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A Deaf community's Nativity story, "ANGELO, The Deaf Angel" A206
This story was written by the Rev. Ken De Lisle for 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!"
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)
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
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
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
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."
"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.
A congregational enactment of Feeding of the Multitude <A102>
Originallywritten for White Gift Sunday
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?
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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 towardthe 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.
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.
She looks out an imagined window.
"IT IS
JUST DAWN AND I HAVE BEEN UP ALL NIGHT,
EVEN
NOW I AM TOO EXCITED TO SLEEP.
I WISH
MIRIAM WAS HERE SO I COULD TALK TO HER...
I NEED
TO SHARE THIS EXPERIENCE WITH HER.
I WANT
TO TELL MY DAUGHTER ALL THAT HAS HAPPENED HERE THIS LAST WEEK".
She takes the duster, and
begins dusting imagined furniture, stops and faces the audience,
"I KNOW. I
WILL WRITE TO HER. I WILL WRITE A LETTER,
AND ASK ONE OF OUR
VISITORS TO DELIVER IT TO HER
AS THEY GO PAST CAPERNAUM!"
She moves to the wooden chest,
and takes out a box of writing material and sets it on the
table. She opens the box, takes the bowl to the water pail and
dips a tiny bit of water into bowl, then returns with it to the table
and sits.
"SURELY ISAAC WON'T
COMPLAIN IF I USE A BIT OF INK AND PARCHMENT
TO TELL MIRIAM THIS
WONDERFUL NEWS."
Congregation: Carol, "Come
Thou Long-Expected Jesus" two verses
As Carol is sung, Midwife takes
a block of dried ink and a knife from the box, and scrapes the block
of died ink into the bowl of water, then mixes it with the pestle.
Finally, she spreads out the parchment and begins to write with the
quill (not actually getting the nib wet).
You can tell by watching her,
that this is not something she does often.
As the congregation settles
back into their seats after the hymn, she continues to write for a
moment, then, Picks up the scroll and reads what she has written
(Scroll id printed with text of letter):
"MY DEAREST
DAUGHTER, MIRIAM, I DO MISS YOU.
ESPECIALLY,
DURING THESE PAST DAYS AND NIGHTS.
THIS HAS
BEEN THE MOST AMAZING TIME IN ALL MY LIFE.
AS YOU
WELL KNOW, I HAVE DELIVERED MANY BABIES,
AND I
HAVE SPENT MANY NIGHTS WITH WOMEN IN LABOUR,
BUT
THE NIGHT OF THIS BIRTH, AND THESE NIGHTS OF CROWDS,
AND
STARS, AND ANGELS, AND SHEPHERDS, AND MAGI, I SHALL NEVER FORGET.
TO BEGIN
WITH, THIS TAX REGISTRATION
HAS BEEN
LIKE HAVING TEN WEDDINGS IN ONE WEEK.
PEOPLE KEPT
COMING UNTIL EVERY ROOM
IN EVERY
HOUSE IN ALL BETHLEHEM WAS FULL,
AND SOON
PEOPLE WERE SLEEPING IN THE STREETS.
YOUR FATHER
GOT VERY CRANKY, SAYING OVER AND OVER:
"NO
ROOM, NO ROOM, WE ARE FULL! SORRY."
THEN, THERE
CAME THIS ONE COUPLE HE COULD NOT TURN AWAY.
MARY, AND JOSEPH.
SHE WAS
PREGNANT, AND TIRED, AND SO YOUNG.
HE WAS
ANXIOUS ABOUT HER, AND HER NEED TO REST.
THEY HAD
COME ALL THE WAY FROM NAZARETH.
SO, YOUR FATHER
CALLED ME: 'SARAH, COME QUICK.'
I COULD SEE
RIGHT AWAY THAT SHE HAD NOT LONG TO WAIT,
A NEW CHILD
WOULD BE PUSHING ITSELF
INTO THE
WORLD THAT NIGHT, FOR SURE!
BUT FIRST,
THEY WERE HUNGRY,
SO, I GOT
THEM SOME GOATS CHEESE AND BREAD,
WE LED THEM
THROUGH THE CROWD INTO THE BACK,
TO THE STABLE,
WHERE IT WOULD BE QUIET.
THEN I CALLED
ANNA. SHE'S MY NEW MIDWIFE TRAINEE.
ANNA BEGAN RIGHT
AWAY TO SWEEP THE FLOOR - SHE'S A GOOD GIRL.
I FIXED A BED FOR
MARY OF FRESH CLEAN STRAW.
JOSEPH SAT ON THE
FEED BOX.
I LEFT THEM THEN
AND TOLD ANNA,"CALL ME WHEN THE PAINS BEGIN.
WELL, I HAD BARELY
GOTTEN TO SLEEP
WHEN ANNA WAS POUNDING
ON MY DOOR - LIKE ALWAYS!
SO, I CAME DOWN RIGHT
AWAY, AND BEGAN MY WORK.
THIS WAS MARY'S FIRST,
SO I COACHED HER ON BREATHING AND PUSHING,
WHILE ANNA COOLED HER BROW.
JOSEPH, OF COURSE, WENT OUTSIDE.
AS SHE LABOURED, SHE
KEPT SAYING THE STRANGEST THING:
'THIS IS GOD'S CHILD,
THIS IS GOD'S CHILD!'
WHEN I TRIED TO CALM HER,
SHE TOLD ME A FANTASTIC STORY."
Scene Two, Mary and Joseph are visited by the Angel
Stage hand, sets in place: a
bench with two cushions on it
Midwife, during the following
scenes, remains at her place at table.
Mary, a youth, comes onto stage
and sits on bench doing needlework.
If there is no youth in the
congregation, recruit a woman of childbearing years (who perhaps has
an infant of less than three months or a teenaged grandchild of a
member of the congregation
2nd Reading: Luke 1:26 - 38,
Angel visits Mary.
Carol, "To a Maid whose
Name was Mary," verses 1, 4, 5 & 6 Rusty Edwards,
Gracia Grindle.
Angel (an older woman) comes
and sits beside Mary, taking Mary's hand in hers.
Mary and the Angel sit facing
one another.
Angel, exits after the third of
these verses has been sung.
Mary, exits at end of hymn singing.
3rd Reading, Luke 1: 39 -45
Mary visits her cousin, Elizabeth
Solo or communal reading - Magnificat
Midwife - writes for very brief
moment, then stops to read what she has written
"I LISTENED
TO HER STORY.
TELLING IT SEEMED
TO CALM HER.
BUT CAN YOU
IMAGINE THAT? A VISIT BY AN ANGEL?
I HAVE TO SAY, I
FOUND MYSELF WANTING TO BELIEVE HER.
WHEN SHE WAS CALM,
I LEFT HER IN THE CARE OF ANNA
WHILE I WENT OUT
TO ASK JOSEPH TO BRING US SOME FRESH WATER FROM THE WELL.
HE GOT THE WATER,
BUT HE ALSO HAD A STORY TO TELL."
Joseph - comes onto the stage
carrying a blanket. He wraps the blanket around his shoulders, and
lies on the bench. He sleeps restlessly.
Angel, enters and stands by
Joseph's bedside.
4th Reading Matthew 1:18 - 25.
Joseph, tosses and turns in his sleep.
Angel, exits after reading.
Joseph, awakens and exits.
Scene Three, Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem
Carol; "O Little Town of Bethlehem"
Midwife, exits during carol
Inn Worker (stagehand) during
this singing, sets Manger in place, puts bench near it, and moves
second chair to back of stage.
Innkeeper, enters, goes to
imagined front door of Inn, sweeping briskly, then freezes in
position during the next reading.
5th Reading Luke: 2: 1 - 4.
Journey to Bethlehem.
Mary and Joseph, enter together
from back of congregation, and proceed down aisle during the reading
Innkeeper, comes to M & J
as they step past the front row of seats.
Innkeeper and Joseph, pantomime
discussion about a room at the Inn.
Joseph, points to Mary,
Innkeeper, notices that Mary is pregnant
"SARAH, SARAH COME QUICKLY!"
Midwife, enters onto stage,
notices them, and comes to them, speaks briefly with Mary, then to
Innkeeper, and leads them onto the stage to the manger.
Mary and midwife - sit on bench
beside the manger. Midwife takes Mary by the hand in a motherly way,
and mimes asking her questions related to her pregnancy.
Innkeeper leads Joseph to chair
at back of stage, where he leaves him sitting.
Scene 4, The Birth
Two Angels, enter with large
coloured sheet, and hold it between them to curtain off the manger
scene so that Mary and the Midwife are not seen by the congregation.
6th Reading Luke 2:5 - 7
Birth of Christ
Congregation, Choir, or Soloist
"Gentle Mary"
Angels, exit with the sheet, at
end of carol.
Mary, is tired and reclining on
straw bed
Midwife passes wrapped Christ
child to Mary
Mary takes "baby
Jesus" into her arms.
Joseph comes and kneels (or
sits) beside her.
Carol, "Away in a Manger,"
Midwife - during this carol,
moves to the table and writes. After the carol she reads what she has
just written.
"THERE WAS
NOTHING UNUSUAL ABOUT THE BIRTH ITSELF;
THE GASPS OF PAIN,
THE SWEAT, THE BLOOD, THE CHILD'S FIRST CRY,
I'VE SEEN AND
HEARD THOSE A HUNDRED TIMES BY NOW.
BUT AS I RECEIVED
THE INFANT INTO MY HANDS
I FELT A TINGLE GO
UP MY ARM,
AND A LIGHT SEEMED
TO COME INTO THE ROOM.
I'VE NEVER KNOWN
THAT BEFORE!
O, I FELT MY HEART
FILL WITH JOY
&ldots;JUST AS I
DID WHEN I GAVE BIRTH TO YOU.
AFTER I PLACED THE
INFANT IN MARY'S ARMS,
I WAS FAINT FOR A
MOMENT. IMAGINE, ME, FAINT!
I'VE HEARD PEOPLE
SAY THAT THERE COMES A TIME
WHEN YOU KNOW WHAT
YOU WERE BORN FOR.
WELL, I THINK THIS
MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE MOMENT
I'D BEEN TRAINING FOR
IN ALL MY YEARS AS
A MIDWIFE.
AND TO BE ABLE TO
WRITE ABOUT IT!
WHAT A BLESING!"
Scene five, Shepherds
Midwife, pauses to gather her
thoughts for moment, then writes.
Shepherds - enter and take
position on "hill."
Midwife - reads what she has written
"WELL IT SEEMED WE HAD JUST GOT THINGS CLEANED UP,
AND CALLED JOSEPH IN,
WHEN THERE WAS A CLAMOR AT THE DOOR - SHEPHERDS!"
7th Reading Luke 2:8 - 14
Angels, appear to the shepherds
during this reading
Choir, becomes Heavenly Host
and sings Gloria
Angels - at conclusion of
Gloria, exit to, front row seat.
8th Reading Luke 2: 15 - 20
Shepherds - following this
reading, Shepherds move to Manger
Carol "While Shepherds Watched"
Shepherds - exit during carol.
Mary and Joseph - During carol,
after the shepherds exit, move from Manger to bench
Stagehands, remove Manger - if
this can easily be done
Scene six, Magi
Midwife - writes, then stops to
read what she's written.
"NOW, MY STORY MOVES TO A WEEK LATER, MY DEAR.
I HAD
BARELY ANY SLEEP SINCE MARY'S CHILD WAS BORN.
THERE
HAS BEEN THIS BRIGHT STAR IN THE SKY,
AND I HAVEN'T SLEPT FOR WATCHING IT.
AND NOW WE'VE HAD MORE VISITORS!
AND I'VE HAD ANOTHER NIGHT WITH NO SLEEP!
I'M
BOTH EXITED AND EXHAUSTED!
WOULD
YOU BELIEVE - ORIENTAL PRIESTS OR KINGS, MAYBE;
MAGI
THEY CALL THEMSELVES - THREE OF THEM.
THEY
ARRIVED JUST AFTER NIGHTFALL,
CAME
HERE ASKING ABOUT THE CHILD -THE BIRTH?
I KNEW
RIGHT AWAY IT WAS MARY'S CHILD THEY WERE ASKING FOR.
BY
THIS TIME MARY AND JOSEPH AND THE BABY -
THEY
NAMED HIM JESUS - LIKE THE ANGEL SAID,
WELL,
THEY HAD A ROOM AT THE INN - OUR INN!
SO
THESE MAGI CAME THERE.
YOUR
FATHER JUST ABOUT TRIPPED OVER HIMSELF TO SERVE THEM,
BUT
THEY WANTED ONLY TO SEE THE BABE.
WHAT A
STORY THEY HAD TO TELL."
9th Reading: Matthew 2: 1 - 12.
Magi enter from behind
congregation down aisle.
Innkeeper, enters briskly onto
stage, then down to floor level, and greets them with bowing and smiling,
Magi, mime asking directions
Innkeeper, acts puzzled,
then mimes, "aha," and points them the way to M & J.
Magi, proceed onto stage and
present their gifts to the Christ Child, and pose there while Midwife
reads final entry in her letter.
Innkeeper - Moves chair, and
sits beside his spouse, the Midwife.
Midwife "I HAVE TO CLOSE
THIS LETTER NOW,
THE MAGI ARE
LEAVING BEFORE DAWN,
THEY ARE
GOING HOME BY A BACK ROAD,
STAYING AWAY
FROM HEROD.
THEY WILL
DELIVER THIS LETTER TO YOU ON THEIR WAY.
I HAVE
THIS FEELING THAT ALL THE DREAMS OF THE PROPHETS
ARE
COMING TRUE. MY HEART IS FULL OF PEACE AND HOPE.
I SEND
MY BLESSINGS TO YOU AND YOUR DAVID,
AND
YOUR LITTLE SARAH.
YOUR MOTHER."
10th Lesson, John 1: 1-5; 10 - 14.
Carol "The first Noel"
Innkeeper - adds his mark to
the letter
Midwife - takes letter to Magi
Magi - exit down aisle
Mary and Joseph - exit
Angels -(who have been seated
in front row of congregation) exit following Mary and Joseph
Innkeeper and Midwife - exit
Hymn, "Once in Royal
David's City."
Producing this Pageant
Staging at front of church
sanctuary, with pulpit/ lectern moved to one side. Stage is set in
two halves. On one half is a small table and two wooden chairs, a
small cupboard with a dusting feather hanging from a side.
Below the cupboard is a wooden chest. Inside the chest are
writing materials in al wooden box (small ceramic bowl and pestle,
leather pouch containing a block of dried ink, a small dull knife,
and roll of parchment, This "parchment" has printed on it,
the letter the Midwife reads to the congregation). Beside it is a
wash stand with wash bowl, water pail with water, dipper and
towel. An inconspicuous microphone is usually a big help to
inexperienced actors, so set one on the table from which the Midwife
will read her letter.
The other ½ of the stage
will be set at times as a home interior (represented by a simple
bench), and as the Manger.
Stage hands. You will need two
stagehands to move sets during the pageant
Fire hazard - If there is straw
in your Manger, be very careful of fire hazard. Keep candles well
away from inflammable material. Set a couple of fire extinguishers
where they are within easy reach of the stage. See that two people
trained in their use and identified as fire fighters are seated near
the stage. Name one of the ushers to be ready to phone 911 should the
need arise.
Casting - List of characters in
order of appearance:
Midwife, Innkeeper;
Mary, Angel of the
annunciation; Joseph, Angel of Joseph's dream;
Angels who shelter the birth;
Shepherds, Angel who tells them
of the birth (all the angels noted above)
Magi.
I suggest that the usual
assigning of roles according to sex (i.e. angels=women, shepherds and
Magi = men) can be forgotten with delightful results.
I suggest also that you share
the reading among two or more readers.
My experience of casting this
pageant with older adults as players was that they filled these roles
with the faith that had seen them through a lifetime of experience.
MY FAITH AND MY POLITICS ecclesicakes A401
originally written for Advent 1, Year A.
Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans. 13:11-14; Mattthew 24:36-44
In this passage, Isaiah challenges me to think seriously about how my
faith and my citizenship relate to one another. For instance,
when I go to the polling station to vote, should my religion have
anything to do with it? Do I want my government to legislate
according to my religious convictions? The 2004 United States
presidential election certainly has caused liberal-thinking
citizens to be dismayed over the ballot and policy power of
"evangelical" christians.
Isaiah also raises an appropriate question for this time of year.
Last Sunday we celebrated "Reign of Christ Sunday." Today,
on the first Sunday of Advent as we move toward celebrating God among
us, we might ask, "do we want to put limits on this reign of
Christ's?" Is Christ to reign every where, or only in my heart,
and in the church? Does this 'reign of Christ' extend into the fabric
of society also?
On the surface, it might seem that the society I live in is open to
being ruled by Christ. Everywhere we go during Advent we will hear
Christmas carols from public address systems, and secular radio
stations will devote whole afternoons to the broadcast of Carols,
many of which refer to Christ as king, or Lord. Can we therefore
assume that the community at large wants Christ to be its ruler?
But maybe it wants Christ to be in charge only of Christmas Sales.
Many of us might say that religion and politics do not mix, and with
good reason. Students of political science will remind us that
our nation has adopted the separation of church and state, so there
is no point in discussing this topic. On the other hand, some
Canadian bishops recently announced that they expected politicians of
their faith to legislate according to their religious doctine.
Also, mixing religion with politics has been with us in North America
for a long time. The Pilgrims, who landed on Plymouth Rock, fled
Europe to build on the shores of the New World, a New Jerusalem. The
United States still inscribes its money with: "In God we
trust." The founders of the Canadian Confederation" quoted
Psalm 72.8 when they named Canada, The "Dominion." Did they
really intend that God would have dominion over Canada "from sea
to sea."
More recently, in the yr. 2000 Canadian federal election campaign,
religion and politics became a major concern when it was reported in
the press that Stockwell Day, the leader of the Alliance Party, is a
Creationist - that is, he takes the Biblical story of Creation
literally, denying evolution. Some were concerned that if Mr. Day
became Prime Minister, his religious views would affect government
policies on science.
Certainly in recent times, such prominent theologians and political
activists as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King, and Bishop
Tutu, have seen a direct connection between their faith and their
politics. With them, are numerous more ordinary people who work out
of religious conviction to influence the government's policies on
world peace and justice.
Just a little over a year ago, a coalition of churches and other
groups convinced several governments, including Great Britain and
Canada, to forgive the crippling debt owed to them by very poor
nations. The churches urged these governments to forgive millions of
dollars owed them by poor nations. How did they do that? They quoted
chapter 25 of the biblical book, Leviticus. Leviticus advocates that
all debt to be written off every fiftieth year..
While I applaud the work done by all these inspired people of faith,
I would not support all faith-based policies. For instance, Just the
other night, on television, I saw, a Nigerian man's hand about to be
surgically removed as punishment for stealing. Northern Nigeria is
governed according to a fundamentalist interpretation of the
Koran. The rulers of northern Nigeria believe that the Koran
demands that persons found guilty of theft, shall have their hand cut
off. So they do it.
Did you know that Christian scripture prescribes just about the same
thing? According to Matthew, Jesus said: "If you hand or foot
makes you stumble, chop it off and throw it away." 1. On our
worst days, after our home has been ransacked, some of us might think
this should be the law.
So far, I haven't heard of any Christians advising their government
to use amputation as a form punishment, but we do hear Christians
quoting the Bible, or religious authority, as they demand that their
governments deny Gay and Lesbian citizens the right be in the
military or to marry. The Bible and religion is also used to deny
women reproductive choice.
From these examples it would seem that joining religion and politics
is quite problematic.
So, how is it with us? Do we try to keep these two as separate parts
of life, or do our religious convictions openly inform our politics?
Is it our view that religion and politics should never be mixed, or
do we want our government to rule according to certain teachings of
Holy Scripture?
It would seem that the prophet, Isaiah, favoured the second of these
positions. Isaiah saw the temple as the source of all true wisdom,
and this wisdom had political implications that would eventually
direct the policies of all governments. In Isaiah's vision: "All
nations would stream to the temple," and there, on Mt Zion, God
would judge between them, settling their disputes, issuing in a final
age of universal peace. There would be an end to all weapons and
military colleges. Politicians would go home singing, "I ain't
gonna study war no more."
The New Testament seems to hold this same view of religion guiding
all human life. In Revelations 2, John forsees
a time when all people will walk in the light of Christ. Matthew's
gospel pictures a Day of Judgement in which all the
"nations" will gather to have their social policies evaluated.3.
I am one of those who agree with Isaiah, John and Matthew. In
spite of all the problems with it, I am convinced that my faith and
my politics must walk hand in hand. I know that this sounds scary
because so much wrong has been done in the name of religion; much
hurt has been inflicted in the name of Christ, yet I am convinced
that God is to rule in heart, in church and in state.
My political theology is grounded in what I believe to the essence of
the life and the moral teachings of Jesus, and the Hebrew prophets:
Love God and love your neighbour as yourself. I agree with Edward
Hays when he portrays the angel Gabriel instructing Jesus: when you
hear a call to "love instead of hate, to pardon rather than
punish," this is God speaking. 4.
Bishop Samuel Ruiz of Mexico asserts from his own experience that,
all we Christian citizens must accept responsibility for changes in
society that will embody "true Charity because we are living
justice, and that's how we reach peace. In that way we are heeding
the words of Christ" 5
I believe that God gathers us into political community so that we can
enact God's will through care for one another. I believe that the
God-given role of government is to enact policies that lead to shalom
- a just and equitable, and sustainable society and natural world. I
am convinced that this is what the majority of the citizens of Canada
want. From what I observe, I am persuaded that this is what most of
the people on Earth wish for themselves and their nieghbours most of
the time.
As a believer in a creator God, I am convinced that this love of
neighbour is to be extended to what we call the natural world - we
are to "live with respect in Creation." 6.
I want my church and my government to honour all creation as Jesus
did, when he spoke of the birds of the air and flowers of the field
as examples of true faith.7. We and our
politicians need to learn from the biblical creation stories in
Genesis, and from such secular prophets as David Suzuki, who remind
us that we are a part of creation.
There are some things I do not mean when I say that Christ will rule
the whole earth. Mainly, I do not believe that everyone must
become a Christian. Rather, with Isaiah 31.34, and Revelations
21, I envision a world in which there will be no temples of any kind,
or organized religion, but simply humankind living in the presence of
the holy. In which case, the boundary between faith and politics will
have melted away.
Each of us will need to make up our own minds about this question of
faith and politics, so today I simply offer the position that I have
come to. That is, when I vote or in any way give my support to
politics, it must be politics which will seek to implement programs
which are in keeping with the understanding of God's will which
I find in those churches which stand in solidarity with those on the
margins od society and all nature.. This is the focus of much of my
pondering and prayer during this holy season of Advent, as I look
forward to hearing again the angels sing of a Peace on Earth that
encompasses the welfare of all God's creation.
1. Matthew 18:8f. ; 2. Revelations 21:22; 3. Matthew 25:31f; 4.
The Gospel of Gabriel, Forest of Peace p.58; 5. Prairie
Messenger, Vol.,78 no. 29, "Bishop of Mexico's Poor;" 6. A
New Creed, United Church of Canada; 7 Matthew 6:26 f.
The Breast Milk of Faith ecclesicakes A431
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.
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.
Advent 2 A Shoot of the StumpYr. A Aadvt2
Isaiah 11:1-11 Isaiah was doubtless daring to dream of the holy political, social, and natural environment that would be put in place in Palestine in the rule of a future monarch who would occupy the throne of David. He is envisioning shalom on earth centered on Mt. Zion.
Psalm 72 1-7; 18-19 The psalmist prays for a political environment of peace and justice which can derive only from God.
Romans 15:4-13 Paul understands that through drawing upon the Hebrew scripture, the church is a welcoming place of hope among those who do not yet have welcome or hope.
Matthew 2:1-12 John is portrayed as having a ministry of baptism signifying repentance in preparation for One of great power who is to come soon to inaugurate a holy age of baptism in the Spirit. At that time the true heirs to the promise given Abraham and Sarah will be separated from the pretentious.
Peaching and discussion notes
Just down the street from me is the large stump; what's left of a once tall tree. I The tree died and was cut down,. Now this spring I noticed that the root of the was not dead. I have noticed a new shoot growing out of the old stump's root.
When the prophet Isaiah envisioned the world as a place of peace, he
dreamed of it starting with a fresh shoot growing out of an old
stump. The old stump was the family of David. You will remember
that David was the shepherd boy who became king. Isaiah had a vision
of that old stump producing a new shoot, a new ruler who would
bring an era of wonderful peace. (quote some verses from Is.
ch. 11).
When I wondered how this might apply to us, a question came to mind.
I wondered if we might be offspring of the stump of Jesse? Could it
be possible for us to see ourselves as a tree which grew from the
branch that grew out of Jesse?
Let me play a bit with this imagery of the tree and its shoot.
Some will say that this passage from Isaiah was fulfilled by Jesus. Jesus is the new branch from the old stump. Surely this is true. This new branch, Jesus, grew into a strong healthy tree whose fruit was ands is peace; peace between us and our creator, and between us and our neighbour.
Our tradition tells us that there were those who were jealous of this tree and cut it down. They thought to put an end to it, but a new shoot came from the root which was Christ. We are a branch of that tree which is Christ. We are a people whose fruit is peace. By peace we mean harmony; harmony among and between all people, and harmony with all creatures and indeed the earth itself.
So when we read Isaiah's vision, we are reading about ourselves; Let us hear it again. (read together Isaiah 11:1-11).
Surely this a true description of us; a description of who we are and who we are becoming!
A few years ago I planted two apple trees in our front yard. I waited for three years to see if these trees would produce fruit. Finally on the fourth year one branch of each tree produced an apple. I was able to harvest two whole apples!
Surely this congregation and its homes are like those fruitful branches. Surly this branch of the people of God have produced at least one apple of peace. Surly, this people of God and its home have produced many apples of peace. By peace we mean grace and love and justice and harmony in the church and in the community. By peace we mean being a people of welcome and hope to those who have been shown little welcome and a small measure of hope. We mean we truly are the spiritual children of Abraham and Sarah. We are a branch of the tree that is Christ.
Now let us think of all the places in our congregations and homes where we find peace growing. Let us think even beyond that. How have we spread peace into our community and nation?
We will see that peace in small acts of kindness we show our families and our neighbours. After my daughter had surgery, her friends did what friends have done for generations, they brought her family casseroles.
We see that peace in the support we give to the churches Mission funds. We find that peace in the donations of time and money we give to peace movements and ministries outside the church.
Isaiah envisioned peace extending to lions and lambs laying down together. Sometimes we show that peace by daring to see peace growing in impossible places. In 2004 we see people going to dangerous places to help build peace where some do not want peace. They often pay a high price for their actions.
welcome those whom the world does not welcome. Just a few weeks ago the congregation with whom I worship elected to welcome gay and lesbian people. They agreed to bless their unions in marriage.
Let us thank God that we have been called to the role of peacemakers - children of the stump of Jesse
Yr A. Advent 3, God Calls Us Home From Exile Aadvt3
Isaiah 35:1-10 In the 19th Sunday after Pentecost of Year C we read in Jeremiah of God inspiring the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem and the exile of its people. (proper 23 Jer. 29). Today we read of God clearing the way for their happy return to the Holy City. The Hebrew prophets saw everything as the will of God and every personal and national experience as rooted in God's unbreakable promise. Their view was: God will both punish the people of the covenant for their disregard of their contract with the Holy and God will renew the covenant with the next generation. At all times in all situations the people are God's people.
The prophets understood the covenant not as committing Israel primarily to religious behaviour but as an ethical contract requiring the leaders to administer God's blessings as justice and protection for all members of the community - especially the weak and vulnerable.
Psalm 146:5-10 A poetic expression of the theology and piety on which Isaiah is grounded, and which is echoed in Matthew 5:3f and Luke 6:20f. Alan Richardson says : "Blessing means. divine goodwill ...which results in prosperity and happiness amongst [humankind].. that is imparted because such [people] stand close to God (The Theological Word Book of the Bible. SCM 1965).
James 5:7-10 Kendall McCabe makes what seems to me to be insightful observation of this passage. McCabe sees the injunction "Be patient"* to be given in the context of a community who are grounded in God's promises. So patience then is not simply a virtue, it is the attitude of those with a profound trust is in their creator. Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Advent. Abingdon.
Matthew:11:2-11. I find it important to note where Matthew
puts this incident. There are six and a half chapters between the
beginning of Jesus' ministry and this evidence offered as proof** of
Jesus' messiahship. Verses 11:5 is surely given as a summation of
those 200 verses which include the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer,
healings, and teaching for faithful living.
In the arrest of John who is "more than a prophet"*
and in the "offense"* noted in verse 11:6, there is also a
hint of the Cross that lies 16 chapters ahead.
This is what Messiah does and it is offensive to those with power to
try to stop it
*NRSV. **Clearly a reference to Is. 35.
Preaching and discussion notes
The reading from Isaiah this morning is about the Hebrew people
returning to Palestine after having been in exile in Babylon. What I
hear in this is a call from our God: Come home my people, your time
in exile is over, come home, rebuild the temple and take up you role
as the people of God. Come home and build a society of nurture,
justice and safety for all my people. God calls to us come home, I
have prepared the way for you.
For me it addresses these two experiences of our lives, exile and coming home from exile. I think we all have times of exile and times of returning home. I am going to suggest that we all have times of exile in our living and this may put us in touch with some pain. I am also going to suggest that we all have many experiences of going home and this may put us in touch with some other feelings. Let us know that in both these experiences we are not alone - God and our loving neighbours are with us. Both exile and homecoming are times of spiritual depth.
Lets first consider being in exile. For the Hebrew people exile was a time of being taken to live in a strange land. It was time of disconnect and doubt about their identity as a people and as God's people. how they can sing the Lord's songs in this foreign place (Ps. 137). Some of their leaders told them to settle in and live as good citizens of Babylon, but many of them could not forget Jerusalem (Jer.29:7)- they longed to go back. This was both a personal and corporate experience. They knew exile as a personal experience and they knew it as a nation. In today's lesson the prophet Isaiah proclaims that the time of exile has ended. God is preparing the way for us to return home.
Now let's consider how exile may apply to us. I think we too, like the Hebrew people of long ago, experience exile both as individuals, and as community. Any time we have deep and lasting doubt about ourselves and how we belong, is a time of exile. I think we are in exiled any time we lose our place in the world.
I am sure this is true for refugees, or others who find themselves stranded far from home. However, you don't have to move away to experience the doubts and alienation of exile. For instance, those who lose their job are exiled from the workplace. Farmers know exiled when events beyond their control (such as Mad Cow) take away their sense of identity as producers of food. Others have known exile when the break-up of family takes away a big part of who they understood themselves to be. I have know people in these or similar situations stop coming to worship. They find it hard to sing the Lord's songs in exile.
Exile can be can be a community experience too. For instance, there was time when the church and its leaders were respected and honored in society. But in the 70s-90s the church went into exile. It came to be that the church was considered of no consequence in our society. When it was noticed, it was in a negative way as a people who do not exhibit the gospel.- as child abusers - for instance. The church seemed lost and a stranger in its own society.
Exile can also be a national experience. Canada is an example of a nation that has been in exile. At one time we called ourselves a "middle power" among nations, and as such we were able to have a role in the world. We punched a way above our weight in the First and Second World Wars. Then we gave the world the notion of using armies to keep peace rather than make war. Our plains became a Break Basket for the world, we adopted a system of health care that was freely accessible to all. Along the way we became an industrial nation too. Then, as the United States of America became a Super Power, our contribution faded. Some said and still say: unless we do the bidding of the United States we are nothing. In 2004 it was revealed that as we followed the U.S. into becoming a society of a few rich and many poor, growing numbers of our children came to live in poverty. Canada became exiled, losing its own peculiar identity in the world.
If we continue like this we will all get depressed, so let us turn now to consider the opposite of exile - coming home. Home coming for the Hebrew people of Isaiah's time meant returning to do the hard joyful work of rebuilding their lives and their institutions. We see in Isaiah 35 that some, like Isaiah, dreamed of God calling them home to build a society of justice and peace. Mainly
One key thing the Hebrew exiles learned in Babylon was that God was with them in exile and God was with them as they made the long journey back to Palestine.
This is learning we can take for ourselves. God is with us in our times of exile and in our journey home. Let us know this if we are experiencing exile: whether we are refugees seeking to be at home new land, or home-makers and workers recreating our lives, it is God who calls us home, who prepares the way and who walks with us.
Let me share a couple of ways in which I see us returning home. I perceive that we are following God home as and as a nation.
I have experienced home-coming is in our churches. Since my retirement from active ministry I have worshipped with several congregations. I have to report that I have had my spirits raised through the worship of these congregations. I have found in them a sense of new hope and renewed identity as God's people They no longer exhibit the despair of a people in exile. They often are few in number but they are fulsome in the Spirit.
In every congregation I have been warmly welcomed. In each case their worship was creative and passionate in their announcement of the love of God in Christ. I sensed that they deeply cared for one another and for the world.
I sensed the Spirit to be working strongly among and through these people. The signs of the spirit that I see are grace and love and generosity and dedication. In the past few weeks older downtown congregation voted by an overwhelming majority to perform marriages for gay and lesbian people. In an another small rural congregation it was announced that they had reached their target of raising $11,00.00 in support of people in southern Africa suffering from AIDS and all its effects on families.
Being with these congregations gave me a strong feeling of a people who are walking and even running down the road home which God has prepared for them.
I see too the possibility of our nation coming home from exile. I see us asserting the peace loving, caring values that we took to be ours in the 50s and 60s. As a nation we are not so much on the road home, as we are standing at a road-sign which read: this way home. However, there is an advance party which has gone down the road for us. They are calling to our leaders: Come, come, do not be afraid or weak-kneed let leave exile.
Whatever our situation of exile, know that God has not abandoned us. Know too that God is calling us home, preparing the way and ready to travel with us. Praise be to God.
Advent 4 Under Siege Aadvdt4
Isaiah 7:1-17. Isaiah answers the question: What do people of faith do in the face of a siege?* The answer is: People of faith believe that God is with them no matter what. If they feel shaky in this conviction, it is OK to ask God for a sign of God's presence. Or they could look around them for the signs God is already giving - like the birth of a child. As Isaiah sees it, by the time the child has become an adult, the crisis will be over and we might wonder why we were so concerned. Of course, behind all this is the assumption that the people are adhering to the will of God in acting justly and fairly toward their neighbour.
Psalm 80:1-7; 17-19. Is a three-part liturgical prayer, of invocation, confession and rededication.* In verses 1-3 we reaffirm that God is our shepherd; in verses 4-7 we seek an end to the judgment we have been under [by a just God]; in verses 17-19 the worshippers promise renewed commitment to God.
Romans 1:1-7. Here is Paul's equivalent of the Matthew and Luke's nativities, and Mark's descent of the dove at Jesus' baptism. According to Paul, Jesus was a person in flesh and history and Jesus was declared by the Spirit to be Child of God, Lord of the church and disseminator of God's Grace through Jesus continuing presence even after his execution by the powers.
Matthew 1:1; 17-25. The author of Matthew obviously is writing to a Jewish audience, and/or to gentiles who have joined themselves to Judaism. In Matthew's view Jesus is a four-fold expression of God with us: 1. the promise God made to Abraham, 2. the one who bears the Messianic mantle of David's line, 3. the fulfillment of prophecy, 4. God entering time now. It does not matter to Matthew that Jesus is a step child of the Abraham- David- Joseph line. What is important is his appearance as God with us through the agency of the Holy Spirit and Mary.
It is noteworthy that Matthew does not here portray Jesus as a manifestation of the Law, the Mosaic covenant or Wisdom. In chapters 5-7 however, Jesus is shown to be offering a code which may be more akin to the Wisdom literature injunctions than it is to the Law.
*Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Advent. Abingdon
Preaching and discussion notes
I wonder how many of us have seen the film of Prince Harry of England working in aid projects inn the Kingdom of Lesotho, a nation of orphans because of HIV Aids. If you did you probably have in your mind some unforgettable images. The first images will be of local doctors and aid workers doing overwhelming courageous work with these orphans. The second image will be of Harry with the children. I want you to hold these images in your mind and heart as you ponder with me the lessons from Isaiah and Matthew this morning.
On this last Sunday of Advent the scripture lessons give us a strong lesson for the facing of the time ahead as children of God and as friends of Jesus. That lesson is, God is with us. As our United Church of Canada Creed says: We are not alone.
So, Isaiah reminds that no matter what lies ahead of us we can take heart because God is with us no matter what comes. Isaiah used the birth of a child to a young mother to symbolize this truth.
Isaiah is writing during a siege of Jerusalem. A great army is at the gates of Jerusalem and the people inside, including the King - especially the king - are filled with fear. They are asking, Where is our God - why is God not with us defeating the enemy at the gate? They are all wanting a sign of reassurance from God, but are afraid to ask God to give them a sign.
In the midst of this terror, Isaiah steps forward and says that God has already given a sign that God is with us within the walls of this city. That sign is a young woman's pregnancy. The young woman shall give birth and she shall name her child, Immanuel (God with us). Her child shall grow up among us and reach a healthy maturity. Do not be afraid, God has given this preachy and birth as a sign that God is among us - even during these frightening times. By the time this child is grown, these days of fear will be but a fading memory.
Now, how might Isaiah's word apply to us? Many today see our day as one of siege too. Every day we hear that we in the West are under siege from terrorists. These are seen by many as fearful times. Our experience of siege is small compared to some others in the world. The people of Iraq have been under siege for over a year. Hundreds of people in Sudan have had their villages besieged, men killed and women raped children starved and survivors driven away. They have cried for a sign that God is with them. The sign they look for is protection by the nations of the world, but we do little to help. In South Africa many families have been besieged with HIV Aids, so that many households consist of children and grandparents. They too have cried out for a sign that God is with them. The sign they look for is medical and educational help from the nations, but they get a weak reply. In Canada too, families are under siege. The number of Canadian families in poverty is growing. Are the children of this world a sign of anything other than despair?
Now, let us move from Isaiah to Matthew. Matthew also saw a sign of God with us in the birth of a child. For Matthew the birth of Jesus was a clear sign that God is with humankind.
Do Matthew and Isaiah have a word foe us in our world? In such a world might Matthew and Isaiah say to us, "God has given a sign that God is with us?" Might Isaiah and Matthew say, That sign is the children born within these situations? Let us imagine for a moment that we did see the children of the world as a sign from God, how might we act? If we saw each of our children as a sign from God that God is with us, how might we care for and train up these children of the world?
Let us look around us and see if there are any signs that people act as if the children are a sign that God is with us in this world of fear and threat? (List some from your own experience and what you see - such as the Beads of Hope program, and the work of church missions and agencies such Doctors Without Borders. As the congregation to name signs they see.)
What Does the Lord Require of Us? ecclesicakess A420
Yr. A, Epiphany 4. or any Sunday when the focus is on discipleship Micah
6:1-8
The prophet, Micah, asks the question that is on every faithful
person's mind and heart in every situation. He also gives us a simple
and complete answer to this question. What does the Lord require? Do
Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humble with God. This morning I am going to
apply Micah's question and answer to some grave matters in the
present world situation.
Micah's question, "What does the Lord require of us?" This
is the central question for us to set before ourselves in both
ordinary times and in extraordinary times.
We could ask this question at every moment of every day.
When we awake to a new dawn, "What does the Lord require of us
in this new day?"
When we begin our daily work, "What does the Lord require of us
in the daily round?"
It is also the question to be asked in extra-ordinary times, like now.
We live in a time dominated by four challenging events: One: The end of Russian Communism and the dominance of capitalism; two: the 9/11 killing of hundreds of office workers in the World Trade Centre; three: the AIDS epidemic that has devastated thousands of families in Southern Africa; four: Genocide in Former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Sudan.
In all this comes Micha's question: What does the lord require of us?
As I write this, the world is responding to another horror - the tsunami of the Bay of Bengal. In this case the world seems to know what the Lord requires. For instance, in mid January Canadian entertainers raised millions of dollars in one "Canada for Asia" TV broadcast."
This seems so good, yet as one participant in that event said and as a broadcaster, Leslie Hughes, observed, we have not done anything like this for the many more children of southern Africa who have lost their families through AIDS, or for the refugee families of the Sudan. I would add that we have ignored for decades the plight of Palestinians who have lived in refugee camps since 1948. Also we have lived in a world dominated by the values of capitalists, making the bottom line the highest value, and the one that counts.
Micah's question comes as a challenge in the midst of this; What does the Lord require?
So, I ask myself another question; where do I look for an answer to Micah's question? Who will help us to know what we are to do in these times? In these post 9/11, AIDS, capitalistic times? What does the Lord require of us?
As soon as I ask that question I realize that we am caught between two competing answers to that question - on one hand is the answer given by my government, and on the other hand is the answer given by my religion, and the world humane community, such as the UN world Food Program and the International Red Cross. These two voices, our governments on the one hand, and the churches, and world humane community on the other, see the world quite differently.
Two sets of voices; two answers.
My government tells me that our security is the issue and care for
ourselves and our interests is the answer.
But my religion and the world humane community UN Food Program, tell me that the problem is hunger, and poverty, universal health care, human rights, political oppression.
They say: The answer lies in making it so that every all people have a just and fair participation in the world's economy; that every family has access to the Earth's bounty; that every child has adequate housing, medical care, and education.
Our governments want us to believe that the attack on the World Trade
Center on Sep. 11 was a singularly horrible event. They want us to
see it as an event so uniquely offensive that it changed the world;
that it justifies a huge military spending and giving the police the
power to arrest and detain, and open mail without laying charges.
The churches and the world humane community see things quite
differently. They recognize that the events of September 11,
caused the death of up to three thousand innocent people, and ruined
their families. And they also want us to remember that on that same
day, three thousand children in Africa and the Middle East died of
hunger, and disease. And not only on that day, but on everyday
since then. They want us to see that Terrorism is but one
problem in the world, a much greater problem is political oppression
and the unequal distribution of food and medicine in the world.
This is to a large extent what Lloyd Axworthy is telling us after his
trip to Pakistan. He says there are thousands of people in
Afghanistan with just two weeks of food left. He urges the west to
use its air power to fly in food that will be distributed by the Red Cross.
This brings me back to Micah. As I see it, the churches and the world
humane community are asking us to follow the prescription of the
prophet: "What does the Lord require? Do justice, love mercy,
and walk humbly with our God."
So, let us consider how Micah's formula might apply to the present situation.
In applying Micah's answer to our world, I begin with the last part
of it - "Walk Humbly with Our God." Hebrew poetry and
sayings often put the key element at the end like a punch line - the
end is actually the beginning.
So, before we can Do Justice or Love Mercy, we must walk humbly with
Our God. All of our faithful actions arise from walking humbly with
our Creator. As the Shema says: We are to love God with all our whole
being and then (and only then) love our neighbour as ourselves. We
find this is Jesus' teaching: "As you do to the least of these,
you do to me."
So, we begin to find what God requires of us, by walking humbly with
our God, seeking to follow the teachings of Jesus. As walk humbly
with God we are keenly aware that we, ourselves, have been the
recipients of God's holy Justice and Mercy. Before we can begin to
act justly or to give mercy to others, we remember that God's justice
and mercy have been poured out upon us. Jesus says: "Love one
another as I have loved you."
Then, as people walking humbly with God, we turn to the opening part
of Micah's formula, God expects us to do justice.
So, as a people walking humbly with God, let us ask ourselves,
"How do faithful people Do Justice?" Well, we do it by
following the lead of our Creator, the teaching of Christ, and the
Guidance of the Holy Spirit. When I ponder Doing Justice as a
faithful person, I am taken to two Bible stories: Moses and Ten
Commandments, and the Feeding of the Five Thousand. Both these are
justice stories. The Ten Commandments is about justice by Law. The
Feeding of the Five Thousand is about justice through fair and just
access to resources. As faithful people we are asked to Do Justice in
both these ways, Law and fairness.
The churches and the humane community are urging the world to deal
with Terrorists by Law, and the inequity by fair access and distribution.
In the last few years we have seen the development of the World Court
with a Canadian as the first judge. The World Court has issued
subpoenas which led to the arrest, trial, and sentencing of tyrants
who have committed crimes against humanity.
I believe that this is God's doing. Beginning with the Ten
Commandments, Law is one of God's greatest gifts to humanity. It
would seem that in our days, God's Holy Spirit is leading us to
broaden the law so that even tyrants and dictators can be brought to
trial. Many voices are saying: Let us use the this new World Criminal
Court. Let us issue an order for the arrest of Ben Laden, and bring
him and those who choose the way of terror.
I agree that the goals and actions of the extreme Islamic terrorists requires a new vigilance and work by police forces. At the same time we must not make this the over-riding issue of our world, and let it use up all our resources.
Even as we bring justice through Law, let us also Do Justice through sharing, as with the Feeding of the Five Thousand - this is what we did this morning when we blessed these gifts. This is desperately needed soon on a larger scale. How will we answer to our God, for the children who are dying today for lack of food, shelter, and medicine.
How will we answer the Lord who calls us to Love Mercy and Do Justice?
Let us consider our role as individuals, as citizens, and as
congregation. What does the Lord require of us?
At the Well ecclesicakes A416
Lent 3, Yr. A. John 4:4-42.
A note to the reader: The following does not purport to be a scholarly or historically accurate document. It comes largely out of my imagination, which has been influenced by what I have
read about middle eastern society at the time of Jesus. Primarily,
it is an attempt to interpret John 9, through story-telling, which
I see as an alternative and legitimate way to communicate
the "Gospel, as long as we acknowledge what we are doing.
To the listener: (when the following story is used as a sermon):
This morning's sermon is quite a bit different from what you are used
to. My normal practice is to take a text from scripture and share
with you some of the ways it may apply to our lives. Today I take a
different approach; I am taking a story from the Bible and
interpreting it by writing a story based on that story.
My story is an interpretation of Jesus' encounter with a woman at
Jacob's well as given in John's gospel. John does not tell us the
woman's name. In my story she is Rachel.
The story begins with Rachel gleaning grain in a first century
Palestinian wheat field. It is the day before the Sabbath on the
first week of harvest.
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Rachel stood to wipe the sweat from her face and to rest for a
moment. Ahead of her she saw the the bent back of her partner,
Josia, as he cut grain with a hand sickle under the watchful eye of
the Steward of the harvest. Josia worked beside, Eli and
Ephraim, two older men.
On either side of her, these men's wives, Sarah and Elizabeth were
singing a harvest song to distract them from the hot work. While the
men were hired as harvesters, and would be paid according to the
number of baskets they filled, the women were allowed to glean the
field for the heads of grain missed by the men. The Steward ensured
that the women had slim pickings.
The crop was bountiful this year, so this was a time of plenty for
day labourers and gleaners. They had been given work every day of
this week, therefore there had been bread from the gleaning and
cheese or fish and dates from the market every night, and probably a
skin of wine for this night. Rachael smiled at the thought of a celebration.
It was nearly noon. Soon they would cease work for the mid-day rest.
"I will go now," she said.
"Alright then, see you at home for lunch, " Sarah called,
nodding her greying head.
Rachael, Josia, Eli, Ephriam, Sarah and Elizabeth lived together in
one rented room.
Rachel was leaving the field to get water for their shared noon meal.
She made her way across the stubble to the tree under which she had
set their water jar his morning. At twenty five, she was the youngest
of the three women, so it became her job to go to the well three
times a day, morning, noon and night. As she gripped the jar with her
calloused hands and hefted it to her shoulder, she noted that it was
empty. Otherwise she would have taken a drink to Josia.
The path to the well led her across the main road which ran into the
village. She and Josia, and their friends lived in the lower section
of the settlement on a side street off the main road. Above the lower
side, was the upper village which consisted of the houses of the
village rulers, merchants, a few Romans and Greeks, and the priest.
involuntarily, she raised her eyes to the upper town. She had grown
up in that section, and had lived there with her first two husbands.
Rachel had had five husbands. Sometimes she would recite the
husbands' names to herself: "Eli, Achius, David, Simon, and
Zecharia. " It helped her deal with the disappointment, pain,
and grief she associated with them.
She had been given in marriage to Eli, the merchant, when she was
barely more than a child. After two years he divorced her on the
grounds that she had not become pregnant. He told her that he was
sorry, but he needed progeny. After that, she lived uncomfortably
with her parents for a year until they found her the opportunity to
marry Achius, a soldier in a nearby garrison. He didn't care to have
children. Then, one day a messenger came to her door with a
divorce settlement consisting of twelve pieces of silver and the news
that Achius had been transferred to Judea.
David, Simon and Zecharia, her next three husbands, were aged
men of the lower town. In turn, she provided care and comfort for
each of them until their death, and got shelter and food in return.
As each of them was poorer than the one before,her silver was soon
spent, and she became a servant to a merchant's household. After
Zecharia's death, his sons evicted her and sold his house.
Recently she met Josia, a day labourer, and they have become
unmarried partners.
She saw her mother from time to time. They visited in the market
because Rachael's father would not allow Rachael to enter his home.
As Rachael crossed the main road to continue to the well, she was
alone. She had
intentionally waited until the others had taken their water, so as to
miss the
disdainful rejection of the Upper Town servants, and a few of the
Lower Town wives.
The well was in a grove of Olive trees which hid it from her view
until she was quite close to it. When she did take the turn in the
path that brought her to the well, she stopped and gasped. She nearly
dropped her water jar.
There was man at the well. Men did not come to the well. She felt
unsafe. Her heart
pounded and her mind raced: What should she do? Should she
return back down the path until some other women came?
Then the man turned to face her, and smiled. It was then that
she realized that he was a Jew. She was a Samaritan. This was
even worse; Jews hated Samaritans, Samaritans despised Jews.
Every fibre in her body cried out, "Run," but his smile
communicated, "Stay, I won't hurt you. I am very glad you came."
Then, he spoke to her, "Would you give me a drink of water?"
"What, you a Jew ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan
woman!" The words just blurted out of her mouth. Jews and
Samaritans simply did not share drinking vessels.
"If you knew me, you'd ask for water from me. My friends call me
'Emmanuel.' I will make you a trade. You give me a drink of water
from your well, and I will give you living water from God."
All this was astounding to Rachel. He addressed her as an equal. His
words invited
a debate; a form of conversation men did not have with women outside
the family, and rarely within it.
"You have no vessel and the well is deep, so where do you get
this living water? Are you greater than our ancestor, Jacob, who gave
us this well?"
"We all need the water we get from Jacob's well, and we will be
thirsty for it again
and again, but the water I offer you, will satisfy your thirst forever."
She sensed that he was playing a word game; she could do that too.
"OK. then, give me this living water and I won't need to come
all this way for my family's water every day.
"I am speaking of the refreshing wellspring of peace that is in
our human hearts when we worship God in spirit and truth, whether we
are Samaritan or Jew. It satisfies an inner thirst for God's love. It
will be an inner spring welling up forever.
"Bring your husband and children here, and I will place this
spring in the hearts of
them all. Bring your whole village!"
"I have no husband, or family." With these words all
the the pain that was in her heart burst out in sudden flow of sobs,
and she fell to her knees.
Jesus knelt with her and touched her lightly on the shoulder. She did
not pull away.
"I saw in your face the pain in your soul, and the
disappointment that is in your heart." He guessed from
experience what her lot had been. "You have had many marriages?"
"Five."
"You have known a great deal of disappointment and rejection."
"Yes." She felt herself beginning to feel calm.
"Now you are living with a man who is not your husband?"
"Yes, his name is Josia."
"From him you receive love?"
"Yes." She wiped her tears with her sleeve.
"Do you know that God loves you; that you are precious in the
Creator's eyes?"
"No," she said with anger. She lifted her head to look him
defiantly in the face, "It is
not what they say. It is not what it feels like to me!"
"None the less, this is the living water that I bring to you."
"Right. This is supposed to happen when the Messiah comes, they say."
"It is happening right now. No matter what you have been told
about yourself, or you have been treated, this is available to you
right now. I am here to bring this into reality."
Just then, Jesus' friends appeared with food for lunch. They were
surprised to see
him in deep conversation with a woman.
As they came close, Jesus spoke to the woman urgently. "Go!"
he said. "Get your family. the Realm of God is here right now."
So, she found herself running into her street, and calling to them
all, "Come and see a man who has told me everything I have done.
Could this be the Messiah?"
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Now, may we find in the worship of God, a deep inner well that
enables us to find peace, and work for justice in the midst of
our disappointments.
An opportunity for showing God's Power ecclesicakes A413
Lent4, Yr. A. John 9
This sermon is a bible study led from the pulpit. It requires that the congregation have in their hand copies of John 9.
Today, we are going to do a bit of Bible study, looking at the whole of the 9th chapter of John's Gospel. So please take the copy of John 9 that you found in this mornings service bulletin (or pew bible p. ___ ).
9:1a "As Jesus was walking along" I like the beginning of this story. Jesus is just walking along, probably enjoying the day, and not doing anything to save the world - very much like us out for a walk.
9:1b - 2: "saw a man born blind." Jesus noticed the man, and perhaps was about to speak with him, but one of the disciples interjected with a question. This question comes from the common blame system of the time, which said if a person was afflicted in some way, it must be that God was punishing that person for a sin committed by either himself or his parents. So, when you saw a person poor or crippled or deaf or blind, one assumed that the affliction was God's punishment for sin, and then one fixed blame: "was it his sin or his parents?"
Even today, people do this sort of blaming. Can you think of an instance of this in our society? Sometimes TV evangelists tell us that sickness and affliction are God's punishment for sin.
This is said of the poor too. Last weekend at a regional church meeting, a young man told us that when he was a child he saw a poor person of the streets of Thunder Bay. He asked his parents to tell him about this person. His parents who were very religious, told him not to worry about poor people because their poverty was God's punishment for sin. Blaming the poor for their poverty is still very common.
So, Peter and James or whoever asked Jesus, "Whose sinned," were simply using a way of thinking that was very common in that day, and it could have started a good religious debate. For instance, One might say: "It couldn't be his sin because he was born blind, a baby can't sin in its mother's womb can it, and so on."
There is one more thing to be said about this question. It is a good example of how we bring the false values of the world into the church, and into our lives as Christians. The false values of the world are so much a part of life that it is easy to start using them in our daily life as Christian, and in our life as a congregation.
9:3 "So that God's power..." Jesus offers another way to understand an afflicted person. He said that it is an opportunity to show the Power of God. Isn't this the reason for the existence of all every person? We all live to show the power of God working through us. Why should it be any different for those who are blind or paraplegic?
I remember the first meeting I ever attended at which the majority of people were in wheel chairs. There was a woman at that meeting who could not move any part of her body except her head. How surprised I was to see God's power working through her.
The people at that meeting taught me some very valuable lessons. One was that every person offers us the opportunity to give and receive kindness, love compassion, and respect. By the way, this was not a church meeting.
9:6 "rubbed it on the man's eyes." Here Jesus gives an example of a response to a person who is in some way afflicted. In other words, don't stand around finding blame - do something helpful! For instance, the people at that meeting were asking churches to build wheelchair ramps so they could come into worship God.
9:8-9a "Isn't this the man...?" The person is so changed by the experience of God's power, that people don't recognise him. I know of a church in Winnipeg that sometimes has street people from its drop in program lead in the regular Sun day worship. One person who was at church on a day when a homeless man led in prayer asked, "Is that really the guy who I saw sleeping under the bridge?"
9:9b "I am the man." He tells of what happened. Like someone saying to me: the church really helped me, my neighbours helped me when I was in need. This is the reputation the church should seek.
9:13 "this man who cured you is a sinner." The powers in Jesus' day society wanted to discount the power of God. This is true in our society too. For instance, in our present society, a dominant value of those who hold power is War. War has its own gospel: "Let us go to war - that is how the world is saved!" They have a need to have church people buy into war as the best way to live.
In Jesus' time, those who had different values than the dominant class were named sinners. In our time, those who advocate war have a label they apply to anyone who advocates peace through fairness and equity. They call them "radicals."
Recently,I saw a remarkable event on TV . Some New York families who lost people on September 11th, went to Afghanistan to show sympathy with Afghan families who lost homes and loved ones to bombs dropped by the United States. Are these radicals? They are following the Gospel, "Love your enemies (Matthew 5:44). In this case, loving those who your leaders say are your enemies.
9:24-34: Here we have conflict between the power of God that is in this man and the power of those who want to discount God. They have the power to shut the man out, but he has the power of his experience of God's healing.
9:35a "Jesus found the man."[Still being harassed by Pharisees], and gives ongoing support. In our time we call this being in solidarity.
9:35b Jesus offers the membership in the Realm of God to the very person the authorities reject.
9:39-41. There is a wonderful symmetry in this chapter of John. It begins with a man who is blind physically, and ends with people who are blind spiritually, and morally.