Inspired by Matthew 28:1-10

I’ve mentioned before that I did some work for the Pacific Mountain Regional Council Candidacy Board for several years. That was extremely fulfilling work, given our purpose was to interview and approve potential candidates for ministry in the United Church. The process begins with an interview for “Promise.” 

This “first hurdle” examines the candidate’s ability to articulate their “call to ministry.” We want to know something about their spiritual journey. Who and/or what is God to them? How do they see Jesus in the world? We want them to tell us a little about their journey in life. We ask, why do you want to be in paid accountable ministry? How have you discerned your call? What sort of gifts do you think you have for ministry? How do you know this is the right path for you at this time in your life? We ask them to give us a sense of their spiritual path. 

These conversations are usually very rich, as we learn about this new potential church leader. 

Before us is a whole egg, waiting to be hatched. We are trying to find out just what is going to burst forth from this incredible embryo. What future promise lies temporarily dormant?

Easter is an embryotic promise story. Christ’s resurrection points us to much more than his personal return to the sides of his disciples and friends. 

We know that time was limited. He would soon ascend into heaven to be with God. What he left behind is the real miracle event. 

I think there are two pieces of that miracle. The first, that whether through human flesh or otherwise, Christ’s love for us would never be diminished. 

The second, planted in each and every one of us, is a DNA strand that has Christ-Like potential. It is part of a Christ-Embryo. Jesus wants it to burst out into the world so that his life-giving ministry can continue, and God’s love will forever be proclaimed.

That’s the miracle I’m thinking about this morning. Fully formed, inside each and every one of us exists the essence of Christ. It is waiting to break out of its shell. It has the potential to change the world. Jesus sees that promise in all of us. 

The first step in fulfilling that promise is the brave “breaking out” stage. You risk being seen. You risk being identified as someone who might care, someone who might be inclined to be a helper. You begin to realize you are comfortable with this. There is a certain satisfaction about giving that fulfills you. Perhaps you wonder, this might be what discipleship is going to be like. And you are inclined to think, “doing for others makes me feel good.”

Cracked open you begin to understand that the world is a complex place. There is more need for compassion around you than you could have imagined. It is cruel out there. Sometimes you have a sense you would just like to go back into your shell and pretend things are not so bad. You wish that it wasn’t so hard to change things and there wasn’t so much cruelty. But you feel a need, a call. The Jesus DNA is waking up inside you. 

You learn much more as you mature. Everywhere you turn there seems to be violence, injustice, prejudice, mistrust and hatred. The essence of Christ within you is angry and it laments. You have been fully hatched into a cold reality; the world is not a happy or safe place. The Christ now fully formed within you, becomes more determined, even tenacious. You are going to at least try to make a difference. You become more comfortable being in the spotlight. You share your emotions more openly. You feel a deeper sense of commitment to peace and justice. 

Yes you are ready, ready for your true discipleship. Call me into ministry. Call me to serve as best I can. Call me to speak out against prejudice and greed. Call me to hold the poor, falsely imprisioned and desperate in my prayers. Call me to spread Christ’s love abundantly and continue to do that, even when my message falls on deaf ears. Call me to wave the flag of righteousness and right-relations in the faces of those who wish not to see. You are reaching your full potential. 

That promise Jesus saw is filling the cracks and voids of pain and suffering with its own unique miracle work. You have become part of the ressurection story. Through your actions of grace, seeds of hope are planted where there was barren ground. The tears of the weeping have been dried. Community spirit has been enlivened. Your kindness and generosity have supplanted lonliness and despair. 

This Easter Sunday I’m filled with great joy. That might seem exceedingly strange given the environment we are in (and the fact that my car just died). But I am seriously very joyful. Not just because the spring weather is bringing with in that incredible sunshine we adore and the warmer weather along with it. Not just because birdsong is filling the air and those little quail chicks are running acorss the back lawn. Not just because its BBQ season and time to take Duffy to the lake once again. Joy because I know that you are all candidates for ministry in our time. In fact you are way past the entry point of the candidacy process. The “Christ-Embryo” in you all hatched some time ago. You are now mature disciples spreading your healing love in this community and elsewhere. 

In his resurrection Jesus gave a great promise to all of us. From the Gospel of  Matthew 28:20) “remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” 

After a horrible betrayal, brutal torture and his final execution Jesus returns. In his return, the promise, “I am with you, I will always be with you.” It is a comforting hopeful message. Within that promise also came a request. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit,”

Today that ask is lived out through resurrection people like yourselves. A people who care deeply for one another and stand in solidarity with those who are not being heard. It is lived out in the little acts of humility that weave together a tapestry of a compassionate community of faith, whose members have burst from their shells in Christ’s likeness. It is lived out in the spirit of disciples who collectively breathe hope into our troubled world. That is living the promise of resurrection.

Happy Easter and thanks for listening this morning. Amen accessed March 28, 2026

It’s always a delight for me to be in conversation about some of the big questions, questions like who is God to you and how do you see Jesus in the world today? My delight is that I have opportunities to take away new perspectives or experience some affirmation of what I now believe to be truth. That was my experience yesterday when I linked up with a young man who would like to do his confirmation this summer here in Peachland. I keep his name anonymous because I don’t have his permission to share it. Hereafter he will be known as “My Young Apprentice.” That conversation prompted me to do some reflection. 

God, I said, can’t be contained in a box. Some would like us to define God that way saying God is this or God is that, or that God acts in this way or that way. But to define God specifically I suggested, limits the potential of God’s goodness in the world. I commented to “My Young Apprentice” that I have a number of visions of God (and incidentally the United Church encourages this I said). I told him (and I would tell anyone) that I see God as the pronouns he, she and they. I see God as Holy Love and Holy Presence (the spirit of generosity and kindness). I visualize God as healer, compassionate one, and forgiver. I see God as one who created the universe and recreates it to this day. In crisis, discouragement and grief, I see God as accompanier, assurer and comforter. My vision is broad. But I said, never do I see God as cruel, as a source of punishment, as retributive. 

My words would not be at all familiar to those experiencing the world in the days of the Psalmists. But I am inclined to think that they thought of God in multiple ways as well. Certainly, they envisioned God as benevolent, generous, nurturing and saving. 

Today’s Psalm is composed during a festival of some kind, a celebration where the congregation gathered in the temple. 

27 The Lord is God,
 and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
 up to the horns of the altar.[c]

28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
 you are my God; I will extol you.

29 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
 for his steadfast love endures forever.

For he is good, his steadfast love endures forever. “This is the day that the Lord has made” they sang, “let us rejoice and be glad in it.” 

The praise that rang out must have made the attendees joyful and filled them with hope. I don’t know about you, but it lifted me this morning when we sang it, this is the day that Holy love; grace, generosity, empathy, compassion and forgiveness raise their voices. 

That same feeling, perhaps euphoric, was present that fateful day Jesus rode into Jerusalem. It was Passover, the time of the great annual festival celebrating the release of the Jews from Egyptian slavery. Coming into the city rides Jesus, the one the people have been hearing about. Is it true that he is here to redeem us, to take us out of our present slavery, to free us? Hosanna, they cry, Hosanna, save us Jesus. They were happy to see Jesus and in a celebratory mood. Happy because the savoir had arrived, the one who would free them from bondage and lead them into a new world. 

This is the day; this is the day that the Lord has made! If they had known the Psalm, they would likely have sung it. 

Is this the day, March 29, 2026? Is this the day where we can begin anew just like those daffodils breaking through the earth? Can we break into hope as did those gathered to greet Jesus? Can we break through the harsh reality of egoism, fearmongering, selfishness and apathy that pervades our days? Hosanna Jesus, save us too. Save us from corruption, abuse of authority and arrogance. Free us from this bondage. 

Can Jesus do that? 

My young apprentice got me thinking about that yesterday. Are we doomed to failure? Will our societies eventually crumble into dust? 

I think that depends on the answer to the second question I raised in the first part of my reflection. “How do you see Jesus in the world today?”

I see only two ways to answer that question. 

The first, you don’t see Jesus in the world at all. Perhaps you are so disenchanted you can’t believe it possible. Perhaps you are beyond believing in hopeful change. Perhaps, and with good reason, you are cynical about the entire “Jesus” message. That’s option one.

Option two, you see as I did when meeting with my young apprentice, that Jesus is in the world now, every day, and in many ways. 

We saw Jesus amidst the rubble of abandoned homes in Gaza, Ukraine and Iran, determined to find safety for those who have lost everything they owned. We saw Jesus on the back of a trailer truck handing out bottles of water and shuffling bags of rice out to starving refugees. We saw Jesus in makeshift medical shelters under tarps with back up generators and a lack of medical supplies.

We talked about Jesus clearing the neighbour’s path after a snow fall or helping an elder taking the garbage out or in doing some housework. 

The other day I saw Jesus freeing a Humpback whale from fishing nets in the Baltic. 

I just read about Jesus in the news as “Activists and members of the transgender community take part in a demonstration against proposed amendments to India's Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill.”[1] 

Jesus is with the residents of Tumbler Ridge who are still in shock after the devastating loss of life in the school shooting. And he will be there as long as they need him.

Jesus is in the small acts of kindness we offer, the generosity given to neighbour friend or stranger. Jesus is in our prayers for comfort and healing.

I think Jesus is at the city gates waiting for us now. I pray that is the way we can all envision Jesus today as we wave our Palm branches. 

Welcome Jesus, This is The Day. This is the Day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Thanks for listening today, Amen

[1] 'We will be fighting': Indian transgender activist says as new bill strips right to self-identify | CBC Radio, accessed March 28, 2026, accessed 

Inspired by John 9:1-12, 18-41

Over the years the English language is continually bombarded with what many would say, “affronts to good literary form.” I know it used to drive my dad bonkers when one of us would come home with a new word or phrase. Hey that’s mint was one I can remember. “Mint?” Dad would retort, “what the heck does that mean?” I would respond, “it means cool or fab.” And dad would say, “fab?”

My dad was of that generation who was serious about vocabulary. Words were words, they should be kept unspoiled, don’t mess with them! The English language was sophisticated. It was art! 

Thankfully my dad missed the generation of “As If,” the slang expression for, “you have to be joking, no way, that’s not possible.” “As if,” your son says when you enquire whether he intends to study for his physics exam. “As if,” your daughter replies when you ask her if she plans to be back by 11PM with the car. As if, you have to be joking.

Poor dad would have had an anaphylactic shock if he knew that xerox and google were now actual words in Webster’s dictionary (not that he would have a clue what google was). And the latest response by many when they receive a compliment, “no worries.” Where did that originate? Everyone says it now. “Thanks for lunch Joe, it was good.” “No worries,” replies Joe. “Thanks for letting us know you got home safely,” I tell my daughter Lisa. “No worries, Dad” she says. 

Expressions change with the times. It seems to be normal. How many others I wonder do you remember? Well, I would like to offer up a new one this morning, “It’s Miracle Salve Man.” That would be a great response to those that would question the impossible transformation through love in action. “It’s Miracle Salve Man.”

That’s what Jesus offered the blind man he encountered in the Jerusalem street. Jesus gave him the light of the world. He opened the man’s eyes to possibility, opened them to hope. He told the man he was not a sinner, someone who should be shunned. As he placed mud on the man’s eyes, Jesus gave him Miracle Salve, assurance that he was cherished, important, valued. What a gift!

How is it that blindness can be reversed the Jews wondered incredulously? Surely this is impossible? This man, and his parents too, sinned against God. Why else would he be blind? 

Well, you are missing the point says Jesus. “I came into this world so that those who do not see may see.” I came in peace and with a generous heart to be a witness to God’s love. I came to spread “Miracle Salve,” the gift of transformation for those that are open to it. Everyone who is open to the spirit’s presence will receive generosity and be held in compassion. Everyone who understands we are all one in this realm, we are all equal, we are all children of the creator will see.

Those who desire wealth and positions of authority, those who belittle the lame and weak, those who cast shame on the poor and disparage the sick will remain blind. They do not see the truth of God’s wisdom. They will not be bathed in God’s love. That is because they have not yet opened their eyes to God’s radiant light. 

And open their eyes some will not. It seems as if super-strong permanent glue has been applied to the underside of their eyelids. One wonders if even Miracle Salve can open them. 

“I have the right to do anything I wanna do. I’m the President of the United States,” says Mr. you know who. [1] From president Netanyahu, “We are going to fulfil our promise that there will be no Palestinian state. This place belongs to us,”[2] In the Ukraine, Russian president Putin is apparently interested in moving peace talks forward, if the Ukraine gives up much of its territory Russia now occupies and if it agrees to reduce the size of its military and abandon its hopes of joining NATO.[3]

What exists beyond our outrage at the bullying, coercion and military threats, the heartbreaking news of more deaths and displacements, the seemingly unending tragedy and chaos? Is the prospect of reconciliation and peace among adversaries a foolish dream?

Jesus didn’t think so and I don’t believe he was foolish. Perhaps on his human side somewhat naïve, but that was not a deterrent. He didn’t just apply his Miracle Salve to the blind man, he offered it to the outcast, the unwanted, the despised. He offered it to everyone and anyone. He raised new promise from the ashes of oppression. 

In todays Gospel reading Jesus said, “I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see.” He says a similar thing in the 4th Chapter of the Gospel of Luke. 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,

In his messaging Jesus intended to bring hope into a broken world. He did that with patience, peace, understanding, empathy, and forgiveness. And in his ministry, he healed through his unconditional love. We have the same opportunity through what I have been calling “miracle salve.”

A traveller and his dog were clearly needy. I saw them in the IGA parking lot the other day. The man had a hand out for change and I gave him what I had on me, a meager $5. He beamed back at me, Thank- You with a warm smile. I forgot what else I heard but he was indeed grateful. I could have responded, no worries, “Its Miracle Salve Man.”

The next person to come into the Bargain Bin and ask for some free warm clothing will be graciously asked to take what they need. I expect they will be grateful when they leave. Perhaps we should ask the BB executive to institute a new salutation, no worries, “Its Miracle Salve Man.”

A few minutes from now in our Mission Stories time Louise is going to be speaking to you about P.I.E. Day. I won’t steal her thunder now, so I will say only that PIE Day is about recognizing the importance of inclusivity in our church. Specifically, PIE Day is about doing something explicit to recognize our welcoming of LGBTQ2+ individuals in our COF. Miracle Salve does that, removing any blinders we may have to being an affirming people of God, and opening our eyes to diversity. 

“It’s Miracle Salve Man,” the tenacity of Jesus’ to keep knocking on locked doors. His unwavering commitment, not just to preach good news to the poor, but to preach justice and right relations to the stubborn, corrupt and ego driven. His relentless will to affect change where change seems impossible. 

Jesus left us with a challenge. Spread my Miracle Salve wherever you can. That is how justice comes into a hurting world. That is kin-dom living.

By the way, I happen to think with time, Jesus’ Miracle Salve can dissolve even the most stubborn adhesive from the eyelids of those that would scoff at our efforts.

Because It’s Miracle Salve Man!

Thanks for listening this morning, Amen 

[1] Trump Declares, ‘I Have the Right To Do Anything I Want’, accessed March 14, 2026

[2] Israel’s Netanyahu says ‘there will be no Palestinian state’ | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera, accessed March 14, 2026

[3] Putin backs US plan for ending Ukraine war as Trump gives Kyiv deadline to accept - BBC News, accessed March 14, 2026  

“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. 

A juicy little metaphor, a kind of a teaser and an invitation. An invitation into what I might call a “Deep Dive.” 

But sir, the Samaritan woman asks, you speak of water that can give eternal life. What is that? I’m interested in this “living water.” “Show it to me.” I don’t want to be thirsty again stuck in the same situation I am now with no prospects. I don’t want to come back to this well time after time just so I can survive. Are you saying there is something else? What is this eternal life you speak of?

Follow me and I will show you the promise that God has made. I will show you the path to enlightenment, the path that leads us forth into kind and caring relationships. I will show you that reconciliation among enemies is possible. And I will show you that you are loved regardless of your standing or your situation. I will show you inner peace.

The time is coming says Jesus when, in accepting God as spirit and truth, you will be followers. God seeks such followers to journey with me, speaking of justice, peace and right-relations. God asks you to walk with me on a path of healing through unconditional love. That is “living water,” water flowing from our hands, feet and hearts to quench the thirst of the needy. Through your actions of generosity, others may be fed and hope restored. 

The Samaritan Woman is a social outcast, out of place from Jesus and his community. She is a relative nobody and is not even named. She is an unfulfilled soul, someone struggling with her value and worth. Perhaps she may even have doubt in her God. 

I see her journey as a deep dive. 

I recall a much younger man who, rather arrogantly, denied the spirit of God. He said it was just myth. His ears were closed to the master’s love song. His eyes shut off from the beauty of creation. His heart was unaware of the healing power of the Holy Presence during grief. 

At first a toe tested the water. He sat in a chair during a church worship service. There were no sharks. The minister spoke about generosity and social justice. He was curious.

He waded in up to his waist and opened a book called the bible. It didn’t bite as he thought it might. It was filled with strange names and odd places. He allowed his curiosity to wander, and it was answered with parable, which spoke to him about kindness, forgiveness, light and love.

He went deeper, up to his chest and he couldn’t believe he floated. He floated with a lifejacket of possibility. Could it be he wondered that Jesus was right. When neighbour greets neighbour, hands do not need to be clenched into fists, and caustic accusatory words are not the first things to be uttered. Possibly there is opportunity for reconciliation, for building up, not breaking down.

Before he knew it, he was up to his neck and the seas became rough. Criticisms, accusations, bullying, even betrayal. This was surely enough to overwhelm his seaworthiness and cast him adrift. Bur somehow, miraculously, he found a different kind of lifejacket. The creator was there and offered him a small boat. She said, you have to row, and row hard. But you will make it. I will be waiting at the shore for you. He did and she was. 

After that he dove in, headfirst and he started a deep dive. That dive took him to places he never could have imagined. It hasn’t been easy. Sometimes he has had to hold his breath for a long while. Other times his oxygen tank has been on empty. But someway, somehow, he managed to keep on swimming. Along the way Jesus has been his lifeguard saying, yes keep going, you are needed, you are one of my disciples. 

And God, well God of course has been there as a companion. Holy Compassion has been there listening to his woes and giving him pep talks. Holy Love has been there nurturing, guiding, reassuring. And as he competed the deep dive, he received a great gift. I’ll tell you about that in a minute. 

Like many of us today, bombarded by negativity, we are more inclined to exist in survival mode than in a hopeful place. Either that or we are jaded by our perceptions that nothing is ever going to change. I expect we all can imagine what kind of response Jesus would get if he offered the gift of living water to us in such circumstances. 

What does this living water really have to offer us? That is what the Samaritan woman wondered too. 

Jesus had travelled a long way through Samaria. He was parched and so he sat down at the well. He needed a drink of life-sustaining water. It is something the Samaritan woman could give him. Our gospel story doesn’t confirm it, but I can’t imagine he left thirsty. Unexpectedly the woman also received a nourishing drink, one that could have changed her life if she accepted it. It was there if she choose to take a deep dive, accepting Jesus in her life.

We are fortunate enough to be beneficiaries of both thirst-quenching life sustaining water and living water as well. We nourish one another with kindness, generosity, and love in our ministry together. And we receive the living water of Christ when we make the deep dive into the Creator’s arms. It is a journey, and it’s a miracle. 

I mentioned that there is a great gift in that journey, that deep dive into the spirit. I know because I found it. At the bottom of your dive, you will find an oyster. Inside is the brightest pearl you have ever seen. It’s Eternal Life!

Take the dive! 

Thanks for listening this morning, Amen 

It has been a remarkably sad week in British Columbia. The events that unfolded with the shooting deaths in Tumbler Ridge, has torn apart a quiet town in the north-eastern part of the province. Families have been devastated, residents numbed with the shock of an unthinkable tragedy. Seven young lives and one adult perished. Two more young people fight for their lives in hospital beds. Fraught with too many demons, the shooter herself took her own life. There were a reported twenty-five others injured. 

There is no possible way of making any sense of this horrific, heartbreaking event. There are no words one can say that can possibly soften the grief or relieve the pain. Condolences and hugs help, but the pain is unbearable. Will the affected families ever recover from this terrible tragedy? Will the community of Tumbler Ridge ever heal?

For those gathered in Sunday Worship like we are, surely the question, “God where are you in all this,” is being raised. “How can God let this happen will be words shared among many.” I wondered if the transfiguration of Jesus in today’s Gospel account could give us any perspective. 

If I recall correctly, the first time I spoke about Jesus’ transfiguration experience was to children in story time. How am I going to make sense out of this event for young folks I wondered? Well, I had one of those transformer toys with me. I think it was a car. As we sat together at the front of the sanctuary, I changed the car into a robotic figure and then back again. Jesus’ appearance changed I said. There were several quizzical looks. (I wonder now if, after the service, several kids told their moms and dads that Jesus was a robot). I don’t think I really explained the story very well then.

The next time I told the story I thought of something else. I had one youth at worship that day. I had rigged up a floodlight near one of the pews in the front. I said, I wonder what it must have been like for Jesus being in such a powerful light. I asked her to step up on the pew and I turned on the floodlight. The young girl stood there with the biggest smile on her face, which was glowing from the flood lamp. She just stood there and didn’t say anything. We were all amazed, and that was the sermon in a nutshell. She was showing us what it would be like to be bathed in Holy Light. It was beautiful and inspiring.

I imagine I have made reference to one of my favourite Christmas Stories in a worship reflection before, but I can’t help repeating it, because it makes me think about Jesus’ transfiguration. I see the Grinch with his green grinchy feet in the snow feeling absolutely retched because he couldn’t stop Christmas from coming. Suddenly the heavens open up and the bright sun comes out. He is zapped with an incredible bolt of light, and he falls down. What is happening to me he asks? “I’m all toasty inside and I’m leaking,” says the Grinch, as he sheds tears of joy. And his heart, as we know, grew three sizes. His transfiguration led to a great transformation.

Did the hearts of Peter, James and John grow exponentially on that mountain with Jesus? Did they fill with hope for a better world? Did they “see” the messiah in a new light, affirming their faith in discipleship? What did they feel other than fear when God spoke, “This is my Son, the Beloved;[b] with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” 

I see the transfiguration event as a reminder of God’s transformative power through Holy Love. For the disciples, a reminder that Holy Wisdom affirms the man Jesus as an emissary for spreading the good news to the world. Peter, James and John, after getting over their fear, fully understand Jesus was indeed the way, the truth and the light. Once they got over their individual trepidation, they were changed, they were transformed. If there had been any doubt about their ministry calling and Jesus’ authenticity, that vanished as quickly as the light bathing the messiah.

Listen to him offers powerfully transformative words. 

Listen to him. Through the power of love, sight can be returned to the blind, it becomes possible for the deaf to hear again and for the lame to walk. The power of love can restore hope. The power of love can even transform death into new life. It seems to me that is what we often pray for. We are praying for it now.

We are praying for love to break down the doors of hopelessness and despair in the community of Tumbler Ridge. We are praying that with time, anger, doubt, fear and pain will be diminished and healing may begin. We pray the agony of grief will some-day become tolerable. The gift of Holy Love can do that.

A number of years ago in my infancy of my faith enquiries I asked my Diaconal Mentor “Where is God when tragedy happens?” It is I expect akin to saying, “How can God allow terrible things to happen?” How is it that wars continue to prevail, that innocent men, women and children die needlessly every day? How is it that natural disasters make so many suffer? How is it that there are the desperate, so many unfed, unloved or living on the streets? How is it God that there are horrid, unimaginably painful events like the one that just happened in Tumbler Ridge?

My mentor replied to me, “Ian those are the times when God was not present.” 

I have learned that either by design or through chance, tragedy lands and inflicts crushing blows to the human spirit. I have also learned that there is no salve that can be applied to make things better. You all know that as well. And you know that while we want there to be a fix when heartache occurs, one does not exist. This has nothing to do with God. But we might ask, where then does God, the Holy arrive?

The Holy is in Jesus’ mountaintop experience, and it gives me a great deal of hope. From within the blinding light came a voice that said, “This is my Son, the Beloved;[b] with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” Listen to Jesus, for he has much to offer this troubled and fractured world. The disciples heard it. God’s voice, Holy Love.

I hear that voice now, in this place. The Holy One says, “You are my disciples, my beloved, with you I am well pleased.” And within that voice comes a great hope, a hope that we would allow ourselves to be transformed too, changed into believing that death and destruction do not have the last say. Convinced that love, kindness, and generosity offer pathways to healing. Assured in our determination to see that justice prevails. That voice is a transformational one, and we are its agents.

We are its agents, offering transformation through trauma, to healing for those in our Community of Faith and our communities who need assurance that there are compassionate, caring people holding them prayerfully. We are agents of God’s love holding all those affected by the Tumbler Ridge tragedy in our hearts. We cannot make their pain vanish, but we can walk tenderly with them and hopefully, eventually, and with God’s grace, help healing resolve heartache.

As we pray for the dead, grieving and traumatized at Tumbler Ridge and elsewhere, thank you for being agents of Jesus’ transforming love, that can bring healing into pain and suffering. 

And thank you for listening this morning, Amen 

“We speak God’s wisdom, a hidden mystery, which God decreed before the ages for our glory 8 and which none of the rulers of this age understood, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” Valerie shared those words this morning from our Epistle reading.

What is God’s wisdom? Paul suggests it is hidden mystery. Hidden such that none of the rulers of the age understood it. 

How does one describe it, how to we get our fingers on it? How do we begin to understand the vastness of God’s reach, the remarkable Holy Presence that is with us today, here in this place and at the same time appreciate it has been present since the dawn of Creation? How might we experience the joy and contentment that healing can bring from a knowing of Holy Mystery?

What is this hidden mystery that if understood would have saved Jesus from an untimely and horrific death? What kind of wisdom was lacking from those that called out for his crucifixion? What did the Pharisees misunderstand as they gave Jesus up as a scapegoat for their own benefit? What didn’t Judas understand and what did Pilot fail to perceive? 

Let’s do a quick back-cast to Paul’s personal experience. Before his conversion he was a Pharisee, an individual who intensely persecuted the church of a new age and tried to destroy it. He was an extremist in his determination to further Judaism in the tradition of his fathers. Paul, like many others of the elite classes, perceived Jesus as a threat. Even after Jesus’ death Paul continued to persecute the early Christians. 

Acts 9:1-2 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

The miracle of Paul’s transformation occurs on this trip, the infamous Road to Damascus journey.

3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

As we know the narrative, Saul becomes the Apostle Paul and later becomes the founder of many house churches throughout the Aegean. Paul experiences a vision setting him on a completely different path. It is a complete reversal of his being in the world; a 360-degree turn. 

It seems to me that Paul suddenly understood God’s wisdom, that hidden mystery we speak of, which, if he had understood it earlier, may have prompted him to try and prevent Jesus’ death rather than condone it. 

That hidden mystery God birthed in Adam and Eve, made available to Abraham and Moses, was carried in Mary and Elizabeth in their pregnancies. It was the man Jesus. It has existed over the aeons and prevails in many souls this day. 

It can be elusive, but it is also often in plain view. 

It’s elusive when fear breaks into the hearts of immigrants who must run to hide from authorities bent on rounding them up in mass export campaigns. It is elusive when women are dragged from their cars by masked government agents. It is elusive when even children are separated and detained from their parents by immigration authorities. 

It is elusive when presidential decrees send special forces into foreign lands on kidnapping campaigns in the pretence of world security, while all the time intent on engaging in manipulation of local economic stability for their own gain.

It is elusive when families are blackmailed and their security threatened as they cower in hopeful safety indoors, while bullets shatter windows. This mystery stays well hidden when essential food and medical supplies are prevented from reaching the needy, and through the continued military assault on housing and infrastructure, when citizens are already cold, hungry and desperate. 

The “Hidden Mystery” is back in our presence when children are at play on swing sets and paddle through puddles. It is before us when they rest on grandparent’s knees sharing an ice cream. The “Hidden Mystery” comes into focus when our young people can walk safely home from school without parental escort. 

It jumps into focus when warming shelters offer respite from a cold winter’s night, when safe injection sites provide a means for those suffering from addiction, to obtain untainted drugs and prevent deadly overdoses. 

It is known as random acts of kindness. It is recognized as respectful care of the elderly, visitations to the lonely, reasonable pay for a day’s work, equal opportunity for those of all skin colour, ethnic background, language or culture. It is known in the welcome of the stranger, atheist, Jew, Gentile. 

We see it in the displayed colours of LGBTQ2+ flag and Pride Day celebrations. We witness it when we light our Reconciliation Candle each Sunday Morning. We experience it during our Pastoral Prayers.

Of what do we speak? 

We speak of the truth. The truth is the all too often hidden mystery. 

The truth is, that however one wants to frame “Holy Love;” God, Creator, Holy Spirit, Holy One, Holy Three, Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, that presence is ubiquitous in nature, it knows no bounds and is limitless. The truth tells us that the love in Jesus of Nazareth could never be put to death. It was pointless to try. The actions of those that tried only served to affirm the permanency of humility, kindness, gentleness and hope in the world.

Some would like us to keep the truth hidden. Paul was awakened from ignorance and transformed, “I can’t do it he realized. I can’t keep the truth from being told. Jesus is God’s love in the world.” That was true then and it is true now. It is part of every fabric of our being whether we choose to believe it or not. 

The mystery is no longer. It is found in the truth. Holy Love can stay hidden for only so long. Invite it into your life. Celebrate it, bathe in it, live it. Be transformed like Paul.

Thanks for listening this morning. Amen