Reflection for October 22 B

Based on Isaiah 45: 1-7

What an incredible pleasure and honour it is to experience the stories of individuals who believe they see themselves as being “called” into ministry. 

In Calgary last week, as a member of a four-person interview team, I sit quietly in my chair as we begin the first round of questions. The Candidates are always nervous, especially when this is their first interview. Can you imagine what they must be thinking? What will the interview team think of me? Am I really up for this? Will I be able to answer the questions to the board’s satisfaction? What if I don’t know the answer to what I am being asked? What if I fail miserably? I hope I don’t break down in tears. ………. So many questions and concerns they have.

We usually start our interviews with something easy, ice breakers you would call them. What brings you to this interview? Tell us a bit about your call? And a question I really love, why would you want to be a minister today with all that is changing in the church, with all the huge challenges? And then we begin to dig a little deeper, “who is God to you?” “Can you tell us about an encounter you had with Jesus?” “What was that like for you?”

As we continue our time together, we probe a little deeper yet, always uncovering some incredible gifts. We hear how God has upheld and pastored a candidate in difficult times of stress, loss, or uncertainty. We hear stories where Jesus has motivated our interviewee beyond their comfort, to stand up for the racialized, or someone who has been a victim of abuse or prejudice. A candidate often comes from a place of discrimination themselves. These are always real experiences that move us. We hear and experience the undeniable presence of what can only be the Holy Spirit that has led through suffering and grief. And we hear how that same spirit has brought hope and also joy. That is inevitably why they want to serve the church.

The candidates all pray that they will be chosen to become leaders in the church, pastoring, helping lead through chaos and darkness, and given the opportunity to speak about hope in the world. 

In my experience on this team, and through the interviews I have had the honour to participate in, I wonder about something. And I expect this is something many of our candidates don’t appreciate. Do they understand, regardless of the interview outcome, that they have already been the kind of disciple they hope to be in ministry? They are already, “gifted, called and chosen.” The wondering I have is if they know that. 

One of the keys in looking at new candidates is that they must be able to separate their ego from their call. They need to appreciate and honour the humbleness of ministry as Jesus did. At the same time, they need to understand that they are also cherished by the one who created and is still creating. That will never change.

Just a few days ago, all ministry personnel in the UC received an email from the Board of Vacation. (Pic 4) That is the official UC group that oversees ministry education, hiring, HR and discipline. Apparently, October is Ministry appreciation month. I had no idea. The chair Rev. Norm Seli shared these words. “We put all that we have into this ministry to which we have been called and it changes the world. 

We put in our labour and our love, our imagination and innovation; we tell stories and map out strategies. We take the experiences of our lives and invite God to help us use them to connect people to God and to each other. We intentionally and sometimes recklessly love the communities and people to whom God has called us to minister with and to.” 

Seli Says, “It’s not an easy thing to be called into ministry; we are often under-appreciated and much of our work is unobserved. We rely on God’s Grace to get us through more than we would like. But God’s Grace is abundant.” 

Rev Seli goes on to thank us graciously for all that we do. 

“I have called you by your name, you are mine” is a message all those called to ministry need to hear. I do too. But personally, while I do thank Rev Seli for his encouragements, it is of equal importance for our COF’S to hear and appreciate the same thing. Perhaps October should be COF appreciation month!

In these changing and often troubled times, attitudes make a huge difference in the world. Last Sunday I spoke about the pitfalls of becoming apathetic. This is so easy to do in the face of pessimism, trauma and negativity that surround us. Our human souls can only take so much before we begin to cave. Perhaps remembering that you are all named by God and that you are “gifted, called and chosen” might be helpful. Without you, without your presence in the world, the tragedy facing humanity today would be much worse. You, each and every one here today, by the singular practice of sharing your gifts, contributes to building shalom community.

This past Thursday Lenore and I had lunch together at Denny’s near our hotel in Calgary. What do you expect at Denny’s? You expect reasonably good service and reliable comfort food at a good price. We did get that, but we received much more than we expected. (Thankfully it wasn’t food poisoning).

The waiter, a very polite Hindu man, was more gracious than I have experienced in a long while. Remember that this was Denny’s, not some high-end steak house where one might expect excellence in service and staff demeanour. Our waiter was so friendly and engaging. His smile was genuine and infectious. He couldn’t have been more helpful and attentive. Perhaps the most incredible part of the story is that he has been serving at this particular Denny’s for 45 years! Forty-five years, can you believe that? One would expect him to be bored to death of this work and lackadaisical. But the reverse was true. This man was the salt of the earth, “gifted, called and chosen.” Not gifted, called, and chosen to be a waiter, gifted called and chosen to be a conduit of grace in the world. 

The meal was good, but the experience was better, so very heartwarming.  I left feeling uplifted. I was full, but not just because I ate the house skillet with two sunny side eggs. Meeting him was a blessing. My afternoon was buoyed through the very simple gift of being in the presence of a genuine soulful spirit.

As I reflected on Isaiah’s words I thought about this ministry. Isaiah speaks about sending King Cyrus out as God’s agent to free the Hebrew people from captivity. We are sent out too, but in a different way. To free people from grief, depression, loneliness, and heartache. (Pic 8) We are sent out to do many important things in the world, including being waiters at Denny’s restaurants. 

Isaiah’s vision of God is “to break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.” We break down doors of complacency, abuse, intolerance, and bureaucracy when we stand with each other in solidarity, and in action against what is unacceptable in our discipleship with Christ.

God sent Cyrus out on horseback with spear and sword, we are sent out with word and deed. We attempt to achieve the same thing, freedom, justice, hope and love.  

Going back to the first verse of Daniel Charles Damon’s Hymn we heard these words;

1. I have called you by your name, you are mine;

I have gifted you and ask you now to shine.

I will not abandon you;

all my promises are true.

You are gifted, called, and chosen;

you are mine.

We are God’s, all, not just those in “paid, accountable ministry,” but all those who believe Christ has a new vision for the world, those that do what they can to fulfil that vision. 

God says, go and tell everyone they are loved and cherished. Break down the walls of oppression, racism, sexism, abuse and tyranny in my name. Sing joyous harmonies of love into places where shadows dwell. 

4. I have given you a name, it is mine;

I have given you my Spirit as a sign.

With my wonder in your soul,

make my wounded children whole;

go and tell my precious people

they are mine. 

Thanks for living your ministry call. God needs you. And thanks for listening this morning,  

Amen

Reflection for October 15, 2023 

Based on Isaiah 25:1-9 and Philippians 4:1-9

Lately I have been feeling a little gloomy. My energy seems to be waning and I’m more easily distracted than usual. I’m feeling a little disconnected with the world, restless and not in the most positive frame of mind. I have been asking myself what that is about, and I think I know at least in part, what is affecting me.

I’m not feeling so hopeful these days.

World conflicts have been the norm for millennia, we are used to hearing stories that are so very tragic. But I feel like I am maxed out. Recent events of so much death and destruction, are really getting to me. Until very recently it was the Ukraine that was headline news, so troublesome. Of course, now it is the conflict between Israel and Palestine that has become so upsetting. Such hatred and bloodshed on some of the very lands Christ walked is unfathomable, even though, in reality, it has been going on for centuries. 

For those thousands and thousands of affected innocent men, women and children I ask, where God have you “been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat.” When God, will you swallow up death forever and wipe away the tears from all the faces of those who grieve or despair. I pray that this prophetic wisdom from Isaiah will come true, but is that possible? And if so, how and when?

Adding to my personal list of disappointments, and concerns, what is to become of this United Church of ours. Not Peachland United Church specifically, but the larger United Church. More and more Communities of Faith are closing as membership declines and costs to maintain ministry are just unmanageable. 

On that particular note, I heard just a couple of weeks ago that my former Church, PLURA Hills in Kamloops is closing. 

Some of you have been through a church closure and you know how that hurts. For me this event is particularly hard to take. The founder of the congregation was one of my mentors. And after worshipping in a local elementary school for almost 20 years, up went a building in 1999. I was the building committee chair, a job very satisfying, but not for the faint of heart. I can remember vividly a mound of dirt and some shovels when we broke ground. What a celebration we had after realizing a dream. It had taken years. And now, it is all coming to an end. I am truthfully quite heartbroken.

Truly, one might wonder if the events of our times might add some credence to arguments of the “great apocalypse” that has been projected for millennia. The apocalypse, the end of the world as we know it.  

I am not a subscriber to that theology but in fact, the phrase, the end of the world as we know it, might be something worth thinking about. 

Margaret Swedish, an advocate of ecological wholeness, writes that the world we know is ending. She says, “What is familiar to us as a framework in which we have lived our lives for a very long time is ending.”[1] 

She’s speaking about the climate crisis. Creation is under incredible stress, and we don’t know what is going to happen. However, I think her words are worth considering, as we deal with so much constant grief, that seems to be weighing us down. 

“We need a sense of God that does not invite us to grow smaller.” Swedish says. In my vision, this would be a God that stops us from retreating into hopelessness. A God that embraces us with urgency, with passion, with love, as did the God revealed in Jesus Christ.[2]

Exiles in despair lived through an end of the world time for them. Isaiah was there to bolster their spirit, reminding the people that God had already done wonderful things. In his prophetic wisdom, everyone would feast on rich food, “a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.” This was hopeful news for a people feeling quite hopeless. 

In Paul’s Epistle this morning, he asks Euodia and Syntyche to put aside their differences. These two women were influential in the early church. Paul saw their conflict as threatening what he had built. He urged them and everyone in the church then to 9Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.” Keep on teaching and working as disciples. Regardless of the changing time, an end time, as Paul was in prison when he wrote his letters to the Philippians, he provides promises of God’s unfailing love. This is hope again in times of an ending. 

Maybe Margaret Swedish’s reference to the end of the world as we know it is best reflected in the life of Jesus himself. Can you imagine how your hopes would be crushed with Jesus’ betrayal, arrest and execution. 

Here was something tangible, finally a real challenge to abuse of authority. Someone finally would put the record straight, “all are created equally by God, all are favoured, all are to be treated with dignity.” Jesus’ death would have been the end of the world as many knew it.  

Of course, hope didn’t end then. And hope hasn’t ended in the centuries since. Christ’s message carries on, “Love one another, as I have loved you.” “Turn the other cheek.” He healed the blind, the beggar, a haemorrhaging woman and forgave a prostitute. He fed the stranger. All are things we are asked to do today. They are simple things, but they continue to provide hope throughout the world.

Jesus came into a deeply divided and polarized society. A hated oppressor, differing religious groups, division between Gentile, Jew and Samaritan, segregation between men and women, slaves and free, rich, and poor.[3] The miracle of his presence was in bringing hope. As it turns out, his untimely, brutal, and senseless death started something new. In Jesus’ resurrection so too was there a resurrection of hope once again. An ending and a new beginning at the same time.

So, as I pick myself up and dust myself off from my doldrums, I realize I have to ask myself a fairly simple, but nonetheless direct question. Ian, do you believe in Jesus? Because if you do, you believe in hope. You believe in the possibility of resurrection, that difficult end times can give birth to promising new ones. You believe that a new kin-dom is still possible. 

That doesn’t mean I can’t be discouraged; I know that is part of this time. It doesn’t mean I’m going to like what is going on around me in the world. It doesn’t mean I am going to somehow begin even remotely to understand why religious zealots want to annihilate each other. It doesn’t mean I can fathom why some politicians or oligarchs want to destroy their neighbours. 

I don’t have to try and understand it. That is a very good thing because I can’t. None of us can.

But I do believe, as naïve as it may be, that I can make a difference. And I have to remain steeped in hope to do that. 

The world as we know it is changing. These are end times for many things. Having said that, if Jesus was here among us today, he would see that as possibility. And he would offer a hopeful message. He would offer words of wisdom. “Don’t be fooled into believing that justice is impossible,” he would say. “Don’t believe, despite what you have experienced, that the world will stay the same or even get worse. Don’t believe the naysayers. Don’t throw your arms up in frustration. Don’t give in or give up. Remain hopeful. I lived in hope. When you follow me, you live in hope also.”

Following Jesus means living in hope. Living in hope is the antidote to a dreaded illness, its called apathy. 

It is hard to be hopeful at times but hopeful we must be if we believe in Jesus and a knew kin-dom reality.

It might be a good thing to believe in the end of the world as we know it. That way there will always be room for a brighter future. 

Thanks for listening this morning, 

Amen

[1] Same as below

[2] Insert reference to website

[3] rohr

Reflection for October 15, 2023 

Based on Isaiah 25:1-9 and Philippians 4:1-9

Lately I have been feeling a little gloomy. My energy seems to be waning and I’m more easily distracted than usual. I’m feeling a little disconnected with the world, restless and not in the most positive frame of mind. I have been asking myself what that is about, and I think I know at least in part, what is affecting me.

I’m not feeling so hopeful these days.

World conflicts have been the norm for millennia, we are used to hearing stories that are so very tragic. But I feel like I am maxed out. Recent events of so much death and destruction, are really getting to me. Until very recently it was the Ukraine that was headline news, so troublesome. Of course, now it is the conflict between Israel and Palestine that has become so upsetting. Such hatred and bloodshed on some of the very lands Christ walked is unfathomable, even though, in reality, it has been going on for centuries. 

For those thousands and thousands of affected innocent men, women and children I ask, where God have you “been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat.” When God, will you swallow up death forever and wipe away the tears from all the faces of those who grieve or despair. I pray that this prophetic wisdom from Isaiah will come true, but is that possible? And if so, how and when?

Adding to my personal list of disappointments, and concerns, what is to become of this United Church of ours. Not Peachland United Church specifically, but the larger United Church. More and more Communities of Faith are closing as membership declines and costs to maintain ministry are just unmanageable. 

On that particular note, I heard just a couple of weeks ago that my former Church, PLURA Hills in Kamloops is closing. 

Some of you have been through a church closure and you know how that hurts. For me this event is particularly hard to take. The founder of the congregation was one of my mentors. And after worshipping in a local elementary school for almost 20 years, up went a building in 1999. I was the building committee chair, a job very satisfying, but not for the faint of heart. I can remember vividly a mound of dirt and some shovels when we broke ground. What a celebration we had after realizing a dream. It had taken years. And now, it is all coming to an end. I am truthfully quite heartbroken.

Truly, one might wonder if the events of our times might add some credence to arguments of the “great apocalypse” that has been projected for millennia. The apocalypse, the end of the world as we know it.  

I am not a subscriber to that theology but in fact, the phrase, the end of the world as we know it, might be something worth thinking about. 

Margaret Swedish, an advocate of ecological wholeness, writes that the world we know is ending. She says, “What is familiar to us as a framework in which we have lived our lives for a very long time is ending.”[1] 

She’s speaking about the climate crisis. Creation is under incredible stress, and we don’t know what is going to happen. However, I think her words are worth considering, as we deal with so much constant grief, that seems to be weighing us down. 

“We need a sense of God that does not invite us to grow smaller.” Swedish says. In my vision, this would be a God that stops us from retreating into hopelessness. A God that embraces us with urgency, with passion, with love, as did the God revealed in Jesus Christ.[2]

Exiles in despair lived through an end of the world time for them. Isaiah was there to bolster their spirit, reminding the people that God had already done wonderful things. In his prophetic wisdom, everyone would feast on rich food, “a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.” This was hopeful news for a people feeling quite hopeless. 

In Paul’s Epistle this morning, he asks Euodia and Syntyche to put aside their differences. These two women were influential in the early church. Paul saw their conflict as threatening what he had built. He urged them and everyone in the church then to 9Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.” Keep on teaching and working as disciples. Regardless of the changing time, an end time, as Paul was in prison when he wrote his letters to the Philippians, he provides promises of God’s unfailing love. This is hope again in times of an ending. 

Maybe Margaret Swedish’s reference to the end of the world as we know it is best reflected in the life of Jesus himself. Can you imagine how your hopes would be crushed with Jesus’ betrayal, arrest and execution. 

Here was something tangible, finally a real challenge to abuse of authority. Someone finally would put the record straight, “all are created equally by God, all are favoured, all are to be treated with dignity.” Jesus’ death would have been the end of the world as many knew it.  

Of course, hope didn’t end then. And hope hasn’t ended in the centuries since. Christ’s message carries on, “Love one another, as I have loved you.” “Turn the other cheek.” He healed the blind, the beggar, a haemorrhaging woman and forgave a prostitute. He fed the stranger. All are things we are asked to do today. They are simple things, but they continue to provide hope throughout the world.

Jesus came into a deeply divided and polarized society. A hated oppressor, differing religious groups, division between Gentile, Jew and Samaritan, segregation between men and women, slaves and free, rich, and poor.[3] The miracle of his presence was in bringing hope. As it turns out, his untimely, brutal, and senseless death started something new. In Jesus’ resurrection so too was there a resurrection of hope once again. An ending and a new beginning at the same time.

So, as I pick myself up and dust myself off from my doldrums, I realize I have to ask myself a fairly simple, but nonetheless direct question. Ian, do you believe in Jesus? Because if you do, you believe in hope. You believe in the possibility of resurrection, that difficult end times can give birth to promising new ones. You believe that a new kin-dom is still possible. 

That doesn’t mean I can’t be discouraged; I know that is part of this time. It doesn’t mean I’m going to like what is going on around me in the world. It doesn’t mean I am going to somehow begin even remotely to understand why religious zealots want to annihilate each other. It doesn’t mean I can fathom why some politicians or oligarchs want to destroy their neighbours. 

I don’t have to try and understand it. That is a very good thing because I can’t. None of us can.

But I do believe, as naïve as it may be, that I can make a difference. And I have to remain steeped in hope to do that. 

The world as we know it is changing. These are end times for many things. Having said that, if Jesus was here among us today, he would see that as possibility. And he would offer a hopeful message. He would offer words of wisdom. “Don’t be fooled into believing that justice is impossible,” he would say. “Don’t believe, despite what you have experienced, that the world will stay the same or even get worse. Don’t believe the naysayers. Don’t throw your arms up in frustration. Don’t give in or give up. Remain hopeful. I lived in hope. When you follow me, you live in hope also.”

Following Jesus means living in hope. Living in hope is the antidote to a dreaded illness, its called apathy. 

It is hard to be hopeful at times but hopeful we must be if we believe in Jesus and a knew kin-dom reality.

It might be a good thing to believe in the end of the world as we know it. That way there will always be room for a brighter future. 

Thanks for listening this morning, 

Amen

[1] Same as below

[2] Insert reference to website

[3] rohr

Thanksgiving Sunday – October 8, 2023 

Based on Corinthians 9:6-15, and Luke 17:11-19

Some of you will remember my sharing a few weeks back about my “pilgrimage” on Iona. It was the day we had the opportunity to participate in a 7-mile walk through the ancient ruins of an abandoned nunnery, by memorials, across unspoiled fields with incredible views, and among other things, an abandoned Hermit Cell. It was magnificent.

At breakfast the morning of the event, we were invited to pack a bag lunch as we would be away all day. I did. There were some healthy options including egg salad which I passed on. Egg salad in a backpack on a sunny day was not for me. I decided to go for good old Peanut Butter. Stable in the heat. And as I put a generous helping on a slice of home-made bread, I dug my knife into what I thought was jam and added that generously too. Then someone said, “that’s interesting Ian, peanut butter and pickled relish.” I didn’t miss a beat and said, “yes, I’m looking forward to it.” “I have had peanut butter an onion before which was very good.” (And that is not a lie). (I guess the relish was supposed to go with the egg salad).

Anyway, I wasn’t going to let anyone know I made a mistake, so I nonchalantly packed up my brown bag and was ready to go. 

Off we went about 10:15 am, I think. We arrived 12:30 or so at Columba Bay and it was, lunchtime! Out comes the peanut butter and pickled relish sandwich and I took a big bite. And you know what, It was pretty good. If fact it was so good, I ate the entire thing. I was so thankful to be in such a glorious place. I possibly may have even enjoyed the egg salad! (Well perhaps not).

How often it is when we get side-tracked, wrapped up in stuff that shrouds the ever-present God around us, that we don’t see the forest for the trees. Nine out of Ten of the men asking for a cleansing cure fell into that trap. They were too preoccupied to really appreciate what they had just been given. 

The one thing you cannot do on Iona is get caught up in have to’s. You just can’t ignore the beauty of the place. And you can’t help but appreciate it. 

I was very thankful that day. For the walk, the companionship, the peace and serenity and the PB and Pickled Relish sandwich too.

With thanksgiving upon us, comes a focus on our many blessings. We are indeed thankful for this incredible creation that we are a part of. At Thanksgiving many of us gather to celebrate with good friends and family. It is a time for good fun and some soulful and spiritual enrichment. And there is usually a lot of food.

Sometimes though, for me at least, along with my thankfulness, comes some pangs of guilt. And I question, how did I get so fortunate?

How many people can afford the opportunity to travel to Italy to experience the incredible history there like I did? How many have the opportunity to spend a week in a holy place like Iona? Who wouldn’t love to travel to Northern Scotland and tour 5,000-year-old Viking settlements or walk among the ruins of Roman Baths in England, that were built in the First Century.

I also wonder how it might be possible to be thankful at all if you are a refugee who has no realistic opportunity for a new beginning. What does a homeless person have to be thankful for? Its absurd to think that a family in the Ukraine or any other war-torn nation can be thankful about much if anything. An individual who is grieving isn’t in the mindset to be thankful. Yes, the imbalance between me and others who are much less fortunate is troublesome at times.

“God loves a cheerful giver,” says Paul. That is someone who, I believe, sows bountifully and reaps bountifully as well. I also believe that is someone who is thankful and expresses their thanks openly and often. I believe expressing thankfulness can be every bit as lifegiving as are acts of generosity, kindness, and assurance. I think that is especially true when we express our thankfulness for each other. 

When the bereft, downtrodden, lonely, lost or frightened hear encouraging words, God enters in, hope and healing get a chance to take root. Are there any more encouraging words to share with someone in need than, “I am thankful for you?”

What might a street person think if you said, “I’m thankful for seeing you today” How might a grief-stricken friend or family member feel if you said, “I’m so thankful for being with you, thankful to know and love you.” During a hospital visit you say, “Thank you for letting me visit, it is so good to be with you. Thank you for letting me be your friend.” How does that make someone feel?

Remembering to give thanks to God, for what we have in this time and place keeps us grounded and humble. It reminds us of the many gifts we have and how fortunate we are. But expressing our thankfulness for others is transformative.  

“He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.”

How much do we expand God’s compassion, mercy and love when we express our thanks for one another? How does it feel for someone to know that we appreciate them and are thankful for their presence regardless of who they are, and what their circumstance might be?

I was so thankful to have that delightful PB and Pickled Relish sandwich at Columba Bay on Iona. How could I not have been? The sun was shining. The water was crystal blue and calm. The place was so peaceful as I sat and reflected. Paradise, a place one could spend hours in quiet contemplation. 

But I know at times I can be like one of the 9 in Luke’s story who fail to appreciate what I have. I expect we all do that. We are so very fortunate. It is helpful if we are reminded about that now and again. I did that when I sat on the shore in the sun eating my sandwich. 

What I didn’t reflect on that day though was how critical relationships are. In fact, I think they are the key. Relationships are something to be profoundly grateful for. They support us, encourage us, hold us up in times of need, remind us we are special, remind us that we are loved. 

I am thankful for all the relationships that I have, brand new ones and long-term ones. And I am so thankful for you all, to be here with you today, to share your time and to be gathered in this community. 

Let’s give particular thanks today for relationships, and what they mean to us.

Thankyou for listening this Morning.

Amen 

Reflection for October 1, 2023 – Who Do You Think You Are?

Based on Matthew 21:23-32

Prayer

Back, way back, about 400 CE, a monk named Pelagius travelled from his homeland in Wales to Rome. (Pic) Christianity had become the religion of the empire and at least in part, the servant of the empire. Pelagius challenged the theology at the time that was at the heart of this alliance between power and religion.[1] Pelagius believed, much to the chagrin of the relatively new Christian Church, in the sacredness and dignity in every human being. This was in direct contrast and in conflict with the doctrine of original sin formalized by Augustine. This was the belief that we are all born into sin, bereft of God, corrupted, not sacred. The later was convenient for imperial power, enabling empire to relativize people’s worth rather than reverence their dignity.[2] 

It is no wonder this monk from Wales was brought to justice, deemed a heretic and excommunicated. 

About 1400 years later a young minister by the name of Alexander John Scott (Pic) stood before the nation’s highest ecclesiastical court also accused of heresy. That was because Scott refused to sign what was known as the Westminster Confession of Faith. Its statements held the same view of the early Christian church in Augustine’s time. Among other things, “we are born “wholly defiled” in body and in soul, “and wholly inclined to all evil.”[3] It seemed that nothing much had changed

The Christian Church was still intolerant of those among its own clergy that may have differing views on how one sees God. Scott is quoted to have said, “What is most human is the most divine; what is most divine, the most human.”[4]He was, like Pelagius 1400 years earlier found guilty of heresy. There were 125 votes against him and none in his favour when his case was heard by the General Assembly. Apparently even his father, a Sr. minister in the church of Scotland supported that decision.[5] 

“Do not be afraid to see matter as sacred; do not be afraid to adore this Light that is deep in all things. It is I.”[6]This French scientist, Jesuit priest, and mystic who spoke those words saw God in all things. (Pic) God is in and around us, in the animate and inanimate. In rock and soil, sea and ski, the tiny invertebrate and the great whale. 

In the early 1920’s this mystic Pierre Teilhard De Chardin was espousing “that the love of Christ and a love of the earth would be the “twin poles” of Christianity of the future.”[7]In Teilhard’s apparent radical view “If the world as we know it is not to collapse, we need to reawaken to spirit shining in matter.”[8]

Blasphemous said his church.  The Vatican forbade him from teaching and writing theologically and he was sent on an archeological expedition to China in 1926.

For Pelagius, Scott and De Chardin the authorities had spoken. We say you are wrong and we don’t want you speaking on behalf of the church any longer. You are silenced.

“Just who do you think you are, and what do you think you are doing” is the implication of the temple priests. Jesus rocks the boat again. Just the day before he had been in the temple overturning the tables of the money changers and creating a great ruckus. (Pic) Now he is at it again, teaching things they don’t condone. This was not good for business. Jesus was upsetting the norm. If the integrity of the priests was being questioned, what would happen next? 

Just who do you think you are and what do you think you are doing? Gandhi, Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Malala Yousafzai, (Pic) those protesting Afghani women, Armenian men, women and children, members of the LBGTQ2+ community and others. Who do you think you are, preaching your lies and daring to challenge our authority?  

Who do you think you are?

We are God’s own, made in the creator’s image, all brought into the world through cosmic dust. All created in love. All formed in the womb to perfection. All birthed in glory with the same name, “you are precious.” (Pic)

The priests couldn’t see that was what Jesus was trying to tell them. Tax collectors and prostitutes were equal among them. 

Pelagius thought as Jesus did, “in the sacredness of every human being.” 

John Scott could not believe that God would not celebrate every birth as the essence of love. 

Teilhard De Chardin saw God in every miracle of creation. 

For some inexplicable reason, those things are often forgotten. God needs to be controlled they think. Human desires would try to manipulate what is just, kind, generous and compassionate into something prejudicial, selective, abusive and coldhearted. It just isn’t so. It never has been and it never will be. (Pic)

Today we celebrate a God who is friend, brother, sister, mother and father. God who creates and recreates. God who loves all regardless of social standing, ethnicity, religious affiliation, gender, sexual orientation, race or culture. And we celebrate God in communion with Christ, truly human and truly divine.

That is who God is and who God always will be. 

Thanks for listening this morning.

Amen

[1] John Phillip Newell, Sacred Earth Sacred Soul, A Celtic Guide to Listening to Our Souls and Saving the World, William Collins, 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF, 2021,  p. 14

[2] Ibid., 33

[3] Ibid., 123

[4] Ibid., 124

[5] Ibid., 127

[6] Ibid., 173

[7] Ibid., 174

[8]Ibid., 175

September 24, 2023 - What’s Fair?

Based on Matthew 20:1-16

Prayer:

July 8 Lenore and I were in Orkney, Scotland, an incredible place where the history of human habitation predates what we know to be written in scripture, even by the ancient prophets. There are accounts of early Norse settlers and others at least back to 5000 BC. But Orkney does not just have roots in ancient history, it has roots, vital roots in more modern times. 

Orkney had valuable military significance in both world wars. In Both World War I and World War II the Royal Navy had a major base in the natural harbour of Scapa Flow. (Pic) The location was strategic in repelling the threat of War Ships. Today the remains of a scuttled German Fleet (WW I) and the British Battleship HMS Royal Oak (WW II) provide tourist attractions for divers. (Pic)

Near this site at Lambholm there is a well-preserved tourist attraction called the Italian Chapel. (Pic) It was built all by hand by Italian POW’s stationed there while they were building barriers on Scapa Flow to protect the British Fleet. From the outside it looks quite ornate. In fact it is very modest and of simple construction. 

The chapel was constructed from limited materials by the prisoners in the form of a tin tabernacle, and comprises two Nissen huts joined end-to-end. (Pic) The corrugated interior was then covered with plasterboard and the altar and altar rail were constructed from concrete left over from work on the barriers. Most of the interior decoration was done by Domenico Chiocchetti, a prisoner from Moena.[6] ( Pic) He painted the sanctuary end of the chapel and fellow-prisoners decorated the entire interior. They created a facade out of concrete, concealing the shape of the hut and making the building look like a church. The light holders were made out of corned beef tins. The baptismal font was made from the inside of a car exhaust covered in a layer of concrete.[1]

The Catholic Italian POW’s wanted a place of worship and so they made one out of scrap materials and a couple of prefabricated steel structures, normally used for barracks. (Pic)

Pause

Its called the greatest representation of Catholic Doctrine ever created. Around four million people (or twenty thousand per day) visit. (Apparently there can be 25,000 per day in peak times. It felt like they were all present when Lenore and I walked in during our time away). 

A myriad of distinctive and different artists were employed during this Chapel’s adornment from 1481 to 1541, when an elderly Michelangelo finished The Last Judgement.[2] (Pic)

As most of you have guessed, I’m referring to the Sistine Chapel, which is situated in the Apostolic Palace adjoining the Vatican Museum in the Vatican City. Pope Sixtus IV commissioned it in 1473 and it was finished in 1481. Today the chapel remains the site of the papal conclave, where cardinals gather to select a new pope.[3] 

This is truly a magnificent place with its unbelievable frescoes, especially Michelangelo’s iconic ceiling works, which depict in incredible detail, 9 episodes from the book of Genesis – (Pic) The separation of light from dark, the creation of the sun, moon and planets, the separation of land from water, the creation of Adam and Eve, Original Sin, Noah’s Sacrifice, the Flood and the Drunkenness of Noah.[4]  It is magnificent and all quite breathtaking. 

Pause

Matthew’s parable Valerie read this morning leads us to consider envy and jealousy in our lives. 

Now I would be choked too if I worked all day for the same pay as someone who worked only a couple of hours. (Pic) That is a natural reaction. “That is totally unfair,” you would say. And it seems like it is. This would not wash in our society these days.

Then again everyone was paid what they were owed. No one was shorted or cheated. A denarius was fair pay for a days work. But the labourers that worked all day are jealous of the others and they envy them. Watch out for jealousy and envy says Jesus in this parable. They will lead you astray.

(Pic) I wonder if the POW’s that constructed a chapel out of some tin huts and plasterboard, and then ordained it with lights fashioned from corned beef tins and, if you can you believe it, a baptismal font made from a car exhaust, envied those that worshipped in places like the Sistine Chapel? Were they jealous or just grateful that they had a place where they could be together and sit in the presence of God?

The Italian Chapel is rudimentary but beautiful. (Pic) Upon entry, one is in the presence of the Holy just as much as if one was in the Sistine Chapel or any magnificent cathedral or basilica. 

I don’t expect the POW’s were in any way jealous of what others had. They were not concerned about Michelangelo’s absence and a lack of 15th Century frescoes. They were humbled before God in the place they had made with their own hands and that was all they needed. They were unlike the labourers in the vineyard, who if they were POW’s might have thought, what a disappointment, what a huge frustration, we have to be content with this dumpy little worship space? Why can’t we have what everyone else does back home, a proper place to worship God?

As we continue to celebrate Creation Time in the Church this month,  I’m drawn to consider how much envy and jealousy contribute to the global climate crisis. (Pic) Global Warming is a real and urgent issue that threatens the very fabric of creation itself.

As I think through my consumer tendencies and how fortunate I am, I know I am part of the problem. Often, probably too often, I opt for what I want, rather than what I really need. A little jealousy and envy is creeping in to what I purchase, driving my decisions. Its subconscious for sure, but it’s there. I can hear myself saying, “I really want to have that.” (Pic)

And so I wonder, could I be more like a POW at Lambholm Orkney, making do rather than always purchasing new? Can we get by with less rather than allowing our consumer appetites to get the better of us? What is truly driving those anyway? Is it want or is it need? What part does envy and jealousy play?

I know one thing for sure, and that is, what’s not really fair. It is not fair that my consumer habits fulfilling my wants put God’s people in jeopardy from drought, forest fire, flash floods and accompanying mud slides. (Pic) Its not fair that my decisions, driven by my envy, are partially responsible for the melting of the polar ice and the raising of ocean levels. (Pic) Those decisions put many coastal nations, especially those in impoverished countries, more at risk. It’s not fair that climate change is affecting food security across the globe. And its not fair that climate change is depleting our natural environment at alarming rates.

God’s justice demands that we all receive the same love and grace. (Pic) It also demands we all have the same opportunities in life, that we are all treated equally, with equal respect and dignity. The climate crisis is making that more and more difficult. That is what is truly what is so very unfair and so unjust.

And so, I am left with the question, how much am I contributing to the injustice by letting my envy and jealousy get the better of me? 

Thanks for Listening, 

Amen

[1] Italian Chapel - Wikipedia, accessed September 22, 2023

[2] The Sistine Chapel, Antonio Paolucci, 2010, Coverleaf

[3] Sistine Chapel - Wikipedia, accessed September 22, 2023

[4] The Sistine Chapel, Antonio Paolucci, 2010, p. 15

Where two or three are Gathered.

Based on Romans 13:8-14, Matthew 18:15-20

Prayer:

(Pic) The Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Italian: Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore is a Major papal basilica, as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome, and the largest Catholic Marian church in Rome. Marian Churches are those designated to the veneration of the Virgin Mary.[1]

Lenore and I booked a tour here and the guide was great. As I recall we had about 8 people in our tour which was two hours. After the first hour Lenore and I realized we were the only ones that booked the two-hour version. And so, we had the tour guide all to ourselves. In fact, we mostly had the entire Basilica to ourselves. (Pics)

Basilicas, are special churches of particular grandeur and only have this designation by Papal decree. 

Basilicas all have similar layouts (pic). They also have something else in common that you will have noted if you have ever been in one. They are ornate with elaborate frescoes, murals, paintings, sculptures and domes. And they are opulent. (Pics x 3) 

If I understood the guide correctly, the Pope used to hold mass on the balcony overlooking the piazza at Santa Maria Maggiore. Thousands would have gathered to hear mass. When we were there, there were but a few tourists. (Pic) These days of course Mass is held in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral in the Vatican. (Pic)

In contrast to Santa Maria Maggiore, other basilicas in Rome were “jam-packed” with tourists. As I have told some of you, Lenore and I often felt like sardines in a can, unable to more about through the throng as here at St. Paul’s (Pic).

Regardless, of whether there was only 2 of us, 20 of us, 200 or 2,000, I did feel the Holy presence, “Where two three are gathered, I am there.” 

When you travel, are you open to chance encounters? (Pic) Do you engage with strangers or do you keep to yourself? Lenore and I tend to engage. Lenore in particular, who unfortunately is not hear today to agree with me, because she would, is like a strip of the sticky fly paper. People are attracted to her. They can’t help it. A waiter at a restaurant, a shop owner, people on our bus tour, a couple sitting next to us at an outside table when we are having lunch. Before you can bat an eye, she is in conversation as if we were long lost cousins. (pic)

A German couple is talking about their Italian adventure and we are comparing notes. A Dutch couple, having been to Rome before, is quizzing us on some of the places we have been. A student along with her mother is telling us about heading back to university after the holidays. (Pic) A Chinese couple we unfortunately could not understand at all. (Pandas)

On our last day near Glasgow we went to meet (for the first time) an acquaintance Lenore had made through ancestry (her on-line passion). This is not really a relative, but an individual connected through Lenore’s family tree on her Grandfather’s side. She is Lenore’s Great Grand-cousin (9 x removed)! (Pic) We met Moira and her husband Craig at a café. Immediately out came the ladies IPads and the checking of ancestry contacts. It was like a homecoming. The ladies chatted like they were sisters. Craig and I talked about soccer. 

What great fun that was, so good for the spirit, uplifting and enriching. “Where two three are gathered, I am there.” 

“Where two three are gathered, I am there.” 

Our Italian tour bus guide was incredible. We will call him D. (Pic) D has forgotten more about Italy and its history than I will ever know. He often told us stories while we were travelling. He taught us a little Italian too such as the very important phrase, Dov e e banyo? (Do you have a bathroom)? One afternoon he shared a bit about his history as a boy in Sarajevo during the war. 

As you can imagine his recollections were horrific and graphic. Without electricity and running water he would often walk 10 miles with a bucket to bring water home. On one of these occasions he was shot. On another occasion, he and some friends were trying to get to school to attend an English class. Despite the war they were trying to keep up schooling. On the day D was recalling, a bomb exploded near him. As I recall two friends died in the blast. D told us “I wore remnants of their bodies as I escaped.” 

I was shocked and stunned by his story as I expect most of us were. We were horrified at the mere thought of what he must have gone through. I was also deeply honoured that he would and could share in such graphic detail his story. Later I asked his permission to use his accounts some time back in Canada, during one of my sharing times. He replied, “I would not mind at all! Moreover, it would make me proud and happy that my story, and a story of those that lived what I did, is passed on! Thank you!   

Can you imagine? I can’t. 

As I reflect on that story, and others like it we hear about today in news headlines, I again wonder, where is Jesus, where is God in all this? Do we have to be in the company of others to experience it and be encouraged by it? 

I think we all know the answer to all of that is no. Matthew says, Jesus is where two three are gathered.  Perhaps that is because Jesus himself is one of them.  (Pic) Where any two are gathered, one of them is Holy Love. One of them is consoler, comforter, friend. One of them is nurturer, care-giver, parent or guardian. In our “oneness” we are never isolated or alone. I’m confident D felt that in some way during his trauma. 

Whenever you are in need I Am there, I Am; creator, comforter and friend. I Am, Jesus, lover, care giver, soul mate. 

Thanks for listening this morning, Amen

[1] Santa Maria Maggiore - Wikipedia, accessed September 9, 2023

[2] Pompeii - Wikipedia, accessed September 9, 2023

[3] Pompeii | History, Volcano, Map, Population, Ruins, & Facts | Britannica, accessed September 9, 2023

Holy Ground - September 3, 2023

We know what a sanctuary means in church lingo, it is the holiest of holy places where God’s spirit lives and permeates our souls. Through worship, or in your own time of silent reflection, you find nurturing, peace, and renewal. Here, in our PUC sanctuary, we hope folks feel welcomed and safe, and we hope they feel loves presence. 

I know if I asked you there would be many more eloquent answers as to what a sanctuary is. Feeling God’s presence is very personal. 

At PUC we are very proud of our sanctuary. It is cozy, and its comfortable (except maybe the seats in the pews). We love the feel and form, the carpet (especially post cleaning), the woodwork, the windows, the ceiling. We love the sound the building makes and the sound we make in it. 

This building has so much history, there are so many memories. (Pic) Many of you grew up here, some were married in this very place. A lot of you have worshipped here for a very long time. And so, any possible changes within these walls immediately drive up the collective blood pressure. 

Yes, this is an incredible space. It is truly a “sanctuary,” a repose away from a busy world, where we can be at peace and where we can meet God. The Holy is felt here in this special place whenever someone is here. I have had complete strangers tell me that, when they have walked in to our church for the very first time. 

Having said that, we often talk about our sanctuaries not being our ministry. They are not the exclusive place where the Holy Presence is felt. Our buildings are not the only places where we do discipleship work. They are not the only places where we experience God. 

I understand that more now since my sabbatical, especially the time I spent in Iona, a tiny island off the southwest coast of Mull, in the Inner Hebrides.[1] 

We had worship twice daily in the incredible Abbey there. (Pic) The Abbey was originally constructed shortly after the exiled St. Columba arrived on Iona in 563 AD.  The Monastery stood in various forms for 640 years and in 1203 a Benedictine Abbey was founded. [2] That abbey fell into ruins during the reformation, but its roof was rebuilt about 100 years ago. The Abbey Buildings were restored in the mid twentieth century. (Restoration in fact still continues). (Pic)

In its present state Iona is world renowned for its Community and Vision. It is a center of ecumenical Christian movement working for peace and justice. And it is known for its Celtic Spirituality roots, all thanks to the Rev. George MacLeod, its founder, a visionary and social reformer who moved there in 1938.[3] [4]

The thing is that through Iona Abbey’s phases; original construction, dereliction, abandonment, rebuilding and additions over a period of more than1450 years, God has always been there. The Holy Presence has been celebrated, prayed to, prayed with and experienced in a myriad of ways, and they haven’t all been within what we might call sanctified spaces.

Moses found God in a burning bush on Mt Horeb. I found God on Iona. (Pic)

God gave Moses some instructions, “go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”  You are the one Moses. “I have picked you, so get on with it!” Who Me, Moses is thinking, how will I explain? What will I say if they ask me what is God’s name. “Just say, I Am Who I Am,”says God.

“I Am Who I Am” had a message for me during my stay at the Abbey. During those twice daily worship services, I felt the presence of what is truly Holy. It was a quiet, calm, peaceful presence. It was an “at oneness” if that makes sense. This was not a “religious experience” of God speaking to me. It was more of a sensory experience, perhaps akin to a cleansing, a time when the “stuff” one carries is washed away and you are refilled with a joyful lightness of spirit, inner peace. Sometimes we call this a thin place, a place between the ordinary and the sacred. (Pic)

The ambiance of the Abbey helped for sure but upon reflection there was something else going on. Yes, the sanctified place offered time for all to gather and worship together, and it was fabulous. But it was the people present caring and sharing, the gathering words and prayers offered, the quiet solitude and the intentionality of being in a prayerful community that was most important. That is where the spirit thrived and set about its magic. That was the “Holy Ground” that God reminded Moses he was standing on. 

Holy Ground can be here in this sanctuary, in the Abbey at Iona or any one of the incredible churches or cathedrals I visited when I was away. (Pic) Holy Ground can also be a park bench, a rock by the ocean, a chair on the patio, a time in the garden. Holy Ground is not just a sanctuary, it is any place where we gather to let in what the gifts of the Creator has to offer us. That was never more obvious to me than on Iona.

At Iona I was not just on Holy Ground in the sanctuary. As someone who recognizes many places God, the Creator dwells, I wasn’t surprised to find a sense of wonder, excitement and serenity outside the Abbey at Iona too. 

Every Tuesday during program periods on Iona a “Pilgrimage” is offered for those interested. It is a fairly lengthy (7 mile) walk from the abbey, through the remains of the old nunnery, (Pic), through some incredible countryside (pic) all the way to Columba’s bay, a pristine cobbled beach where St Columba first landed. (Pic) 

We then walk on our way back to a stop point for water, tea (of course tea) and cookies, ginger cookies which were particularly delicious. Onward then we went to an old Hermit’s cell for quiet meditation before our return. (Pic) Along our trek we stopped and observed the unspoiled landscape (Pic x 2). 

Our guide reflected on the Iona history and we heard some traditional stories as we walked. After each time we stopped to observe, we always started to sing as we continued on. There was time for reflection, there was time for observation, there was time for reverence and there was time to see and experience God in many things. God, the great “I Am,” said hi to me in my walking. 

A burning bush, a pew in a sanctuary, stained glass windows, a

cross, worship here or outside, prayer time, fellowship, walking softly on the earth, gardening, fishing, canoeing, mowing the grass or sitting on it. Holy Ground, the place we find God, the Great “I Am,” is everywhere we choose to look. It is here now, in part thanks to all of you who help weave the Creator’s Spirit within these walls.

Celebrate God’s presence here, now, today, in this place. Celebrate it too, when you go out, for it remains with us wherever we choose to look.

Thanks for listening this morning, Amen

[1] Isle of Iona - Home (welcometoiona.com)

[2] Power, p. 2

[3] Transforming Lives To Change The World, p. 8

[4] when did Rev. George Macleod move to iona - Search (bing.com)