Message for February 27, 2022

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Like many other people all over the world, last Sunday I watched the closing ceremony for the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.  It was all very impressive, but as I watched our Canadian athletes parade into the stadium led by Isabelle Weidmann proudly carrying our nation’s flag, I couldn’t help but remember the flag flap of sixteen years ago.

It was just before the Winter Games held in Turin Italy and there was a lot of debate and bad feeling over who would have the honour of carrying our nation’s flag in the opening ceremonies.  Contrary to what most of us might expect though, the problem wasn’t that too many athletes wanted to do it, rather it was the exact opposite; none of them really wanted to.  Being the flag bearer would have been the honour of a lifetime to most of us and the fact that no one wanted to do it was taken by many people as an insult.  There was a furious backlash, and it was left to the well-known and respected Olympic gold medallist, Catriona Le May Doan to explain why.

In a low-key way she pointed out that most of the athletes do consider it an honour to carry the flag and that a lack of patriotism was not the issue.  The problem was that the athletes are only at the games for a short period of time before their event.  What this meant is that those present at the opening ceremonies would be competing very soon and possibly even on the next day.  Le May Doan also noted that the athletes train for years and strive to reach the pinnacle of preparation, both physically and mentally, right before their event.  While it may not be nice to say so, standing out in the cold for hours carrying a flag does not help an athlete prepare.  Given a choice between carrying the flag or possibly winning a medal, it is obvious which the athletes would opt for.

The matter was finally resolved but one thing that this unhappy episode did was remind us of how seriously the athletes take the games.  The focus of the games is to win, and the athletes don’t want anything to distract them.  But there is of course nothing new in this; indeed this is the way it was with the original Olympic Games.

In some ways the ancient games were very similar to our own but in other ways they were very different.  Compared to our own games for example, most of the events had few rules and they were also very brutal.  There was certainly no sense of sportsmanship, and in fact many athletes even lost their lives either at the hands of the other competitors or by pushing their bodies too hard.  But why were the ancient competitors so determined to win at all costs?

The answer is immortality.  Back then statues were erected to honour the winners and what this meant was that while the athletes themselves would eventually die, their statues would still be standing.  Winning meant immortality and it was thought that all the years of work and even risking one’s life was well worth it!   Of course they were wrong since, after all of these years, the statues are long gone.  Competing and winning did not bring those athletes immortality but, not surprisingly perhaps, St. Paul thought of the games when he wanted to teach some of those ancient Greeks about immortality and the life everlasting.

With the Olympic Games in mind, St. Paul told the Corinthians that they were in a contest called the race of faith.  And just like the Olympic athletes, they too had to work hard and discipline themselves if they wanted to win.  It’s not always easy, said Paul, to be a Christian.  It is not always easy to do the right thing, to have faith in God and to trust him, especially in the face of life’s apparent unfairness, heartaches, and tragedies.  And because it isn’t always easy to run the race of faith, it is sometimes tempting to slack off or even quit.  But don’t quit, Paul urged, and don’t slack off either.  Instead try and hang in there and do your best.  Yes, said Paul, the race can be very hard, but think of the prize that you are going to get when you cross the finish line!  The Olympic athletes competed for a statue or a perishable wreath but they on the other hand would receive the crown that will last forever, the crown of the life everlasting!  And without being egotistical about it, Paul even urged the Corinthians to try and be like him.  There were times when he got sick, tired, and discouraged.  There were times when he felt like giving up and quitting, but would he?  Absolutely, positively not!  He was going to finish no matter what!

Now what Paul said to those Corinthians so long ago still has meaning for us.  Just like the athletes in Beijing during the past few weeks, each one of us is also competing.  We may not be skaters, skiers, or members of the hockey teams but make no mistake about it, we too are athletes, not physically but spiritually, and our goal is to win the great race of faith.  But if we think of our lives as being like a great race, how is it going?

Well, some people haven’t even got to the starting line yet and perhaps don’t even realize that there is a race.  Others know that the race is on but seemingly never get out of the starting blocks.  They can tell you what denomination and even which congregation they belong to and yet, beyond that?  They rarely if ever pray, worship, or give God a passing thought.  Others are full of good intentions; all of the great things they are going to do for God, the church, and others, one day, some day!  But sadly, one day, some day never seems to come.

We though know that the race is on and that we are competing but how are we doing?  Are we going all out, pumped up and full of vim and vigor?  Are we perhaps just trotting along, taking it at a slower but steady pace?  Or are we barely hanging in, just putting one weary foot in front of the other, hoping that we won’t stumble, fall, and land flat on our face?

It is not always easy to run the race of faith, and it takes energy, effort, discipline and even courage to do so.  Sometimes it can be so tempting to ease off or perhaps even quit altogether.  Jesus himself certainly knew that the race of faith is anything but easy and that is why he promised that he will always be there alongside of us.

The name Brian McKeever is probably not as well known to us as it should be but he is one of our nation’s greatest athletes.  McKeever is forty-two years old and suffers from Stargardt’s Disease, a form of macular degeneration which has left him legally blind.  This however has not held him back.  He is a Nordic Cross-Country skier and Canada’s most decorated winter Paralympian.  He has won numerous medals at international competitions including gold at sprint cross-country events at the 2014 and 2018 Paralympic Games.  He carried our nation’s flag at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Paralympic Games, and even though this year he will be competing in his sixth Paralympics, he is still one of our great medal hopefuls.

Truly McKeever is a great athlete and inspiration for many, but as he is legally blind he has to rely on his guide to help him compete.  The guide skis in front of him showing him the way, and the guide’s job is a very challenging one too since McKeever himself is so fit and fast.   McKeever truly is a great athlete but, and this is not to take anything away from his accomplishments, he is in part a winner because of the help of his guides.

The race of faith has been set out before us and sometimes the race is easy while at other times it is hard.  At those times when the going gets tough, it is so easy to become discouraged and to want to give up and pack it in.  And yet, we should never forget that we do not run alone; we have a guide, a helper. God is always with us, urging us on and helping us.  Sometimes he does so through the spectacular, but more often than not he does so through the ordinary.  No one wants to see us finish and no one wants to see us win more than what God does.  Indeed, God isn’t just the one running alongside of us, he is also the one waiting for us at the finish line, eager to award us the prize.  In the words of an old Scottish Gaelic prayer:

“On my heart and on my house, the blessing of God.

In my coming and in my going, the peace of God.

At my end and new beginning, the arms of God

to welcome me and bring me home.”

Pastoral Prayer

Gracious God, hear us as we once again bow our heads in prayer before you.

On this, the last Sunday of yet another month, we thank you for the gift of this month now coming to a close, with all of its wintry beauty.  We thank you for the lengthening days and the increasing warmth of the sun.  We thank you too for all that enables us to not only survive but thrive in our northern climate, including the food that nourishes us and our warm homes and clothes that sustain us.

We thank you for the ministry of your Son, and that you have called us to be a part of his body here on earth, continuing both as individuals and as a church to carry on his ministry.  Through your Spirit, help us to do our best.

We thank you for this nation in which we live.  Despite all of the tension of the past few weeks we are still, relatively speaking, blessed with peace and stability.  We remember and pray for all those places in this world that are not as blessed as we are.  We especially pray for the people of Ukraine, fearing for their lives and what the future may have in store for them after the past week’s unprovoked and unnecessary invasion.  We pray for the leadership of not only our nation but all the others too as they determine how best to respond to this act of aggression.

As the pandemic restrictions continue to be relaxed, we pray for the safety and well-being of all.  We pray for all who are ill and all who mourn.  We pray too for the well-being of all awaiting medical tests and procedures that have long been postponed.  We pray for all those who work within our medical system as they continue to cope with all of the stresses and pressures.

We thank you for your church here on earth, that despite her short-comings and failures, she is still an outpost and a forerunner of your kingdom here on earth.  We pray for the sake of her ministry, that she may be a suitable tool in the workshop of your world.  To this end, we pray as well for the sake of this church family of which we are a part.

We ask these things in your Son’s name.  Amen

Message for February 20, 2022

Luke 6:27-36

          Something that I have long found fascinating is how much scholars and archaeologists are discovering about what life was really like for most people back in Jesus’ day.  Sometimes we like to think that people back then lived lives very much like ours, minus of course all of the modern conveniences and technology.  This however simply isn’t true.  Most people who lived in what we call the Holy Land back then lived in conditions resembling that of a Third World country today.

To begin with, most people lived on the edge of starvation with crop failure always a very real possibility.  But even when the crops were good, most people still couldn’t get ahead.  Most of them by far were farmers but they didn’t own their own farms since virtually all of the land was owned by the great landowners who rented it out.  Rents were extremely high, but the people had no choice but to pay them.  The people though weren’t just oppressed by their landlords; they also had to pay a compulsory Temple Tax to support both the Temple and the religious establishment in Jerusalem.  As if this wasn’t enough, there were also the Romans as well; the people didn’t just have to pay taxes to their conquerors, they also had to obey them.  If a Roman soldier for example ordered anyone to carry his heavy pack for a mile, then that person had no choice but to stop whatever they were doing and do it.

Oppressed by the Romans, the establishment in Jerusalem and the landlords, life was incredibly hard.  And if a person could not pay their taxes, then the solution was simple enough.  They, their spouse and/or their children would be sold into slavery to pay the debt.  To add to the misery, there was also the ever-present threat of violence.  There was for example a group of men who were called the Sicarii.  They got their name from the razor-sharp curved knives that they carried hidden in the folds of their clothing.  To the Sicarii the only good Roman was a dead Roman and they waged a war of terror against the Roman occupiers assassinating both soldiers and civilians alike.  Of course, the Romans retaliated and the result was an endless cycle of violence and hatred.  Truly life for most people back then was not like life for us, living as they did in a society that was characterized by poverty, oppression, violence, and hate.  And with all this in mind, what Jesus had to say to them in the Sermon on the Plain was truly shocking.

“Love your enemies.  Do good to those who hate you.  Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.  If someone slaps you on the face turn to them the other cheek.”

We have probably heard these words so often that they have lost their power to shock us but imagine for a moment that we were sitting in the field that day and heard Jesus say these things.  Love the landlords, the priests in Jerusalem and even the Romans?  Treat them the way you wish they would treat you?  Pray for them?  Surely Jesus had to be kidding!  Surely, he didn’t really mean these things!  Maybe he was just trying to sound religious and spiritual!  But mean it he did, and this demand to love everyone is one of the things that distinguishes Christianity from all the other great religions of the world.

One of the greatest scholars of world religions in days gone by was a man named Huston Smith.  He said that most of the world’s great religions have a lot in common.  Most of them for example state that people ought to obey God and help those in need.  But, said Smith, there is one thing that sets Christianity apart from all the rest and that is the command to love our enemies.  To love our enemies, whoever or wherever they may be, makes Christianity different from all the other great religions of the world.  If we are honest about it though, this demand that we love everyone is not something that we really want to hear.  Many of us in fact may well be like the elder in this true story.

It was the custom of a church down in Georgia for one of the congregation’s elders to offer a brief prayer right after the minister finished the sermon.  The prayer was supposed to focus on the message of the sermon and on one particular Sunday the minister had preached on today’s scripture passage.  The elder’s prayer in response to the sermon was short, honest and to the point:  “Lord”, he said, “we heard your word today.  And we don’t like it”.

If we are honest too, we may well decide that we really don’t like Jesus’ words in today’s scripture passage with his demand, and even command, that we love everyone, forgive everyone, treat everyone as we wish they would treat us, and even pray for them.  And because we don’t really like to hear these things, we can and often do come up with every reason possible as to why we can’t do these things.  One of our greatest reasons or excuses of course is to say that it is simply impossible for us to live like this.  Perhaps Jesus could but he was the Son of God!  He was perfect but we most certainly aren’t!  Why we are only human after all!  No one can really do all of these things!  But if or when we are inclined to think this way, we should remember the story of Ruby Bridges.

It was back in the early 1960’s and a judge in New Orleans had just ordered that that city’s schools be de-segregated; no longer would the white students have their schools, and the black students have theirs.  A six-year-old girl named Ruby Bridges was the only black child to attend one particular previously all-white school, and to say that she was not welcome would be an understatement.  Day after day when she showed up for school, she was greeted by a howling mob venting their hatred and yelling obscenities.  In fact, when she arrived at school she had to be escorted in for her own protection by big burly marshals.  This went on week after week but one day a teacher caught a glimpse of the little girl as she was escorted in and noticed that the little girl’s lips were moving.  Being curious, the teacher asked Ruby what she was saying; was she talking to the people in the crowd?  “No”, said the little girl, “I wasn’t talking to them.  I was just saying a prayer for them”.  “But why do you do that?” asked the astonished teacher.  “Because they need praying for”, came the reply.

Imagine for a moment being in her situation and praying for a mob of people, all of whom were screaming their hatred of you.  It almost sounds impossible and yet that is what that little six-year-old girl did.  Ruby Bridges quite literally lived the Sermon on the Plain by turning the other cheek, loving her enemies, and praying for them.  That little girl sought to follow the example of Jesus himself and by doing so, reminds us that while it can be very difficult and very demanding to live the Sermon on the Plain, it is not impossible.  We don’t, for example, have to retaliate and say something nasty back when people say things that hurt us.  Perhaps we cannot like everyone but we can certainly love everyone, remembering that by love we simply mean giving others the same respect, courtesy, and consideration that we wish they would give us.  And we can certainly pray for everyone too.  In fact as a person once said, prayer is the surest way of coming to like those whom we initially don’t like; how can we possibly continue to dislike a person if we sincerely pray for them and ask God to bless them and keep them?  Ultimately we can’t.

In the Sermon on the Plain Jesus took the ways of the world and turned them inside out and upside down.  Turn the other cheek, love your enemies, and pray for them.  It is easy to dismiss these words as being the ideals of an other- worldly dreamer out of touch with the ‘real world’ and so reason that we are free to ignore them.  That however would be a mistake.  Jesus really meant what he said, and just imagine what life would be like if more of us took his words seriously instead of casually dismissing them as impossible.  Why life would truly be nothing less than the Kingdom of God here on earth; life as it was and still is meant to be.

Pastoral Prayer

Gracious God, hear us as we once again come to you in prayer on this, what is for many, the middle day of a long weekend.

We thank you for what it is that we remember and affirm this weekend:  our families.  We give you thanks for our loved ones, and we pray for your blessing upon them, that they may be safe and well.  We pray this day for families that are struggling, not only economically but emotionally as well as the pandemic has raised the stress level for so many people.

We thank you that some of the restrictions are now being lifted and that there is a growing sense of normalcy.  We pray for those in positions of authority; grant them the wisdom to make the best decisions possible for the sake of all.  We especially pray for the authorities in Ottawa as they seek to bring about a peaceful resolution to the protest in that city.

We pray for a peaceful resolution in the crisis over Ukraine, and we also offer up our prayer for all the other places of this world where there is so much violence, tension, hunger, disease, and suffering, even if they rarely seem to make the news.

We pray this day for the sake of healing in the lives of all who are ill, and especially those whom we know and love.

This past week we witnessed another incident of senseless youth violence in the GTA, the horrific killing of a student in a school, and we pray for our society itself and the safety of all.  We pray for all the victims of crime and violence, and we pray too for those who don’t appreciate or care about the consequences of their actions, not just for themselves but also for the lives of their victims and their families.

We look at some of the things happening, both near and far in the world around us, and we remember the teaching and example of your Son.  We realize just how far we are from your kingdom here on earth, so help us then to remember that your kingdom, the Kingdom of God, only becomes a reality when all of your children really try to follow your Son’s teaching as given to us in such as the Sermon on the Plain.  Help us to do our best to be the people and to live the lives that you have called us to, secure in your love, compassion, and forgiveness at those times when we fail to do so.

We ask these things in your Son’s name.  Amen

Message for February 13, 2022

Jeremiah 17:5-10

Luke 6:20-26

It has been said that slowly but surely Canadian society is becoming ‘coarser’.  What people mean by this is that swearing and profanity are becoming ever more common and an ever more acceptable part of day to day life.  There is probably some truth to this as all we have to do is think of some of the language that we hear on TV, in movies and especially perhaps on social media.  It has been claimed that swearing is a natural part of Anglo-Saxon society but, be this as it may, swearing is not common in all societies.  In fact there are some societies such as Gaelic Scotland and Ireland where swearing is actually rather rare.  What they do in place of swearing however is even worse; they curse.

We may sometimes think that swearing and cursing are one and the same thing, but they aren’t.  When a person swears, they utter an expletive or vulgarity but that is generally the end of it.  To utter a curse however is to actually wish harm on another person.  To use an example, suppose you are driving along and another driver cuts you off.  In a moment of anger you may swear at the other driver but then that is usually the end of it.  Suppose however that in the same circumstances you were to say something like, “And I hope that within sight of your destination you have three flat tires!”, and you really mean it.  Which is worse; the swear words or the curse?  In days gone by many people believed that curses had power and, depending upon who uttered them, curses might even come true.  For this reason curses were not uttered lightly but when they were, they generally filled the people who heard them with fear.  The power of a curse in fact is one of the things that made people in days gone by so very uncomfortable with today’s New Testament passage; indeed they found it both shocking and disturbing in a way that perhaps we don’t.

This morning’s New Testament passage is the beginning of Jesus’ “Sermon on the Plain”.  This is a great sermon and yet it has always lived in the shadow of Jesus’ other great sermon, the “Sermon on the Mount”, and it’s certainly not hard to see why.   Like the “Sermon on the Mount”, the “Sermon on the Plain” also begins with a list of beatitudes or blessings:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.  Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude and insult you, and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.”

So far so good and if Jesus had stopped there then the “Sermon on the Plain” would probably be as well-known and as appealing as the “Sermon on the Mount”.  In this particular sermon though, Jesus did not stop there since he followed the blessings with a number of warnings or curses.

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.  Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.  Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.  Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.”

This is a lot less warm and comforting; in fact this list of woes or curses is harsh and even frightening.  As one author has written of them:  “They are spoken in an electric atmosphere.  They are not quiet stars but flashes of lightening followed by a thunder of surprise and angerment.”

Truly it is no wonder that most of us much prefer the “Sermon on the Mount” over the “Sermon on the Plain” and many of us find it rather shocking that Jesus would even say such things!  Even so, Jesus’ words in today’s passage are firmly rooted in Biblical tradition.  In today’s first scripture passage for example, Jeremiah had his own list of blessings and curses.  The blessed, said Jeremiah, are those who put their trust in God and live for him; they are like a tree that is planted by a stream.  No matter what ever happens that tree will thrive.  The cursed on the other hand are those who put all of their trust in others and their possessions.  Such people said Jeremiah, are like a bush in the desert which cannot and will not thrive.

In short, said Jeremiah, God gives his people, and that includes us, a choice.  We can put our trust in God and live for him and his ways which also includes living for others or, if we prefer, we can put all of our faith in ourselves and live for ourselves alone.  The first way is the way of blessing, and the other is the way of curse.  One is the way of life and the other is the way of death, spiritual death.  The choice is ours but, said both Jeremiah and Jesus, choose wisely and choose well.

The way of blessing appeals to that which is best in all of us.  It is a cold heart indeed that is not stirred by the notion of doing what is right, pleasing God and helping others.  We admire people who do these things, and we may even call them saints!  One of the reasons we call these people saints is because we know how hard it is to live like this.  Human nature being what it is, it is hard to share, to care, to give of ourselves, and to sacrifice for the sake of both God and others.  Human nature being what it is, we often think that our happiness, contentment and even security itself lies in what we have, and preferably having even more.  We think that only if we had more of this or that, whatever this or that may be, then we’d be happy and content; then we would be truly blessed!  And yet, as we all well know, even if we don’t always want to admit it, all the wealth and possessions in the world can’t make us truly happy.  Rather, our happiness, joy and contentment are to be found elsewhere.  They are to be found in relationships, in having the right relationship with both God and others.  At a deep fundamental level we know this, and yet it’s so hard to let go.  In a way we are like members of the tragic Franklin expedition.

In 1845 the Franklin expedition left England for our Canadian north and its goal was to find the elusive North-West Passage. The expedition however seemed to be doomed from the start and all we have to do is consider what was packed on board the two ships.  There was a twelve-hundred volume library, expensive chinaware, crystal goblets, and even sterling silverware for the officers with their initials engraved on the handles.  Each ship however only had a twelve day’s supply of coal for the auxiliary steam engines.  The ships became trapped in the ice and several months later Lord Franklin died.  After that the rest of the men went their separate ways in small groups seeking safety, but none survived.  The story of two of the officers though is instructive.  They dragged a large sled for more than sixty-five miles and later, when their bodies were found, it was discovered that the sled didn’t contain life-saving food or blankets, instead it contained a heavy load of table silver.

Now in a sense this can be a parable about us.  So often so many of us go through life dragging the table silver behind us so to speak.  But that table silver, as beautiful and as valuable as it may be, cannot and will not give us life.  Our happiness, peace and contentment do not come from what we have.  Rather they come from living the way God wants us to, and that is by having the right relationship with both him and others.

A noted English writer of days gone by, Malcolm Muggeridge, wrote his autobiography which is entitled “The Green Stick”.  Looking back at his long and very eventful life, he wrote:

“All I can claim to have learnt from the years I have spent in this world is that the only true happiness is love, which is attained by giving, not receiving.”

These are words of wisdom born out of experience and they echo both of today’s scripture passages.  Naturally we prefer the “Sermon on the Mount” with its comforting list of beatitudes rather than the “Sermon on the Plain” including as it does, its woes and curses. The “Sermon on the Plain” though, as harsh as it may sound, reminds us that God gives us a very basic choice in life.  We can live our lives focusing solely on ourselves, but if we wish to be truly blessed and experience joy, peace, and contentment, then we know what our choice should be.

Pastoral Prayer

Gracious God, hear us as we come to you in prayer.  On this day before Valentine’s Day, we give you thanks for everyone whom we love and who loves us, whether they be with us or you.  We thank you for our families, our friends and everyone else who have and still do touch our lives for the better.

We thank you for all the other ways that love comes into our lives, and especially for your love as it has been made known to us through Christ.  We thank you for his life, teaching, example, death and resurrection, and the life that he has made possible for us, now and forever.

We thank you too that such is your love that you set us free to choose how we will live our lives.  Help us we pray to choose wisely and well, and grant that in all things we may be a blessing in the lives of the people around us and in the world beyond.

We pray this day for all who have made unwise choices in life, bringing harm to themselves, their loved ones, and others.

We pray this day for all who do not feel blessed, but rather the exact opposite.

We pray this day for all who lack so much including food to eat, warm clothing, and a place to call home.

We pray for all those who are struggling to cope with the ongoing stresses of the pandemic; those who are worried about their lives, the lives of others, their own livelihoods and that of others.  We pray for wisdom for all in positions of authority as they try to chart the way forward amidst the protests and the growing social divisions.  We especially remember the people of Ottawa, and those too whose lives and jobs have been impacted by the blockades at the border.

As the fear and tension continues to grow in Ukraine, we pray for the well-being of the people of that land.  As the world’s attention is focused on that troubled region, we remember as well the people of Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa, faced as they are with the very real prospect of starvation.

May your blessing we pray, be over everyone, everything, everywhere.

We ask these things in your Son’s name.  Amen

Message for February 6, 2022

1 Chronicles 22:6-10

Matthew 11:25-30

In many ways the protest that began in Ottawa last weekend almost seems to be ‘un-Canadian’.  Protests and demonstrations are of course a part of any healthy and democratic society but this one is different.  Indeed the behaviour of some of the protestors has been and still is appalling including as it does the disrespect and even desecration of national monuments, demanding food at a homeless shelter, wearing swastikas, and waving a Confederate flag.  Such behaviour in fact may well lead us to ask, “what on earth is going on?”

The protest of course began with some truck drivers who are very angry about the requirement that they be vaccinated or else go into isolation if their trips involve going to and returning from the United States.  Then however, it seems as if any group or person who is unhappy about something ‘jumped on the bandwagon’, proclaiming their unhappiness about such as the party in power, the pandemic restrictions or the multi-cultural and multi-ethnic makeup of Canadian society today.  As reflected by their signs and behaviour, there was and still is so much raw anger. In fact in many ways, it seems to be like a great big temper tantrum.  Perhaps though we shouldn’t be surprised by all of this.

In large part due to the pandemic, we are living in a very stressful time and if we do not think so, then all we have to do is consider road rage for example.  Road rage has always been around but the number of such incidents has been steadily increasing over the years.  As a report recently put out by an insurance company states however, there has been a real uptick in such incidents since the start of the pandemic.  So many people today for so many reasons are like sticks of dynamite, just waiting for someone or something to set them off.  Yes, while stress and frustration have always been a part of life, things seem to be worse today, but how should we as the disciples of Christ deal with such feelings?  Today’s first scripture passage provides us with an answer.

David was undoubtedly the greatest king in Israel’s history and as the king, he had three great goals or ambitions.  First of all, he wanted to be militarily successful and establish Israel’s independence.  Secondly, he wanted to establish Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.  Last, but certainly not least, David also wanted to build a glorious temple for God.  History tells us that David achieved the first two of these goals but as for the last one, building the temple?  It was not to be.  It wasn’t because David, the man after God’s own heart, was also a man of war.  As God said, “You have shed much blood and have waged great wars.  You shall not build a house in my name because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth.”  In other words, it was not fitting that David, the great warrior, build God’s temple which would be a house of peace.  Rather than David build it, God wanted David’s son Solomon to do so.

There can be no doubt that this news bitterly disappointed David since building a glorious house for God was one of his great dreams, but how did David deal with his disappointment?  He didn’t become angry or just walk away from his pet project as some people might have.  Instead, despite his intense disappointment, David accepted the situation.  In fact David did not just accept it, he went one step further and made the best of it by ensuring that enough money and supplies were set aside to help Solomon build it.  And while today’s first scripture passage does not say so, I firmly believe that David, being the great man of faith that he most certainly was, also did something else as well.  I don’t doubt for a moment that David prayed to God about the situation, telling him about his frustration and disappointment.  In the words of the old gospel hymn, he took it to the Lord in prayer.

This then is the story of David and the greatest disappointment in his life.  David was so disappointed and even frustrated when he was not allowed to fulfill his dream and build the temple, but the way in which he handled his feelings surely speaks to us.

Frustration and disappointment are an inescapable fact of life and these feelings have many different causes.  Some of us for example may be frustrated by the fact that we are growing older and can no longer do things as easily as we used to when we were younger.  Others of us perhaps experience frustration and disappointment with our jobs.  Sometimes we may be so very frustrated and disappointed by the gulf between the way that things have turned out in our lives and the way that we hoped they would.  Truly anger, disappointment and frustration are an unavoidable part of life, and the big question is how we handle these feelings.

People handle these feelings in many different ways.  Some people for example become apathetic or resigned.  In more extreme cases they may even withdraw from life and their involvement with others altogether.  A good illustration of a person being overwhelmed by life’s pain, hurt, and disappointment may be found in Simon and Garfunkel’s song of years gone by, “I am a Rock”.

“I am a rock, I am an island,

I have no need of friendship,

Friendship causes pain,

It’s laughing and it’s loving, I disdain.”

This song ends with the bleak affirmation that a rock feels no pain and an island never cries.  Other people however become cynical and sneer at everything.  Who cares, they ask, or what’s the point?  And of course, as demonstrated by the protesters in Ottawa, some people deal with their frustrations by erupting in sheer, unthinking anger.  Truly there are a host of ways in which disappointment and frustration are handled but surely the best approach is that of David.

First of all David, however reluctantly perhaps, accepted the situation and then chose to make the best of it.  Now this is not of course to say that we should always blindly and unthinkingly accept things the way they are, but even so we may often create needless frustration and disappointment for ourselves by banging our heads against a stone wall as if it were, trying to change the unchangeable or demanding the impossible whether it be of ourselves, others, or even life itself.  This is something that the famed comedian of days gone by, Groucho Marx once did.

Many years ago, a charity baseball game was held in Hollywood between the Comedians and the Actors.  Groucho Marx was the manager for the Comedians.  He had Jack Benny lead off and said to him, “All right Benny.  Get up there and hit a home run”.  Benny got up there but instead of hitting a home run, he promptly struck out.  And what was Marx’s response?  Instead of laughing, he angrily quit, saying, “I can’t manage a team that won’t follow instructions”.  Groucho’s demand was certainly unreasonable since no ball player can be ordered to hit a home run, but was Groucho’s demand any more unreasonable than some of ours?  How often do we expect or even demand the impossible in life and then get so angry or so disappointed when we don’t get it?  Truly one of the best ways to avoid some of life’s frustrations is by not demanding the impossible in the first place.  Rather we should remember the words of the famous Serenity Prayer:

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

This brings us to the second way of handling life’s frustrations and disappointments:  prayer.

People of course pray at different times for many different reasons.  Sometimes people pray when they are in trouble and need help or guidance.  At other times people pray to confess, while sometimes people pray to give thanks to God.  Surely one of the greatest reasons or times for prayer though is when we feel disappointed and frustrated.  To do this however may make some people feel very uneasy.  They feel reluctant to honestly tell God how they feel, thinking that it isn’t right to complain to God or to tell him how hurt, angry, or disappointed we are.  To think this way is perfectly understandable but we should also remember Jesus himself.

Do we really believe that Jesus in his humanity never ever felt disappointed or frustrated?  How disappointed must he have felt for example when he was forsaken by all of his disciples on the night in which he was betrayed!  Jesus is truly well aware of life’s frustrations and disappointments.  In fact Jesus is not just aware of them, he even invites us to share ours with him in prayer.  All we need to do is remember his words in today’s New Testament passage:  “Come to me all you who labour and are over-burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Jesus invites us to turn to him when we feel over-burdened, frustrated, disappointed or even full of anger.  And when we do so he has promised that he will give us the rest, peace, and strength that only he can.  As a great theologian of days gone by, Philip Malanchthon, said, “Trouble and perplexity drives us to prayer, and prayer driveth away trouble and perplexity.”  Truer words were never said, and we should take them to heart.  Troubles and perplexity drive us to prayer, but prayer drives away all of our trouble and perplexity.  Or, as Jesus himself said, “Come to me all you who labour and are over-burdened, and I will give you rest.”  If we do so, then he will.

Pastoral Prayer

Gracious God, in the old gospel hymn, “What a Friend we have in Jesus”, we are encouraged to bring anything and everything to you in prayer; hear us now as we do just that.

We give you thanks for the privilege of coming to you in prayer.  You are God, the Almighty, the Creator, the one who is so far beyond us and yet, as great as you are, you still want us to talk to you as good friends do, sharing with you whatever may be on our minds.

We thank you for the prayers granted and the blessings that we have received and experienced.  At those times when our prayers do not seem to have been answered the way that we hoped or even thought that they should have been, help us to put our faith and trust in you.

We pray for all those who have, for whatever reason, lost their faith and trust in you.  We pray for those who are ill, and those who mourn the loss of a loved one.  We pray for all who feel hurt, disappointed, and even angry about the circumstances in which they have been placed as the pandemic with all of its restrictions and implications continues.

We thank you that we live in a nation and society where basic rights and freedoms are a reality, but we remember and pray too for the people in Ottawa whose lives and livelihoods have been so disrupted by the on-going protest.  We pray as well for those in positions of authority as they strive to keep the balance between freedom and law and order.

We remember and pray for the other troubled places of your creation this day, such as the situation in Ukraine.  We pray too for the sake of your very creation itself.  Grant that we, individually and collectively, may treasure it and use its resources carefully and wisely for the good of all.  Truly may your love and compassion, and ours as well, be over all that you have made.

We ask these things in your Son’s name.  Amen

Message for January 30, 2022

1 Corinthians 13

A minister and a cattle rancher were standing in a field miles away from anywhere.  It was late in the evening and the two men were talking about life when the minister glanced up and noticed the twinkling stars spread across the night sky.  Inspired by the sight, the minister asked, “Sandy, do you believe in God?”  After a moment’s hesitation, Sandy said that he did, but the way he said it invited another question.  “What kind of God do you believe in?”  This time the silence lasted a little longer but finally Sandy sadly replied, “You ask me what kind of God I believe in?  I’ll tell you.  He is as far away and as silent as those stars.”

What do we believe God is like?  This may seem to be a theoretical question far removed from our day to day lives, but it really isn’t.  It isn’t because our answer reflects and perhaps even determines our very outlook on life itself.  If we believe that God is a warm and caring being who is really interested in us, then our lives will reflect this.  If however we believe that God is harsh, judgmental, and is as silent and remote as the stars in the night sky, then our lives will reflect this too.  What do we believe God is like?  What is the nature of God?  While it may not be obvious at first, today’s scripture passage tells us.

Today’s scripture passage is one of the best known and best loved passages of the entire Bible.  In wonderful words that will surely last forever, Paul described love and its nature.  “Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.”

As no one else ever has, Paul describes what love is like.  As I thought about this it occurred to me that in this passage Paul does not only describe what love is like, whether he intended to or not he also describes what God is like.  After all, as St. John wrote, “God is love”.  Since God is love it follows that what Paul wrote describes God himself.  Consider what Paul wrote about love, only this time substituting the word God for love.

God is patient, God is kind, God does not envy, God does not boast, God is not proud.  God is not rude, God is not self seeking, God is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrong.  God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  God never fails.

This is a marvelous description of what God is like.  Perhaps Paul didn’t consciously set out to describe the divine nature when he wrote today’s scripture passage, but he most certainly did so.  And because God is love, that characterizes how he relates to us.  He chooses to love us.  To use an analogy, God relates to us as any good parent relates to his or her child.  I like the way a devotion in the magazine “These Days” once put it.

“When a child is born the parents will provide for all its necessities and wants.  Routinely they will do for the ‘bundle of joy’ what they would ordinarily do for no other.  They will remove smelly, messy diapers and will stumble out of bed in the middle of the night to nurse or to prepare formula so that this child can be fed.

Has this newborn done anything to deserve the care that he or she receives?  The baby has done nothing to deserve the care that is received!

Why then do the parents do all they do for this child?  They provide for the little one simply because they freely chose to give their love to this new life.  The child experiences grace!”

As a good parent chooses to love his or her child, so too has God chosen to love us; he has simply because of who and what he is and who and what we are, his beloved children.  But while Paul may not have been consciously describing what God is like in today’s passage, he was most certainly describing what we, the children of God and the followers of Christ, ought to be like.

The Christian church in Corinth was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, one of the most dysfunctional congregations in the history of Christianity.  The members of the congregation for example argued about food, and more specifically about meat.  The only easily available source of meat came from the animals sacrificed in the pagan temples.  Some in the congregation refused to buy and eat this meat, saying that doing so meant that they were supporting the pagans which was nothing less than a betrayal of Christ!  Others though didn’t hesitate to buy the meat and eat it reasoning that the pagan gods weren’t real and besides, where was it written that a person had to be a vegetarian in order to be a Christian?  They also argued about the nature of marriage and sexual morality and if all this wasn’t enough, there was also what went on at their communion services.

In the days of the early church communion was an actual meal where everyone contributed whatever they could; it was something like one of our pot-luck dinners.  Some people in the congregation however refused to share what they brought, and the result was that some people gorged while others went hungry.  In those days people also drank wine at every meal and that included communion, but what happened?  Some people drank far too much and became riotously drunk!  This was the sad state of affairs in that congregation and it was Paul’s task to try and straighten things out.  And what did he tell them?  That no matter what, they were to love one another; love is the key and if the Corinthians could not or would not love one another then it didn’t matter how ‘religious’ or ‘spiritual’ they were.  As Paul told them:

“If I speak in the tongues of men and angels but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophesy and can fathom all mysteries and knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”

According to Paul, if the members of the congregation refused to love one another then their religion was in vain, and it didn’t even matter if they were willing to become martyrs for the sake of their faith.  Whether they wanted to hear it or not, Paul told the Corinthians that they were, spiritually speaking, children.  It was now however time for them to grow up and act like adults.  As he said:

“When I was a child I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  When I became a man I put childish ways behind me”.

In conclusion, Paul insisted that love is the key simply because ultimately only the love will last.  As he said in this famous line:

“And now these three remain; faith, hope and love but the greatest of these is love.”

Now as wonderful as this passage is, there isn’t anything particularly new or revolutionary in Paul’s emphasis on love; in fact he was just following in the footsteps of Jesus.  We can think of Jesus’ reply for example when he was asked what religion and ultimately what life itself are all about:

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.  And you shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

We can also remember what Jesus said on the night of the Last Supper:

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you”.

More than anything else we, the people of God and the disciples of Christ, are called to love, and if we don’t then none of the rest really matters.  And it is also crucially important for us to realize that love, as both Jesus and Paul understood it, is more than a feeling.  Rather love, as the Bible understands it, is a choice and an act of will.  We can choose to love just as we can choose to hate but as we all know full well, our choice to love is not always an easy one.  Indeed if we are honest about it we have to admit that sometimes it really goes against the grain to be loving, patient and kind, and to not be rude or easily angered.

It was back in the 1960’s and while traveling on a plane, a young professor happened to find himself sitting beside the famed civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr.  The two men struck up a conversation and the professor spoke about how involved he was in the civil rights movement on the campus where he worked.  He enjoyed the work and believed in it but his involvement had estranged him from his father.  He said that his father was good and well-meaning but, and there was no way of getting around it, he was a racist.  He thoroughly disapproved of what his son was doing and was very vocal about it.

King’s response was to say:  “Your father is doing the best he can.  He has not had your educational opportunities, opportunities which your father has provided for you.  As a Christian you must be patient with him and love him.”

In short said King, the young man had to choose to love his father despite the put downs, the racist comments and all the rest.  And King, like Paul before him, was on to something.  Christian love does not always approve, and it doesn’t always come easily either.  To love in fact can be hard work but in the end love, as Jesus, Paul and Martin Luther King Jr. understood it, is a choice that we make every single day.  We choose to love just as God is love and has chosen to love us.

Pastoral Prayer

          Gracious God, as hard as it may be to believe, the first month of this year is almost past.  As this month draws to it’s close, we thank you for all of the good that we have and have experienced.  We thank you for the dazzling brightness of the snow and the cold, crisp temperatures.  We thank you too for everything that enables us to live in what is sometimes a harsh and forbidding climate.  Thanks be to you for our warm homes, the clothes that keep us warm, and the food that nourishes us.

As we give you thanks, we pray for everyone for whom this time of year is more than an inconvenience but even a threat to life itself.  We pray for those who are homeless, those who lack warm clothes and those without enough food to eat.

We thank you this day for the many ways in which love comes into our lives, through our families and friends.  We thank you that you are a god of love, and help us we pray, to love others and the world around us as you do.  Help us to love, even as we are loved remembering that love is more than a feeling, that it is a choice and act of will.

We pray this day for all who, for whatever reason, feel unloved or even unlovable.  We pray for all those who are lonely and especially for those struggling with feelings of isolation as the pandemic seems to endlessly drag on.   We pray for healing in the lives of those who are ill and, as the death toll continues to rise, all who mourn as well.

We thank you for this land in which we live with its peace and stability, remembering all the places where there is so little.  As we have in recent weeks, we once again offer up our prayer for peace as the tensions between Russian and the West continue to rise, now not only just over Ukraine but elsewhere as well.  Grant that we may remember the lessons of the past and we pray that cooler heads may prevail.  Grant that truly your will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

We ask these things in your Son’s name.  Amen

Message for January 23, 2022

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-9

Luke 4:16-22

An interesting article appeared online last fall that sought to answer the question of which is the most stolen book in the world.  It was noted that stolen books tend to fall into certain categories.  One is books that are on school reading lists such as Hemingway’s “A Farwell to Arms”.  Another category are books that people feel embarrassed to buy.  Coffee table books are often targeted as well, while yet another category are books that make it on to the best seller lists.  Which book however is the most stolen one of all?  Whether it be from a bookstore, a library, or more likely from a church or hotel room, it is the Bible.

This may come as a bit of a surprise, but perhaps it shouldn’t.  The Bible is after all the world’s most universal book.  Indeed it is estimated that there are about five billion copies of the Bible in the world today.  The second most common book by the way is Mao Zedong’s “Little Red Book” with about one billion copies.  These numbers certainly put the number of copies sold of books on the best seller’s list in perspective, such as the Harry Potter series coming in at a couple of hundred million copies.  A John Snider touches on the Bible’s appeal in this little passage entitled “Universal Book”.

“The Bible is literature.  History, poetry, prophesy, philosophy, theology, humour, drama, tragedy, strategy, love tales, war tales, laws, songs, sermons, warnings, prayers, all are here.  Was there ever such a literature?  The Bible begins with a garden and ends with a city.  It starts with a morning followed by a night and ends with a day that shall know no night.  It breaks the silence with ‘In the beginning’ and it hushes the universe to sleep with ‘the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all’.”

Truly Snider is right; the Bible is a wonderful piece of literature.  It is in fact                            one of the foundations upon which our western civilization is built.  For almost two thousand years our values and greatest music, art and literature have been inspired by the Bible.  But while the Bible is a wonderful piece of literature, it is of course something much more.  It is also God’s Word and as such it has long played a living and vital role in the life of God’s people.  Indeed both of today’s scripture passages illustrate the power and the impact of the Bible.

In today’s first scripture passage Nehemiah tells us that the Babylonian exile was over and God’s people were busy rebuilding their shattered homeland.  The fields were overgrown, the cities lay in ruins and Solomon’s great temple had been utterly destroyed.  There was so much work to be done and so few resources.  Quite predictably the people felt overwhelmed and started to get discouraged, and the country’s leaders realized this.

One day all of the people in Jerusalem, from the youngest to the oldest, were ordered to gather at the Watergate.  Ezra, who was the chief religious leader, along with six of his aides mounted a large platform that overlooked the crowd.  Ezra then started reading from the first five books of the Bible and as he did so his helpers translated what he was saying into Aramaic.  This had to be done because the Bible was written in Hebrew, a language that most of the people no longer understood.  All day long Ezra read and his helpers translated while the people sat and listened.  But as they sat and listened something strange started to happen.  The people started to weep; at first it was just a few of them and then a few more until finally the whole crowd was weeping.  But why?  Did they weep for joy at this reminder that God loved them and was with them?  Did they weep for all the wrongs that they had done?  Or did they perhaps weep because while they may have given up on God, God had not given up on them?  The truth is that we don’t know why they wept.  All we do know is that such was the impact of hearing the Bible that they not only cried but also returned to the rebuilding of their shattered land with a renewed sense of hope and vigor.  That however wasn’t the only time that hearing the Bible had a powerful impact on God’s people; all we have to do is remember the event described in today’s New Testament passage.

One Saturday morning early in his ministry Jesus returned home to Nazareth.  As was the custom in small villages without a rabbi, a member of the congregation was expected to lead the worship service and that included preaching the sermon.  That morning Jesus agreed to do so and his sermon text was a passage from Isaiah.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to

preach the good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the prisoners and recovery of

sight for the blind.

To release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of God’s favour.”

This scripture passage was commonly understood to be a prediction about the coming of the Messiah and in the sermon that followed, Jesus said that that text was really about him.  Even though the people present at the service that morning had known him all his life, he was the one!  He was the Christ!

The congregation was amazed when they heard this but even so, they believed Jesus.  Then however, Jesus went on to talk about what type of messiah he was.  He had come for the sake of everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike, because God loves and cares about everyone.  As a sermon illustration, Jesus told the Bible story of when there had been a famine and the prophet Elijah had miraculously fed a foreign woman and her son but no one else.  Or, referring to another story, one that took place in the days of the prophet Elisha when so many people were stricken with leprosy, the only person that Elisha healed was a foreigner.  Everything that Jesus said in his sermon was the Biblical truth but even so, the congregation didn’t like it.  Unlike their ancestors hundreds of years earlier, they didn’t weep when they heard what the Bible had to say, instead they were transformed into a murderous mob and quite literally tried to kill the preacher!  They did so because they could not stand the thought that the Bible did not say what they thought it should but instead challenged some of their most deeply held beliefs and prejudices.  And such is the power of the Bible.  In days gone by it has instructed, challenged, and filled people with comfort, fear and even anger.  Does the Bible however still have such a powerful impact on us today?

One has to wonder; it has been estimated for example that only nine of every one hundred people who claim to be Christian ever even glance at a Bible once during any given year.  But why is this?  Sometimes people say that they are just too busy to find the time to look at a Bible while yet others, trying to justify their lack of interest, say that the Bible has lost its meaning and relevance.  Sometimes people say this simply because they want to be free to do whatever they want, and the last thing they want to be told is that what they are doing is wrong because the Bible says so.   Other people justify their lack of interest by putting the Bible down.  They say that the Bible is ancient history and a product of its time.  It may have had meaning and relevance to people long ago, but it certainly doesn’t for us living in the modern technological age that we do.  To a point this is true because the Bible is a product of its time and that is why we have to study it.

When we read our Bibles we have to ask ourselves; what was God saying to his people back then and what is God saying to us today?  If we ignore the Bible then we are left with both a religion and a god of our own making; there is no divine will, rather just our own.  Indeed what do we honestly expect when we open our Bibles?  Do we really expect to hear God’s Word and his message to us?  Do we expect, or at least hope to be moved, challenged, or comforted?  Or do we expect nothing at all?  If we expect the Bible to nourish us, comfort us and guide us, then it can and will.  If however we never open a Bible or expect nothing from it when we do, then it will give us nothing in return.  Perhaps a Stanley Jones says it best in a little passage entitled “How to get the most out of the Bible”.  It goes:

“Come to the Word expectantly.

Come, surrendering to the truths here revealed.

Come, expecting to use the truths here revealed.

Come unhurriedly.

Come to it, even if nothing apparently comes from your coming.”

We may take it for granted but the Bible truly is the most marvellous book ever written.  When it was read to the people gathered by the Watergate so long ago, they were moved to tears and returned to rebuilding both their lives and their country with a renewed sense of hope and vigor.  When Jesus proclaimed the Bible’s truths about himself in Nazareth, the people were filled with a murderous rage.  Truly while we may take it for granted, the Bible really is a tremendous book but what impact does it have on us?  What role and influence are we, who as Presbyterians were once known as ‘the people of the Book’, prepared to let this book, that is far more than just a book, have on us?

Pastoral Prayer

Gracious God, earlier this week we were reminded of your power and glory when we experienced the largest snowfall in years.  We give you thanks for the wondrous beauty, and variety of your creation; a creation that proclaims your presence and reality.

We thank you for revealing yourself in the person of your Son.  To know your Son is to know you.  To follow your Son’s teaching and example is to follow yours.  We thank you for the life, now and forevermore, that he has made possible for us.

We thank you for revealing yourself through the presence and work of the Holy Spirit, active in our lives, in the lives of others, and in the world around us.

Today we especially give you thanks for revealing yourself through that special book we call the Bible.  The Bible is so many different things but above all it was your Word to people in days gone by and it is still your Word to us today.  Help us we pray to discipline ourselves to read it, understand it, and to learn from it.

We pray this day for everyone who is traveling through life oblivious to you, not realizing who and what they are missing.

As the pandemic continues, we pray for all who are ill, all who mourn, and all who for whatever reason are unable to be with loved ones.  We pray for everyone who feels so lonely and isolated.  We remember families and friendships torn asunder because of the stresses of the present time.  We pray for all who feel so overworked and even overwhelmed, and especially those whose task it is to care and provide for others.

We remember and pray this day for all those devastated by the tragic fires in Brampton and Toronto this past week.

We remember the people of Tonga after the destructive volcanic eruption last week, and we remember too the people of Ukraine, praying that a crisis may be averted and that cooler heads may prevail.

In this world of change and turmoil, we pray for the sake of your church both near and far.  Grant that she, that we, may truly be your Son’s body here on earth doing his work.  May we all, in our own unique ways, be fitting instruments of your will, secure in our knowledge of your love and forgiveness when we fail to live up to your expectations and even our own.

We ask these things in your Son’s name.  Amen

Message for January 16, 2022

John 2:1-11

I am beginning today’s message by sharing a true story with you that comes from the life of the writer Robert Fulghum.  It is perhaps a little bit lengthy but since it is an episode from Fulghum’s life it should be told in his own words.

“The summer of 1959.  At the Feather River Inn near the town of Blairsden in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  And I, just out of college, have a job that combines being the night desk clerk in the lodge and helping out with the horse-wrangling at the stables.  The owner and I do not get along.

One week the employees had been served the same thing for lunch every single day.  Two wieners, a mound of sauerkraut, and stale rolls.  To compound insult with injury, the cost of meals was deducted from our check.  I was outraged.

On Friday night of that awful week, I was at my desk job and the night auditor had just come on duty.  I went into the kitchen to get a bite to eat and saw notes to the effect that wieners and sauerkraut are on the employee menu for two more days.

That tears it.  I quit!  For lack of any better audience, I unloaded on the night auditor, Sigmund Wollman.  I declared that I have had it up to here; I don’t like wieners and sauerkraut enough to eat it one day and the whole hotel stinks anyhow and the horses are all nags and the guests are all idiots and I’m packing my bags!

I raved on in this way for twenty minutes.  My monologue was delivered at the top of my lungs, punctuated by blows on the front desk with a fly-swatter, the kicking of chairs, and much profanity.

As I pitched my fit, Sigmund Wollman sat quietly on his stool, smoking a cigarette, watching me with sorrowful eyes.  Put a bloodhound in a suit and tie and you have Sigmund Wollman.  He’s got good reason to look sorrowful.  German Jew.  Survivor of Auschwitz.  He liked being alone at the night job – gave him peace and quiet, and, even more, he could go into the kitchen and have a snack whenever he wanted to – all the wieners and sauerkraut he wanted.  In Auschwitz he dreamed of such a time.  The only person he sees at work is me, the nightly disturber of his dream.  And here I am again.

‘Fulghum, are you finished?’

‘No.  Why?’

‘Lissen, Fulghum.  Lissen me.  You know what’s wrong with you?  It’s not wieners and kraut and it’s not the boss and it’s not this job.’

‘So what’s wrong with me?’

‘Fulghum, you think you know everything, but you don’t know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem.  If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire – then you got a problem.  Everything else is inconvenience.  Life is inconvenient.  Learn to separate the inconveniences from the real problems.  You will live longer.  And will not annoy people like me so much.  Good night.’

In a gesture combining dismissal and blessing, he waved me off to bed.”

Fulghum then went on to write:

“Seldom in my life have I been hit between the eyes with truth so hard.  There in that late-night darkness of the Feather Run Inn, Sigmund Wollman simultaneously kicked my butt and opened a window in my mind.

For thirty years now, in times of stress and strain, when something has me backed against a wall and I’m ready to do something really stupid, a sorrowful face appears in my mind and asks:  ‘Problem or inconvenience?’”

What I just shared with you was a pivotal moment in Fulghum’s life.  This episode was, to use a theological term, a revelation.  A curtain so-to-speak was pulled back, and an insight and truth were offered, an insight and truth that could either be accepted or rejected.  Because it was accepted though, Fulghum’s life was never quite the same again.  And as it was with him so it was with the disciples in today’s scripture passage.

It was at the beginning of his ministry and Jesus, along with some of his disciples, were at a wedding reception.  Everyone was having a good time but as the hours passed the host kept a nervous eye on the wine jugs; bit by bit the levels were dropping.  Indeed the big question was which would give out first, the wine or the guests?  Now however he knew the answer; the party was still in full swing but there was virtually no wine left.  It was going to be a social disaster and this wedding was going to be remembered for all of the wrong reasons!  Jesus’ mother realized what was happening and she urged him to do something.  Jesus was most reluctant but Mary remained insistent and told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to.

As it happened, there were six large water jars standing nearby, each of which could hold between twenty and thirty gallons.  Jesus ordered that the jugs be filled with water and then a sample of the contents be served to the master of ceremonies.  The MC was amazed when he tasted it; why this was the best wine that he had ever had!  He called the bridegroom over and teased him, pointing out that at every other wedding reception he had ever attended, the good wine had been served first and then, after the guests had drank enough, the inferior wine was brought out.  He on the other hand had reversed the usual order and saved the best till last!

This then is what happened at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee when Jesus performed his very first miracle.  In the past when I have preached on this passage, I have usually focused on the meaning and significance of the miracle itself, the result being that I missed the significance of one particular line:  “and his disciples believed in him”.

At Cana of Galilee, Jesus revealed his true identity; a revelation took place and a truth was revealed but it was up to the disciples whether or not they accepted it.  The choice was theirs and one of the things that a revelation demands is either acceptance or rejection.  A revelation took place in Cana of Galilee that day and because the disciples accepted it, their lives were never the same.  A revelation also took place on a summer night back in 1959 and Robert Fulghum’s acceptance of it meant that his life would never be the same either.  Revelations are offered to us as well and also to the world in which we live.

Besides the pandemic, the past two years have been tumultuous ones; there was for example the George Floyd case in the United States.  There was also the discovery of the graves of missing indigenous children and the crisis in the long-term care homes in our own country.  What we may not realize however is that all three of these were ‘revelations’ that told us some painful truths that we are free to either accept or reject.

In the case of George Floyd, we witnessed the brutal death of a black man at the hands of a police officer, even as he repeatedly told the officer that he couldn’t breathe.  The subsequent airing of the killing on social media prompted outrage in both the United States and elsewhere, including our own community where a large demonstration took place.  People everywhere took to the streets in protest.  How often have similar events happened in the past that were never recorded?   A curtain was pulled back and an ugly revelation about racism was offered, but will this revelation be accepted or rejected?  Will lasting change take place or will things go back to ‘normal’?

To use another example, the discovery of thousands of unmarked graves of indigenous children sparked outrage.  Once again, a curtain was drawn back and a painful and disturbing revelation about our society and its values was offered.  Will it be accepted, leading to lasting change or will things revert back to ‘normal’?

We can also think of what happened in our long-term care homes at the beginning of the pandemic.  A disproportionate number of their residents contracted Covid and died.  Once again a curtain was drawn back, and an insight was offered.  Do we truly value and care for the elderly and vulnerable members of our society?  Will the insights offered be accepted or rejected?  Will meaningful change take place or will we take the easy way and risk letting history repeat itself?

Now this is not for one moment to suggest that it was the will of God that George Floyd be killed, that the children be treated the way they were, or that so many of our seniors perished, all so that he could offer us revelations.  God is Love and love would never do such things.  These tragedies were a result of human choice and decision.  However, we also believe that God was not just active in the days of the Bible and has been quiet ever since.  Rather God is present, active and at work today too, trying to bring good out of the bad.  Whether it be in our personal lives or in the life of the world around us, revelations and new insights are offered, however painful or disturbing as they may be.  And so, as individuals and as a society, we are confronted by the same question that the disciples faced at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee.  Do we accept the revelations and insights offered, knowing that our acceptance means that our lives will never be quite the same again?  Or do we turn away?

Pastoral Prayer

Gracious God, help us to be still as we come to you in prayer.  You are the Holy One, the Righteous One, the Creator of the rolling spheres of outer space, and the sub-atomic particles that we can barely even begin to imagine.  You are so far from us and yet you are so close to us, all at the same time.  We thank you for the wonder that is you, and we thank you for being present and active in our lives, in the lives of others, and in the world beyond.  We pray that you will grant us the eyes, ears, and minds of faith to discern you when you reveal yourself, your ways, and your will to us.

We thank you for the wonderful gift of our lives, and for everyone and everything in them that makes them so good and precious.

We pray this day for all for whom life is not so good.  As the pandemic continues and things seem to get worse rather than better, we pray for all who are ill and especially for those in the hospitals and in the ICU’s.  We pray for all who work to care for them, even as they risk their own health or struggle with their own physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.

With the return of the children to school tomorrow, we pray for their well-being and that of their teachers and all of the other staff.

We pray for those in authority and our very society itself as we struggle with our values, trying to balance the rights of those who have chosen not to be vaccinated with the health, well-being, and safety of everyone else.

We pray for an end to this pandemic sooner rather than later, and we pray that we may all emerge from it as better people with a stronger faith, hope, and trust in you.

Even as we are so aware of all that is not right, we thank you for the blessings, the peace, and the stability that we do have.  We remember the people of Afghanistan even as their hunger grows because of the food shortages.  We remember the people of Ukraine as the tensions with Russia simmer with the threat of invasion.  We pray for your reconciling, healing, and redeeming presence throughout the whole of this world.

We ask these things in your Son’s name.  Amen

Message for Epiphany – January 9, 2022

Matthew 2:1-12

A very interesting column was printed in the Toronto Star a couple of years ago.  It was written by Dow Marmur who, prior to his retirement, was the lead rabbi at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto.  In his column he wrote about the Holocaust and, quite rightly, pointed out that a rather surprising number of people insist that it never happened despite all of the evidence to the contrary.  To deny the reality of the Holocaust is of course to deny history and the truth but, Marmur wondered, how or why could people think this way?

He pointed out that we now live in what is commonly called the Post-Modern Age.  The Modern Age, which preceded it, began with the Enlightenment about three hundred years ago and its emphasis was on logical proof and rational thought.  One of the great principles of the Modern Age was also the idea that the truth and even reality itself are objective and beyond a person’s feelings and emotions.  Indeed, I suspect that most of you reading this message grew up in the Modern Age and take these ideas for granted.  In the 1960’s though things began to change and we entered what is called the Post-Modern Age.

In this Post-Modern Age of ours, there is a deep distrust of institutions and tradition.  In our Post-Modern Age facts aren’t all that important either; rather what really matters is what we personally believe and feel.  Truth and reality are no longer objective or out there beyond us, rather they are subjective and to be found within us.  To put it simply, for many people today the truth and even reality itself are whatever we want them to be.  If we believe that something is true then it is, and it doesn’t matter what others think or what the ‘facts’ may be.  We can use climate change for example.

The best scientists in the world today insist that global warming is both a reality and a threat and we can see this for ourselves; all we have to do is think about how much warmer our summers and winters are today than what they were just a few decades ago.  And of course we can also think of the recent natural disasters in British Columbia and the United States.  While such natural disasters have always happened, they are now happening on a scale and frequency never seen before.  It seems obvious to any objective observer that something is going on and yet it is estimated that up to a quarter of the population believes, despite all of the evidence to the contrary, that climate change is not for real.  And as for the evidence put forth by the scientists?  It is simply dismissed out of hand or ignored as it doesn’t fit in with that person’s vision of reality.  We see much of the same thing when it comes to the current pandemic.

By any objective standard it is obvious that we are caught up in the midst of a crisis.  Even so, there are those who deny the reality of what is happening saying that it is all a hoax.  They insist that thousands of people have not become sick or died because of covid, and as for the images of crowded ICU’s?  It is all make believe or propaganda!  The truth and evidence don’t mean anything at all or, as an advisor to President Trump famously said when confronted by evidence against her claims, she had “alternate facts”.  That of course is logical nonsense simply because a fact is a fact; logically speaking there cannot be such a thing as alternate facts.  This however is typical of how many people think today and such attitudes led Dow Marmur to conclude that we are not just living in the Post-Modern Age but that we are also living in what he calls “The Post Truth World”.  As typified most famously by the former American president’s response to losing his re-election bid, truth and reality for many people today are whatever they want them to be.  In fact I sometimes encounter this in my role as a minister.

Whenever I meet with a couple about their proposed wedding, I ask some basic questions pertaining to religion.  Almost invariably they will earnestly assure me that they are Christians and that is why they want me to officiate at their wedding.  Sometimes though I start to wonder about their claims.  When I ask them for example if they have been baptized, are or have been associated with any church or community of faith, the answer is usually ‘no’.  Some gentle questioning also reveals that they have only the foggiest ideas about Jesus, the Bible and what Christians believe but even so, they assure me that they are Christians.  In fact I am often left with the distinct impression that these people would be both hurt and very angry if I dared challenge their claim.  This is the world that we live in today; one where anyone can be whatever they claim to be and expect to be treated as such.  Such an attitude may seem so reasonable too, after all what does it matter if a person is baptized, is or ever has been associated with a community of faith?  What does it matter if they know little if anything about Jesus, the Bible, or Christianity’s core beliefs?  If they say that they are Christians, then they are.  Suppose for a moment though that I claimed to be a member of “The Society for the Preservation of the Immortal Memory of Sir Isaac Brock”, which by the way I just made up!  What would you think if you asked me about when I had joined or took out my membership and I replied that I hadn’t.  Or suppose that I had never attended their meetings and couldn’t tell you anything about Brock and his life?  You would quite rightly doubt my membership.  In fact my claim to belong to the society would all sound rather silly, and yet this is how many people today think.  For so many people today truth and even reality itself are whatever they want them to be; truly it seems as if we are living in the post truth world, but then what are we to think of the event described in today’s scripture passage?

The story of the wise men is now usually remembered at Christmas but the wise men’s visit to see Jesus actually happened months or possibly even a year or more, after his birth.  Also the ‘wise’ men as we usually call them, were actually magi or what we would call astrologers.  They studied the night sky looking for signs and wonders because they, like most people back then, believed that the conjunction of the stars and planets at the time of a person’s birth foretold that person’s future.  They also believed that what happened in the night sky above reflected what was happening down here on earth.

One night then while scanning the night sky, they saw a new phenomena.  We don’t know what it was, though there has been a lot of speculation that it may have been a super nova, a comet, or a conjunction of the planets.  Whatever it was, it filled them with excitement and they were convinced that it signified the birth of someone very important.  They decided to follow the mysterious star which led them to Bethlehem.  There they worshiped the Christ and presented him with their wondrously expensive gifts of gold, incense, and myrrh.

As I have already said, these men were magi or what we would call astrologers.  Most people today don’t take astrology very seriously but what we have to realize is that the magi were the scientists of their day, and it was their pursuit of knowledge, truth, and reality itself that led them to Christ.  They knew that truth and reality were not subjective and to be found within themselves.  Instead, they knew that truth and reality were objective and to found beyond themselves.  This in fact is the significance of the story of the wise men.

The wise men remind us that science and religion are not, as many people seem to think, mortal enemies.  They remind us that knowledge is not to be feared because all knowledge ultimately comes from and leads us to God and Christ.  Above all though, they remind us that while we may live in a post truth world, that is a world of illusion.  Reality and the truth are not, as many people today like to think, whatever we want them to be.  Truly reality and the truth aren’t to be found within us but rather, beyond us.  Indeed, the ultimate reality and truth are to be found in God and Christ.  The way, the truth, and reality itself are not whatever we may want them to be.  Instead, as Christ himself said, “I am the way, the truth and the life”.  That is the ultimate truth and reality, even in a post truth world.

Pastoral Prayer

Gracious God, hear us as we come to you in prayer this winter morning.

We thank you for the wonder and beauty of this season with its wind, cold and such as the snow so dazzling white in the sunshine.

We thank you for all that we have that enables us to live in what is sometimes a harsh and forbidding climate.  We thank you for the warmth of our homes and the clothes we wear.  We thank you for the warmth that comes into our lives through our families and friends.

We pray this day for all whose lives are cold, whether it be physically, mentally, or spiritually.  We pray for all who are homeless and lack enough food to eat.  We pray for all who are lonely or estranged from family and friends.

We pray this day for the well-being and safety of everyone as the pandemic continues with its upsurge of cases.  We pray for all who are ill.  We pray for those who are struggling, those trying to cope with their children at home and the challenges of online learning.  We pray for the children, living in a world where the pandemic with all of its restrictions is almost all that they have ever known.  We pray as well for the businesses so dramatically affected by the latest closures, wondering if they can survive.  We remember too this day all who live in fear, desperate to get their booster shots.

We give you thanks for the medical system we have, as we offer up our prayer for those who work in it, even as they grow weary and are in danger of burning out.  We pray as well for those in positions of authority as they make difficult decisions that can and do have a huge impact on the lives of so many people.

In this difficult trying time, we give you thanks for the holy wonder that is you.  You are God, so holy and different from us, and yet you love us and are always with us.  For this we thank you, praying that secure in your loving presence, we may put all of our faith, hope, and trust in you.  Grant not only us but all of your children everywhere the courage, strength, and peace that only you can give.  We ask these things in your Son’s name.  Amen

Message for January 2, 2022

Luke 2:41-51

It was the day when I learned the true meaning of the word ‘fear’.  Rebecca and I along with my sister and her family were at the Highland Games at Fergus.  There was a sudden downpour that didn’t last long, just long enough to make the ground very muddy.  After the rain had stopped my niece’s stroller kept getting stuck in the mud and at one spot it really got wedged.  I told Rebecca, who was about four years old at the time, “to stand right there and not move”.  Then my brother-in-law and I set to work to wrestle the stroller free.  We finally freed it and I turned around but … no Rebecca!  Frantically I looked around but there was no sign of her.  With my heart pounding, my brother-in-law and I started looking for her.  After what seemed like an eternity, although it was only a few moments, I saw her little blond head.  There she was, a slight frown on her face, standing by one of the booths while a middle-aged woman held her hand and was obviously looking around for her parents.  I rushed over, picked her up and hugged her but I didn’t know which feelings were going to win out; relief and thankfulness or anger and fear.  Fear followed by relief described how I felt that day and, I suspect, they also describe how Mary and Joseph felt when they found their own straying son.

The episode described in today’s scripture passage is fairly straight-forward.  In Jesus’ day, as today, all religious Jews were expected to try and celebrate the festival of the Passover in Jerusalem.  When Jesus was about twelve years old he and his parents made their annual trip to Jerusalem.  They celebrated the festival and then it was time to return home to Nazareth.  Whenever possible, people back then traveled together in large groups or caravans for safety since the countryside was infested with robbers.  Mary and Joseph didn’t see Jesus when they left the city but they weren’t unduly concerned reasoning that Jesus would have been somewhere there in the caravan.  When it came time to set up camp for the night though they realized with horror that Jesus was no where to be found.  They promptly returned to the city to find him but as the days passed, there was no trace of him.  No doubt by this time they were in an absolute panic.  They finally found him sitting in the Temple talking with the teachers of the law.

The teachers were quite impressed with Jesus’ questions and answers but for their part Mary and Joseph were less than impressed.  Indeed their relief, fear, and anger comes across in what Mary said to Jesus:  “Son, why have you treated us like this?  Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you”.  Jesus’ response was to tell them that they shouldn’t have been worried; why didn’t they realize that he had to be in his Father’s, that is God’s house?  Up to this point what happened is straight-forward; Jesus wandered off, his parents searched for him and finally found him.  He then explained his behaviour.  There is nothing unusual about this whatsoever, but then comes the next line:  “But they did not understand what he was saying to them”.

It is so easy to pass over this line without giving it a second thought but think about what Luke is telling us; Mary and Joseph didn’t understand Jesus’ need to be in his Father’s house.  Clearly the implication is that they did not realize or understand who and what Jesus truly was despite what had happened twelve years earlier!

The angel Gabriel appeared before Mary and told her that she, a virgin, was going to conceive and bear the Son of the Most High.  Mary then went to see her cousin Elizabeth who told her how special the child would be.  And of course there was also what happened after the actual birth itself with the shepherds crowding into the stable in the middle of the night to see her newborn child.  After that came the visit to Jerusalem where the prophetess Anna told Mary and Joseph how special their child was.  So too did Simeon, the man who had been told that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah.  Leaving Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth, Matthew’s gospel tells us the story of the wise men who came from afar to see Jesus.  There were all of these special signs and wonders surrounding Jesus’ birth and yet, twelve years later, Mary and Joseph acted as if Jesus’ true identity was news to them!  It doesn’t seem to make any sense at all, and yet, in a way it does.

Despite all of the signs and wonders that surrounded that first Christmas, it appears that Mary and Joseph thought of Jesus as being a normal child and only as time passed did they come to appreciate how special he really was.  Mary, and presumably Joseph too depending upon how long he lived, grew in their knowledge and understanding of Jesus but this was a process, a process that went in fits and starts.  At the wedding reception in Cana of Galilee for example, Mary urged Jesus to perform his first miracle and change the water into wine so that the hosts would not be embarrassed when the wine ran out.  Mary was obviously well aware of, or at least strongly suspected Jesus’ special abilities.  Later though when Jesus was teaching one day, Mary and other members of his family showed up and tried to take Jesus home.  They did so because, as they said, he was beside himself which was a nice way of saying that he was mentally ill.  Jesus’ brothers and sisters certainly didn’t think of him as being the Messiah; to them Jesus was simply their older brother who gave up a living as a carpenter to become a traveling preacher.  We can think of Jesus’ brother James for example.

James became a very important leader in the early church and the letter bearing his name in the New Testament is attributed to him.  James however didn’t follow Jesus while he was alive.  James grew in his faith and only became a disciple after his brother’s death and resurrection.  In other words, faith didn’t come to James all at once as if it were, rather it was a gradual process that took decades.  And perhaps this is something that we ought to remember as we welcome the gift of a new year.

Many if not most of us have long known who and what Jesus is.  Some of us in fact have known Jesus virtually all our lives going back to the days of our childhood when we were in Sunday School.  But of course we were not granted understanding, faith, and commitment in a lump as if it were when we were baptized or confirmed.  Rather it has been an ongoing process as we’ve made our way on life’s journey.  And just like Mary, Joseph, and the rest of Jesus’ family, perhaps our progress hasn’t always been upwards and onwards either.  Perhaps there have been times when our faith has wavered, and our discipleship and commitment have been only lukewarm or half-baked at best.  Perhaps there have been times when, full of pain and grief, we’ve even had our doubts as well.  Certainly the past twenty-one months have challenged the faith and commitment of many.

Such questioning is normal though and is a part of the journey of faith.  The important thing is that we carry on, continuing to try and grow in our understanding, faith, and commitment.  And perhaps this is what we ought to dedicate ourselves to doing in this new year just begun. To keep on growing after all is a part of our Presbyterian heritage; to be reformed and always reforming.  This simply means that we should do our best to grow and never rest content with things the way they are.  This in fact is what God wants of us or, as a poster once put it:  “God loves us just the way we are and loves us too much to let us stay that way”.  There is a lot of truth to this, and if we really love God then we will always strive to do better and be better, secure in God’s love and forgiveness.

With this in mind, I would like to conclude this message with a favourite prayer of mine, the words of which inspired the song “Day by Day”.  This prayer was written back in the Middle Ages by St. Richard of Chichester.  It goes:

“Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ

for all the benefits Thou hast given me,

for all the pains and insults Thou hast borne for me.

O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother,

may I know Thee more clearly,

love Thee more dearly,

and follow Thee more nearly.”

Amen

Pastoral Prayer

Hear us we pray as we turn to you in prayer on this, the first Sunday of a new year.

When we look back at the year just ended, we know that it was a difficult one for so many people.  The pandemic continued to drag on and inflicted so much damage on so many people in so many ways:  people were sick, people died, businesses struggled, and many were forced to close.  There were all of the restrictions as well and the resulting isolation felt by so many.  The cost of living rose too, posing a challenge for so many.

Truly 2021 was a challenging year and yet, there was still so much to be thankful for.  There were the healthcare workers who gave so much of themselves in the struggle to look after those who were ill.  There were the scientists who developed the vaccines which have lessened Covid’s impact on the health of many.  There were the people who worked tirelessly, ensuring that the supply chains remained open providing us with enough of life’s necessities.  To this we can add the farmers and manufacturers who supplied these good things in the first place.  In our uncertain world, we were also blessed with peace and security, and for this we give you thanks.

On a more personal level, there is also the health and abilities that we have, as well as our families and loved ones.  Truly, even if we don’t always think so or even realize it, we were blessed last year, and we still are today.

As we welcome the gift of a new year, we pray that the current wave and upsurge in Covid cases, and indeed the very pandemic itself, may come to an end sooner rather than later.

We pray for all who are ill, all who mourn, and those who live in fear even as so many search for booster shots, hoping to get one sooner rather than later.

We pray for the people in the west of our nation as they try to cope with the bitterly cold weather, and we especially remember and pray for the homeless whose lives are at risk.

We witnessed the crackdowns in Hong Kong and Russia this past week, and we pray for the sake of basic rights and freedoms in those countries and elsewhere.

We give you thanks for the Christmas celebrations now over, praying that throughout this year just begun that we may never lose sight of the meaning of Christmas; that you are with us and that your love will never let us go.

In your Son’s name we pray.  Amen

Message for the Fourth Sunday in Advent – December 19, 2021

Luke 1:46-55

It occurred to me the other day that it is rather odd that no one has ever come up with a musical entitled “The Christmas Story: The Musical”.  After all there is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera “Jesus Christ Superstar” which is a musical account of Jesus’ last week as primarily related in John’s gospel.  There is also “Godspell” which is a musical account of Jesus’ life as given to us in Matthew’s gospel.  So why not then “The Christmas Story: The Musical”?  Is it because it sounds irreverent or perhaps even sacrilegious?  It shouldn’t when we consider Luke’s gospel itself.

When we read Luke’s account of the first Christmas and what led up to it, we tend to read it as prose, but that’s not the way it was originally written.  Rather, it seems as if all the principal characters were constantly bursting into song.  When Zechariah for example was told that he and his wife Elizabeth, despite their advanced age, were going to have a son and that that child would be the last and greatest prophet of them all, the one whose appearance would signify the imminent appearance of the Messiah himself, Zechariah’s initial response was scepticism.  But then when John the Baptist was born, Zechariah burst into song praising God and singing what we now call “The Benedictus”.  It begins:

“Blessed be the God of Israel,

for he has come and redeemed his people.”

Earlier, just prior to John’s birth, the angel Gabriel visited Mary and told her that despite being a virgin, she was going to conceive and bear a son who would be the Messiah.  Mary was also told that her cousin Elizabeth had conceived a child too, and so she went to see her.  When she came into her cousin’s presence, the child in Elizabeth’s womb leapt for joy.  Then Elizabeth exclaimed, although some scholars say she actually sang:

“Blessed are you among women

and blessed is the child you will bear!

Blessed is she who believes

what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

For her part, Mary also burst into song as well singing what we call “The Magnificat”, a part of which makes up today’s scripture passage:

“My soul glorifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my saviour.”

Moving on to the birth of Jesus itself, it was hailed by the angels singing:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth,

peace to men on whom his favour rests.”

Eight days later when the Holy Family went to the Temple, they encountered an old man named Simeon.  Simeon was a very righteous man who had been told that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah.  When Simeon saw Jesus he promptly burst into song singing what we call “The Nunc

Dimittis”, the words of which I use to conclude the last prayer on Christmas Eve:

“Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace

according to thy word.

For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

which thou hast prepared in the presence of

all peoples,

A light for revelation for the Gentiles,

and for the glory of thy people Israel.”

Reading Luke’s account of that first Christmas it seems as if all of the principal characters, Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, the angels, and Simeon constantly burst into song.  Truly Luke presents us with “The Christmas Story: The Musical” and given the impact of music, perhaps that is only appropriate.

Some time ago I read a very interesting article about the role and impact that music has on us even if we don’t realize it.  By way of example, the author wrote about the 1960’s which was a time characterized by turmoil and upheaval.  There was for example the civil rights movement, woman’s liberation, the anti-Vietnam War protests, the drug culture, and the hippies.  The songs of that decade both reflected what was going on and had an impact on what was happening as well.  We can think of the influence of such songs as “We Shall Overcome”, “Blowing in the Wind” or “The Times They Are A-Changin’”.  But just as the music of that decade both reflected and had an impact on what was happening, so it is with all of the music that we sing and listen to and that includes our Christmas music.  If we don’t think so, then all we have to do is remember what happened in South Africa almost forty years ago.

Apartheid was still in full force and, as unbelievable as it may sound, the authorities actually tried to ban the playing and singing of Christmas music in some of the Black Townships.  Why did they do this?  Simply because they feared the impact that some of the songs might have on some of the people, songs that we perhaps sing and listen to without giving them a passing thought.  Some of our religious Christmas music is relatively innocent and we can take “While Shepherd’s Watched” as an example.  Following the King James Version of the Bible, this hymn simply recounts the birth of Jesus as given to us in Luke’s gospel.  “O come all ye Faithful” on the other hand explores Jesus’ nature, and at times it almost sounds like a theological textbook.  Consider these words:

“God of God, Light of Light

Lo!  He abhors not the virgin’s womb.

Very God, begotten not created.”

We can’t get much more theological than that!  And then there are also these words from “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”:

“Hail the heaven born prince of peace,

hail the Sun of righteousness

Light and life to all he brings

risen with healing in his wings.”

Some of our Christmas music though isn’t just theological, some of it is almost revolutionary in its claims.  We can think of the last verse of “Joy to the World” for example.

“He rules the world, with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove,

The glories of His righteousness,

And wonders of His love.”

That babe lying in the manger rules the world?  Everyone will be held accountable to Him?  These are pretty threatening claims to any dictator or authoritarian government.  Perhaps it’s no wonder then that the South African authorities tried to ban the singing and playing of Christmas music.  Truly the music of the season, and especially the religious music, doesn’t just express our feelings of joy; it also impacts and shapes our beliefs and ultimately those of the world around us as well.  For that reason, I like to think of Christmas music as being Christianity’s secret weapon.

As we all well know, we live in a secular society but that changes somewhat in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  TV stations that would never dream of airing religious programming quite happily air Christmas specials which, more often than not, include some religious songs such as “O Holy Night”.  Many radio stations that would never ever dream of playing religious music will quite happily play the music of the season including religious songs such as “The Little Drummer Boy” and “Do You Hear What I Hear?”  Indeed, many people who would normally never listen to any religious music whatsoever will often quite happily listen to songs such as these.  Are all of these songs accurate when it comes to the details of the Christmas story?  Of course not; there was never for example a little drummer boy but nevertheless the true meaning and significance of Christmas is still proclaimed, through the back door as if it were.

Can you imagine Christmas without the music?  I most certainly can’t and so perhaps it is only appropriate that the best-known version of the Christmas story, Luke’s version, is virtually presented as a musical.  Much of the music of the Christmas season not only expresses the joy of what Christmas is all about but also proclaims the meaning of Jesus’ birth.  “The Christmas Story: The Musical”?  Perhaps it is not as strange or far-fetched as it may first seem.

Pastoral Prayer

Gracious God, on this last Sunday before Christmas, this day whose theme is that of love, we thank you for all the ways that love comes into our lives, and especially at this time of the year.

We thank you for such as the gatherings of families and friends, the festive meals, and the tokens of love given and received.

We thank you for all whom we love and who love us; the joy and meaning they bring into our lives.

Above all, we thank you for your love revealed to us by what it is we celebrate at Christmas; the birth of your Son, that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.  That birth in Bethlehem so long ago means so many different things to us but above all it means that you truly do love us.  Such is your love that when you joined us you did so at the bottom as if it were; in a stable.  Such is your love that you not only joined us to share life as we know it, but also to show us the way to love, joy, peace, and happiness.  Such is your love that you joined us so that one day we may join you.  For all of this we thank you, praying that amidst all the busyness and activity of this season, you will help us not to lose sight of what Christmas is truly all about.

On this day whose theme is love, we pray for all those who, for whatever reason, feel unloved.

We pray for relationships under strain, those who are lonely, and those who mourn for the loss of a loved one.

In this season so often characterized by excess, we pray for those who materially lack so much including enough food to eat or a place to call home.

At this time when we hope to be at peace as we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, we pray for all who have no peace as the pandemic tightens its grip once again.  We pray for wisdom for those in positions of authority, and for the sake of all those working in our healthcare system.  We pray for the safety and well-being of everyone, even as we hope and pray that the latest variant is not as threatening as some people say it may be.

Be with us all, bless us all, and keep us all.  We ask these things in your Son’s name.  Amen