmas.
Reader: On [date] we lit the first candle in celebration of Hope
People: May we all live with hope in our hearts, as the love of God drives away all despair
(First candle lighter: lights taper from the 1st Advent Candle on the wreath.
Candle Snuffer: snuff the flame of the 1st Advent candle on the wreath.)
(This same procedure is followed for each candle until all the candles on the wreath are out, and each candle lighter has a lit candle. An alternate method would be to lift each Advent candle from its holder on the wreath, rather than light and snuff as explained above. In this case the original Advent Candles are put out during the concluding hymn)
Reader: On [date] we lit a second candle in celebration of the peace God gives us.
People: May we all know God's Peace in our hearts, and seek it in our homes, in our church and in our world.
Reader: On [date] we lit this candle in celebration of the Love God has for us.
People: May we all accept this Love, and seek to live in love toward our neighbours.
Reader: On [date] we lit this candle in celebration of the Joy we feel in response to God's goodness toward us.
People: May we continue to rejoice throughout this year.
Reader: On Christmas Eve, we lit this Christ Candle which represents Immanuel, God with us. Christ be with you, and with all God's creatures
People: And also with you, and the whole of creation.
(The candle-lighters now all proceed to a large Christ candle, which has not been alight, since the Advent Wreath Christ Candle was lit on Christmas Eve.)
Reader: Gathering together all that we experienced of Christ's presence during Advent and Christmas, we now transfer the flame of the Advent Wreath to the Christ Candle which will burn among from now until Good Friday.
(In unison the candle lighters light the Christ Candle)
Hymn (during which the candle lighters snuff out their tapers).
(I recommend a rehearsal just before the beginning of this service)
A Deaf community's Nativity story, "ANGELO, The Deaf Angel" A206
This story was written by the Rev. Ken De Lisle for telling at the Winnipeg Church of the Deaf on December 24, 1996.
Readers- The nativity story according to the gospel of Luke.
Angelo -
enter. An angel, complete with wings.
"You're finished reading? But the story isn't finished.
You know the other part of the story? No!
"I will tell you the story. That's my job.
"My name is Angelo. I am a Deaf Angel. The story just read by ____________ is only the hearing perspective. There is more.
" I
remember Heaven was busy, planning and getting ready for Jesus'
birth. All the angels had a job. Some were sent to prophets;
some to holy men and women. The time for Jesus1; birth was
close. One angel was sent to Zechariah, one was sent to Mary,
another was sent to Joseph. Some prepared a special star.
"We were all excited and filled with joy. God called us all together for our last work.
"I was signing to the other Deaf Angels and didn't see all that God signed. When I did look, I couldn't understand all that God said.
"Suddenly, all the Hearing Angels flew away. The Deaf Angels all gathered together and looked at each other. What happened? Where did they go? Did you understand what God signed? No. Did you? No.
"We were worried. What did God want us to do? Maybe God forgot about us.
We tried to remember what God signed and tried to guess what we were to do.
"God saw us. God came to us and asked, "Why are you here? You have work to do. All the other angels have gone to sing to the shepherds. You should be gone."
"Sorry God but we did not understand your signs. What are we to do? The other angels can sing but we can not.
God said, "Oh, sorry. I was so excited I forgot my signs. Sometimes I made hand gestures not signs. But you have work to do. Not all my children are hearing, some are deaf. They need to know about Jesus' birth. In Bethlehem there is place where deaf people work, where they make blankets. Go to them. Tell them the good news."
"All the Deaf Angels went to that place in Bethlehem. The people were afraid when they saw us.
"But we happily signed: 'Do not be afraid. We have wonderful news! God remembers you.' God's promise becomes real. Your Savior is born today. In a stable you will find a man and a woman with a new baby. The baby's name is Jesus. He will be your Savior.'
"The people were filled with joy. They went to the stable and found the new baby. They gave blankets they had made to Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
"They
tried to sign to the other people in the town but no one understood
them. Their story has been forgotten. But every year, God
sends some of us to the Deaf community to tell again the wonderful
story. Your Savior is
born today, Alleluia!"
We
are God's Garden ecclesicakes A208a
May be used with sermon A405
The
Gathering of God's People
Introit
Welcome
A Time For
Centering Ourselves in the Love of God. You may say silently to
yourself:"I am God's beloved creation."
Hymn,Morning
Has Broken. Tune, Bunesscan. Words, Eleanor Farjeon 1934.
Opening
Affirmation of Faith:
In the
beginning, O God, you fashioned a universe.
Each star
and planet had its beginning in you. Out of the void, you brought
light and life. Through eons of creativity, you have acted, and today
we are here, inheritors of an amazing process, tiny specs in the
limitless reaches of time and space.
And you are
here, waiting to greet us.
As you acted
in our baptism, you are acting still to make all things new within us
and among us. O Generous God, let your light awaken us and your
Spirit empower us for faithful living. Amen.
Sung
Response: "Spirit, be our breath of life"
Tune" "Michael row the boat ashore"
Spirit, be
our Breath of Life, Al-le-lu-ia ! (x2)
Spirit, be
our wind of change, Al-le-lu-ia! (x2)
Spirit, help
us live God's love, Al-le-lu-ia! (X2)
Sharing The
Peace of Christ
May the
peace of Christ be with you.
And also
with you.
We Listen
for God's Word
in the
Testimony of our Ancestors in the Faith
Hebrew
Scripture:
Genesis 1-2:3
Here ends
the reading.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm 139
Reflection:
Summer Sermon Series I - "Garden"
Responding
to God's Word
Hymn
No.
291
All Things Bright and Beautiful
We Present
Our Gifts
Prayer of Dedication
Life and
Work of Our Congregation
Prayers of
the People
Sending
Forth of God's People
Hymn, Guide
Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
Celtic Blessing:
Deep peace
of the running wave to you.
Deep peace
of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace
of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace
of the swirling stars to you.
Deep peace
of the God of peace to you.
Deep peace
to you. Amen.
Closing
Chorus," You Shall Go Out With Joy." Tune, Trees of the
Field. Words, Is. 55. S.G.Rubin 1975.
An Order of Service on the theme of picnic ecclesicakes A208 May be used with sermon, Picnic A408
The Gathering of God’s People
Introit
Today we will continue our exploration into some of the common themes
of summer and how they connect with our faith... today is the theme
is picnics!
Centering Ourselves in the Love of God
As we prepare to worship God I invite you to take a moment to focus
on the basket of goodness... Remember a time of God’s abundant
goodness to you... center yourselves in God’s goodness.
O abundant god, we gather to enjoy a feast of your grace, a picnic of your love. This morning each of us bring a basket filled with memories of your nourishing blessings to share with others... by your holy spirit receive us and all that we bring to your feast.
Hymn God, We Praise You for the Morning
Opening Prayers (adapted from prayers by Keri K. Wehlander)
An invitation so unexpected, we accepted, in spite of ourselves.
O God, teach us how to be a joyful people.
We arrived and are anointed with laughter and clothed with wonder.
O God, teach us how to be a joyful people
Voices shared glad tidings, good news.
We danced the steps of innocence and wisdom.
O God, teach us how to be a joyful people
Kites high into the blue skies,
sowed bright mirth into circles of friends and strangers.
O God, teach us how to be a joyful people
This banquet of humble mysteries nourished our spirit’s yearning.
O God, teach us how to be a joyful people
With a heart of love God welcomed us.
O God, teach us how to be a joyful people
These gifts, so unexpected, a giver so insistent,
we accepted, in spite of ourselves.
O God, teach us how to be a joyful people
Jesus taught that bread was meant to be shared,
and that all are welcomed at God’s picnic.
In our sharing, in our welcoming, in our remembering we celebrate
God’s gifts to us with a joyful heart. Amen.
Sung Response: “Spirit, be our breath of life”
Tune” “Michael row the boat ashore”
The Peace of Christ
May the peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.
We Listen for God’s Word in the Testimony
of our Ancestors in the Faith
Psalm 126
Anthem
Gospel
Matthew 15:32-39
This is Testimony to the Gospel According to Matthew.
Thanks be to God.
Reflection Summer Sermon Series IV- “Picnic" A408
Responding to God’s Word
Hymn No. 299 Teach Me God to Wonder
We Present Our Gifts
Prayer of Dedication
Life and Work of Our Congregation
Prayers of the People
God invites us to be seated and partake of the food and drink of love
and dignity... that we may be made bold to accept God’s
invitation and feed one another as well we pray...
God of picnics and good times in the midst of our abundance we remember our sisters and brothers who do not share in your earthly abundance... whose baskets are empty... we pray for:
* all your people that our life in You may be an endless sharing of our love with those who hunger and thirst for justice and peace...
* for those who are mired in unworthiness and refuse your invitation out of despair... that you may lure them out of their fears and give them the courage to be fed in love...
* for those who are searching for those tables where God’s is calling them to be fed...
* we pray for those who are homeless... whose children see the abundance in our world and yet go to bed each night hungry... we pray for the children who have never know the joy and fun of a picnic...
* for those who suffer in mind, body or spirit....
* those we name in the silence of our hearts...
Send forth your Spirit into our midst that we may know where you are calling us to be... give us courage to let you feed us... give us the strength to feed one another as jesus has fed us all.. Make us into a peole who will love out the miracle of the 5,000... sharing your grace in words and in actions.... celebrating your abundant grace in all that we do....
We pray this in the name of Jesus the Christ who taught us to pray...
Sending Forth of God’s People
Hymn Sing A Happy Hallelujah
Blessing
With God’s words in your heart and on your lips
Go forth to be miracle makers..
May the love of God
Grace of Jesus the Christ
And the Communion of the Holy Spirit
Accompany you today & always. Amen
Sung Amen
Closing Chorus No. 884 Voices United, "You Shall Go Out With Joy."
Summer
Series 2: Water/Beach Liturgy ecclesicakes
A209
Sermon on this theme at A406
The
Gathering of God's People
Introit
Welcome
Centering: A
silent moment to focus ourselves in the love of God. If you wish you
may repeat silently to yourself:" God is Love."
Hymn,
"Come, Let Us Sing." Tune, Forney. Words by Jim Strathdee 1976
Call to
Worship: Have one person hold up a glass jug of water for all to see
during the following:
One: In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth had no
form. Darkness covered the face of the deep, while a divine wind
swept over the waters.
All: Wade in
the water. Wade in the water, children.
Wade in the
water. Wade into God's blessings.
One: Jesus
stood amongst the crowds and cried out, "Let anyone who is
thirsty come to me, for 'Out of the believers heart shall flow rivers
of living water'."
All: Wade in
the water. Wade in the water, children.
Wade in the
water. Wade into God's blessings.
One: Loving
God, as a sign of cleansing and new life bless this water, drawn from
the deep springs of the earth. Through your ever active, creative
love, may this gift of nature be a fresh and restorative sign of your
forgiving and healing presence.
All: Wade in
the water. Wade in the water, children.
Wade in the
water. Wade into God's blessings.
Place the
jug of water in a prominent place.
Sung
Response: "Spirit, be our breath of life" Tune, Folk Tune,
"Michael row the boat ashore"
Spirit, be our Breath of Life, Al-le-lu-ia ! (x2)
Spirit, be our wind of change, Al-le-lu-ia! (x2)
Spirit, help us live God's love, Al-le-lu-ia! (X2)
The Peace of Christ
May the
peace of Christ be with you.
And also
with you.
We Listen
for God's Word in the Testimony of our Ancestors in the Faith
Psalm 23
Gospel
Mark 1:9-11
Response -
Reader: This is Testimony to the Gospel According to Mark
Congregationl:
Thanks be to God.
Reflection
Summer Sermon Series II - "Water"
Responding to God's Word
Hymn, "I
Feel the Winds of God Today." Tune Kingsford. Words, Jessie
Adams 1907
We Present
Our Gifts
Prayer of Dedication
Life and
Work of Our Congregation
Prayers of
the People
O Holy One,
we give you thanks for the gift of your love which you shower upon us...
On this day
when we reflect on the meaning of water in our lives we give thanks
for the waters of creation, the waters of birth, of tears, of
refreshment, of cleansing, of healing... We thank you for the lakes
and beaches...
O God, we
pray for those who are drowning in a flood of confusion and fear...
for those who thirst for love in the midst of difficulty, suffering
and loss... for those in need of the soothing and calm waters of
healing... for those suffering in the storms of injustice, violence
and war... for those we name before you in the silence of our
heart...may they be buoyed up by your love and compassion... may they
know your constant presence with them...
Gracious
God, we ask a blessing on ourselves. May your love, like water, pour
over our thirsty spirits, cleansing, refreshing and renewing us.
Jesus prayer...
Sending
Forth of God's People
Hymn,"
May the God of Hope Go With Us." Tune, Argentina. Words, Fred
Kaan 1993
Blessing: May
the God of Hope indeed go with us as we go forth to be agents of
God's refreshing waters, bringing grace to olur neighbours.
Sung: Amen
Closing
Chorus,"You Shall Go Out With Joy." Tune, Trees of the
Field. Words, Steffi G. Rubin.
Travel
Theme Summer liturgy ecclesicakes
A210
maye
be used with sermon at A407
The
Gathering of God's People
Introit
We welcome
all visitors with us today.. Hope you find this time to be
spiritually refreshing time. Today we will continue our explorations
of some of the common themes of summer and how they connect to our
faith. The themes we have so far looked at have been gardens and the
beach. today the topic is travel!
A Time For
Centering Ourselves in the Love of God
Hymn, He
Leadeth Me
Opening
Prayers Adapted from a prayer by Shirley Erena Murray in "Go
into the World" in "Dare to Dream: A Prayer & Worship
Anthology From Around the World" (ed. Geoffrey Duncan, Fount
Paperbacks, 1995.
One: O God
of travelers, by faith you have set us upon a journey past the
landmarks that we know, taking risks with no insurance but the Word
that tells us 'go!'
All: Bless
now, O God, the journey that all your people make.
One: Friend
or job or home or lover we may need to leave behind, outworn truths
and ways of thinking, baggage to the past consigned.
All: Bless
now, O God, the journey that all your people make.
One: Some
are swags of easy conscience who with others hitch a ride, some are
tourist-package Christians, dollar-safe, with Book and guide.
All: Bless
now, O God, the journey that all your people make.
One: There
are others on this journey - those who long and pray and search,
heave the stones to free the structures, love the Christ and leave
the Church.
All: Bless
now, O God, the journey that all your people make.
One: We are
this unlikely people in the body knit as one, company of clowns and
cripples - some are wise and some can run.
All: Bless
now, O God, the journey that all your people make.
One:
Prophets are our travel agents, gospel makers lay this road: to the
place of peace and promise faith will take us into God.
All: Bless
now, O God, the journey that all your people make.
The Peace of Christ
May the
peace of Christ be with you.
And also
with you.
We Listen
for God's Word in the Testimony of our Ancestors in the Faith
Hebrew
Scripture, Genesis 12:1-9
Here ends
the reading.
Thanks be to God.
Gospel Mark 1:35-39
This is
Testimony to the Gospel According to Mark.
Thanks be to God.
Reflection
Summer Sermon Series III - "Travel"
Responding
to God's Word
Hymn,
"To Abraham & Sarah." Tune, Thornbury, Words, Sylvian
Dunstan 1989
We Present
Our Gifts
Prayer of Dedication
Life and
Work of Our Congregation
Prayers of
the People
O Faithful
God on this day when we reflect on the meaning of travel in our lives
we give thanks for the gift of your love which companions us always.
Pray for
those who are lost in confusion and fear... Who seek your loving
companionship when the way is made lonely by suffering and loss...
who need restoration and healing for the journey... who need your
power to help them clear away landslides of injustice, violence and
war... those we name in the silence of our hearts... may they travel
in the safety of your guidance in this world and in the next...
As we
continue on the journey of life we ask a blessings on ourselves. Fill
us with gratitude for the power of your love... unite us with all who
need your loving touch through our care and compassion and on this
day and in of our days left to us may we know your constant presence
as we seek to be a blessing to others. As Jesus taught us we pray together...
Sending
Forth of God's People
Hymn,
"One More Step Along the World I Go." Tune, Southcote.
Words, Sydney Carter 1971
Blessing
(adapted "Go into the World" in "Dare to Dream: A
Prayer & Worship Anthology From Around the World" (ed.
Geoffrey Duncan, Fount Paperbacks, 1995.
Go into the
world: Dance, laugh, sing and create.
Go into the
world: Risk, explore, discover and love.
Go into the
world: Believe, hope, struggle and remember.
Go into the
world with the assurance of God's love for you.
Sung Amen
Closing
Chorus, "You Shall Go Out With Joy." Tune, Trees of the
Field. Words, Is.5: SG Rubin
The Whole World is in a State of Chassis A301
Matthew. 6:24
Originally written for Eye Opener, a publication of Winnipeg Presbytery, United Church of Canada
Captain Boyle, in Sean O ' Casey's play, Juno and the Paycock, came home in despair one day and declared to Mrs. Boyle, "The whole world is in a state of chassis!" We say, "Exactly!" We perceive a general crisis in the world today; a crisis that has every aspect of life teetering on a point of imbalance, over the Maw of Chaos.
This dangerous condition is the unforeseen direct result of humankind's choice of values. Led by such "Think Tanks" as Canada's Fraser Institute, decision-makers in Government and Finance have convinced us to let the Market Place be our Guru; from the world of buying and selling we will be led to enact the highest values to which human enterprise can attain. This value system has also led the world into war in the name of democracy which we equate with materialism.
What a wonderful idea! No more do we need to ponder moral or ethical dilemmas; no longer will we be required wrestle with Holy Writ and its commandments regarding justice and love. Rejoice, rejoice at this good news! All we need do is let the market dictate, and all will be well with the Earth!
The chief brave venture to be inspired by our new messiah goes by the name, Globalization. The essence of this bold step is captured in the commandment: No rights shall be higher than the rights to make a profit. Its corollary is the dictum, that no national government shall put in place laws that prevent its resources (e.g. water, natural gas, and land) from being exploited by any entrepreneur. Furthermore, it is decreed that no people shall have a culture or identity outside that which can be bought and sold. Thus saith The Market!
Now, just thirty years later, we can tally up the results of this way to the good life, and conclude that we have arrived at a crisis or decision point. That is, do we continue in the present way, in which we destroy everything we touch, or do we reintroduce values that would control and direct the market place so that it is subservient to the welfare of the Earth and its creatures. It's the ancient call to repent, and follow the way that places the sustainability of the Earth, and its creatures as the highest value; the scale that weighs the worth of all human enterprise. r a k
Update: since the above was written, the Prairie Messenger has reported that St Michael's College in Toronto Ont. Is offering business executives a program that is intended to take them beyond "a bare bones business ethic to a discussion of their relationship with the wider community. Course organizer, Laurent Leduc, himself a former CEO of Olympia and York, says that "more and more companies are taking seriously the idea of a triple bottom line:" profit, employee relations, and the environment."
The Prairie Messenger, Vol. 78 no. 29. http://www.stpeters.sk.ca/prairie_messenger
Eye Opener http://www.escape.ca/~mclachla/eyeopener/
THE VILLAGE
part 1, the Marketplace Becomes the Highest Value A302
Matthew. 3:2; Matthew. 6:19-24
Once upon a time there was a Village. Like all villages of that day, it had at its centre, a village square. Each corner of the square offered its own special "goods" to the citizens of the village. On western side, facing East was the Good Temple and its priests. The villagers went to the Good Temple just to get a glimpse of Heaven, and to be reminded of the codes of caring and sharing. Just across from the Good Church, stood the Good Hostel, with its Healers and Comforters. Then, when you turned South, you came to the Good Government, the Parliament where the people went to make rules for themselves to make sure the Mayor enacted equity, and Justice, sharing and caring in the village. Then, on the North side of the square was the Good Market, where the people went when they had Goods like wool, and apples, and coats to trade with the Merchants. These four were not the only Goods in the village. Between them were the Good taverns, and hotels, and homes, and just beyond them were the Good Farms, and timber lots, and the wild untamed goodness of the forest with all its creatures. All of these were refreshed by the Good Brook, which ran through the forest and into the village past the flour mill.
Everyone agreed that all these things together made up the Good Life. Everybody needed them all. However, there were times when the Stewards of each of these Goods would smile smugly and say in private: "We know that we have the Goodest Good." You can easily imagine that the priests might say that, for what Good could be gooder than Heaven. But would you be surprised to learn that he Healers and Comforters also would at times consider themselves to be the of most value to the village, or the Presider and Mayor, or the Farmers, or even the Publicans, and creatures of the wild? The Good Brook simply babbled by, knowing that all had need of her. Of course there were times when the villagers treated each of them as if they were indeed the Goodest Good of all. The overall effect of this was a rough sort of harmony in the village, and the forest beyond it. The Stewards of each of the Goods got enough strokes to keep them happy to serve the people, and to leave the wild creatures to themselves.
Then one day a Clever Stranger came to town with a new idea. The Clever Stranger's idea was that there could be Winners in life. Many who heard this message felt as though they'd always known it. "Of course," said the Priests, "Those who get to heaven are the Winners!" "Yes," said the Healers, "They who are strong, fit and able are the Winners in life!" And so all the Stewards of the various Goods declared themselves to be the ones who could made everyone a Winner. One child did ask, "Who will be the Losers?" but no one paid any attention.
Now, the Steward who was most interested in the stranger's talk was the Merchant. The Merchant was so attracted to this new idea as to invite the Clever Stranger home, and after dinner ask: "How can I truly be the Winner?" "Well," said the Clever Stranger, "all you need do is convince half the people of your village that your Goods, and they alone, are the Goodest Goods, and that they will make Winners of you all!"
The Merchant and the Clever Stranger sat up all night planning, and in the morning, they set up in the Village Square a display of the Merchants finest wares, and they declared to everyonel who passed by: "All those who want to be a Winner, come and possess these Goods!" In the beginning, only a few adopted this idea of the Winning Good. Most of the other villagers scoffed at first, but week by week more and more of the people came over to them. So, it was that having things, and eventually, gaining money, came to be considered the Goodest Good in the village.
At first, this change escaped the notice of the Priest and Healer, Farmer and Mayor, and wild creatures. The priest first noticed it, when a villager asked: "Will coming to the Temple make me more prosperous?" The Healer noticed it when a villager enquired, "Will you make me more healthy than my neighbour if I pay you more?" The Mayor soon became aware that the people wanted no rules when it came to getting and winning. Hardly anyone noticed the Losers.
If you go the Village today, you will notice how busy the square is, with many people running to and fro in order to become Winners. If you go to the parliament you will find that the mayor gives attention only to the Winners. If you stay a while you will notice the emptiness in the Temple, the tension in the Hospice, the sadness in the Farmer's Fields and the fear in the Forests. If you are thirsty, filtered water can be bought by the bottle. In the evening, go to the Pub and partake in the strained happiness.
Also, If you look for them, you will find those who proudly wear the badge of the "losers." They will be weeping and singing, and plotting in the Spirit of Goodness to bring in a new day, when the village will once again recognize the value of many Goods. There are those who are beginning to declare in the streets, "Repent, the Realm of the True Good is at hand!"
Note: This article is continued below as A302cont.
THE VILLAGE,
part 2, Joan
Paul Comes to the Village (part 1 is A302 above) ecclesicakes
A302cont.
Imagine
Paul coming to our city as he did Athens
Easter 5,
Yr. A. Acts 17:16-34
Over the years, The Village developed under the influence of the philosophy, "The Bottom Line is the Highest Value." To be sure this made the City and most of its people materially prosperous. Shopping Malls appeared at the East End and West End. Fabrication plants and warehouses were built on the Northern Flats. A university and hotels grew up on the Southern Heights. Housing developed everywhere, according to the income levels of the citizenry. All this was linked by a network of new roads and streets, which were filled with automobiles and trucks being driven to and fro night and day.
Of course, the Village was now a city. Along with its new charter and new city hall, the City Council adopted "Twenty four Seven" as its new motto; a metropolis that is "Always Awake."
Then, there was the vast Population of Foreigners across The Creek. This territory became known as the Other World, or the Developing World. As its name implied, this population was not as "developed " as The City. Mind you, The City did its best to help the Other World by way of aid that was filtered through the offices of the Other World's incumbent Rulers. The city also tried to stimulate commerce in that Other World by mining its resources, and bringing them to The City or through the building hotels on the Other World's Beaches.
However try as they might, the Other World seemed stubbornly resistant to development. Not only that, it seemed that vast hoards of that world's population wanted to become citizens of The City. This required The City to build high fences around its perimeter, and to institute strict entrance requirements so that only those who had shown themselves able to live by The City's philosophy would be allowed in.
This is not to say that in general the citizens of the city were preoccupied with the Other World. No, until recently, no one except The Dissenters gave it any thought at all. However, recently there was among the people a growing uneasy awareness that terrible diseases were spreading untreated in that Other World. Some were puzzled upon hearing that the need for profit made most medicines beyond the reach of the Other World.
This was the state of affairs when history seemed to be about to repeat itself. As had happened once before, a charismatic stranger appeared on the scene, and began to gain attention. The Stranger was a television producer and author, named Joan Paul. She first appeared to Dissenters and one of the University professors who had their small screens tuned to her TV program, "Neighbours, " on Sunday evenings, or who had read her book, The Whole World, or discovered her Web Site.
Soon, she began to be seen on 30-Second Spots of the National News. which led to many more Citizens of The City tuning in on Sundays. Finally, she came physically into The City at the invitation of The University Department of Way-Out-Ideas, and a group of The Dissenters known as "People of the Whole Earth."
What was getting people's attention was her startling views on the life of the planet, and the origins of the universe. She began by pointing to the genetic evidence that all humans on Planet Earth were descendants of One Black Mother from Africa. "We are all children of One Mother,"1. she said. Then, she went on to show that we humans have a shared ancestry with every form of life on Planet Earth. Thirdly, she asserted that Planet Earth itself, its Environment and its Life were all are one organism. Now, none of this was Joan Paul's original insight, nor did she claim it as such. Her special gift, she said, was to bring all this together, to present it to whoever would listen, and to encourage people to think about what this implied for the way we share Planet Earth.
Even more attention grabbing than these ideas was Joan Paul's assertion that essence of The Planet is Neighbourhood. The final chapter in her book and the concluding message of her TV program was an affirmation of the wisdom of the ancients who claimed that Love, Compassion, and Caring were at the heart of existence. She predicted that unless the City and the Other World learned to live as one neighbourhood on an organic planet, human life would become sick and violent, and finally be reduced to a few small angry groups scarping a meagre existence from a barren Earth.
The attention being given to her message was threatening to the City Council and the Chamber of the Bottom Line. So, they decided to invite her to speak to a gathering of city leaders where they could both put on display her unfortunate and dangerous assertions and denounce them as liable to undermine the foundations of modern society.
She began her address to the gathered Council, economic leaders by holding up a gold coin, and saying in a friendly and clear voice, "This coin can be either the Pied Piper which leads us to drown in a sea of avarice, or it can be a powerful resource in building a universal neighbourhood in which Love, Compassion and Caring are the highest values.
"In the West we were told this long ago by the wise ones of our spiritual traditions. Today it is essential that we apply these ancient values to our relationship with all life including the planet itself. To do otherwise is to invite certain disaster."
At the conclusion of her discourse, most of the City leaders angrily denounced her to the local press, but a few, just a few, asked her of they could speak with her some more.
Altering the Enviroment as Original Sin ecclesicakes A303
Updated March 02
Roman 5:12-21 Lent 1, Y.r A
One of my favourite, though sometimes disturbing, television channels is, Discovery. I am intrigued by what it reveals about the development of the human species, and the life of other creatures with whom we share this planet. What's disturbing is that this is also a good way to learn about the effect human activity is having on our neighbour creatures. For instance, just a week ago they showed a documentary on the Noble Chimpanzee, a gentle primate from whom we might learn some things about resolving conflict. After about twenty minutes of viewing the Noble's community life and its home, the narrator raised what seems to be an inevitable question, "At the rate by which its habitat is being encroached on by Humans, will the Nobel be able to survive outside of zoos?" The answer always seems to be, "Not likely."
Because of the strange way my mind sometimes works, this got me thinking about Original Sin. Now this doctrine is not one I ponder very often. In fact, I usually question its truth. The Discovery Channel doesn't talk about Original Sin either, but as I watched this story of the Noble, this is what came to mind.
I think Original Sin occurred to me because the Discovery Channel has taught me something very important about ourselves. That is: one of the most significant differences between human beings and other creatures, is our ability to alter the environment to suit ourselves and our short term interests. When we do this we almost always take away from mammals, reptiles, birds, and plants (even some insects) what they need for a natural life.
I live with an example this all around me on the plains of Canada. A century ago, humans from Europe changed the wild prairie grassland into wheat fields and cities, and reduced by slaughter the enormous herds of plains Bison to a few small bands clinging to life as an oddity in parks. When I was a boy growing up in the province of British Columbia, I saw another example of this. I once stood in a large area of forest that had been reduced entirely to stumps without ever a question of wildlife habitat being heard. Again, as I write this in August of 2001, U.S. President George Bush is planning to invade a northern wild life ecosystem in order to feed our insatiable demand for petroleum.
We humans have been doing this for a long time. It was well established before the time of Jesus. By Jesus day the forests of Judea had all been cut, most animals in Palestine were domesticated, and the fields grew cultivated grains and olives. It would seem that Jesus took this for granted (although he did take some lessons from wild flowers). As I read it, the bible mostly sees unfettered nature as threat to humankind. It is only in our time that this human activity is being questioned. Certainly, it is something I have not given thought to until recently. Matthew 6:28; 13:1-9; 14:22-32; 18:10-14; 20:1-16.
If Original Sin is a state of humankind, then it seems to me that our consumption of the world is certainly a manifestation of it. More than that, I would put forth for our consideration the thesis that this is our Original Sin. This is the primeval trait that has led us to wreak havoc on creation, and it is the sin to which we are enslaved, and from which we need to break fee if we are to be saved. Romans 6:16-23, 8:22; Ephesians 2:10
Certainly, there have been (and still are) human societies which have sought to live in harmony with the rest of creation. However, the majority of humanity has disdained these cultures, sought to co-opt their leadership, and (except for a few cases) destroyed their way of life whenever they encountered them.
Could it be argued that the dominant cultures of humankind have broken the first of all the commandments given our species by the Creator God? We have taken the injunction to be stewards of the earth and its creatures as license to act as if human life is the only life that matters. This "original sin" has rolled across the planet for several thousand years and has brought us to this moment when we are in danger of destroying even our own life. Genesis 1:27-31; 2:15-17;.
If this is at all true, now is the time for repentance; the time to turn away from the brink we have come to, and join with the Spirit in order to return to the Creator who filled this world with such a wonderful variety of interdependent living things. 2 Corinthians 13:5-13; Galatians 5:16-26.
UpDate - In March of 03, a CBC TV program featured the results of a study of Grizzley bears near Prince George, British Columbia. This study showed that the incusion of humans is quickly bringing lowland Grizzlies to near extinction, as logging roads make the area accessible to humans.
r.a.k. 08/01
Xmas 1, all yrs.
There is a question that comes to my mind every year right after Christmas. It is a question that may apply to any gift we receive - especially the ones we hoped for. My wonder is this: What will we do with Christmas now that I've got it.
Have you ever received a gift that you hoped for, then were disappointed or not sure what to do with it after you got it? A friend of mine had this sort of experience when he was 8. That year, he lived on a farm in a remote valley in southern British Columbia with his grandmother and his two younger brothers. There were four families in that valley and he was the only boy except for his own younger brothers, so my friend felt lonely for playmates. Then one day, he saw an advertisement for a boys club to which boys 8 to 12 years old could belong, no matter where they lived. Excitedly, he asked his grandmother if he could join - it cost a whole twenty-five cents, and the price of a stamp.
His grandmother told him, that if he did his chores, she would see. He knew that was a "yes," and of course he did his chores without being asked. Well, as you might have expected, on Christmas morning he found under the tree, an envelope containing a membership certificate, a club pin, and club rules and benefits. He gave Gran. a big hug, then immediately, went to a place where he could be away from his brothers to read the secret club motto and rules.
His heart was happy, for he now belonged to a group of other boys 8 to 12 years old! As he read the club rules he found that the main benefit of this club was he now had the privilege of wearing the club pin prominently displayed on his shirt, and whenever he met another boy wearing the club pin, he could greet that boy with the secret club salutation, "Mahooya!"
However, before a week was out, he realized that it was very unlikely that he would ever meet, another boy wearing the club pin in this valley. So, the little boy wondered what to do with the gift he had wanted so much. His heart sunk. Discouraged, he put the pin away in a drawer. He didn't wear it, but he didn't forget it entirely. Then, he got an idea. He went to his gran and asked: When are we going to town?" Maybe he'd find a boy in town who belonged to the club.
So, the next time they left the valley to go to town for shopping, he put the pin on the front of his shirt, and studied every other boy's shirt front, hoping to meet a club member, and call out, "Mahooya!" He watched all afternoon and found no one. He was about to give up, and throw the pin away, when he did see another lonely boy, like himself seeking someone wearing the club pin. They awkwardly exchanged the secret salutation, "Mahooya!" and became good friends over bottles of soft drink.
I think that our after-Christmas experience can be similar to what this boy felt after he got his gift. We have received God's gift of Christmas, and now may wonder what we are to do with it. For instance, you may have experienced a special presence of God in your life, and in your home this Christmas. So now what do we do with that gift? Is there anyone I can share it with? We are told that early Christians shared their experience, by drawing the sign of a fish in the sand. Any Christians who saw it, knew then that they had met another "club" member. Maybe we need to wear pins that say: "ask me about my Christmas."
One way to answer the question, "What to do with Christmas, now that I've experienced it," is to look to the Christmas story, and ask how the characters given there acted in response to the gift of the Christ Child.
For instance, St. Luke tells us that the shepherds "made known what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them." For some of us, then, the answer to my question, "What will you do with it?" will be, "I will be like the shepherds, and share my experience. I will greet the world with this news." I'm sure we have some shepherds among us this morning. I pray that you will find someone ready to hear you, as the boy with the club pin found a friend to greet.
However, the shepherd's response to God's gift will not fit us all. For example, some of us may be like Mary. Luke reports that Mary's response was to "treasure all these things, and pondered them in her heart." Sometimes, I am like that. I experience some gift of grace in my life, and I treasure and ponder it in my heart. This does not mean a passive response, because we know that Mary fulfilled the role of mother raising and guiding this child; knowing both the joy and pain of that. Her action as parent was rooted and grounded in her treasuring and pondering. So, on this first Sunday after Christmas, some of us may be Mary's.
Others of us may find that our response to God's gift of Christmas is to give a gift ourselves as the boy's Gran did. In that regard we may be like the Magi. I think that to respond like the Magi is first, to seek for a sign of God at work in the world, then having found one, to use the gifts we have been given, in support of that action of the Holy Spirit -even if the Herod's of this world want me to act differently. So, some of us too, will respond to Christmas as the Magi did, offering our gifts and treasures for the advancement of God's Peace in the world.
Others of us may take Joseph as our model. Joseph responded to God's gift of the Christ Child by accepting the role of loving stepfather, and mentor along with Mary. What would it mean to respond to Christmas like Joseph? I see Joseph protecting and nurturing. Shortly after the birth of Jesus, the holy family fled to Egypt, where they lived as refugees. Then, when it was safe, and not before it was safe, they returned to Nazareth. Tradition tells us that Joseph supported his family as a skilled wood-worker, making furniture and wooden implements, such as plows and yokes. Some biblical scholars believe that Jesus used the quality of Joseph's work as a metaphor when he described what it is to be a disciple, saying: "my yoke is easy." Mt. 11:30
The church is much in need of people (men and women) who respond to Christmas by committing themselves to the church; who care for, and support, and defend the church, and all its ministries. I know that many in the church are like Joseph.
Well, these are some of the ways that we may respond to God's gift of Christmas.
These are a few of the ways we can answer the question, "Now that we have this gift, what will we do with it?
May we find openings to respond to Christmas in the way that fits us, where we are in our life today, be it: telling of it, treasuring and pondering the wonder of it, seeking where God is at work in the world and giving of ourselves and our treasures, or caring for the church in sometimes hostile world.
My prayer is that each of us, having known the grace and love of God this Christmas, will wear it one our shirt fronts, looking for others with whom you can share this experience, and joining with them to use our talents in God's mission of Love and Grace.
This sermon wsas firstoffered within the Church of the Deaf, Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada by the Rev. Ken De Lisle.
In this sermon my focus is a special gift of the Deaf Community. I want to thank you for offering me the special gift of your sign language.
I will try to explain. If my signs are not clear or maybe you do not understand my point, ask me. if I need help, I will ask interpreter.
I go to Bible Study every Wednesday. I meet with ministers from other churches. Some of us use other readings. One story has the English phrase, " Word made flesh." That means what? The phrase is like poetry. It is an image. It is not a true message.
English words are not body. English is written on paper, dead not alive, not body. Or English is heard, not seen. If I am in my room and my partner is in the kitchen cooking, we can talk but can not see each other. English is only sound, vibration,noise.
But sign language is body language. Sign language lives. It is real body language. When you speak your whole body is part of the language. The expression on your face; your posture; how fast you sign all help people understand. You can't write it on paper. You must see each other.
The English phrase "word made flesh" is like poetry. It means God's promise to send us a Saviour became true. Jesus is born. Jesus is flesh.
Jesus is there, a sign of God's promise.
Now when I watch sign language, I think of the English phrase "word made flesh". If I think of the English phrase I think of Jesus. They are connected.
For me, sign language reminds me of Jesus, both are the word made flesh.
Maybe sign language is God's gift to you to share with hearing people .
Maybe if hearing accept your language, hearing people closer to Jesus and
God.
I thank you for your gift.
Easter
For use with children see below
Prairie graveyards are good places to find prairie rabbits. They take shelter in the Lilac and Caragana that border many western rural cemeteries. So, I was not surprised to see one scurry between the headstones one Easter Monday as I conducted a graveside burial service over the body of a faithful Christian. Just as I was announcing the Christian hope of the Resurrection, a small brownish gray rabbit, as if on cue, hopped into view between neighbouring tombstones.
As I rode back to the church in the car of the undertaker, it struck me that bunny rabbits and resurrection belong together. In my childhood, bunnies and the Hope of the Resurrection were both a part of Easter morning. At the crack of dawn, we children got up to hunt for the chocolate eggs that the Easter Bunny had left, and took them hidden in our pockets to the Sunrise Easter Service to hear again the story of Jesus breaking free from the grip of death.
At some point in growing up I realized that both the Risen Christ and the Easter Bunny were ancient and enduring symbols of hope. Long, long ago in Briton when the people did not yet know about Jesus, they knew the Spirit in the new life which returned after the death of winter. They celebrated this new life in a spring festival they called Oester, and they chose the British Hare as the symbol for Oester. So, this is how we got our Easter Bunny!
Much later, when they learned of God the Creator, and of Jesus, they immediately saw Oester and Resurrection as two works of the one God. God was the source of the New Life that returned every spring out of the "death" of winter, and God was the author of the Resurrection, the assurance of life beyond the death of our bodies.
Over the Years, both these fulfilled promises have given me the courage to face whatever comes my way, knowing that I am in the care of a loving, renewing, victorious Creator.
So, now whenever I see a rabbit in a graveyard, that small creature and the graves of the saints, remind me: "We are not alone, We Live in God's world&ldots;In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us."* God keeps God's promises. * Creed of the United Church of Canada r.a.k. 07/01
Some ideas for use with Children
Materials: stuffed toy or picture to represent the Easter Bunny, Easter egg; figure to represent Risen Christ, and empty tomb.
Assumption: If the children are under 12, they will not easily relate to abstractions, so whatever we do, it would be best if it were concrete.
Timing - consider using these two figures and their stories for at least two Sundays (Day of Resurrection, and Easter 2).
God gives us the Easter Bunny to remind us that God's world is getting ready to grow things. Do you have a garden at home, or farm fields? Do you help plant the garden? What kinds growing things will be in your garden? Etc. and continue if you wish to talk with the children about the birth of lambs and calves.
Then sing with the Children, and adults present: "All things Bright and Beautiful." Vs. 1
After the hymn, take up the figure representing the Risen Christ.
Now let me tell you about the Risen Christ as a gift from God&ldots;. Share something of your understanding of the Resurrection that seems to you to be appropriate for the children. For instance: "God raised Jesus back to life to show us not to be afraid when a friend dies. Have you had anyone die in your family? A pet? How did you feel when (that person/pet) died. Sad? Yes, it is good to feel sad when someone dies. When Jesus died his friends were very sad, and afraid. Then God brought Jesus out of the grave, to show his friends that when we die, we are still with God. Then they had joy as well as sadness, and they were no longer afraid.
or
God raised Jesus back to life to show us that God's love is stronger than anything that can hurt people. Have you ever been hurt? Tell me how Jesus was hurt. God raised Jesus back to life to show us that God is stronger than any hurt.
Conclusion: sing verses 2&4 of hymn, "Christ is Risen, Yes Indeed!" 180 Voices United
Summer Sermon Series I - “Garden”
ecclesicakes A405
See order
of service A208a
For
any summer Sunday, Trinity Sunday Yr. A, Epiphany 1, Yr. B.
Bible
Quest: Yr. 2 sessions 1 and 2.
Genesis chapters 1 and 2, Psalm 1:3, 65:9-11,96:11-13
Resource: Does God Have a Big Toe? Stories About Stories in the Bible, “Partners,” Marc Gellman, Harper Collins Publishers, 1989
For today and for the next three Sundays my intention, during the sermon time, is to reflect theologically about some of the more common aspects of Summer, which many of us enjoy. This week I want to talk about Gardening, and next week, The Beach, then Holiday Travel, ending by reflecting theologically on the summer theme of Picnics.
Today, the theme is Gardens. How many folks here planted a flower garden this year? How about a vegetable garden? Did you start from scratch with seeds or did you plant seedlings? I have a friend who always starts his tomatoes from seeds. Sometime in the month of March he goes down into his basement and spend a joyous time “playing” in the soil, putting a few seeds into each of six seedling containers and giving each of these tiny pots of hope just the right amount of water. Once the planting was completed, he carefully places each pot in long trays and brings them upstairs where they could soak up the warmth and the goodness of the sun. Every day he checks his little plants with great anticipation, watching for the 1st little shoot to push its way up out of the soil. Finally, on or shortly after May 24 he takes the strongest of these seedlings to the garden. I believe this act of gardening; from the preparation work of buying soil, pots and seeds, to the planting and the watching and transplanting, was for him, an act of love and of hope...
I want to read to you a story about another gardener. It is small story that holds within it the seeds of a big idea. The story is by one of my favourite Hebrew Testament theologians, Marc Gellman. Now, before I read the story I want to remind us that both Jesus and the Biblical prophets were very fond of telling small stories about big ideas. Today we call these stories parables. I like to think of them as children’s stories because, in my experience, it is often children, who most easily get the point of the story.
So, I invite you to get yourselves comfortable to hear this story; close yours eyes if you so wish. As I read this story be alert to the big ideas, for there may be more than one, which has been planted into it.
[Read Mac
Gellman’s, “Partners” from Does God Have a Big Toe?
Stories About Stories in the Bible. ]
So, what do
you think are the big ideas within this story? [Write down responses
when using in a discussion group]
Each these insights you have shared, and probably a few more, which have not been named, comes to us through this story. For me the Good News in Marc Gellman’s story is this: we are BIG ENOUGH to work with God in this Holy’ garden. We are BIG ENOUGH to be entrusted with the awesome responsibility of making God’s garden grow and BIG ENOUGH to take the watering can of faith out of storage and to pour its contents into the world with care and generosity. When we all do this, we all can bloom where God has planted us.
Then, I might also come to understand, that we have a huge responsibility to care for and nurture this garden in which we have been placed. We are both plants in the garden and gardener, both creatures and partners in creation
This leads me reflect on our gardens in terms of faith and learn from them many things about the nature of God and about how we are to live.
For instance, when I pass by a garden, or work in my own little plot I may be reminded that I am one of God’s seedlings, and so is my neighbour; we are all a part of God’s garden.
Then, I often find myself judging gardens; assessing as superior those, which, in my eye, have the most attractive plants, and the fewest weeds. This can lead me to the startling conclusion that, unlike our gradens, God’s creation has no weeds, or favourite plants but all things grow together in Grace.
In this coming week, may you and I receive the nurture we need, so that we may bloom in such a way that we become seeds of faith and care which take root in our world, and give hopeful nurture to all God’s creatures.
Summer
Sermon/Story Series II - Water ecclesicakes A406
Liturgurgy
for this theme is at A209
Please
acknowledge ecclesicakes when using this material
Matthew
3:13; 4:18; 8:23; 8:32; 14:22. Mark 3:7f; Luke 5:1f; John 6:16f; 21:1f
Yr.
B, Baptism of Jesus,
Ep. 5 Yr. A,Ep.3 Prop. 14 . Yr. C,
Prop. 12 Ep. 5.
Bible
Quest Yr. 2, session 7
I offer today the second sermon in a four part series, which aims to reflect theologically on some of the more common themes of summer. Last week the theme was garden today its the beach.
I begin with an observation and then a wonder; an observation and a wonder about Jesus and his experiences at the beach.
My observation is that Jesus did not grow up by water. He spent his childhood at least a couple of days walking distance from the Sea of Galilee. The Bible does not tell us if he ever spent time by the Galilee as a young person.
Which led me to wonder: for a person who had not grown up by or maybe never visited a large body of water, Jesus gave water an enormously important role in his ministry. At places of water Jesus gave himself to the Good News, and called others to it. That is, he was baptized and visited by the Holy Spirit, in the River Jordan, then called the first disciples by the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
He used an image of the sea to describe the mission as fishing; being catchers of people! When he would sit with the people to teach them about God and the realm of heaven, he would often sit by the lake or in a boat on it. He enacted the Good News by calming the storm at sea, and walking on water, and feeding the five thousand by the shore of the lake. There was no lake or river near Nazareth, so how do you suppose Jesus came to be so comfortable with water imagery, and with the sea?
Those of you who were here last week will remember that I read to you from Marc Gellman's book "Does God Have A Big Toe." that story was about a tale in the Bible - an interpretation of Holy Scripture through story.
Today I want to offer you another story; a tale that comes from my wondering about Jesus' fondness for water. I think he must have visited the Sea of Galilee as a boy. Here is how that might have happened.
---------------Jesus' first trip to the Beach---------------
I invite you to imagine Jesus as a boy of about 10 years, a boy who is of average height, with dark brown curly hair, sparkling brown eyes and an olive complexion; a boy with a vivid imagination, or so the neighbours thought. This is a boy who loved to explore,and who could also be quite introspective, and open to the wonderment of all creation. He is the eldest child of Joseph the carpenter and his wife Mary
Now, picture this boy racing his siblings home for supper and barely outrunning a younger sister. After the supper blessing was offered, everyone begins talking at once, passing food, pouring cups of water; such laughter and joy. Then they all stopped talking as their father, Joseph, put up his hand, and spoke with excitement: "I have a something special to tell you. Your cousin Isaac is getting married to a daughter of a Galilee fisherman. Her name is Sarah. They will be married at her home, of course - in Magdala on the lakeshore of Galilee."
This announcement started a buzz of questions: "How far is it? when do we go? Are there robbers on the road? Is it true that there are monsters in the Lake? Can we go into the water? Joseph and Mary laughed and told them that it was good two days journey from Nazareth to Magdala, and they would be leaving in three days. No one asked, "How will we travel?" An ordinary family like theirs would walk.
For safety, they would make the journey with two other families and several merchants who traded their wares along this route. This would allow them arrive in plenty of time to visit with relatives and maybe, just maybe, go onto the great sea in their new relative's fishing boat. As well as being the best fisherman on the entire Sea of Galilee, Joseph declared that the new cousin's father was also reputed to be a great storyteller who spun entertaining tales of the sea.
Can you imagine the hanging mouths and eyes wide as saucers as Joseph told them with a twinkle in his eye, of Cousin Isaac falling into the sea and being swallowed by a giant sea monster only to be spit back onto shore. Just like the story in the Torah of Jonah and the whale, their mother reassured them laughingly.
Such excitement! A trip to the Sea of Galilee and sea monsters! For Jesus and his siblings it seemed like forever before the donkey was loaded with sleeping mats, food, water and gifts for the wedding couple, but finally they set off for the great coastal city of Magdala. For two days Jesus and the other children ran and played, and explored the changing scenery. At night around a fire, they listened to the merchants tell scary stories of robbers who frequented that road. Then, as they lay wrapped up in their bedrolls, under a starry canopy, images of ships and sea monsters filled their imaginations.
On the evening of the second day, this little caravan arrived tired and footsore on the crest of a hill overlooking the seaside city of Magdala. For Jesus and his family, it was a sight that took their breath away, and caused them to forget how weary they were. Below them, set against the lush green of the plants and trees and the sparkling brown sand lay the Sea of Galilee. The varied blues of the water was intensified by small whitecaps moving across the lake, and lapping upon the shore.
Never before had Jesus seen such vastness or beauty. He watched as below him families gathered on the beach to share an evening meal with friends. Children of all ages were running and playing together in the shallow water, the sounds of their laughter and squeals of delight carried to the top of the valley each time a piece of sea weed caught in their toes. All this was enveloped in the setting sun's warm, red glow.
As he felt bathed in all this glory, Mary took his hand and quietly recited phrases from one of her favourite psalms:
"O
Lord, where can I flee from your spirit?
If I take
the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
Even there
your hand shall lead me." (psalm 139)
Then Joseph led them in prayer, giving thanks for a safe journey.
Finally,
the whole company recited together from Psalms :
"The
earth is the Creator's and the fullness thereof;
The world
and those who live in it;
For God hath
founded it upon the seas." (Psalm 24)
"God
leads me besides still waters;
God
restoreth my soul, restoreth my soul. " (Psalm 23)
The young boy, Jesus, knew that he was standing in the presence of the Holy. He felt that Yahweh was showing him a glimpse of the way it would be in God's Realm, which would come about through the lives of very ordinary people, like his own family and those he saw at the sea shore below him.
Sensing the change in her son, Mary whispered in his ear, "Remember always, my precious child, that the Holy One's love for us is deeper and wider than this sea. Like the fishermen in the boats casting their nets for fish so you will one day be casting Holy's nets of love; you will one day be a fisher of people. You, my son, will one day bring God's people to the shores of God's realm and share with them a great feast, for this is your destiny."
As they descended into the city, Jesus knew these images would stay with him forever. In his heart he knew that he had been connected to the source of his being, a source that had filled his heart with wonderment and awe and his eyes with tears of pure joy.
---------------------------------------- Thus ends our story -----------------------------------------------
Though we do not know for sure when Jesus first went to the lakeshore, I would like to believe it was when he was a child. I like to think that it was through the eyes of a child that he caught a glimpse of God's love that is wide and deep, like Lake Galilee, and enveloping all like the warmth of the setting sun. And as he looked upon the people laughing and sharing without reserve, he saw an image of the Realm of God.
As it may have been for the child, Jesus, when he visited the seashore for the very first time, may it also be for us. May it be that our time at the lake or the beach will connect us to the source of our being. May the water and the good companionship join us to the Holy One who created us out of love and for love.
When next
you go to the lake. as you come around the bend or over the hill and
you catch that first glimpse of water, stop, take a moment and as you
gaze upon the water be aware that God's love for you is wider that
the widest ocean, deeper than the deepest sea; be aware of the warmth
of the sun as the warmth of God's love. If it is storming, know that
God is there with you and will always be with you in all the storms
of life. As you watch the children trying to scoop up minnows with
their nets, know that, because of Jesus, we too have been scooped up
into God's net, and know that you, also, are a precious child of God.
Genesis 12-15, 16, 24,28,37; Exodus 2:17, 14; Ruth; 1 Kings 19; Ezekiel 12;
Matthew, 2:1, 13,4:1,12, 17:1,21:1; Luke 1:39, 2:1, 24:13; Acts 8:4, 9:32, 13:1
Yr. B: Epiphany; Visitation; Christmas; Easter Eve.;Proper 26.
Yr. A: Lent 2; Palm Sunday; Proper 5, 14; Christmas; Epiphany, Epiohany 3, Epiphany last; Lent 1; Easter3.
Yr. C: Advent 4; Christmas; Epiphany; Easter Eve.; Proper 7,
Bible Quest Yr. 2 Winter: V; Spring: X.
If you are like many Canadians, you would have been preparing for a summer vacation trip during the months of April, May, June, July and August . Statistics show that Canadians do a lot of travelling in the summer. We take long trips and short ones, visits to relatives and family gatherings, we go on weekend camping trips, some go to the lakeside others trek to the mountains or the coast, some visit cities to attend events like the Fringe Festivals and Folklore, and others fly to far more exotic lands like Europe, Australia and the Far East, or cruise up the coast to Alaska. Some will be modern pilgrims travelling with a tour to the Holy Land, or to the origins of their faith in other places. Also on the road this summer are those who are moving to a new home.
Travel was an essential part of the life and faith experience of our biblical forbearers. The Bible is full of travelers: Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Joseph, Moses and Miriam, Ruth and Naomi, King David, Elijah, Jesus, Peter, Paul, Silas, Priscilla. They all travelled at the behest of the Spirit, taking the message of a holy, faithful, righteous creator with them wherever they went.
Down through the ages this sort of travel has been a part of the spiritual life of the faithful outside the Bible too. Millions of people have embarked on holy travel known as pilgrimage. This morning I invite you to consider the spiritual spiritual dimension of your summer travel. Is it possible that our summer travel could be a holy trip or pilgrimage, made a the call of God and taking the love of God with you?
In our tradition, holy travel began with Abraham and Sarah, our spiritual mother and Father. Their travel was not of the summer holiday variety. It was more like the travel of those who migrated to this land from Europe, Africa, or Asia. They left the settled life of Ur when God called to them: "Leave your country and your neighbours and your family and go to a land I will show you." So off they went, taking the scenic route they meandered to Canaan, then Bethel and the Negeb, with a side trip to Egypt, then onto the Hebron and Gerar, finally settling in in Palestine.
Does this fit with your travel experience? If you have moved from one place to another, can you see your relocation as your response to the call of God? Or if it doesn't seem that God called you to move, could you say at least that God was with you as you were uprooted from one place to resettle in another?
Every year when I take to the road for a holiday, I see cars and trucks loaded to the brim and puling utility trailers. This reminds me that I am sharing the highway with people who, like Abraham and Sarah, have packed up everything they have, and are on the way to a new home. When we identify such travellers, it would be good to say a prayer for them, asking for their safety on the road, and a happy life in a new land.
The type of biblical travel that was closest to our holiday trips, was the trek to Jerusalem to take part in a festive event, such as Passover, or Pentecost. As holidays these occasions were a bit like Mardi-Gras or a mix of: a summer fair, a trip to an exotic place and Christmas all rolled up together, combining the fun of a summer fair, the wonder of special place, and a religious focus like Christmas or Thanksgiving.
I had a holiday trip that was something like this last year. In September I went to England on a holiday-come pilgrimage. I am not sure that I could say that God called me to fly to England, but I am sure that the Spirit was lead leading me all through it.
The holiday part was fulfilled by being a gawking tourist taking in the sights of London, and Bath and Portsmouth. The pilgrimage part was a "roots" sort of thing. I wanted to get in touch with one part of my family origins, and one aspect of my religious origins.
So, I went to the seaside city of Portsmouth and stood on the sidewalk in front of the house my Grandma Kales lived in just before she married, then I went down to the docks and stood near the place from which she embarked for Canada as young mother with a babe in arms. As did this I brought to mind all the adventures, and trials that I knew would await her in the new land. I thought of her courage and faith, and how my very existence arose from her. This was a deeply moving spiritual experience.
Then, I went to Salisbury where I slept in a Bed and Breakfast room with a window overlooking Salisbury Cathedral just yards away. I had no particular association with this specific church property, but I did find it meaningful to have my sleep punctuated with the sound of the cathedral bells, and to spend two days within the walls of the church grounds where God has been continually worshipped since medieval times.
I know of another holiday traveller who travelled across the sea to seek out the church in which her parents and been married during World War II, and to touch the baptism font at which she had been Christened in that same church. This too was experienced as a sacred journey.
One friend of mine returned from an organized tour to Southern Africa more deeply convinced of the need for equity in our world. She enjoyed the all the the tourists side trips that this program offered - the the wild creatures of the parks, the magnificent scenery, the great hotels, but what struck her most was the vast poverty in which the people lived, and the low pay the locals made for their work in the hotels. When she came back she asked me: "What exactly does out Mission and Service Fund support in Africa?"
I know of another families whose spiritual experience on holiday was quite different. This families was a poor working family, who saved up for two years to have one week in Disneyland. I found myself silently wondering why would a poor family spend its few resources to go to Disneyland. However as they told of the fun they had, and the store of good memories they had collected, I could see the value, and the spirituality they found in being together on this trip in which their poverty was set aside for one magical week.
Other families have told me of the strong presence of God they found in their first site of the the Canadian Rocky Mountains, or when standing in awe at the rim of the Grand Canyon.
So, I invite us all to reflect back on the holiday trips we have had, or are planning for his summer. Whether we travel across the continent or just down the road to the nearest park, may we, like our ancestors, know God's Holy Spirit as our constant companion, guiding us, and speaking to us in all that we do and see. Like them, let us begin each journey in prayer, and keep ourselves open to the presence of God's spirit in our fun, exploration and wonderment. May we all have spirit-filled travels, catching a glimpse of God in creation, in history, in play, and in being together with our travel companions.
Summer
Sermon Series IV - Picnics
ecclesicakes A 408
See also liturgy A208
Matthew 14:13-21; Mar 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14
Yr. A: Proper 13; Yr. B: Proper 11 &12.
Today we conclude our series, which connects some of the more common aspects of summer like gardening, the beach and travel with our faith. Today the theme is picnics. How many of you have been on a picnic recently. Or had family or friends over for a barbecue in your backyard, and did you at anytime during your picnic or get together feel really good as you and your friends and their children enjoyed playing games, and sharing stories and jokes?
Well, you know this simple act of getting together for hamburgers and potatoe salad, taking delight in each other is not just something we do when the serious business of prayers and worship is over. In fact, the spirit of a good picnic echoes and reflects something of our worship and of the Holy Spirit. Didn't Jesus invite us to be like children? Well, playing and eating are two things children do well. For Jesus, there was great wisdom to be found in merely being playful. For adults, play rejuvenates; makes us young again. When we gather for something as ordinary and as simple as a holiday picnic, we are expressing something of God's will for us; that we should form playful and sharing and graceful community.
My grandmother Kayes once told me of the wonder and grace she experienced at her first picnic in Canada. She was a young mother, just emigrated from England, and was feeling uncertain about her place in this new land. Then she was invited to a community picnic. There she was embraced and made welcome, and invited to enjoy not only the contents of here her own meager basket, but also the wide array of wonderful food everyone else had brought. Everyone brought and everyone shared. She felt wonderfully at home. Her eyes filled with tears as she told me of it over fifty years later.This was for her an expereince of Grace.
This morning I want to tell you about a picnic in the bible. This picnic took place on a hillside by the Sea of Galilee. I think it must have been similar to the picnics we have known; there would be laughter and play and the food. They say that there were 5,000 men at this picnic, not including the women and children. Now, this was no ordinary picnic, this was the greatest picnic there ever was! It was great because it was an example of the Realm of God.
----------------- -The Greatest Picnic There Ever Was-----------------------
Now let me bring you into that picnic by imaging what it was like for of these 5000 men and his family.
Imagine that at this picnic there was a man named Eli. Eli was a God fearing man who had been born into a family of carpenters in occupied Palestine. Eli, unlike his father the carpenter, was a farm worker on land owned by wealthy Roman. Eli loved the land; he took pleasure in planting the seed and watching it grow. He even took pleasure in the hard work of hauling water from the well to water the land. He would spend all day in the fields, picking stones, hoeing the weeds that grew in great abundance. "If only you could sell the produce, " Eli would say to himself, You would be to provide better for your family.
At one time Eli had owned the piece of land he worked on. It had belonged to his grandfather, but he had to give it up when he could no longer pay the heavy taxes the Romans had placed on him. This was true of all the small landowners like him, who had lost their land and now worked for the Romans.
The priests had told him he lost his land because he had sinned before God. God took away his land to punish him. Although Eli had great respect for the temple priests, he just didn't know what great sin he had committed that would cause God to punish him and his children by making them poor. His children were so beautiful and innocent. As he gathered in the harvest, he wondered, "What possibly could they have done that God would curse them so?"
These were the thoughts that occupied his mind when he walked home for supper the night before "the greatest picnic ever." What sin could he or his family have committed that would cause God to turn away from them and make them to live in fear of the Roman overlords. Why would God make it so that they had barely enough to eat each day? Eli thought, "If only the priests could be more specific."
Now as Eli walked through the tiny village to his home he sensed that there was something different something unusual with the people. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but there seemed to be an air of expectancy, a tenseness that was unusual. It was as if something of major importance was about to happen.
That night at the table Eli's children Ruth and Simon were talking about the stranger who was coming the next day. "What stranger?" their father asked. "The Teacher," Ruth said. "The healer!" exclaimed Simon. Eli looked at his wife. "Do you know of what the children speak, Rachel?"
"The women at the well and in the market have talked of nothing else for three days. It is even whispered that this man is, well, is the... Messiah! They say he has performed miracles that only a person sent from God could do."
"Can he part the water of the sea like Moses?" asked Ruth.
"Or bring down the walls of Jericho, like Joshua did?" Simon probed.
"Well," said their mother, "They say he can turn water into wine and after he touched the eyes of a blind man, he could see again. Others say that he has actually risen the dead"
"And what is his name, this man who is whispered to be the Messiah, the one who raises people from the dead?"
"They call him Jesus of Nazareth."
Jesus of Nazareth!", exclaimed Eli. "Little Yeshua! He is a relative of mine, on my father's side. He came to a wedding here when we both were children. I remember his fascination with the sea and the fishermen who were mending their nets. Oh, how he talked with them. He would ask questions for hours. He seemed to eager to learn that I thought he would become a fisherman, but you say he is a teacher and healer? He was a curious one this cousin Jesus. Hmmm, so you say that he is comes tomorrow and that he may be the Messiah. Oh his poor mother, Mary, what a gift and a burden our great God has given to her to bear...
Eli thought for a moment then announced, "Tomorrow we go see cousin Yeshua!"
Early the next morning as Eli, Ruth, Rachel and Simon, set out for the village, they had much company on the road. There were hundreds of people, all going in the same direction as they were. There were friends and neighbours, village merchants and farm workers, tradesmen, strangers and their families: the young, the elderly and the infirm, and one woman being carried on a litter, all making their way to the hills above the sea.
With a smile on his face Eli wondered if anyone was working today and then wondered, with some apprehension, "What will the priests say and more pressing what will the Romans do when they find out that we have left our work for the day? There will be consequences he thought." Eli tried not to imagine in what form his punishment would take.
Then, quickly moving these thoughts out of his head, he wondered instead, "Will Yehsua remember me. It was such a long time ago and we were both children."
When they reached the place where Jesus was to be, Eli was amazed at the numbers of people who had already arrived. Never, in all his life, had he seen so many people assembled in one place. "Some must have come last night," he thought. At the back of the crowd, he noticed men he could identify as Pharisees.
With so many people, Rachel wondered where should they lay their blanket, and how were they going to find Jesus.
Then Eli saw him. There on a grassy knoll was Jesus, playing Catch Me if you can with a dozen or so children, laughing and running in circles, and swinging them in the air when he caught one of them.
In an instant Ruth was there with them, joining in the game as if she had known these children and Jesus all her life, so unafraid. "Oh, the innocence and freedom of children," Eli said to Rachel.
Can you imagine Eli's surprise when Jesus caught little Ruth up into his arms and looking into her face said, "Ruth, where is your father Eli?" And then looking toward Eli and Rachel, he smiled, his smile, so warm and inviting.
Then, he sat on a rock with the blue sky and the green sea as his backdrop and called to the crowd, "Let the children come to me for the Realm of God belongs to just such little ones as these." Opening his arms, he drew the children to him and blessed them.
Simon, who was twelve, moved closer to Jesus, but didn't sit with the children.
When Jesus lifted his head to speak, a hush came over the crowds so that his words were clearly heard by all those gathered on the Galilean hillside that day:
"Blessed are you, who are poor, for yours is the Realm of heaven;
Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled;
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh."
Later Eli was to recall: "What Jesus said was difficult to accept at first. He spoke of God's great love for us all. Then, as he continued, his voice touched our hearts. It was as if he was drawing out our deepest longings for a better life for our children and our nation, drawing out our hopes and our desires, telling us that we were of great value to God and to each other.
"On that day he invited us to believe, to open our hearts and believe the Good News, to trust in the Good News; the Good News that God loves us and will never abandon us."
Though it only seemed like minutes he must have spoken for hours, for by the time he was finished many of the children had fallen asleep and the sun was beginning to set.
Simon came back to his parents, and told his mother, "I'm hungry."
Rachel opened the food basket of fish and bread she had prepared, and whispered, "Eli, it is time to eat and yet our neighbours have no food, not even a loaf of barley bread. We can't eat in front of them, and we don't have enough for everyone. What are we to do?"
Eli handed the basket to Simon. "Take this to Jesus. Tell him the people are hungry. He will know what to do, and, Simon, bring your sister back with you."
Jesus friend, Andrew, saw Simon coming toward Jesus and rose to meet him. So Simon gave Andrew the basket and they went to Jesus. "My father said you would know what to do with this."
Jesus smiled at the boy, took the basket, and spoke to the crowd: "It is time for us to eat together as one family of God." Then he took five loaves of barley bread and two dried pieces of fish, and raised them for all to see, gave thanks to God and blessed them. As he broke the bread he asked Simon if he would help his disciples feed the people.
As the people ate they laughed and spoke of the words they had heard."We are blessed," they said, "and we are a blessing to one another."
When they spoke of God's love for them, they wept tears of joy. "God has not abandoned us," they said.
When the people were finished eating, Simon asked his dad, "How did that happen, how could so many people be fed when there was so little food, and there are leftovers?
"It was a miracle," said Eli, "a miracle. Jesus took the bread of the poor and transformed it into a heavenly banquet. This day we have witnessed a miracle from God."
As the people celebrated, Eli noticed his cousin Jesus get up quietly to leave the gathering, and Eli felt within himself a new power, and he raised his hand to bless his cousin Jesus. Jesus felt the power of Eli's blessing, and turned to him and smiled, "thank-you my brother, thank you and good bye." At that moment Eli felt a great sadness rise up inside him. In that instant he knew he would never see his cousin again in this world, and also, as a farmer, he knew that this Great Picnic was like a seed of the Realm of God which would grow to change this world.
-----------------------The end of the story---------------
For some people today miracles can be a stumbling block. We no longer live in an age where miracles are expected around every corner. Miracles today are carefully sifted and examined until a satisfactory scientific explanation can be offered. Feeding the 5,000, they would say was just people feeling good and sharing their lunch with those who have none. Well, maybe, maybe not. If it was, that in itself would be a miracle. When I see it happen in our world through the Canadian Food Grains Bank, I see a miracle.
For me, miracles, however we view them, are signs which help us to understand the character of God. They also point to great and deep truths for our living as disciples.
In the time of Jesus, miracles were understood as gifts from God to God's people, and perhaps that is how we should consider them.
In terms of the picnics we take part this summer, let us remember that every community picnic is like a parable of the Realm of God and a demonstration of how God wants us to live all the time
My intention these past four weeks was to help us to see, to understand, to believe; to know that God is with us no matter what we do or where we go. God is our companion on the journey.
As we get back to work to school and to all the business of the coming fall and winter, I invite you to take time each day to sit with God to breath in God's spirit; to infuse the knowledge that as you played, gardened, picnicked, and traveled this summer. God was right there with you and continues to be. Thanks be to God.
Epiphany, Matthew 2:1-12
Introduction
An introduction to this Season may be given with the Call to Worship. A Visual aid to worship could be figures representing the Magi and their gifts - prominently displayed.
Today we enter the third season of the church year. After Advent and Christmas we arrive in Epiphany. Each of these seasons has its particular focus and imagery. The image of Advent was a young woman expecting the birth of her first Child. Then, the image of Christmas is the birth itself. Now, in this season of Epiphany the central image is gifts brought by the Magi (or Wise Men) who travelled from afar to adore this child.
Each of these seasons provides us with a focus both for our worship, and for our life in the faith. During Advent we were asked to become expectant; to move from being blasé about God's presence in our lives, to a state of faithful amazement and expectation. Then during Christmas that expectation is fulfilled; God is among us in the loving and challenging presence of Christ. Now, during Epiphany, we are visited by gift-bearing Magi.
This story for children - see after sermon
Sermon
As I said in the introduction to this service, the central image of Epiphany is the Magi who come bearing gifts: Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. So, this morning on the first Sunday of Epiphany, I offer a reflection on the gold, frankincense and myrrh of the Magi. Particularly, let us consider how this trinity of giftsapplies to our life in the faith.
It is clear that these gifts are both precious and valuable, while they also are symbols. Over the centuries many poets, scholars and preachers have interpreted the symbolism of these gifts.
For instance, some have seen the Magi's gifts as representing the gifts we present to Christ. In this case, gold may represents our money, while Frankincense may stand for our offerings of devotion, and Myrrh may be a symbol for our commitment to remedy the word's pain. A line from William Chatterton's epiphany carol interprets the Magi's gifts this way. He wrote: "As they offered gifts most rare, So may we&ldots; all our costliest treasures bring."1.
Martin Luther was another who interpreted the Magi's gifts. 2. However, Luther not so much as models of giving, but as examples of receiving. Luther saw their gold as representing God's gift of hope, and he saw their frankincense as symbolising the gift of faith. Myrrh, he interpreted to be the gift of love. Luther was obviously reading St. Paul when he made this connection. In St. Paul's first letter to the people of Corinth, "faith, hope and love" are gifts of the Spirit. 3. Luther put Paul and the Magi together.
This encourages me to seek to interpret the Magi's symbolic gifts for us today. It seemed to me that the picture of the Magi's offering their gifts and the Holy family accepting them imvites us to be both receivers and givers. So I invite you to come with me now and experience the gold, frankincense and myrrh, as representing both our giving, and our receiving.
Gifting is a very central Christian characteristic. To be a Christian is to know ourselves as those who have received gifts. All that we have comes from God. Nothing is of our own creation. Yet, we are able to be also generous givers of precious gifts.
I have an elderly friend who sees life this way. He gives thanks every day for the many gifts he has known and still knows in his life. He is a very hard-working person who began life with nothing except his family, and they were very poor. So, he laboured hard all his life, yet he sees everything he has a gift from God.
He says God did not give him a university degree, but God gave him the mind and will and strength to attend university. He sees his home as a gift. He had to pay for his house, yet he sees the labour of the workers who built it as a gift. He has to buy his food, yet he sees every meal as a gift from those who grew it, brought it to market and cooked it.
But, this only one half the story. Not only does this friend of mine, see everything as a gift, he also shares what he has. He sees sharing as the purpose for having anything. So he daily thanks God for many blessings, and looks for ways to share these blessings. This is the way we Christians are to understand our life.
So, let us read the story of the magi in this way - from the point of view of a gifted and gift-giving people. Let us we see ourselves as members of the extended Holy Family to whom the Magi bring gifts, and as Magi, who offer God and our neighbour that which is precious in our lives. Let us see ourselves as the Body of Christ who both give as Christ gave, and receive as Christ received.
After much prayerful thought, I have come to the conclusion that the good gifts that I have given or received always bring three important messages: love, beauty and story.
I find that all well-chosen gifts are acts of love. I find that any worthy gift is always part of a story. I find that each caring gift is an act of beauty that feeds our souls. The most meaningful gifts embody all three, love, beauty and story.
I see that this is true of gift giving between God and us and between one another. God's gifts to me are always a part of the ongoing story of my life in God, and the beauty of each gift from my Creator nourishes my soul. Of course every gift from God is a gift of love.
When I give a gift to my children, of course it is an act of love from parent to child. These gifts I give my children also reflect the story of our relationship. The gifts I have given them over the years have changed as our story changes. Each gift has a beauty in it that that I hope will touch their souls.
The same truths apply to our gifts to the church. Our gifts to the church are given as part of our story of faith, and to promote the telling of the Gospel story. They are given as acts of our love for God and for neighbour. 4. They will have about them a beauty that is intended to nurture the soul of each member of the church.
I am aware that sometimes we have difficulty in receiving a gift. A very macho male friend of mine once received a set of child's building blocks as a Christmas gift. He was puzzled by this present. He wondered why anyone would give him a child's toy. But then his three-year-old child came to him and said: "Daddy can we make some thing with your blocks?" Then he understood, and could gladly accept this gift, its place in his story, its love, and how it would feed his soul.
Sometimes congregations have trouble receiving gifts too. For instance the church board may get a message from the Church School, saying that the children of Ms. Brown's class have created a very large picture of Jesus, and asking would the board please tell them when they can come to the church to hang this picture in the sanctuary.
At such
times the board may ask themselves three questions:
-Does
this gift fit the story of our congregation? How will it help us
fulfil our mission? Will it help tell the story of the Gospel?
-Is this
gift an act of love for God and neighbour? Will it help us reach out
to the community?
- Is there a
beauty in this gift that will feed the soul of the congregation and
its members?
Such questions might help us as a congregation, to see the value in gifts that are offered us. It may also give us reason to suggest that the board suggests that the children's picture be hung somewhere inthe church where it would seen everyday as people come.
Through this season of Epiphany, let us grow in being both receptive and giving. Let us be like Mary and Joseph and the Christ Child. Let us welcome God's gifts, and like the Magi let us be those who bring gifts of Love, story, and beauty to the Christ Child wherever we find that child,
1.
Hymn, As with Gladness Men of Old.
2.
Bainton, The Martin Luther Christmas Book.
3.
1 Corinthians 13:1 -14:1
4.
Mark 12:30-33
With Children
Properties:
Items representing the Magi's gifts: Gold; a box of fragrant
pot-pourri or perfume, labelled "Frankincense, open while
praying"; and a jar of ointment, labelled, "Myrrh ointment
to remove pain. "
The following
text printed and stapled in book form.
A Magi's
headwear (use you imagination) for each child 8 and under expected to
be present [optional].
A large star
on the end of a slim pole [optional]
Leader: Storyteller
Story - teller: Invite children to come forward. Ask the children what gifts they got for Christmas. Ask if they have any new babies in their families? Have you ever taken a gift to new baby? Explain that today you and they are going to talk about the story of the Magi (or Wise Men) who brought gifts the Baby Jesus. How many know the story? Let them tell the story as they know it. Affirm the parts that fit the story.
Give out the Magi hats, put one on yourself
"Can anyone tell us what a Magi is?" If necessary, you can explain that the Magi were people who studied the stars. They believed that by studying the stars they could tell what was going to happen in the world. Well, one night the Magi saw a star they had never seen before [bring forth the star on pole, and ask a child to hold it up high]. This star was brighter and larger than any star they had ever seen before.
They asked themselves: "What does this star mean?"
"It must mean something very special!"
Does anyone here know what the star meant? (Ask both children and adults)
Yes, it meant that a special baby was born - a baby who would grow up to bring peace to the world.
So, one Magi said: "Let as go and see this Child."
Another Magi said: "Let us take a gift for this baby!"
Still another Magi said: "Yes, but it must be a very precious gift. Let's take three gifts!"
Does anyone here know what three gifts they took to the baby?
Yes, Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. They were gifts like the ones we have here with the Magi figures.
Gold: Show and pass around the gift representing Gold (a golden box with something very heavy inside to give it heft.)
Frankincense: Pass around the box of pot pourri. Invite the children to sniff it. Tell the adults that they can come and sniff it after the service. "This is pot pourri it is a little like Frankincense. The smell of Frankin- cense is to remind us to pray. God likes our prayers just as we like nice smells.
Myrrh: Show a tube of hand cream or ointment. Put a drop in each child's palm and ask them to rub it into their skin. Myrrh is ointment to help with hurts, and sadness.
So, these were the gifts that the Magi brought to Jesus, and Mary, and Joseph treasured these gifts always, just as we treasure the gifts we have been given.
Now, I am going to open this box of nice smelling pot pourri while we offer a prayer to God. Please pray with me, repeating after me: Dear God our creator (children repeat), we thank you for all the gifts we receive (repeat). We thank you also (repeat) for the gifts that the Magi gave to Baby Jesus (repeat). Amen/
Wilderness, Temptation and Desire .ecclesicakes A411
No. 1 in sermon series: Being the Body of Christ
Lent 1 Yr. A Lent 1, Yr. A, Matthew 3:13-17; 4:1-11
A challenge for us in the season of Lent is this: How shall we go out into the world, and live according to the Good News we heard during Christmas and the challenges brought to us through Epiphany? To have God's love and peace as our heart's desire; to apply this in the life situations in which we find ourselves? How do we now act as the Body of Christ? To see with the eyes of Christ, to think with the mind of Christ, the walk where Christ would have us walk, and do with our hands the good work that Christ would have us do.
There may be some people somewhere for whom this is a piece of cake. There may be some people who have so completely let themselves be drawn into the Realm of God, and know God's love so fully that they need to hear no more than what we received during this past four Sundays. If there are such people I don't know of them.
In fact, I think that this is not what God wants of us. I am convinced that our God wants us to struggle and wrestle, think and pray, and work out our salvation in the ups and downs, of life. It seems to me that God is like a good parent. A loving mother or father gives their children three gifts for life:
1. The assurance of love;
2. The gifts of Grace, by which we experience that love, even when we are being really nasty;
3. Essential values to live by - kindness, justice, compassion, and generosity.
God also gives us these three: Love, Grace, and Values
Then having done this, our parents and our Creator say: "OK go now out into the world, and show what you are made of. And, yes, you can call home when you need some help. If it get really tough out there you can come home"
Lent is a time to gather in these resources (love, grace and values) and work out anew how we can use them in our family, in our circle of friends, in our community, and in our world. In Christian terms this means being the Body of Jesus Christ. It means using that love, that grace, and that set of values to see with the eyes of Christ; think with the mind of Christ; desire what Christ desires; walk where Christ would have us walk and do with our hands the good work that Christ would have us do.
This is the very challenge that Jesus experienced. In today's Gospel lesson we read of his struggle to follow the path God set for him. This morning I am going to interpret this passage by way of a story:
Lent 1, Yr. A, Matthew 3:13-17; 4:1-11 ecclesicakes A411
Let us go in imagination with Jesus into the wilderness. Let us imagine that this baptism took place near here on the shore of [a local wilderness lake or river]. Then picture Jesus being led by the Spirit deep into the bush where he will spend the next forty days working out how he will live in response the love, grace, and the values he has received.
As the story begins, Jesus has just had a powerful spiritual experience. He has been baptized in the Jordan river by his cousin John, as he lifts his head up out of the water, a dove flutters down and hovers over him, and he experiences God saying to him: "You are my beloved, I am pleased with you." One might expect that from this moment on Jesus would have a life of holy bliss; an existence of serenity. But that is not what happened.
While his hair was still wet from the Jordan, the Spirit of God takes him out into the wilderness to see what he is really made of, to test and see what he credits to be of deepest importance. How will he see, think, and act? What will he desire, and value?
It wasn't an easy forty days; there was loneliness, and mosquitoes and black flies and hunger. Whatever supplies he packed in ran out. However, he did get it clear in his own mind heart what it was that he most valued in life. So, on the 41st day, a Sunday, we find him burned, bitten and hungry, on a wilderness shore of _____. Jesus is exhausted and hungry, but he has sorted out what his work will be and how he will begin it and what his values will be.
Just then, a small plane circles overhead, lands on the lake, and taxis up the shore. A handsome and dashing young pilot jumps out onto a pontoon. He is dressed in a red leather flying suit. He calls out: "Are you Jesus? We have had a search party out looking for you."
Jesus replies hoarsely through dry cracked lips: "Yes, I am he."
The pilot, jumps nimbly onto the shore: "What have you been doing out here? You look like you've had a bad time."
Jesus: "I needed to come out here to sort out how I want to live out my life."
Pilot: "Yeah, well it seems to me that you'd have been better in a nice hotel room to do all this thinking. If this religion really worked for you, you could just pray for anything you want and it would come to you."
Jesus: "Well, one cannot life by material comforts alone."
Pilot: "Sounds crazy to me. Come on let's get you out of here."
So, they get into the plane and take off in to a clear blue sky.
As they are flying, the pilot speaks to Jesus in a solicitous tone: "You say you've sorting out what your work will be. Well, you've been getting some publicity with people looking for you and everything. I think you ought to take advantage of that. Now, my specialty is public relations. Here's my card: Lucifer Life Styles.
I know that I could make you a very popular, wealthy and even powerful person. For instance, you could make a big impression when we get back, if you were to arrive by parachute, You could swoop right down into the church parking lot. They will all be getting out from worship in a moment. Think of the hit you'd make, ha ha. I've got a parachute right here, and we'll just climb up high and out you go! I'm sure your God will protect you - doesn't the Bible say something about that?"
Jesus: "Well, the Bible also says, 'Don't put God to the test.' I know what I'm to do and it's not to put on a spectacular show."
Pilot: "Well, you should use this religion stuff to your advantage. You could become minister of one of those big churches in Toronto, or New York; even have your own TV show, big car, mansion in Scarsdale. You might even go into politics with [Name a leading politician], and make it really big."
Jesus: "I can have only one God; one can't serve both God and the 'bottom line in.' So, if you just put down near the road, I'll be fine, and I do know what I'm doing."
With no more to say, the pilot put down at the edge of the lake near a highway. From there, Jesus thumbed his way into town. On the next Sunday, he came into our church, where he would invite us to come with him.
---------------------------------End of story----------------------------------------
Now, one might ask what does this story have to do with us; we are not likely to go off into the bush for forty days. However, I think Matthew tells us of Christ's wilderness experience because it does fit us.
I think Matthew is recognizing that for each of us there have been, or will be, wilderness times in our lives. I'm sure we all have had wilderness times: grief, loss, and disappointment. These are often the days when we find ourselves sweating out how we are to live from now on. Just as Jesus faced temptations to abandon God's will for him, so will we. We will be tempted at these times to reject the church, or to give way to desires that are contrary to the Gospel.
Secondly, Matthew is reminding us that even if we don't feel we are in a wilderness, It does take time, thought, and energy to sort out just how we are to live our lives as faith full people. We don't find many people today going away for forty days to do this, so in place of that the church provides these forty days of Lent. This season is given us so that we might renew our way to live according to God's will for us, to refresh ourselves as the Body of Christ. To see anew with the eyes of Christ, to think again with the mind of Christ, to walk joyfully where Christ would have us walk, and do with our hands the good work that Christ would have us do, with God's love and peace as our heart's desire.
As Jesus pondered in the wilderness, let us use these days well. R.A.K.
click here to return to Lent index
Being the Body of X 2: Born Anew - Jesus and Nicodemus ecclesicakes A412
Lent2, Yr. A. John 3:1-21
Have you ever got up in the night to do something that had to be done before you could sleep? Like make bread, finish your income tax form, do your homework or repair the washing machine? Today's Gospel lesson may be about such an experience. It tells us of a man named Nicodemus got up in the middle of the night to get an answer to a question that was whirling around in his mind so much that he could not sleep. To answer these questions, to get some rest, he went at night to speak to Jesus.
John's Gospel tells us that Nicodemus was a great teacher of the Hebrew people. I picture Nicodemus as being like a university professor, the dean of a faculty. He would be what we call a learned person, one who had read all the great literature of his time. He could tell his students not only of the visions of Isaiah, but also of the philosophies of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. He could be found debating the meaning of Holy Scripture in the Temple square.
From the outside, he would appear like many of us. To see us from the outside, we often give the appearance of having no problems. Those who see us may say, "There goes someone who has it all together."
If Nicodemus looked calm and assured on the outside, he was not like that on the inside. On the inside he was quite troubled. In spite of all his learning and the respect he got from his neighbours, Nico-demus was ill at ease, unsettled; something was missing. He had a hunger that was not being satisfied.
Let me draw a picture of Nicodemus from my imagination. I imagine that when he looked at the world around him, he saw that many things were not right. The Hebrew people were oppressed by Rome, and many of them were in dire poverty without hope. He was also troubled by the brutality he saw in the streets as he walked home.
These things bothered him especially at night. Often he would lie awake, wondering why he was not satisfied. Sometimes he would recite silently a favourite Psalm he had learned as a youth: "God, thou has searched me and known me, Thou knowest when I rise up and when I lie down." 1. When he did sleep, his soul would be troubled by the voice of the prophet Isaiah proclaiming: "God will judge the poor fairly, and defend the rights of the helpless."2. Also, faces would rise up before him and disturb his rest. These were the faces of the workers who laboured in the fields, to the point of exhaustion, but had no where to lay their head at night, or the faces of those dragged away by the Roman soldiers to be nailed upon a cross because they protested these conditions.
In the daytime, he often find himself longing for the faith of his youth; the close relation-ship he had with God as a boy. When he was young had been enthusiastic about life and idealistic about the life to which God called the people.
He may be like us in this regard too. Some of us may also lie awake at night feeling empty and longing for deeper connections with God and with those who are important in our life. Some of may be troubled by the faces of the hungry families of Afghanistan, the bombed children of Palestine, and the homeless children and adults onour own society.
Like many of us, Nicodemus never shared his unease with his friends, and colleagues. Perhaps only his wife knew that he was troubled.
Then N. began to hear of a certain young rabbi from Nazareth, named Jesus. One day, when he was on the street in Jerusalem, this Jesus went by with a group of friends. N. stopped to watch with fascination. All those of this group were happy and enthusiastic. With some concern, he saw his own servant, Benjamin standing near to Jesus.
To his amazement, he saw Joseph of Arimathea among those who were with Jesus. This surprised him because Joseph was a well-known merchant. Nicodemus thought to go over to where Jesus was himself, but resisted the impulse. He said to himself: "It wouldn't be fitting for a person of my stature to been seen with this crowd which included ordinary workers, farmers, shepherds, women, and my own servant.
The next day, he found his cronies discussing Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem. They all agreed that Jesus was a trouble maker, getting the people all excited by teaching that God actually loves the unwashed Riff Raff of the streets who never come to the Temple, or Synagogue. They all agreed that if the local authorities let him continue the Romans would soon be down on the people. "They don't like anything that gives these people uppity ideas."
"What has be done," asked Nicodemus?
"Well, first he teaches the most outrages things - that God is like a shepherd who seeks out the lowest type of people as if they were lost sheep, when we all know they are sinners and have brought their troubles on themselves. Can you imagine God being compared to a dirty smelly herder of sheep?"
"Also, he teaches that people should be sharing their hard earned money with those who have none. If we did that we'd all be poor!"
"They even say that he heals lepers! If you ask me he he's a quack in league with the devil."
"Worse yet, some of the rabbis are encouraging him. I understand that Rabbi Shecham is letting him stay at his house this very day."
That night N. was more restless than ever. All the things that he heard about Jesus seemed good to N. When he closed his eyes he now saw the happy faces of those people who were with Jesus on the street. He couldn't rest for wanting to talk with Jesus, to hear more.
So it was that N. got out of bed and called his servants. "Benjamin," he said, "I saw you with Jesus of Nazareth today."
"Yes," that is true said Ben,
"Is it also true that he is staying at Rabbi shecham's home this very night?"
"Yes, it is true. He leaves for Galilee tomorrow."
"Then I want you to come with me to Rabbi Schecham's place this very hour".
So, it was that N. was out on the street that night, pounding on the door of the place where Jesus was. At N. request, Jesus got up and came to meet his nighttime visitor. Jesus recognised N. immediately. "What can I do for you he asked?"
In response, N. poured out his heart to Jesus as he never done before with anyone. He spoke of the things that were troubling his mind and heart, and he wept.
Presently, Jesus said to N. "You need to reclaim the faith of your youth, Nicodemus. You must be born again."
"But," said N., "how can an old man be reborn; a man cannot go back to the state he was inn as an infant and start all over again!"
"You'll never see the Kingdom of God unless you are born of the Spirit, Nicodemus. Only then will you know an intimacy with your Creator. Only then will you have the courage to speak the truth, and stand up for God's justice."
In the wee hours of the morning N. climbed back into his bed, with his head and heart full of what Jesus said to him.
We know only a few things about N. after that night. St. John tells us that when Jesus was on trial, N. spoke up insisting that it be a fair trial. It wasn't much, but maybe he was beginning to take courage. 3.
The only other story we have of N. is this: He assisted Joseph of Aramathea to take Jesus body down from the Cross, and brought spices to prepare Jesus body for burial. I wonder if he also was one of those who witnessed Christ risen from the tomb. 4.
I would like to think that N. offered himself for baptism by the first church, and that he was born anew, and set free to proclaim Christ, and the Kingdom of God's Love for all people."
As the great Methodist missionary, Stanley Jones 5. once said: there is something of N. in us all. Like N. we all desire for a close relationship with God, and longing for God's peace to be upon the earth. I think too that all of us have had some experience of being born anew by the Spirit. May this season of Lent be a time when we let God reign in us so that our rebirth shines forth in all we do and say. May we be among those who work for God's Peace, and equity upon the Earth. If there are some who long for God's peace and feel they have not received it, know that God's offer of love is there for you.
1. Psalm 139
2. Isaiah 11:4
3. John 7:50-51
4. John 19:39
5. E. Stanley Jones was a Methodist missionary to India, and adapted the Indian Ashram to Christian purposes. Bob Kayes attended one of his Ashram's in Winnipeg Canada in the late 1950s.
A Celebration of our Mission and Service Fund Partnerships
For planning and properties - click here
Liturgist:
"One way to understand the Mission and Service Fund is to know
it as a partnership.
It is a
partnership given us by the Creator through the active guiding power
of the Holy Spirit in the name of Christ.
"It is
in the first place a partnership with God.
Secondly,
it is a partnership with other faithful people.
Today, we
celebrate this world wide Partnership.
"Jesus
once spoke of partnership within the circle of the faithful, as being
like a vine.
Jesus told
his friends: 'I am the vine, you are the branches.'
A vine is an
excellent symbol of partnership. When you look at a vine growing up
the side of a building, you see one integrated web of branches all
linked together. Each part of that vine works with and depends on the
rest of the vine. It is difficult to say which part is the vine and
which parts are the branches.
" We can illustrate what a vine is like right now by joining our hands together to link everyone in this room. Let us join our hands so that everyone one of us is connected to the rest of us." (Have the whole of the congregation join hands, including a bridge of hands to the choir).
"When
we join hands like this, we become a metaphor of that vine Jesus
spoke of.
Let us say
together: 'I am the Vine, You are the branches.'
When we are
linked like this, we are an excellent metaphor for the partnership
that is the M&S Fund. Let us continue to hold hands for a moment.
"We have among us today people who represent three basic elements of this world wide M&S Vine.
"First,
we have with us, (Name), representing our 'overseas' Mission and
Service partners.
(Name),
please come forward from your place in the Vine." (comes forward
and joins a hand with liturgist.) For details re these
representatives, see Planning, below.
"Next,
(Name) is here to represent our Mission and Service partners within Canada.
(Name),
please come forward from your place in the Vine." (joins hand
with world rep.)
Thirdly, (Name) will represent us as a congregation within this web of partnerships. (Name) please come forward from your place in the vine."(joins hands with Canadian Rep.).
When the representatives have come forward, let congregation release their hands "Let us enter into this celebration with music" (Suggested hymn, We Have This Ministry, Voices United 510)
At conclusion of the hymn,
The partner representatives hang a "vine" made of green twine on hooks placed at the top of an easel, then have the representatives embrace one another with their arms over one another's shoulders or waists).
Liturgist, "Jesus intended that the vine would bear fruit; the fruit of love and grace, and justice. So let us add grapes to our vine to symbolize the care, grace and justice that is the fruit of the M&S Fund. "(On three of the hooks, reps. hang grapes - real ones if you get them.)
Cong.
Partner Rep.: "I AM TRULY EXCITED TO REPRESENT YOU THIS MORNING!
THE HOLY
SPIRIT HAS MANY WORKS OF LOVE AND GRACE AND JUSTICE TO CARRY OUT IN
THIS WORLD AND SHE CALLS (name congregation or group) TO BE HER
PARTNER IN THIS MINISTRY!
AND WE HAVE
SAID, "YES. YES, WE WILL BE YOUR HOLY PARTNER!"
(Place
symbol of congregation's M&S goal on an easel at the front.)
Overseas
Partner representative (step forward)" I TOO AM TRULY GLAD TO BE
HERE THIS MORNING - TO SEE YOU FACE TO FACE!
THE PEOPLE I
REPRESENT HAVE BEEN PARTNERS WITH YOU FOR MANY YEARS, BUT BECAUSE OF
DISTANCE AND THE COST OF TRAVEL, WE RARELY SEE ONE ANOTHER FACE TO FACE.
I BRING YOU
GREETINGS FROM YOUR PARTNERS AROUND THE WORLD." Place
collage of many faces on the easel).
Canadian
Partner Rep.: (step forward) "HI. I WONDER HOW MANY OF YOU KNEW
BEFORE TODAY THAT I EXIST?
"I
REPRESENT YOUR MISSION AND SERVICE PARTNERS WITHIN CANADA, EH!
THESE
PARTNERS ARE TO BE FOUND IN EVERY ONE OF CANADA'S CITIES AND
IN MANY
RURAL TOWNS, FRONTIER AREAS, AND ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES.
"I AM
SO GLAD OF THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE VISIBLE BEFORE YOU TODAY."
Place United Church Crest on the easel).
Overseas rep. "LET ME NAME BRIEFLY ONE OVERSEAS PARTNER. AT THIS VERY MOMENT, YOUR MISSION AND SERVICE FUND PUTS YOU IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PEOPLE OF (In two sentences, identify an overseas partner, and describe enthusiastically the work being done there). Ask if anyone knows where this place is, has anyone of us been there?" Place on the easel a picture or symbol representing that M&S project.
Canadian Rep. "VERY MUCH OF THE WORK DONE THROUGH THE MISSION AND SERVICE FUND HAPPENS RIGHT HERE IN CANADA. DOES ANYONE HERE KNOW OF AN M&S PROJECT OR MINISTRY THAT IS WITHIN (number of blocks or miles of here)? " In conversation with cong. tell of a local M&S ministry, then place a picture representing it on the easel.
Cong. rep. "ALMOST ALL OF US WHO HAVE BEEN IN A SUNDAY CHURCH SCHOOL HAVE BEEN TOUCHED BY THE M&S FUND. THE M&S FUND FINANCES THE SECTIONS OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA WHICH PROVIDES OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL RESOURCES SUCH AS THE NEW BIBLE QUEST MATERIAL. " Place an article representing Sunday School on the easel.
Lit. "All these works are called partnerships because, they are based on mutual respect and cooperation. That is, each of the programs supported by the M&S Fund depends on the gifts of a number of people working together in partnership. These are partnerships in which we all give and we all receive.
Canadian Rep. "A GOOD WAY TO ILLUSTRATE THIS IS TO TELL THE STORY OF THE BEGINNING OF A MINISTRY SUPPORTED BY THE M&S Fund. (The preferred way to do this would be to tell of the beginning and development of an outreach ministry that exists in your local region/presbytery. Such a story will have the following characters: The local people who identified the need, those who developed a plan to meet the need and applied for M&S funding, the presbytery who approved it, those who presently participate in the program/ ministry, and those who make offerings to the M&S fund).
"AS I TOLD THAT STORY DID YOU NOTICE WHO THE PARTNERS ARE, AND HOW EACH GAVE AND EACH RECEIVED?"
Overseas Rep. "A SIMILAR STORY CAN BE TOLD FOR EVERY PROJECT SUPPORTED BY OUR M&S FUND. IN EVERY STORY THERE WILL BE LOCAL PEOPLE WHO ARE INSPIRED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO SEE A NEED, AND WHO WANT IN THE NAME OF CHRIST TO DO SOMETHING TO MEET THAT NEED, AND WHO ASKED THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA TO BE THEIR PARTNER.
THEN, THERE ARE UNITED CHURCH PEOPLE WHO SAID, 'YES, WE WILL BE YOUR PARTNER!'
"THIS WILL BE TRUE IF WE ARE TELLING THE STORY OF THE OPENING OF A SCHOOL, OR HOSPITAL, OR CHURCH, OR IF WE ARE SPEAKING OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO AN EARTHQUAKE, OR FAMINE.
"IN THESE PROJECTS ALL RECEIVE AND ALL GIVE."
Cong. rep. "WELL, HOW DO THOSE WHO MAKE AN OFFERING TO THE M&S FUND, ALSO RECEIVE FROM IT? I SEE HOW WE GIVE, BUT HOW DO WE RECEIVE?"
Lit. "O.K. lets ask those who give to the M&S Fund, just what they receive. Is there anyone here would tell us what they get in return for their donation to the M&S Fund?" (Wait for an answer from the people. Tell how you benefit from donating.)
Cong. rep. YOU WILL FIND MANY MORE STORIES OF PARNTNERSHIP IN THE M&S MATERIAL THAT YOU WERE GIVEN WITH THE SUNDAY BULLETIN THIS MORNING.
"TODAY, I INVITE EACH OF US AND ALL OF US TO EMBRACE THE MINISTRY OF THE MISSION AND SERVICE FUND IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FAITHFUL PEOPLE ACROSS CANADA AND OVERSEAS.
Lit.
"Specifically, we ask you to be a part of the M&S vine in
three ways:
One - be
knowledgeable about the work of the M&S Fund in Canada and around
the world;
Two - Pray
for the success of this work;
Three - Make
a regular contribution to the M&S Fund.
Conclude with a prayer of thanksgiving for the M&S partnerships, and a prayer of intercession for those involved on the front line of these programs) or "O Holy Source of all our living, we thank you for all that you have accomplished through the Mission and Service Fund of our Church. We bless you for giving us this way to share your Hope and Love with one another. "
Hymn, When the Pain of the World, 598 in Voices United.
Dismissal -
Join hands again for commissioning and benediction.
PLANNING
NOTES:
In planning - encourage innovation, rewriting and adaptation of this material to make it yours. Some research into Local and world M&S funded projects will be required by Mission Representatives.
Resources - Minute for Mission booklet, M&S hand out material, Special issue of Mandate, M&S goal Thermometer. These are available from your conference office.
Leadership:
- A liturgist
- A person
(or team) to represent the congregation as a partner in the M&S Vine
- A person
(or team) to represent the Overseas Partners
- A person
(or team) to represent M&S supported ministry within Canada
If possible,
the overseas and Canadian partnership representatives will include at
least one person in each who has experience in those fields,
otherwise they may be local people who have prepared themselves for
this role-playing through a study of M&S material.
Rehearse and prepare to carry out these leadership roles at a brisk pace, with good use of microphones, and symbols. Engage the congregation, children and adults, as much as possible.
PROPERTIES:
Hats or Shirts - Dress the Partners in T-shirts or hats bearing the M&S logo.
A large easel (or computer monitor or screen) on which to hang/display the symbols called for in the script
Symbols - Appropriate symbolic props as required by the script.
Easel - Set at the front of the room a large ease with a vine drawn on it and an M&S symbol. The easel needs to be large enough so that other symbols can be added to it during the celebration.
An Introduction to the current M&S Logo ecclesicakes A502
The M&S Fund takes its energy from God's loving action toward us.
We see this represented in the new M&S symbol.
Let us look first at the bottom portion of the logo.
It represents three actions that God has taken on our behalf: (it would be good to have a large version of the M&S logo to use at this time. and a small manger scene set up, so you can move from Manger to Font to Table as you speak).
1. It represents the Manger - God coming to be among us, as a person. God's presence in the flesh and blood of Christ, and God's presence in the flesh and blood we who give to it, and in the flesh and blood of the workers it supports. Like the manger, the M&S Fund is about incarnation.
(Give an example from Minute for Mission Booklet)
2. It represents the Baptismal Font - God calling us to be God's own people; calling us to the work of Christ which we do in partnership with many others close to home and around the world who have been baptized into God's great mission of Love and Justice. (give examples)
3.It represents the Communion Table - God gathering us to the family table, and feeding us with the Word of Life. It gathers us together to act as the Family of God. Through the M&S Fund, we each bring some of our resources for the good of the whole family, and each of us may use the resources of the whole family. (give examples)
Sing Hymn [567, 598?] (three verses) in celebration of the ministry to which God has called us.
Now, let us
give attention to the part of God's work in the world that is
symbolized by the upper portion of the M&S symbol.
What gifts
from God do you think these splashes of colour might represent?
(Wait for answers)
Affirm the
people's contributions.
Then, share
with them some other people's way of interpreting the splashes of colour:
Rainbow -
hope. Give an example of an M&S supported ministry giving hope.
Water -
cleansing, refreshing (example)
Spirit -
Inspiration and vision (example)
Prayer: O Holy Creator, who is among us in flesh, in blood and in spirit, and who calls and strengthens us within faithful community, wherein we find hope, refreshment, and inspiration,
We thank you for your gift of the Mission and Service Fund and all the work of Love, Grace and Justice it makes possible. In Christ's name we dedicate ourselves to this ministry you have set before us, in which we experience the blessings of your people.
Sing conclusion of hymn.
Planning
In planning, feel free to adapt this material to make it your own and to suit your situation. A rehearsal held a week before the presentation date allows time to make changes.
r.a.k. 07/01
Doubting Thomas, A Story. ecclesicakes A426
The one who read and spoke with his hands
see [ ] for alternate versions of this story
Easter 2, John 20:19-31; 1 John 1:1
This is a story about a friend of Jesus named, Thomas. From the time that he was a child, Thomas wanted to touch things. Nothing was real to him until he touched it. When his Father showed him a flower, Thomas would reach out his hand to feel the texture of the silky petals, and fuzzy stem. When his mother showed him a tool, he put out his fingers to feel the cold metal and the smooth wood of it. Thomas really liked to touch things.
He also liked to do things with his hands. He could make or repair almost anything. Children brought their broken dolls and other toys to Thomas to be fixed. People brought plows and pots, and anything you can think of to Thomas, and he would fix them.
He could also make things by hand. He could make houses and tools, and toys. Thomas was the best maker and fixer in all of Galilee.
Thomas also got acquainted with people by his hands. He felt that he never really knew a person until his hand touched their hand. He knew his grandfather by the hard feel of his grandfather's worker hands. He knew his grandmother by the strong feel of her bread-making fingers.
He was sure that he could tell a lot about a person by the feel of their hands, and by the way they held his hand when he greeted them. The hands of his friends told him that he could rely on them. The hands of cheaters felt untrustworthy.
His friends began to call Thomas a doubter. "Doubting Thomas," they said with a smile, "doubts that anything is true until he touches it." Thomas didn't deny it. It was true, he got to know his world and the people in it by touch. [one way to continue with this story is: Thomas was blind. another way would be: Thomas was deaf and mute ]
Well, one day Thomas heard that a new Rabbi, named Jesus was coming to live in his town, of Capernaum. People were saying that this Jesus was sent by God as a great prophet and healer. Like everyone else, Thomas was looking forward to meeting this Jesus. He wanted to experience the touch of Jesus' hands, so that he tell what kind of person this Jesus was. He wanted to know, was Jesus true or was Jesus false.
So it was that Thomas was in a crowd of people who gathered around Jesus. With them he heard Jesus speak of God's love for them, and how God wanted them to love all their neighbours.
"This sounds good," said Thomas to his friends, as he worked his way to the front of the crowd, "but is it true?"
Soon Thomas got within arm's length of Jesus, and reached out his hand and touched Jesus' clothing. To Thomas it felt like the shirt of someone honest. Then Jesus took Thomas by the hand, and Thomas took Jesus by the hand. Immediately, Thomas knew that Jesus was true.
Later that day, when Jesus invited people to "come and follow me," Thomas said, "Yes, I want to come with you," and he did.
[His friends urged, "Ask him to give you sight in your eyes."
To which Thomas replied, "God has given me hands to see with."]
Jesus said to Thomas, "you can use your hands to tell the Good News."
For the next three years, wherever Jesus went, Thomas went with him, [walking hand in hand with Andrew or Mary to guide him and] using his own hands to help Jesus tell of God's love. He made new toys for children who had none, and fixed toys that were broken. He made plows for poor farmers, and wooden bowls for women to make bread in. He washed the feet of the footsore, and rubbed the backs of the weary. In all these ways his hands said, God loves you.
Then, there came that terrible day when they arrested Jesus, and put him on a Cross with nails through his hands. When they told Thomas about this he wept at the thought of it; the hands of Jesus which had helped and healed so many people, would now be pierced and broken.
For three days Thomas went away by himself, and wept. On the third day, his friends came to him with news that Jesus was alive; he had risen, and appeared to them in the Upper Room. Thomas replied [signed], "I cannot believe it. I need to touch his hands."
A week later, Thomas was gathered with other friends of Jesus, when the Risen Christ came among them again, and held out his hands. "Peace be with you," he said, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt, but believe."
Thomas did as Jesus said, and called out [or: exclaimed with his hands], "My Lord and my God!"
In the years after that Thomas travelled to far away India, and used his hands and his voice to tell the Good News to the people of that land, and when he told it he would always tell them: "I have seen Jesus with my hands. I have touched the places where he was wounded for our sake. Blessed are you who believe even though you have not touched Jesus as I have, but If I have touched you, you have been touched by Jesus."
So, today, if you go to India, you will find there many who believe in Jesus, and some of them call themselves, Mar Toma, the Church of Thomas.
Now, I invite all of us to be like Thomas. Let us use our hands to tell of the love of God. Let us also use our hands to love our neighbours, and when people touch our hands, may they know that these are hands of those who have had their hearts touched by Jesus, and can be trusted.
A
Faith is reborn on the Walk to Emmaus ecclesicakes
A427
Easter
3, Luke 24:13-35, Luke 8:1-3
Two disciples are helped to understand the meaning of both Jesus' ministry, and its seemingly tragic end
On the first day of the week after Passover, Cleopas and Anna were making their weary way back to Emmaus with heavy hearts. The road was crowed with pilgrims from Emmaus and other villages and towns west of Jerusalem, all returning home from celebrating the passover in Jerusalem. Everyone was talking about their experience in the city and at the Temple; the daily round of ritual,and sacrifice, the presence of the Roman military, the excitement of the market. From time to time Cleopas and Anna overheard Jesus named in connection with the Temple events, and this year's number of crucifixions. Anna and Cleopas held their own conversation in a whisper. They did not want to identified as being "one of them," the followers of Jesus.
Anna and Cleopas counted themselves as among the followers of Jesus, but not among those who travelled with him. Their duties as parents meant that they never considered going with Jesus into Galilee, so, along with Martha, Mary and Lazarus of Bethany they were one of the many households who welcomed Jesus and his companions when he came their way. They felt particularly close to the women who travelled with Jesus because Joanna and Susanna both spent a night with them in Emmaus.
It was their conversations with these two women that led them to consider themselves devotees of Jesus. With them they explored the implications of Jesus' teachings for the nation. They were particularly excited by Jesus' concept of the Kingdom of God on Earth as a fulfillment of the people's hope, and his method of bringing this into being through training, and the development of local cells in each community1. Cleopas and Anna felt deep within them that they were a part of a movement that would change the nation into a community in which the Schema 2. would be an everyday living reality.
Although they couldn't travel with Jesus, Cleopas and Anna did want very much to be in Jerusalem for the Passover when Jesus was there. So, they arranged to have Anna's parents care for their two children, Eli and Elizabeth, and a week ago, they walked to Jerusalem in time to participate in Jesus' entry into the city. Never before had they been a part anything as exciting as this. Along with other pilgrims who were supporters of Jesus, they cut palm branches and sang, "Hosanna!" Cleopas went to far as to spread his cloak on the road in front of Jesus' donkey. They followed into the city, but Jesus stopped them at the entrance to the Temple grounds, inviting them to come back tomorrow and meet him on Solomon's porch. Then, Jesus and the twelve went into the Temple to remove the money changers, and the sellers of sacrificial animals.
For the rest of that week Cleopas and Anna were with the other friends of Jesus. During the day they met on Solomon's porch of the Temple for teaching and healing, and debate with the religious leaders. When she saw Jesus relating to the children in Jerusalem, Anna found herself wishing that Eli and Elizabeth were with them.
At night the friends of Jesus retired to the safety of Bethany. A highlight of these evenings was the breaking of bread and the sharing of wine. Each evening, as they gathered in the street (no house of Bethany was large enough to accommodate them), the host of the day brought to Jesus an unbroken loaf which Jesus would bless, and break into pieces as he walked among his friends, giving to each a portion of the bread. Then he was brought a pitcher of wine which he blessed also, and from which he filled the cup of each friend. This was followed by prayer, singing and conversation. For Cleopas and Anna these were experiences of deep joy and a profound sense of the love of God and neighbor; the sort of experience you could hope would never end.
On the fifth day of the week Jesus didn't appear at Bethany. This was not unexpected, since he had arranged to celebrate the Passover Meal with the inner core of disciples, and was expected to sleep at the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. Then about midnight there was a loud pounding on the door of the home where Cleopas and Anna were staying. When their host got up to open the door, a frantic messenger stumbled in and poured out the news that Jesus had been arrested. After this none could sleep. They were on edge all night waiting for further news.
At dawn a word came from Peter and John that it was unsafe, and all the friends of Jesus were advised to stay out of the city. Then, after the third hour, the final horrible and devastating word was delivered: "Crucified! Jesus is at this moment hanging on a cross. Everyone from outlying towns and villages should return home on the day after the Sabbath, melting in with the crowds of home bound pilgrims. Even those named to be apostles will disperse as soon as possible."
A member of the Jewish Council, a man named Nicodemus would join with Joseph of Arimathea to see if they could claim Jesus' body, but there was little hope that the Romans would allow this. It was also whispered that if they were given the body, some of the women would attempt to prepare his body for burial. The message was clear, "It is all over."
So, as Cleopas and Anna made their way home, their eyes were raw from tears, and their hearts we sunk. All that they hoped for had been torn away. The powers of oppression had punished Jesus for daring to teach the people to lift up their heads to claim their heritage as descendents of Abraham and Sarah. It would be a long time before another one came along who would encourage the people to believe in their dreams of Shalom which the prophets of long ago had proclaimed. 3.
As they were occupied with these thoughts, a stranger fell instep with with them. "Excuse me, " he said, "You may call me Joshua. I have been noticing that you look very sad and downcast. If you are strangers, I am compelled by the code of hospitality to ask if I can help in any way."
"No, thank you, " Cleopas replied, "We are not strangers, but live in Emmaus just a few miles ahead. We have lost a dear friend, and so we are in sorrow. Nothing can be done to help, thank you."
"I am a Rabbi, perhaps I could share with you words of comfort."
Anna studied this stranger for a moment. Her intuition told her she could trust him. "Well, perhaps you know of the Rabbi, Jesus, it is him that we mourn. Surely you must know of what happened to him."
"No, what things?"
Cleopas took Anna's lead, "The thing about Jesus of Nazareth, the prophet who was so compelling in his words and so strong to heal. You see we had been hopeful that this would be the one to free our people, but the our leaders became jealous of him and fearful of his message, so they turned him over to be sentenced to death by crucifixion. So now it all over. Some of the women who went to the tomb he was laid in came back saying they had seen angels who told them that he is alive, but there is no sign of him. It is all over, finished."
At this, the stranger became very animated. "Don't be so quick to lose heart, " he exclaimed, "Let show you from the scriptures that it was inevitable that Jesus would suffer." Then he began with Moses, and the prophets and taught them that this was not the end, but rather a strong new beginning** . As he spoke their perspective began to change, and the the flame of hope came alive in them again. As they arrived at Emmaus the stranger walked ahead as if to go further, but they urged him to spend the night with them, so they could talk further of these things.
When they got home, Eli and Elizabeth, and Anna's mother, Sarah, greeted them with sounds of gladness and hugs. Anna's father, Simon, welcomed the stranger saying, "It will be a blessing on us for you to have a stranger under our roof, and at our table. " The children took to Joshua right away, and he obviously enjoyed children, so he and Cleopas played with them as they waited for supper to be prepared, and as Anna told her mother and father of the week's experiences."
When they were called to the table Simon said:"My daughter tells me that they have lost their dear friend, Jesus, and that you have been helpful to them in this, so I ask you, "Will you bless the bread for us this evening?" So, then stranger took the loaf and broke it and passed a portion to each of them as Jesus had done in Bethany. When Cleopas was given his portion, he stared at it as tears ran down his cheeks, Anna gasped, "My Lord!" When they looked up the stranger was gone.
"We must go back this very night. Jesus is risen, we must tell the others that which was made known to us on the road, and in the breaking of the bread."
So, after hurriedly putting together a bundle of food, and a skin of water, Cleopas and Anna kissed their children goodnight, and set out in the moonlight for Bethany. They were filled with ecstatic energy and walked with a swift step as if they were bourne on eagle's wings 4.
They arrived at Bethany in the small hours of the morning to find the community of Jesus' friends excitedly sharing stories of having see Jesus risen from the grave, to which they added theirs. Just at dawn bread and wine were fetched and Mary of Magdala and Peter conducted a worship service of thanksgiving, and went among the community as Jesus had done, distributing the bread and wine 5.
From that day to this Christians have told of this revelation on the road to Emaus, and in every generation we have experienced Christ walking with us in our hours of darkness, and have known Christ in community around the table and in the breaking and sharing of the bread.
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1. Lk. 9:1f; 10:1f; 2. Lk. 10:25-28 3. Is. 11:1-9 4. Exodus 19:4 5. A recently discovered ancient parchment copy of a "Gospel According to Phillip" says that Mary Magdalene was a companion of Jesus, and a leader of the early church at least equal to Peter (A&E television program, March 27, 02).
A Bible Study to begin to explore the Heb. Test. roots of Christology
ecclesicakes A427b
The following passages of the Hebrew Scriptures may be invoked as being among those through which the first Christians interpreted the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus, and came to know him as God's Anointed One, and servant Messiah.
Behind this is the assumption that after Jesus' death and resurrection his friends employed the teachings of Jesus, their own experience and the Hebrew scriptures to develope the salvation theology, and Christian life style which they then proclaimed in the world.
Peter's address in Acts 2, the New Testament epistles (in particular, Romans and Hebrews) are interesting studies of this process.
The following list of passages is far from exhaustive and proabably does not include some that you consider most important.
A group discussion may begin with the following question:
- How may this Hebrew Testament passage have helped the friends of Jesus interpret their experience of him?
Genesis
22:18 (see Acts 3:25); Exodus 26:31-33 (see Mark
15:38); Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 (see Luke
10:25-28); Leviticus 19:11-17 (see Luke chapter 6).
Psalms: 2 (see Mark 1:11); 13 (see Acts 2:32-36); 23 (see Luke 24);31:9-18 (see Matthew 27:27-31 and 39-44; 9; 17; 16:8-11; 18:1-20, 43; 19:7-13; 22 (see Mark 15:29) 30:1-3(see Matthew 28:5-7); 33:19-24; 35:24-28; 40 (see Luke 24, and John 20&21); 69:16-21 (see Matthew 27:48); 41 (see the whole passion resurrection narrative); 118:22 (see Acts 4:11).
Isaiah: 40:1-11 (see John 10:7-16);42:1-9 (see Mark 1:9-11); 49:1-6 (see Luke 1:31-33); 50; 4-9; 52:13 to 53:12 (see Mark 1:14-15; Mark 15:24-32; Romans 3:21-26); 61:1-3 and following (see Luke 4:18-19); Joel: 2:28-32.
Equity or charity ecclesicakes A307
Yr
A Adv 1: Is. 11:1-10; P29 & Reign of X
: Ez. 34
Yr
B P 23: Amos 5:10-15; 2:6-8
Yr
C P14 & 26 Is. 1:10-20; 11:1-10
Shall we replace social serviceswith generous charity?
Early one day while driving from Winnipeg to Brandon I listened to a radio interview with the Christian woman, who takes homeless people into her home.
I found myself in admiration of her acts of hospitality until her closing comment, which I heard as: we want smaller government, and that means that we have to take on the role of caring for one another privately. That final comment sent a chill to the core of my being.
Here, I thought, is the right wing charity agenda expressed as faithful heroism. This is what current crop of corporate leaders mean when they say that the government needs to get out of social services, and let the church do it.
I too consider myself a faithful Christian, but I am one who believes that we are responsible for one another as a whole nation under God. In this view, there is an important place for charity, but the prime channel of our care is through our elected leaders and a fair system of taxation. In this way, we organize our national life in such a way that everyone has both access to the wealth that is derived from the resources which the Creator has provided, and a place in the work force that creates this wealth.
It disturbs me to hear of Christians and other caring people, lending themselves to a movement toward charity, and away from our responsibilities as a nation. For example, this week the Winnipeg Free Press ran article about a person who felt called by faith to leave the world of corporate business to operate a food bank. Now, the food bank has become a fairly large corporation and has set the government free from it responsibility to end hunger.
Also, we have church groups, and other non-profit organizations contracting to carry out the ministries which have been taken away from skilled, experienced, and compassionate people once employed by the government. In my experience, these non-profit bodies further contribute to the right wing agenda by paying their staff very low salaries.
An event took place this week, which sums up my point very nicely. On Thursday, members of the Manitoba Cabinet did volunteer work within local growth industry, the Winnipeg Christmas Cheer Board. The ruling caucus helped pack Christmas parcels to be given to the very people they have made more poor through their reductions in social assistance, and other cut backs. In my view, their good will would have been more appropriately spent within their political offices, working to create a society where Christmas food hampers are not needed.
Private acts of kindness will always have an important role to play in a humane society, but let us not be tricked into making charity our main way of trying to create a just community. It simply will not work because it always means that those who need are dependent on the good will and leftovers of those who have. It also contributes toward a society in which some are free to gain tax-free wealth with no responsibility toward their neighbours. It undoes all the work our mothers and fathers did in creating documents such as the United Nations Charter, and throws us back to the age of Scrooge and Tiny Tim.
Lk. 24:56, Between the Cross and the Empty Tomb
Let me tell you a story. It's a story about the time between Jesus' death and the morning of the Resurrection. Did you ever wonder how Jesus' friends spent that time?
Well here is how I imagine it. I think they spent it doing what many of us do after the death of a beloved one: weeping and laughing, hugging and telling stories of three years they had with Jesus.
I'm sure they told stories that would do our hearts good to hear and live by. For instance, listen to this exchange that might have occurred between John and Nichodemus:
"It is hard to believe that it's all over; it was so good. One of my memories will be about you, Nichodemus, the night you came to tell Jesus that he was a teacher sent from God, and he replied by telling you to be get a new life." 1.
"That really shook me. I was ready to discuss theology, not having my soul reborn - especially not at my age. And, its not really over, John, this will always be with me. New Wine and a New Wineskin too!"
"Yes."
Then Mary Magdalene shared this: "One of my favourite memories will be of Sarah, the woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years, then when Jesus came to town she took her one chance for a new life and dared to touch his shirt. Her family tried to talk her out of it, telling her she was getting old and foolish. Then, when Jesus turned to her and said, "My Daughter. My daughter! She was at least ten years older than he was! Your faith has made you well," he said. 2.
She never knew her worth so clearly before. She told me all this when I saw her in the Temple last week. She was full of new life. Then I saw her again following Jesus up the hill to Golgotha. She was weeping and saying, "How can this be over?"
Then, Andrew remembered: "I saw Jarius and his daughter, Ruth, in the Temple too. Ruth had insisted that they come to be a part of the Palm branch procession into the city,3. and attend Jesus' school on Solomon's porch.4. She must be heart broken today, but I have a feeling that she will do something with what she has learned."5.
Johanna 6. interjected, "There will be many like her who will want to continue."
So the stories, and tears went on all night long until an hour before dawn when the women gathered together spices and funeral cloths and went out into the dark to do the only thing left for them to do for their friend. This was women's traditional role and it was considered too dangerous for the men to go, so they kissed their sisters' cheeks and whispered, "Be careful."7
Then, silence feel over those who waited for the women's return. Peter and Andrew paced, and said, "We shouldn't have let them go." An hour went by. The sun rose and its light quickly filled the room, illuminating their haggard faces.
Then, they heard footsteps racing up the outside stairway, and James unlocked the door, to let in a breathless Mary. "It's not over," she cried out, "Jesus is risen!"8.
May it not be over for us. In many parts of our life, including the life we share as a community of faith, the future will seem uncertain as it was for those friends of Jesus. Like them, we are called to remember the Holy Grace and Loving presence of Christ we have known and seen in the lives of our neighbours. And we are called to keep faith, not giving in to despair, being open to the new life and hope, which we will be offered in the name of the Risen Christ.
1.John 3; 2. Mark 5:25; 3 Mark 11; 4. Luke 20; 5. Mark 5.21; 6. Luke 8; 7. Mt. 28;
8. John 20:18.
John 10:1-10 Yr. A. Easter 4,
Let me begin by reading a few verses from the parable of the shepherd and the sheep gate, which is our Gospel reading for today. These verses are a description of how palestinian shepherds at the time of Jesus cared for their flocks by bringing them into the safety of a pen for the night. In order to benefit from this as a spiritual teaching, it is importsant that we understand how the palestinian shepherds cared for their flocks. (John 10:1-5)
As I see it, this description of the Shepherd and the Sheep Gate is all about power. The welfare of the sheep is utterly dependent upon how the shepherd uses the sheep herder's power. In this parable there are two kinds of shepherds, the good and the false, the true and the hirling. The defining difference between the good and the false shepherd is seen in the way they use their power. The safety and health of the flock flows from the shepherd who uses power for the good of the flock.
This is true of all power relationships. Whenever some of us have power, the rest of us are dependent upon how that power is used. For instance, in a congregation, the minister's misuse of his or her power can destroy families and bring great turmoil to congregations. Or, as happens in most cases, ministers use their power for the good of the congregation and bring blessing to its members.
This is true in all our institutions. In Canada, for instance, we have seen how the misuse of power by leaders can bring political parties to their knees.
Every day our Television news shows us pictures of power being misused by financial instutions, by church officials and by government. Clergy abuse children, tanks roll through Palestine firing shells into homes, and children are made into bombs and sent on public buses to maim and kill.
We humans use our power of technology to destroy the habitat of the other creatures with whom we share this planet.
On the other hand, we also see examples of power being used for the good of the the commmunity. In April of 2002 our media have been filled with images of power being used by England's "Queen Mum" for the benefit of the realm during the dangerous time of the World War II blitz, and in quieter ways her whole long life. David Suzuki remains a spokesperson for the environment, and an advocate for using our power to preserve the natural world.
Our homes are also places where power is exercised. There are many examples of parents using their power to bless or to destroy their children. I am particularly impressed with this young geneation of parents who never hit their children. In these homes there is no hitting. Mom does not hit Dad, Dad does not hit Mom, adults do not hit children, and children do not hit one another.
Finally, are you aware of your power, and how you can use it for the benefit of your neighbours?
Calling us to use our power for good was a central part of Jesus' Ministery. I think this is largely what is meant by "love your neighbour as yourself," or even "love your enemy."
It seems to me that Jesus was always on the lookout for stories and examples that would teach this central truth. For instance, hatred between peoples became the parable of the Good Samaritan, which is all about using power; using power either to stay away from a nasty situation or to get involved. In this morning's reading the work of a lowly shepherd becomes another spiritual lesson about power.
There was good precedent for Jesu to look for a parable among shepherds. For instance, Jesus would have sung the psalm which we read this morning: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Also, he would know that the prophet Ezekiel condemned political leaders for being shepherds who "take care of yourselves, but never tend the sheep" (Ez. 34). Indeed Ezekiel envisioned God coming as shepherd to care for the people.
However, Jesus was not a shepherd, so I think he must have taken some time to learn about shepherds and sheep pens in order to get material for today's parable. I imagine Jesus watching at dusk as five or six shepherds bring their flocks into a sheep pen for safety. He would have seen how the shepherds examined each animal as it passed through the gate, making sure it was healthy. Jesus would note also the gatekeeper, who was on guard all night long against robbers; making sure that only true shepherds gained accesss to the pen.
In my imagination I see Jesus there again at dawn, when the shepherds call their sheep to come out to pasture. Jesus would have smiled to notice that each shepherd had a unique call which was recognized only by his own flock.
Let me take a moment aside to say that this reminds me of my Grandmother Kayes on her farm, calling her chickens. My gran would go with a pan of grain and call:"Chick,chick,chick,chick,chick," and the birds would come running. They knew her voice, and wouldn't come for me. This is how it was with the palestinian shepherd and flocks. John's Gospel says: "The sheep will follow because they know his voice."
Finally, Jesus would have seen the shepherd going ahead of the flock; leading, them into the hills for a day of pasture.
In these shepherds, and the way they cared for their flocks, Jesus saw a parable of the realm of God, and a description of his own minstry. He said of himself: I am the Gate and I am the Good Shepherd. By implication he is also calling us to use our power in our own situation.
To me, this says three things about use of power: first, it says, come in by the Jesus gate; come in as one who knows that they are loved by God; come in through the gate where the shepherd stands to anoint your wounds, and speak your name in the voice which you recognize.
Secondly, it says to me, be committed to being a friend of the Good Shepherd, dedicate your power to the blessing of your neighbours, and your world. Come in with no hidden motives or intentions to take advantage of another's needs or weakness.
Thirdly let us expect that our leaders in church, in community and in government use the power we give them for the well-being of humankind. Let us keep them accountable to being good shepherds.
So then, let us go into this new week, full of the power that grace gives us for blessing, and as a blessed power-filled people, let us be a blessing.
Easter 4, Yr. A. John 10:1-10
Soon after I came to serve a new pastoral charge, the youth leaders and I held a youth pizza night. We asked every young person to make a nametag to help me learn their names. Of course, they didn't need name tags to identify one another because most of them had known one another since kindergarten or earlier. I may have been the only one in the room who did not know everyone else by name. It is very important that the leaders of a youth group learn to know each member by name. It is part of expressing the Gospel message that each person is important.
It is essential that the pastor learn to know each person by name. It will be the job of every minister to learn to call each person in the congregation by name and to be very interested in their life story. A pastor is to be like the shepherd in this morning's gospel lesson, a shepherd who knew every member of the flock (John 10:14. Retell John 10:1-18 in your own words).
One way to read the parable of the Good Shepherd is see ourselves as members of a flock, of which God in Christ as the shepherd who knows each of us completely, and who loves us as completely as we are known, and calls us to know one another as beloved by God.
This congregation is like such a flock. You all know each other's name and you know a lot about their family history. The other day in the coffee shop I shared a table with two men in their 60's who have known one another since grade one. I listened closely to learn about them, and I invited them to tell me of themselves. In some ways a pastor will listen so intently that the pastor will end up knowing more about these two men than they do about one another. This is one way of acting out the amazing news that God knows each one of us intimately - God knows us even more intimately than our closest friend or even our spouse.
The parable sets out a very important set of God's laws for church and society. First, we all need to be known, and second we all need to be valued. To be known but not valued is of no use. To say we are valued when we are not known is patronising, and makes us an object to be used.
Being known and valued by God and by our neighbours is very important in having a healthy society and world. A good society is utterly dependent upon these two laws.
We can see around us the terrible things that happen when we fail to do this:
A few years ago I listened to a radio reporter speak about the atmosphere of devaluing that surrounded the brutal killing of a Rena Vert. She was a teenager who was beaten and kicked to death by a group of other teens who hardly knew her, and who failed to recognise her as a human being. Some who took part in this did not know her name. She was neither known nor valued.*
Then let us think about these killers who were mostly 13 year-olds when they took a life. They too were devalued persons. This reporter told us that the parents of the killers did not know their children. They gave almost no parental supervision. Their parents had no idea where their children spent their evenings away from home.
These children were getting no parental support during the trial. None of the parents or family members were present when their children are giving testimony in the courtroom. One parent was off on a holiday to Mexico while their daughter is being cross-examined.
These children seem unable to comprehend that they have done something wrong. Rena Vert was nothing in their eyes. I suspect that deep down these young killers think of themselves as nothing.
Then, the reporter spoke of the parents of these children, and it would seem that they too were devalued persons.
Other recent killings of youth by youth, and youth suicide bear signs of this same disease. They all seem to be young people who have been bullied. In order to bully a person, you first have to devalue them; make them into nothing in your eyes. It would seem that some our society harbours a culture in which degradation of persons is tolerated, and even encouraged. One boy who was not involved in the killing, told a reporter that he was punched and beaten by the football jocks of his school, and that he had not recourse but to put up with it. Some children don't just put up with it. They form gangs.
Among our own school children, in this town, I have noticed that there is one child to whom some of the other children are openly mean. I think schools in which this behaviour is tolerated reflect a society in which we are allowed and eahaveven encouraged to speak of some people in disparaging ways.
We see the also the effects of devaluing among nations and peoples. It is clear to that the Israeli's and Plaestinians have long ago ceased to value one another.
In the parable of the Good Shepherd, Christ provides us with an alternate model for living together. It teaches that we all are both known and valued by our Creator, and it proposes that we treat one another in like manner. **
The church is to be one of the places where this is most clearly demonstrated. When we come into the church building, we are the flock of God coming into the fold. God in Christ notices us and values each of us as we come in. Here in the church building we are to receive the kind of attention that people show one another when each person knows they are of great worth. This is to be true in worship, or in board meetings, UCW meetings and events, youth group, Sunday School.
Then when we leave the church gathering, Christ goes with us, just as the shepherd in the parable accompanies the sheep into the hills. This is the Realm of God, which Jesus came to proclaim. It begins here and now, with each of us enjoying the love of God, and sharing that joy with our neighbours.
*The teen-ager in question was Rena Vert, of British Columbia, Canada. She was killed in 1998
** The parable of the Good Samaritan deals directly with such inter-racial hatred (Luke 10:25)
Easter 5, yr A, 1 Peter 2:1-10.
Last week's Gospel lessons held up for us one strong image of God in Christ, the Good Shepherd who knew each member of the flock, and whose voice was known by each of them. Last week's lesson used the image of a shepherd and flock to teach us about the believer's relationship with God.
Today's reading from 1st Peter gives us three widely different images to teach more about us and our relationship with God. One of the rules of composition given us by English teachers is not to mix metaphors. I don't know what they would say about 1 Peter. In the reading from 1st Peter we are first compared to new-born babes hungering for breast milk. Then we are called living stones, which are made into a temple. Finally, 1st Peter says we are all Priests called to proclaim the wonderful actions of God.
Apparently, these images were used to shore up the faith of people who were being persecuted for their belief in Christ. It seems to me that the author of 1st Peter three metaphors that would would strengthen three central parts of the faith life of these early Christians: We are nurtured by God, we are formed into a community of faith, and we exercise a mission.
Like babes at the breast they are fed spiritual milk to nourish them; Like living stones they are built together into a dynamic temple; Like priests they have the mission of proclaiming together the wonderful deeds of the creator.
It Judging by these images, it would seem that 1st peter learned from Jesus to see spiritual truths in the everyday things of life.
For instance, consider the imagery of a suckling child. I imagine 1st Peter being present in the home of a family to whom a child has just been born. In my mind I hear a woman in this family making the connection between spiritual nurture, and the infant's suckling. Maybe, as the child's mother leaves the room to feed her infant, the grand mother says: "There is a learning in this for us all. We are all like suckling babes feeding on the pure spiritual milk of God."
As she did so, the author if 1st Peter responds with enthusiasm: "Aha! That is us, children of God! We are newborn babes thirsting for the pure spiritual milk of God.
This reminds me of a situation of malnourished babies in some very poor parts of the world about twenty years ago. At that time a company that sold baby food was attempting to get mothers in developing countries to use infant formula instead of breast milk. To get mother's to abandon breast feeding, they send sales women, dressed as nurses, into villages, to teach mothers of new-borns that the modern way to nourish a child was through infant formula.
To help the mothers make the transition from old-fashioned breast feeding to modern formula feeding, the company gave the families free a one-month's supply of infant formula.
This could have OK - my own children were not breast-fed. It was not the fashion in Canada to do so, when they were infants. I myself was not breast fed because my mother was not able to breast feed, and I am healthy.
However, most families in these poor countries did not have the sanitary facilities at home to prepare infant formula, nor did they have a regular supply of clean water.
The result of this was that many babies were getting very sick. Therefore, churches and other Non Government Organizations around the world worked very hard to get this company to stop this practise of encouraging poor families to change from breast feeding to formula feeding.
It has since been shown that poor sanitation is not the only problem with using formula. In recent years it has been shown there are a multitude of elements in breast milk, which promote mental, Physical and social health.1. Some studies claim that a child fed breast milk is less likely to develop a number of diseases later in life.
I think all of the world's spiritual tradition's would agree that, just as babies are in danger of getting sick from inadequate formula, and dirty water, we all are in danger of being spiritually unwell from unsafe or inadequate spiritual food.
The corollary of that is also true: That is, to be fully human, we must be nurtured by the holy source of life. We need what St. Peter calls "pure spiritual milk."
We can see many instances of these truths in today's world. For instance, we are encouraged to feed our spirits and minds on the polluted formulae, might is right; or profit is everything.
From these formulae we get carpet bombing, tanks smashing homes, and children turned into bombs.
Pope John Paul II recently pointed out that a singular focus by drug companies on profits is putting much needed medication out of the reach of sick people in poor nations.2.
On the other hand, thankfully, It seems that people are beginning to see the falseness of this. A recent study of Canadian society by Reginald Bibby,3 hows that we are beginning to return to church. Could it be that people are beginning to seek pure spiritual milk, such as: Love God and love your neighbour; and caring for one another is the reason we are on this earth.
This image of a mother feeding her baby on her breast or by bottle is a very powerful and evocative way of describing our relationship to God, and to Christ.
I wonder if the writer of 1st Peter ever took this image to its logical conclusion, and pictured God as being like a mother. I wonder how many people have read this passage from 1st Peter and said to themselves or to their neighbour, "God is my mother and I am her nursing child. I am tenderly held in the arms of God, and there I feast on the pure spiritual milk that sustains me in life."
Then, I wonder how the writer of 1st Peter came to the second image used in this passage, the image of living stones. Maybe in those days when Christianity was made up of small groups meeting in homes, they were taunted by some people of the more established religions. Maybe someone derided them because they had no temple, and said: "You Christians are not a real religion! You have no temple to worship in and you have no priests to contact God for you. How can you claim to be a real religion with no temple or priest."
Then, I wonder if this was talked about among the Christian faithful. Maybe it was, and perhaps in that discussion someone said: "We have no need for a temple of stone! We ourselves are a temple. We are a temple built of living stones, with Christ as the Corner!"
Then, another person affirmed that saying: "Yes, having been nourished by the pure spiritual milk of God, we have grown to become living stones, formed together into a dynamic temple! Whenever we get together we are a temple of God, and God dwells within us."
Is this not an exciting and rich way to think of ourselves? Whenever and wherever we gather, we are a temple wherein God dwells. I think we forget this. I think we may not be as aware as we might be of God being in and around and between us every time all of us or some of us gather.
As we prepare for a meeting or a pot luck, or worship, let us anticipate being a temple wherein we experience the grace and love of God. This is a powerful description of ourselves, and we thank 1st Peter for sharing it with us.
However, 1st Peter doesn't stop here. In this letter we are also all identified as priests. This concept has become known as "the priesthood of all believers." To me this means a couple of things about our faith.
The first and most obvious is that we don't need anyone to contact God on our behalf. The role of a priest is to bring the people's offerings and concerns to the God. 1st Peter says we all are priests, and so have direct access to God's presence.
We learn this this from early childhood when we are instructed to say our prayers by ourselves at bedtime. Many times we will pray as a family, or as a church, and we are also free to pour out our heart to God when we alone. This is one part of the priesthood of all believers.
A second part of this priesthood, is the calling to pray on behalf of our neighbours and our world. We can do this together or individually. I once had a person tell me that she prayed every evening during the Television News. She prayed for the welfare of the people portrayed there; for the families fleeing war or famine; for those convicted of crime, and those hurt by crime. This is a second part of our priesthood.
1st Peter tells us that a third, central role, of the priesthood to which we belong is that of declaring to the world, the wonderful deeds of God. This also we may do together or alone.
May we constantly be on the outlook for polluted formulae which make us sick, and weak, unable to follow Christ, in showing love to God and to neighbour
Let us feed on that pure spiritual milk, and be nourished by it to grow continually into a temple of god's presence, and be strengthened by it to carry out our priestly mission.
Thanks be to God for this food for our souls, and for this great calling to which we have been called in the name of Christ.
1. Immune Benefits of Breast Milk at a Glance. White Blood
Cells in Breast Milk. ... Molecules in Breast Milk. ...
www.people.virginia.edu/~rjh9u/brmilk.html - 4k
Breast milk makes kids brighter, study suggests.
January 5, 1998 Web posted at: 11 ...
Description: [CNN.com]
Category: News > Online Archives > CNN.com > 1998 > January > Health
www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9801/05/mothers.milk/ - 8k
2. Prairie Messenger Vol. 79 No. 40 April 17, 02 www.stpeters.sk.ca/messenger
3 Reginald Bibby, "Restless Gods." Stoddard.
Pentecost Sun. Yr. A. Acts 2
Liturgical note: 7 Candles - Have seven candles set in place at the front of the room by the worship committee, or set in place by the children of the congregation - one for every Sunday of waiting since Easter. Warning! Make sure they are set it in a place that is far from anything flammable.
Light these candles at a point in the service after the reading of the Pentecost story from Acts, or after the sermon, OR you could tell the Pentecost story to the Church School students, before they leave for class, and have them then light the candles.
Sermon
Today is the Sunday of Pentecost. It is the day on which we remember that God needs and wants each of us to use the gifts we have been given. It is the day on which celebrate the power that God gives us to use our gifts.
Let me remind you of the story of Pentecost. The time is fifty days after Jesus' death and resurrection. For the first forty days of this time, the friends of Jesus (Mary, Cleopas, and the others) experienced the presence of the risen Christ. Jesus had died and yet was alive!
Then that forty-day time ended, and a time of waiting began.
The last thing the risen Christ told them was that they should wait; wait until they were baptised with God's Spirit. So, they settled in to wait without knowing how long the wait would be and without being sure what to do while they waited, and probably not sure what this "baptism of the Spirit" would be when it came.
So, during this time, they met and prayed, and elected a replacement for Judas.
As they have settled in to that, I think they may have become like a memorial society in which they could reminisce about Jesus, and all the good times they had before he was arrested. Mostly they just waited, and waited, and kept pretty quiet, not drawing attention to themselves.
Is there anything in your life that is like this? Have you ever had an indefinite time of waiting; waiting for something that was to come at an indefinite time?
These friends of Jesus didn't all hang around for the full fifty days. St. Luke (24:13) tells us that some of them had gone home after Jesus' death, then came back and waited. St. John (21:1) says that Peter and six others had gone back fishing, and then returned to wait for this baptism of the Spirit.
So, they were together on the day of Pentecost, the Jewish Festival of the Spring Harvest. This was the first long weekend (you might say) since Passover. Like Passover, the city was again filled with people from all over the Roman Empire who had come home for Pentecost - perhaps like Thanksgiving in the United States. So Pontius Pilate would have his soldiers out ready to quell any disturbance (much like the Israeli presence in Palestine these past weeks).
The friends of Jesus were staying indoors, hiding, you might say, in the upper room. They were having one of their regular prayer meetings, and perhaps getting restless, when all of a sudden the mood changed, and they got excited, and they got a purpose.
They got so excited, and so filled with purpose, that they ran out of the room and into the streets to tell everyone about Jesus, and about God's love. They were so excited, that people thought they were drunk. Peter had to remind the crowd: we are not drunk - after all it is only nine in the morning! They were filled, not with alcohol or drugs, but with the Spirit, and they never went back into hiding again.
You see, they now knew that God wanted and needed them to continue the work of Jesus. This was the effect of their baptism in the Holy Spirit. And today we celebrate that this is true for us also. God wants and needs us to continue the work of Jesus.
Now, I had an experience of the Holy Spirit this past week. It was on Thursday when Joanne, Harvey, myself and the youth group held a car wash to raise money for the children of Kosovo.
It was so much fun working with them - There was a spirit in the air, excitement that filled us all, and energized us. They arrived after school a half-hour before starting time - they were ready to go! You should have seen those kids washing those cars. Everyone could do some part.
Every one was inspired, every one was wanted and every one was needed; needed to send a message of love to the children of Kosovo, who had lost everything. The Spirit that was in those youth was God's Holy Spirit.
That is what Pentecost is all about - God tells us that we are needed and wanted to carry God's love into the world, and God gives us God's own Spirit so that we are inspired and energized to love the world.
Now before going further with this theme, I'll take a moment to remind us of where Pentecost fits into the Christian story of God's love for the world. For Christians, Pentecost is one of the four great festivals in which we celebrate God's four great acts of love: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost.
1. Thanksgiving: God's first act of love was Creation. God made the world out of love, and that's what we celebrate on festival of "Thanksgiving." On Thanksgiving we remember that we ourselves and the entire world are God's creation.
Then there was trouble in paradise. We human creatures became alienated from our Creator, and from one another, and from the Earth.
2. So, out of love for the world, God set out on a great mission of reconciliation; to remove those three gaps. (Between ourselves and God, between ourselves and other humans, and between us and the Earth.)
This is what we celebrate at Christmas. At Christmas we remember that our Creator chose Abraham and Sarah to be the founders of a people who would live in harmony with God, with one another, and with creation.
This plan included the Creator coming to be seen within creation again. So, God did come among us as again, as Jesus. In Jesus God reaches out to humankind to bring us back home to God, and to bring us into harmony with one another, and the earth.
But our institutions tried to get rid of God among us by killing Jesus.
3. Easter: So then we come to the third great festival, Easter. At Easter we remember that God, fooled and surprised those who wanted to be rid of God among us. God took upon God's own self, all the pain that humans could afflict, and gave back love. Christ is Risen!
4. Pentecost: This brings us to Pentecost. On Pentecost, God made the friends of Jesus into God's partners, and gave them and us the Holy Spirit to inspire and energize us all in this great mission of reconciliation.
That's how I picture those children at the car wash. God's Spirit reached out to them through the church, and God enlisted them to participate in reconciling the world. They were not just washing cars; they were reaching across a great chasm in this hurting and divided world to offer some hope.
Now, how might this relate to you and I this morning? I am convinced that Pentecost means that you and I are also wanted and needed in God's mission of reconciliation. You and I also are needed to have a ministry of closing the gaps between God and humanity, between human and human, and between us and the Earth.
I believe that God offers each of us, and all of us together the Holy Spirit to inspire and energize us in this three-part mission.
God has given each of us some ability to help close the gap between humanity and God, humanity and the Earth, and between humans.
One place to start thinking about this is to become aware of the gifts God has given you. Every one of us has abilities that can be used in God's mission of reconciliation.
Maybe you have the gift of speaking, or of friendship, of making things, cooking things, fixing things or being with children. Just think of the things that you really enjoy doing. Those probably are your gifts.
For instance, the other day, I was told that one of the women of the community is giving the UCW the gift of a quilt she has made. It seems to me that this gift can contribute to reconciliation on many different levels:
Creativity - making a quilt is an act of creativity - being creative always puts us in touch with our Creator; closing any gap between us and God as we work;
Offering - giving the quilt is an offering to God; any time we make an offering we are brought closer to God. When this quilt is given I think we should bring it up here to the altar as we would with any other offering.
Symbolically - most quilts are made by joining many small pieces together, so it can function as a symbol of reconciliation
Receiving - To receive this quilt will bring joy to the women of the UCW, and build up their community, drawing them closer through the shared experience of being gifted. Whatever the UCW does with the quilt, it will continue to draw people together.
So, it is with all our abilities; as we employ them the Holy Spirit uses them at many levels to accomplish God's purpose.
Praise be to God for the Gift of the Holy Spirit which has been given to each of us.
Letting Go Certainties, Living by the Spirit. ecclesicakes A434
Easter 7, Yr. A. Acts 1:6-14
How many times have you chosen change because you were ready to move on to the next stage in life or to a fresh challenge? Or how many times have you had to face a change that came to you and you had no choice but to face it? I know that pretty well all of you have faced alterations in your life, some of which you chose, and some of which you could not avoid.
Retirement was for me, one of those changes that is both a choice and something I couldn't avoid. For married women, widowhood is such a thing. I suspect that most married women know that there is a very high likelihood that they will become widows. It will be a stage of life, which you will encounter, and it will be a time of letting go of some certainties and moving on into the future with God's Spirit as your companion.
Of course all change also means loss of something. Many times I've witnessed a scene in a play in which a groom says goodbye to a long time friend, knowing that after the wedding their relationship will change forever.
I thought that I was ready for retirement, and the challenges and opportunities God would set before me. There was a time when I wanted very much to be an ordained minister. To become one, I was willing to give up a secure job, go back to school, study and work very hard for seven years. I also asked my family to help me by making sacrifices. Being a minister has taken most of my time and energy for over thirty years. I ate and slept my responsibilities as an ordained minister - it consumed me and it fed me.
Then there came the day when I had nothing in my appointment book for any day after June 30. I have known a number of people who found the transition to retirement to be very a difficult. At times, I wondered how it would be for me. However, as retirement neared, I found that I was looking forward to what God has in store for me.
This brings me to the passage from Acts that we read this morning. This passage is all about being ready for the next challenge and opportunity that God has in store for us in all our life: as individuals, as families, and as congregations.
This is a Sunday that calls us to consider this whole area of moving on to the next challenge and opportunity God has for us. The New Testament scripture lessons tell of a moment of great change in the life of the friends of Jesus. They are about to lose the last fragment of security, which they found in the presence Jesus, and are called to change themselves, and to be agents of change in their world.
For three years, with Jesus in there midst these men, women and children had formed a small community of hope, based on the love and grace. They had given up much of their past life to join this community, and they enjoyed being together in their travelling congregation, spreading the Good News.
They also had great hopes for the future. With Jesus among them, the things that humanity had longed for centuries seemed now possible. Some of the even thought God would come with an army of angels and make Jesus to both Emperor, and High Priest. The reign of God's shalom was about to come.
But then, Jesus was swiftly arrested and executed, and it all seemed over, but it wasn't over. First, they continued to meet even with Jesus gone. This itself worth noting. They discovered that love and grace had cemented them together. The shepherd had been slain, but the flock did not disperse.
So, this was another stage of their life together. They found that when they came together, the presence of Jesus was with them. They had lost the earthly Jesus and gained the Risen Christ. These were two potent learnings for the church.
The Grace and Love of God bonded them to one another, and whenever they met, Christ was in their midst. This phase lasted for forty day.
Maybe, the church could have stayed at this point; meet regularly to care for one another, and experience the presence of Christ. We have all, I am sure, known this: coming to church, meeting the people you like, enjoying the music, feeling really good about being here.
The first church might have been satisfied with the compensations of Easter. If so, it would have added one more religious organisation to a world that already had many of those. Churches that stay in Easter are actually quite popular. They are give comfortable answers, and don't ask for change.
The first Christians may have wanted to stay with Easter, but the Creator had other plans. In the Christian story, Easter ends 40 days after the morning of the empty tomb. At that moment two things happen simultaneously: first, Christ is taken into heaven to be seated at the right hand of God; secondly, the believers are commissioned to go out into the world as witnesses to the love and Grace of God that they experienced in Jesus.
This means two big changes for the Friends of Jesus; there will be no more appearances of Jesus. The mission that God began at Christmas is over. Christ has come, Christ has ministered, and Christ has gone.
The second big change is this - the Friends of Jesus are given a mission statement. They are to leave the cocoon of Easter and go out into the world and tell everyone they meet about the Love and Grace of God, which have experienced and learned through Jesus.
This is the challenge that faces the church today. We are to get up out of our pews, and go into that scary world and testify to the faith that is in us. We are always tempted to accommodate ourselves to a comfortable rut, even a rut of discomfort. Just staying in rut, even if we are not going anywhere, can be a compensation. We may not want to give up our nest even if it has some barbs in it.
It may be that at our age, we who are elders will say that we have nothing more to learn, and no more growth to anticipate. I myself feel that that is not so. Almost every year, the Gospel calls us to greater degrees of grace, and it is quite usual for me to want to resist that greater degree of grace because of the change it calls for. Mainly, I feel the Creator daring me to have faith, and to trust the Spirit. If you think you can't do it, come back next week and we will be reminded that God gives us the Spirit we need.
But once we rouse ourselves, we find lots of opportunities for growth and many ways to enact our mission: acts of love, telling people what the faith means to us, standing with those who are in deep need.
Recently this congregation received a letter of thanks for our response to the recent earthquake in Central America. At the same this congregation reached out to our local community by co-operating with the neighbouring churches to hold worship services in the community hall, and by raising money for a family in which the father was hospitalized in a terrible accident.
Allow me to tell about my Aunt Florence. She was a nurse during the second word war II. She was one of those hands-on nurses. She told me once of her training, and how one particular teacher was her inspiration. Shortly after she graduated, war broke out. After Pearl Harbour was bombed and the Japanese took many of the the Canadian defenders of China as prisoners, Japanese Canadians became objects of hatred.
The government moved several hundred Canadians of Japanese origin into Greenwood, B.C., a town near where my aunt grew up. They needed a nurse to run a hospital in that town. There were several nurses among the Japanese Canadians, but they were not trusted.
So, where would they get a non-Japanese nurse to show care and compassion to this hated yellow race? Even though a war was going on Aunt Florence was relatively untouched by it. She had a good position in a hospital in Vancouver.
She had decided to volunteer for overseas duty, then, one day learned of the need of these displaced Japanese Canadians, and she found herself volunteering to be the matron of their hospital in Greenwood where she would serve people considered to be her enemy and where the nearest doctor was an hour away.
Aunt Florence worked in community with Japanese Canadian nurses, some of whom were Christian. My aunt would have considered herself a Christian, although she rarely attended church. I know that the Spirit was with her in that hospital as she showed love to people the whole country had decided to hate and reject. I never heard her boast of doing so, but always spoke of the people she worked beside with affection.
Yet, for all that the real heroes of this story are those Candians of Japanese heritage who were able to love those who had made them enemies. They loved us enough to stay here after the war, and enough to force a later Canadian government to admit that a wrong had been done - thus setting a precedent that makes Canadian society a safer place for us all.
I could talk of other stories which I see acted out every day in our congregation; the stories of people who once were strong leaders in the church and community, but who are not able to be that any longer due to failing health and wearing down of age. Yet, I am continually being inspired by these people, their faith, and what they have stood for all their lives.
I see in this story of Aunt Florence, and in these other stories of our parishioners, what we are invited to beyond Easter. Beyond Easter we are invited to be daring; daring to be that person, and that community of faith which will face the challenges and changes that go with being the Body of Christ. We let go and move on with the love of God, the moral authority of Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
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Footnote:
1. Fortunately for me, retirement has been a good experience. For one thing, I have a small but adequate pension. This has given me time to be a father and grandfather (One grandchild, and two great grandchildren were born about this time). Retirement has enabled me to write, and to compose a family history. I have enjoyed learning to use a new computer, and manage a web site. I have good health. I had a heart attack a few months ago, but fortunately I was able to get to a hospital within an hour. So, life in retirement has turned out to be very good.
2. When we turn to the Gospel we find that it is about moving on; moving our lives toward the holy. Allowing the hand of the Creator to shape our living and our being day by day. This surely is gain, and it may also be loss, at least letting go of what we had before. It has been said that to be a Christian is like a plant growing from a seed into a seedling, then into a flowing plant, then into a fruit bearing stage, and then producing more seeds. To be a Christian is to be constantly growing till God plucks us up.
Pentecost 1, Trinity Sunday, Yr. A, Genesis 1:1-5
The Hebrew testament scripture readings for the next four Sundays are from Genesis, the part of the Bible which tells the oldest stories of our faith. They are about Creation, Abraham and Sarah, Sarah and Hagar, Abraham and Isaac. For the next four Sundays we will be focusing on these old, old stories.
On each of these Sundays I will unpack one these ancient tales of the faith by telling stories based on them.
The purpose for doing this is so that we might gain a deeper sense of how those ancient accounts relate to us and to the times in which we live.
We begin with the Biblical story of how the Earth and the Heavens were created. The bible's account of creation is not a literal scientific thesis; it is a statement of faith that asserts that creation is Good, and that we human creatures have a particular role within creation. So, let us today, enter imaginatively into the Bible's account of creation as found in chapter 1 of Genesis. [Read Genesis 1:1 - 2.]
In its economical use of language the Bible gives us an awesome picture of the way it was before creation. Before creation there was just two entities, the Creator God and a Formless Void.
Here is my story - telling interpretation of Genesis 1.
The
Creator and Formless Void, Friends in Creation
an
interpretation of Genesis 1-2:3
Long before there was a Solar system; Sun, planets, moons, long before there was a galaxy to explore, there was the Creator and Formless Void. They had been together for timeless aeons. Timeless, because Time had not yet been created.
However, the Creator was not satisfied with such a lonely emptiness, so I imagine that over those timeless aeons Creator and Formless Void had a repeated conversation. These conversations always began with the Creator expressing a desire to make something. The Creator would say to Formless Void: "I have a hankering to make something. I would like to you and I to be creative together, and make a world, a whole cosmos!"
Now, Formless Void always responds with a question: "Where would you get material to make this world? "
CG:
"Well, I thought you might like to become a world. I thought you
might be getting tired of being a Formless Void, and would enjoy
becoming a world, a cosmos, a universe, a galaxy even!"
To which FV
always said: "No, thank you."
But God was not discouraged, or angry. God just kept talking about the wonderful things FV could become if FV chose to work with God. God talked of flowers and deer, and love and tomatoes and pizza, and rivers and lakes.
This did get
Formless Void imaging what it might be like to change, so eventually
FV asked God: "If I agreed to be a world, how would we start?
What would we make first?"
CG: To this
God had a ready answer, "I think Light would be good. It is very
Dark here."
FV: Dark?
Light? What is what are they?
CG: I'm not
sure myself, but let me try. Maybe if I snap my fingers (snap), but
nothing happened.
FV: Maybe
you just say: "Let there be Light!"
So God tried
that, and poof, at that instant one whole side of FV became luminous.
"Well
that is interesting said FV. I kind of like this! But look, half of
me is still unlit.
And CG said,
"That is Dark. I think we need both; Light and Dark.
FV:
"This is sort of like getting a new wardrobe."
CG: How
would it be if we called your new cloths, Day and Night?"
FV: Are we
finished now? Is this the universe you had in mind?
CG: Well,
no. I thought you might like to become even more.
FV: Even More?
CG: Yes,
let's make a world of creatures who will enjoy the Day and the night.
These creatures could use the Day for play, and work, and learning
and growing, and building things"
FV: And what
will Night be for?
CG: Night
will be for cuddling, and sleep, and we could make some creatures who
like to come out in the Dark.
So it was that FV agreed to be changed into a universe of stars and planets, and on one planet God made lakes and trees, and creatures to swim, and run and play. At first wiggly things in the seas and then great Dinosaurs and after the dinosaurs God said let us see what the mammals and birds and fish can do. And some other bits of Chaos were turned into rocks and soil and trees and grass and flowers.
Along with all these creatures and things the Creator God changed other parts of Chaos into Love, and Joy, and finally Friendship, and future possibilities.
"I like
that friendship part, "said FV, "It's just like You and Me!"
"Yes,
" said God, "I like that Friendship part too! "
FV: I can't help but notice that you have left some me unchanged. I guess there will always be some of the old me around, eh? A little bit of the old Chaos hanging out at the street corners, eh? I like that!
CG: of course, without the old you, my Friend, there would be no Future, no more Becoming. large bits of the old you will be around forever, to become something fresh and new.
FV: Nothing will stay the same?
CG: No, and
that reminds me I have one more creature I'd like to make on that
spinning blue planet. I want to make a creature with whom I can have
a special friendship. I want to take one of those Mammals I made and
create a creature in our own image, Like us.
FV: Like us?
CG: Yes, I
want to make a creature who would be especially creative, like me and
full of possibilities, like you.
FV: Full of possibilities?
CG: Yes, actually, there is creativity and possibilities in all that you are becoming, but I want to make a creature with whom I can be a Friend. I want this creature to take care of everything you have become.
FV: That's a
big job.
CG: Yes, it
is. They will be up to it.
FV: I have a
question: If they are full of possibilities, will they be able to
make things?
Cg: Yes,
FV: Will
they also be able to unmake things?
CG: What do
you mean?
FV: Well,
would they be able to break things?
CG: Like
what? What could they break?
FV: Mmm,
maybe Friendship. If they are full of possibilities, could they undo
Friendship? If they can it could get pretty nasty.
Cg: Yes, I
hadn't thought of that. If they are creative, like me, and full of
possibilities, like you, they would be able to break things. Let me
think about that.
FV: They
will need help.
So, the
Creator God thought on that for a few eons. (We can now call them
eons because by now Time had been created.)
Finally the
Creator God said: I can see that there will be pain, so from time to
time I myself will go down onto that spinning blue planet to befriend
them, to experience the pain of the brokeness, and show them my Love.
FV:Risky!
CG: Also, I will give them my Spirit, so that in the end they will learn to embrace Friendship, and not break it. Maybe send angels.
FV: Angels?
CG: Did I
not tell you about the angels?
At this
point FV said: You can't call me Formless Void any more.
CG: You're
right, you need a more grand name now. You're not empty any more, so
maybe we could call you "full," or how about "Big and Full?"
FV: I like
the word you used in the beginning. Why nor call me, "Cosmos!"
CG: That
will do fine. From now on, you will be known as Cosmos!
FV: Cosmos
with some Formless Void still around?
CG: Of course.
And so it was that God created the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them. And God looked upon what the FV had become, and God said: "It is Good."
And so each of us is created full of creativity and possibilities; all this to be realized in Friendship and Love.
A
Voice of Hope in the Midst of Chaos ecclesicakes
A436
Told with permission, with names changed
P5 Mk. 10:13; Mt. 9:13 Lk. 9:46; Mk9:33; Mt. 18:1; Lk.18:15
In the small town in which I grew up I had a classmate whose mother and two brothers lived in the deepest poverty. Nesbit, the eldest of these boys overcame all the chaos of their lives to become a creative writer, pastor, social activist and generally a voice of hope. His brothers, Warner and John, on the other hand, descended into alcoholism and died in mid life.
I met Nesbit recently at John's funeral. He and I went for coffee after the service. We talked of the old days. Eventually he spoke of Warner and John.
Emboldened by this, I asked if her ever wondered how it was that his life and theirs turned out so differently. How did it happen that his life became grounded in hope, while theirs seemed to drown in despair?
He welcomed this interest, and replied, "I can't speak for Warner or John, but I do know what enabled me. It seems to me that I was given three gifts or graces. The first of these was love and affirmation; the second was a sense of the Holy.
The first came initially from my mother. She saw my birth as something of a miracle. Her body was twisted, crippled and left extremely thin by adolescent spinal meningitis. No one expected her to have a lover or children, so her delivery of a beautiful healthy child was a contradiction of that, which filled her with wonder. I was the apple of her eye.
By the time she was 21, and I was four, three more children had been born to my parents, adding to the burden of their 1930s poverty (Brian, the last, lived just a few months). Mom sought to receive each one with deep affection, but was overwhelmed by motherhood under those conditions. When my father abandoned us, she showed amazing courage and strength.
I know that the early affirmation I received carried me through many experiences of defamation in school and playground. It also led me to seek out other adults, such as the United Church minister and the social worker who would also affirm me. This was the first grace that set me on a hopeful path.
"I think I see the effects of this in your life," I said.
"Yes, I became convinced that we all must plant hope through support for children and their families, beginning with those close to us and including, the children of the world."
"You have been supportive of the UN's universal children's rights, and its opposition to the use of children as soldiers."
"Yes, It is very significant that Jesus gave special attention to children."
"You said you received one other grace?"
"Yes, a deep sense of the Holy. Do you remember, Rev. Bill Jacks? He always treated me as real person. We were not a church family, but he knew who I was, and when I met him on the street he would stop to talk with me. I was deeply moved by this, and led by it to believe that this was the nature of Holiness."
"This led you eventually into the church?"
"Yes. I became convinced that the church could bring hope to families and to the world, by reminding us that all persons and the Earth itself are sacred, and to be treated with respect.
"Some of my fondest memories are of our little family being able to laugh and love in the midst of the chaos. God was with us. Just last week I received a letter from John that was full of good humour. I could see the Spirit giving him hope him In the midst of his struggles. This is a third grace; to be shown the Spirit present in those who seem most overwhelmed by chaos, and to humbly acknowledge their neighbourly gifts."
This visit left me thinking, "How beautiful are the feet of those who announce peace, 'your God reigns!'"
Being
a Voice of the Spirit in chaotic times ecclesicakes
A308
Proper
10
Genesis
1, Ruth, Ps. 23,Is. 11&42:1-4, Mt. 20:16 Jn. 14-15,
Rom.
8, Eph.3:14-19, Rev.1,
With so much of our world in "chaos" we in the church are challenged to be among those who announce hope in a strong clear voice, like the messenger celebrated by Isaiah (52:7).
Fortunately, as the creed says, "We are not alone"1. in this. We have with us: the Spirit, the Scripture, and our neighbours.
Actually, I think it could be argued that any hopeful presence is the work of the Spirit. So, it seems to us that the first step in this direction is to open ourselves to the Spirit, our teacher-guide who will fill our minds, hearts and wills with the truth, grace, compassion, courage and love of Christ we need before we can start out on this venture.
It would seem that this is what the writer of John's gospel chapters 14 and 15 had in mind in naming the "Helper," and what Paul points to in Romans 8. This is what the writer of Ephesians 3:14-19 prays for: "To give you power through God's Spirit."
So, being filled with the spirit, we turn to hope-filled scripture im order to understand what hope is: Ruth, the prophets, psalms, and epistles. Right away Isaiah comes to mind - surely a book of hope. Let us prepare ourselves with images such as are found in chapter 11 and 42:1-4. Surely Revelations 21 is one of the supremely hopeful passages in our newer Testament. To sing together the 23rd Psalm is defiantly to proclaim hope in the face of any temptation to despair.
This exercise of communion with our sisters and brothers in the Spirit will surely bring us to grasp the meaning of hope. Is it not to know that Satan and Mammon and all the other gods which our world bows down to are not to have the final word? Jesus said: "Those who are last will be first, and those who are first will be last." Matthew 20:16
I am led from here to ask, "How?" What are the practical steps I may take to be an embodied voice for hope? Here is where we find that we are not alone.
I find that we are challenged to work along side others who, like God in Genesis 1, see Chaos as opportunity for creative change. Some would even say that evil lies in the straight ahead logic of the establishment which allows no dissent, and so advocate unreasonable acts of justice and love.
For instance, a friend of mine says that in all such matters, the place to start is at home, with those nearest to you. She believes in the practice of random acts of kindness - let us call them random deeds of hope - carried out with no expectation of return, in the knowledge that she will receive in surprising ways.
Others, like Maud Barlow, 1.insist that the "home" we start with is "Our home and native land." She and her companions, which we consider ourselves to be, call for our nation and all its institutions to choose hope-filled practices which allow each to contribute according to their gifts and insights and in which each receives according to their needs.
This week the mail brought a message from Alternatives&ldots;for a different world 2. asking us to build a global community by "addressing the fundamental needs of people everywhere on the planet."
Doctors without borders 3., and the Canada Food Grains Bank 4. give us examples of people willing to labour hopefully on the front lines of despair.
Physicians for Global Survival 5. call nations to abandon the practice of seeking solutions through bombs, and call for justice as the only foundation for lasting peace.
Our own church's outreach ministries offer hope by standing in solidarity with those who have been discounted by our society.
The church at large is called to bring hope in theological terms, holding up the sanctity of life and of the planet itself.
In the end each of us will make this journey in the Spirit in the company of the disciples of Jesus, and children of the Creator God. May God bless us in this mission!
Bob Kayes
1. Council of Canadians. www.candians.org
2. Alternatives. www.alternatives.ca
3. www.msf.ca
4. ww.foodgrainsbank.ca
5. www.pgs.ca
Laughing
with Sarah ecclesicakes A437
Pent 3, Yr A,Genesis 18:1-15; 21:1-7
Also appropriate when a minister is leaving
Today I want us to go with Sarah in her laughter. So, let us begin with a laugh (tell a church joke).
Now let us give attention to the laugh of Sarah, our mother in the faith. I want to propose that there is some of Sarah's laughter in us both when we, like her, doubt God's promises, and when we, like her, rejoice in God's promises.
Genesis tells of two times when Sarah laughed. First, when she heard that God's plan for salvation would include her becoming pregnant in her 90's (or older). This was a laugh of doubting and disbelief, with maybe a little hope in it:
"Now that I am old and worn out can I still enjoy sex? And besides my husband is old too! (this was before Viagra).
Maybe it was nervous laughter - which one of you ladies would want to become a mother after menopause? But God said to her: "Is anything to hard for the Lord to do?"
I hear this first laugh of Sarah in us when we complain that there are too few young people in the church. We despair of any new life in the church. But maybe God wants to do something great with you who think of yourselves as "old," as God did with Sarah? Is anything too hard for he Lord? Sometimes God does things with young people - like Mary, giving birth to Jesus, and other times with older people like Sarah giving birth to Isaac. In my experience this is still true in the church today. The Creator can work wonders with both young and old, and with young and old working together.
Then we heard this morning of Sarah's second laugh - the laugh of joy that came out of her breast when Isaac was born. This was the laugh of rejoicing over the fulfillment of God's promises.
I hear this laugh in the church too. I hear it when we try something as a congregation and God gives us success. Do you ever feel like dancing and laughing with joy because of God's goodness to you?
Church people laugh a lot, and that is very appropriate for a people who have seen God's promises fulfilled.
A friend told me that he felt that way at at the moment of her retiretment, when the executive secretary announced to her:"We release you from the responsibilities of being a minister in the church!"
She had a big grin on her face, not just because of retiring, but because of all the grace God had shown her over these last 64 years, and because of the promise of continuing grace for the years that are left to her.She said:"Because of Sarah's experience, I can believe that something new is going to be born through me too, in my old age."
In the past couple of years I have heard in this congregation, Sarah's laugh of doubt. Do we really have a future as a congregation?
But God did show you that in your old age, you can give birth
You as a congregation can laugh Sarah's laugh of rejoicing that I am leaving, and God has sent you a wonderful young person of faith to be in ministry with you. I hear your excitement about that!
Now, it is up to you to receive in love and rejoicing, as Sarah and Abe received Isaac as gift from God. Now there is before you a great opportunity to see God's promises fulfilled here week by week. Be ready to do your part in ministry with Shaun. When we asks for Bible study, it would be good if everyone showed up - not just to encourage Shaun, but so that you and he may grow together in faith and laugh together the joyful laugh of love in God.
Now, let us come with joy filled steps and happy face to this table of communion; rejoicing in the wonderful way we have known God's grace in our lives to this date, and anticipating much more for all the days lie ahead of us.
Rejoice, rejoice.
"What Goes 'Round Comes Around" ecclesicakes C301
Comment on "Attack on America "
calling us to repent, not just get rid of bin Laden, then go with
business as usual.
Proper 21 Yr. C. Luke 16:19-31
Originally preached by: Colin Peterson, Kirkfield Park United Church, Winnipeg, September 30, 2001
This is going to be a difficult sermon to preach. Because, you see, I want to do a risky thing. I want to think about what happened in the United States on September 11, 2001 in light of this well-known story of the rich man and Lazarus. I say it's a risky thing because all of us have been deeply affected by what happened there that day and perhaps, because of our legitimate anger toward the terrorists, we're not particularly open to any analysis that might assign some of the responsibility to the United States, and other Western powers. And so I need to say from the outset, maybe I've got it wrong. Maybe I'm making observations here with which you'll disagree. That's okay.
And yet I find the similarities between the two stories to be so striking and disturbing that I feel compelled to comment, with fear and trembling, trusting that somehow, in all of this, the Word of God will be spoken to us. I see three similarities: judgement, feigned innocence, and call to repentance.
So, let's take a look at some of the similarities between what happened in the United States on September 11th and this story of the rich man and Lazarus.
First of all we hear about judgement - judgement against the rich man for his neglect of poor Lazarus. Let's assume for a minute that the terrorist attacks on the US represented, as some commentators are suggesting, a day of reckoning for the US. I don't believe God caused those events, yet could they be, in some sense, a judgement on the American nation (and the whole capitalist West) for our history of political and religious imperialism and, of course, our disproportionate share of the world's resources?
I heard one young man refer to what happened there as "karma". You reap what you sow, what goes 'round comes around. You can't drop a bomb on Hiroshima and destroy thousands of innocent people, including women and children, without some kind of consequence, and I think we're talking about deeply spiritual consequences, maybe even divine consequences. You can't destroy innocent lives in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf without drawing some kind of wrath, maybe even divine wrath. You can't impose your political agenda on other nations without engendering deep anger and resentment. You can't design the rules of the world's economic game in a way that favours your own economy without expecting a response from those who are impoverished by your abuse of power. You can't hoard most of the world's wealth while others starve and languish in poverty, without standing under some kind of judgement.
Don't misunderstand me. There is no justification for the tragic death of so many innocent people. What bin Laden and the Taliban have done constitutes an act of evil proportions. And along side that, there seems to be a consensus among all the commentators, including Canadian and American military leaders, that this type of violence is a result of the growing gap between rich and poor. As one American political leader put it, "As long as there are oppressed people in the world we're going to have these problems."
And so the second similarity, between the two stories, is what I would call feigned innocence. "It's not our fault! We didn't know we had an obligation to look after the poor! We didn't know there was a problem! We didn't know our policies were causing poverty! We didn't know people were starving to death because of the system that we have imposed on the world!"
Unfortunately, there is still a lot of resistance to accepting responsibility for the injustices that lead to this kind of violence. Instead you hear such rationalizations as, "Those poor people are just jealous of our wealth." Such weak defenses are born of the assumption that American prosperity is due to some kind of superiority, some kind of righteousness, maybe even some kind of divine providence. They would see the imbalance of wealth as a result of hard-work and ingenuity, instead of confessing that the policies guiding the world's economic course are designed to favour the interests of wealthy and powerful Americans. They would subscribe to the lie that if only these poor nations worked harder and accepted our economic principles they could be wealthy too!
A classic example of this came from a talk show host on a local radio station (Charles Adler on CJOB) the other day. In an attempt to justify this "they're just jealous" rationalization, he was saying that the poor are responsible for their own plight and can't use their poverty as an excuse for violent or criminal behaviour. He cited himself as an example of someone who had moved out of a life of poverty into a position of relative success and prosperity. What he failed to mention however was that he is a white male with above average intelligence and considerable talent. He quite likely had loving and supportive parents who gave him self-confidence and sense of hope about his future. So, in that sense, it's an unfair comparison. In the game he was playing, he had all the good cards. He wasn't aboriginal or female. He wasn't born with fetal alcohol syndrome. His father didn't beat him or sexually abuse him. His closest friends and associates were not members of gangs. He hadn't had his self-esteem destroyed by the endless cycle of poverty and addiction. He hadn't been turned away from one prospective employer after another because of his colour or gender. He hadn't struggled academically because of an unstable home environment, malnutrition, or a lack of peer support. Even though criminal behaviour, especially of a violent nature, is intolerable to any person of faith, it is surely the logic of the rich man in our reading today, to suggest that those with wealth, power and privilege have no responsibility for the social and economic conditions that lead to crime. While there are those who accuse the poor of blaming others for their misfortune, the success of the poor in evading responsibility for their plight pales in comparison to the ingenuity of the rich in finding excuses for not sharing their wealth. I'm reminded of a recent cartoon in which one rich man is saying to another rich man, "If God really wanted us to help the poor, he would have made us more generous." No matter how you slice it, it is clear from our reading today that none of the rich man's protests or lame excuses or claims of ignorance will be tolerated.
As much as one feels great sympathy for the tragic loss of life in the United States and the innocent people, now, in a sense, victimized by the very system from which they gained their livelihood, there's a frightening similarity between the American government's feigned astonishment and the self-pity expressed by the rich man in today's Gospel lesson.
I do have a problem with this story from Luke's gospel. It is the notion that there is some sort of eternal punishment awaiting those who have lived unfaithfully, in this case the apathy and negligence of the rich man who refused to respond to the needs of Lazarus. I'm hard pressed to reconcile this stark, frightening image of a vengeful God with the image of the compassionate and forgiving Creator who is revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Even though I believe strongly in the notion that God has a preferential option for the poor and the oppressed, I have never felt that those with wealth or power were beyond the redemptive mercy of the Holy One.
The only way I can make sense of this reading is to see it as a metaphor, a parable of what happens when people live unjustly. It is not so much that there is a punishment inflicted by God, but that there are inevitable consequences for having ignored the needs of those who stand outside our fortress of prosperity and privilege. Call it "karma" or "what-goes-around-comes-around" or "reaping what you sow" but living selfishly, abusing one's power, neglecting the poor, give way to a recompense, a punishment, that is ultimately self-inflicted.
The passage makes a couple of things pretty clear. First of all, that there is simply no excuse for ignoring the plight of the poor. The mandate to live generously and justly has been revealed by countless prophets and yes, even the One who rose from the dead. Secondly, having been reminded of this mandate, there is still time for us to repent, to change our ways, to learn to share with those in need, to redesign the system until it works for everyone, not just a privileged few.
If this disaster is in some sense a call to repentance for the governments of the West, then there is no better way to ensure the ongoing safety of our citizens, then by peacefully eliminating the injustices that lead to violence and terrorism.
If we're serious about bringing about an end to terrorism, and if we're persuaded that poverty is a primary cause of such terrorism, then instead of blaming the poor, or dismissing their rebelliousness as jealousy, maybe we need to look at more creative solutions. Instead of dropping bombs on innocent civilians, perhaps we could provide the aid needed to rebuild nations that have been pawns in the long-standing power struggle of the world's most powerful nations.
I'm not saying that they shouldn't "get" bin Laden. Just as Dietrich Bonhoeffer supported a plot to assassinate Hitler, there are times when we, as people of faith, might have to support violent responses to such unimaginable evil. But, as one Canadian General put it, even if you destroy bin Laden and his followers, the world will not be a safe place until we have addressed the causes of terrorism. No long standing solutions will be found by waging war against our enemies, real or imagined. It is only when we have learned to share with those outside our gates that we can be sure no torment will come upon us. It is only when we have learned to live peacefully and generously with one another, caring for this planet and seeking the well being of all God's people that the great gulf can be bridged and the flames of destruction extinguished forever.
Amen
Full Members, Children in the Church ecclesicakes A112
Matthew 19:13-15
The place of children in the church and society remains a matter of debate. To me the main issue is around the question, "When does a human being become a spirtual being and full person? " Are we persons and spiritual beings at birth, at some later point in life?
My perspective on this questions is: Human societies have been slowly but surely moving from a position in which children are not persons or spiritual beings toward the assumption that children are spiritual beings and full persons at birth. Every society, religious organization and family is somewhere along this continuum, and moving toward the latter end of it; that is toward seeing children as having both rights as persons and something to share with the rest of us as spirtual beings.
This has practical implications for the church and its liturgy and for the society and its values and laws. For instance, if we consider that children are not full persons or spiritual being until reaching a certain age or being confirmed, their place in the church will be that of those under our authority who are being developed. They may be shaped and taught, but do not shape us, or speak to us except when mouthing back a script we have given them. So, they may take part in the Christmas pageant, but they do compose it to express their insights into the nativity. Or, they may read lessons in the liturgy, but they do not deliver the sermon. Again, they are expected to follow the rules of the church, but we do not see them as participants in making the policy.
On the other hand, if children are considered to be persons and spiritual beings, they may participate in the whole life of the church as full members of the Body of Christ, being children; just as the rest of us are members of the Body, being adolescents, young adults, middle-aged, or elderly.
Going
into a new land ecclesicakes
A434b
Or
What
Was it Like where you Came From?
Genesis
12:1 For use at time of graduation from school and other moves
I am aware that this is a very special moment for all of you and your families as you move from one stage in life to another. As I wondered what to say to you, I remembered that Jesus almost always addressed special occasions with a story, so that is what I will do.
Here's a story about moving. This story has been around for a long time, and you may have heard it before. As I tell it you might hear something in it that applies to you today:
One Spring Day, Farmer Brown was out mending fences when a U Haul moving van pulled over onto the side of the road, and a woman called out to him: "We are looking for a new place to settle. Tell me, what are people like in this area?"
Farmer Brown replied with a question:"What were the people like where you came from?'
The woman in the van replied: "They were cranky and hard to live with."
"Well," said Farmer Brown, "That's just how you will find the people here."
So, the family in the van drove on.
Soon another U Haul van stopped beside Farmer Brown, and a man called out: "We are looking for a new place to settle, tell me, what are the people like here?"
Farmer Brown again replied with a question: "What are the people like where you came from?"
"O, they are wonderful! We hated to move because the people in our former town were always so kind and good natured."
"Well," replied Farmer Brown, "That is just how you will find the people here."
So, the family in the van decided to stop for a while to see if the people in that place really were always kind and gentle."
Not long after a third van stopped beside the farmer. They too asked, "What are the people like here?"
"Well," said Farmer Brown, "What were they like where you came from?"
"They were the sort of people you could trust. They were people of true faith. If you needed help they were right there to lend a hand. You could fight with them, and make up. They didn't always agree with one another, but they cared for one another. We would like to find another place with people like that, people with whom we can grow, and develop."
"Well," said Farmer Brown, "You have come to the right place. That is exactly how the people here behave."
I take one lesson from that story. It is this: the most important thing about the new place will be the faith and expectations you bring to it. In the next stage of life you will find that the God given gifts you have in yourself and the God-given friendships and love that have brought you this far, will be with you in the next step in your life. Even If you want to change, God will provide people in the new place to walk with you.
You can be sure that the Peace of Christ, the Power of the Holy Spirit, and the Love of God will go with you.
Hagar,
and the God Who Hears ecclesicakes
A438
Revised
June 18/02
5th Sun. after Pent. Genesis 16, and 21;
With reference to > Exodus 3:7; Mat. 6:25; Rom. 3:10 and 4:1-5
Note to reader: The Hagar story may be one of the least mined sections of revelation in the Bible, yet it is a rich tragic tale of humankind's failure to love God and love neighbour, while reaching out to God who is full of grace, compassion and promise. Hagar's story touches several major biblical themes: the sin of humankind; the cry for justice and peace which will become the prophet's longing for messiah and the realm of God; the fulfillment of God's promises which will issue in the Kingdom ministry of Christ and salvation through grace alone. The story ends with brokenness, and loss for all the characters, and in spite of this God's promises remain.
Today our reading from the Hebrew Test. is about an Egyptian slave woman named Hagar and her Mistress, Sarah. It is a story about two women who are challenged to trust God's promises.
I ask that as you listen to this ancient account, see if you identify with any of the characters? This is one way to allow the story to speak to you.
Does the story of Hagar address anything in you personally, or does here story lead you to reflect on our society?
Or, does Sarah's struggle fit anyone you know?
Or thinking of both these women, where in your life do you have a struggle to trust God?
Now, here is my elaboration on this story of two women, and older woman, Sarah and a younger woman, Hagar, and their trust in God.
Sarah is an upper class person in her society and Hagar is her is slave girl. Hagar was the property of Sarah's husband, Abraham, but she was in Sarah's power . As such, Hagar had little life of her own - her whole being, every moment of her day, her person-hood, and her womanhood were completely under Sarah's control.
Sarah would not have thought it was wrong to hold another person in slavery. Among Abraham and Sarah's peers, slavery was an accepted and good thing. Everyone who had property had slaves. Sometimes a slave was a trusted servant and given status within society. By custom there were limitations on what a master or mistress could demand of a slave, but Hagar had a double disadvantage. Not only was she a slave, she was also a foreigner, an Egyptian. Generally in the Middle East a foreigner was considered less a person that members of one's own tribe, so it would be easier for Abraham and Sarah to abuse Hagar, the Egyptian.
Because of abuse, many slaves wanted to run away and be free, but that was not so easily done. A runaway slave was property who could be hunted down. Hagar did run away once, but an angel told her to go back because God had a plan for her, and would set her free at the right time.
Hagar did have three things going for her, she was a tough and resourceful person, her mistress had a need for her, and God's angels were watching over her.
Sarah was the wife of the head of the clan. She had a problem; she was childless. She had not filled her her role of producing a male heir for Abraham. This was necessary for the peaceful life of the clan. If Abraham had no male heir, there might a fight within the clan to see who would be the chief to follow Abraham.
Some might say that Abraham and Sarah had no need to worry, God had promised them progeny. However, their trust in God's promises was severely strained. They were getting old, and still had no child.
So, Sarah came up with a plan; Hagar would have a child in her place. This was a common practise. She and Abraham would use Hagar as a surrogate mother to produce a child for them. So Hagar was ordered to lay with Abraham and become pregnant. Maybe A and S convinced themselves that this is what God wanted them to do; "this is how God's promise will be fulfilled."
This, however, caused more problems. According to Sarah, Hagar got uppity. She could bear a child, but her mistress could not. The child who would potentially lead the clan was taking form in her body. She had status, She became proud and despised the childless wife. Sarah felt belittled. In that culture a childless woman may be told that God has turned away from her. In her own hurt Sarah responded with anger and meanness toward Hagar.
It got so bad that Hagar ran away into the wilderness. She found her way to a spring of water, and while she rested there, a messenger from God came to her. This angel said: "Hagar, the Creator sees your suffering and knows the your pain of slavery and the abuse you suffer. 1. The Creator has sent angels to spy out all the nations of men, and there is none that has learned not to make slaves.2. Even if I were to bear you away on my angel's wings, there is no man who would accept you as a free woman.
"So, I bring you this promise from God: Go back to Sarah, you will be her slave for yet a little while longer, then she will set you free, and God will make you also to be the mother of a nation. You will bear a son and name him, Ishmael, "God hears us."3.
So it was that both Sarah the mistress and and Hagar the slave girl have a promise from God that they would be the mothers of nations.
Upon hearing this, Hagar chose to trust in God's promise, and she did as the angel told her. She went back to Sarah, and bore Abraham a son and named him, Ishmael, "God Hears". At this point, however, Ishmael was not legally Hagar's son. She could be the child's nanny, but she and Ishmael belonged to Abraham; legally Ishmael was the child of Abraham and Sarah.
Well, Now things get even more complicated. Sarah becomes becomes pregnant. You will remember that God had promised A and S many progeny. So, now in her old age the promise is fulfilled, This, however, raises a problem. Now there are two sons who have claim to be Abraham's heir. This threatened the peace of the clan, so again, Sarah comes up with a solution. Her plan was to give Hagar her freedom, and send her away with her child, Ishmael.
Abraham protested at first. He says he doesn't want to lose his son, Ishmael. but God tells him to do as Sarah advised, because God has made a promise to Hagar, and has a plan for Ishmael. He too will have many descendants.
So, Abraham gives Hagar both her freedom from slavery, and her son. But He does it in a mean way. 4. He gives her a bag of food, and a skin of water, and sends her on foot into the wilderness with the child on her back. You have to wonder: did Abraham really believe that a young woman would survive in the wilderness carrying a child. He didn't even give them a tent and supplies for a long trip, or a donkey to carry them. Instead of justice Abraham gave her a little charity. It would seem that she was sent out to die.
Indeed, the water soon ran out, and Hagar placed her dying child child in the shade of a bush, and sat down to weep.
But, remember, God had made a promise to Hagar. So. while she sat there and wept, a messenger from God came to her again and said: "Don't cry, Hagar, pick up your child," and as she did so, God opened her eyes, and there she saw a well of cool refreshing water.
The end of the story is that God was with both Isaac and Ishmael and through the fulfillment of God's promises, to both Sarah and Hagar, but is far from being a feel-good story. It shows God working in spite of the sinfulness of us human beings and our hurtful ways with one another.
Did you find any of your experience reflected in this story?
Then beyond the personal, did you see anything of our world in their world?
Sarah and Hagar both became the mothers of great nations. The Arab people of today trace their roots back to Ishmael, and the Jewish people have Isaac as their ancestor. So, It is a story that begs the question: How might the world have turned to be better place today if our long ago ancestors had learned to practise love and justice.
This raises a question for we Canadians as nation too. Are we coming to hold attitudes toward other nations such as Abraham and Sarah are pictured to have toward Hagar?.
1. See Exodus 3:7. 2. See Romans 3:10; Psalm 14, 53. 3. Exodus 3:7b; Matthew 6:25f 4.Roman 4:1-5
God's Model of Change for Men ecclesicakes A439
Isaac as
sacrificial offering
Yr A. 6th after Pentecost. Genesis 22
Do any of you watch the Red Green Show? This is a Canadian television program in which men poke fun at men. A lot of women, enjoy this show. Red Green ends with a group of men taking an oath together. Can any of the men or women here today remember that oath?
I wonder if the men here would say it together as they do on the show. Would you repeat after me: "I am a man [I AM A MAN], and I can change [AND I CAN CHANGE], if I have to [IF I HAVE TO]." Now let's do that again with bit more fervor!
I can change. Today's Hebrew Testament is about a man whom God was able to change. In today's Hebrew scripture passage, Abraham has bound Isaac hand and foot, and is about to kill his only child as an act of faith, when God stops him, and provides a goat to be killed in place of the child. [aside: In reflecting on the death of Jesus, the writer of Hebrews teaches that the whole sacrificial system is to be replaced with doing good. Heb. 13:16]
The scripture tells us that God brought Abraham to the brink of sacrificing Isaac in order to teach him that his God does not require child sacrifice; Abraham's God is opposed to any such action. (retell Gen.22:1 - 19)
One way to interpret this story is to see it as calling us to examine our values and our behaviour to see if they correspond with how God wants us to live together in society; an interpretation that focuses on what this passage says about the changes men are called to participate in in order for us to have a society built on love for neighbour.
I want to suggest that this biblical passage is telling us men and fathers that God calls men in every generation to examine their values and ways of living with a view to changing those things which stand the way of the creation of a Godly society. Often this will mean re-examining things we now call good.
In Abraham's time child sacrifice was what every good religious man did. In the homeland of Abraham and Sarah, tall pyramids were erected to bring the priest close to the gods. They placed their alters the top of these structures, and every year, virgin girls and boys were taken to the top of these structures, laid on the alters and sacrificed.
There is some evidence in the Bible that even the Hebrew people practised child sacrifice. That evidence comes in the form of scolding those who do it. Psalm 106 verses 20 and 21 says: "They intermarried with pagans and offered their own sons and daughters to their idols." The prophet Ezekiel (39:17-20) also scolds his people for idolatry and child sacrifice.
These acts would not have been seen by these people as brutal or cruel. Human sacrifice was understood to be the epitome of holy action. Those who were chosen to be sacrificed were to think of this death as an honor and passage into paradise. We can imagine their equivalent of Sunday School in which children would have lessons on the privilege of being chosen as a sacrifice?
It was accepted that all deities required child sacrifice, but Abraham learned that his God does not. This story calls all men to be like Abraham, and stop doing it.
For me the end to child sacrifice would include our modern practice of sending our youth to war. If we must have war, let us pass a U N resolution that all soldiers must be 65 years of age or older (unless they have already been to war), with presidents and prime ministers in the front line.
Ending child sacrifice is only one of the changes that God has led us to make over the centuries. Let me just list a few of those changes that godly men and women have made.
-Slavery: At one time slavery was highly acceptable and practised in every society. Slavery was un honored economic activity. If we look up our ancestors we may find some who made their living by raiding other people's villages, and carrying off boys and girls to sold as slaves. Theree is also a good chance that one of our ancestors was such a slave. St. Patrick came to Ireland in this way. As a teenager St. Patrick was captured by raiders who then sold him.
At one time you would be laughed at for suggesting an end to slavery, but would anyone here today advocate one person owning another? Slavery is still practised in some regions of the world, but it is now considered to be a crime against humanity. Christians, and other people of good will have recently been buying the freedom of slaves in Africa.
-Cruelty to animals: Cruelty to animals is now illegal. At one time a man had the right to treat his animals any way he wanted. Recently in Manitoba a man was charged for operating a cruel Puppy Mill.
-Care for the elderly is now the norm. Just a generation ago, many elderly Canadians would end their life in terrible poverty. Now every Canadian is guaranteed at least a small pension, and if needed a bed in a seniors care home. When these things were introduced it was argued that such things would spoil the poor, make old people lazy.
-Wife and child beating is a crime. Not long ago men were told that it was their right and their duty to beat their wives and children regularly to keep them in line.
Some of us are bound to say, "I spanked my children and it didn't hurt them." I am one who spanked my children- sometimes quite hard. But last week I saw my how my daughter was with her children. She talked with them, and never raised a hand to them. I thought: how wonderful this is - much better than spanking.
-Medicak care: It is the law in Canada that every person have the medical care they need. Less than a generation ago, the family of a wealthy man in Canada could get the best health care there was, but the poor could die. Now, as a comedian once said: Canada is a funny country, a pack of cigarettes costs $20.00, but a heart transplant is free.
-Tyrants can't do whatever they want with their people. At one time, national sovereignty was a sacred concept of world affairs. We were not to interfere with inner workings of another nation, however unjust that nation was to to its minorities. But today that rule is falling away, and leaders who treat their people cruelly will be charged with by the international court.
I would argue that all these changes are the result of God's Holy Spirit working through courageous women and men.
This struggle continues:
-Destroying the environment is becoming a crime. Just a short time ago, a property owner could do anything he wanted with his land. Every forest could be cut down, and every lake polluted in the name of the god, Progress. When I was 12, a leader took group of us hiking to camp at the edge of a lake on Vancouver Island. When we got the lake we found that all the trees had been cut. For as far as you could see there was nothing but white stumps.
However, just this week Canadian lumber companies and environmentalists agreed on ways to have both jobs in the forest industry, and preservation of the forest including all its natural life. The lumber executives have said that clear-cutting is wrong, and the environmentalists have said that denial of any logging is also wrong.
I believe that God's holy Spirit is behind these changes, As God showed Abraham that child sacrifice was not what God wanted, God has acted down the ages to show what God wants and does not want. In all cases men and women worked side by side to bring them about. Christians were at the forefront of every one of them. These changes were not easy to make. Each one of them took a great struggle, and a change in our hearts and minds, and attitudes so that society would be more in keeping with the will of God, which is: "love your neighbour as yourself.."
Today, we are continuing to struggle with two of the toughest barriers to the Good Life, poverty and war. The question is, how can we change things so that all people have access to the basics of life? How can we build a world in which there is not great disparity between rich and poor, and in ehich all may dwell in safety?
How can we build a world with economic equity. Could we have a world in which every family was assured of a modest home, and enough groceries to feed themselves?
Christians have been working on this problem for centuries, and continue to work on it. Hutterites and Mennonites have dealt with this by forming communal life in which everyone is treated equally. Habitat For Humanity is an organization that seeks to have every family in a home which they have helped build. In society at large we have tried social programs, soup kitchens, and food banks, but we still have a world in which some have more food than they and others are hungry and malnourished.
Could we have a society in which every family could have adequate housing, sufficient nutrition, warm clothing, and education? Can you imagine a country in which every family was able to get free groceries?
-War- At this very moment the world's most powerful nations are engaged in war. It seems that the leaders and many citizens in every nation considered war an honorable and good activity. It is their preferred way attempt to remove certain evils from the face of the earth. However, there are people of faith who are challenging the truth of the assumption that war is good.
From Abraham to now God's Holy Spirit has led us to examine the ways we live together to see whether or not what we consider to be good, is actually what God wants. May we each be open to the guiding of God's Holy Spirit as She leads to a world of neighbours.