Indexed by Date. Sermons for Epiphany Year B

January 10, 2021 - Baptism of Jesus

Genesis 1: 1-5
Psalm 29
Mark 1: 4-11

If you have to work regular hours, this time of year, it’s not a good idea to count on the sun to wake you up! Friday, sunrise was around 9am. On the other hand, if you like to go to bed with the chickens , you can hit the sack at about 5pm!!!! Some days that would be really nice!! On June 21 though, the rising sun may wake you up about 4:28 am, which is “leeetle early” for me and it does not go down till 9:28pm. Of course, we know that it’s the tilt of the earth and the latitude which affect the number of hours of daylight and which make a big difference in people’s lives. Before electric lights the difference was much larger!

In this Epiphany time, most of us look forward to the time when there is more and more light - perhaps we feel better if we can actually see the falling and blowing snow, instead of it all happening in the dark!

All joking aside, the symbol of light is a powerful one - in our lives and in the biblical narrative. Light is a symbol of truth, knowledge and God’s presence while the dark is the absence of those things.

A woman from one of my previous pastoral charges used to make up stories for her grandchildren. I believe she told the girl stories about “Betsy Bunny” and the boy, tales of “Bobby Bird”. While some of these stories were little more than cute tales, for a time on Gramma’s knee, some of them had a much higher purpose. They were designed to address their needs and transitions as children - everything, I suppose, from monsters under the bed, to losing teeth, to parents with what they saw as having too many rules, to problems at school, to both small and large childhood disappointments. They were her way of imparting her experience and wisdom to the younger generation as well as being a means of forming a strong bond between gramma and grandchild.

Often family stories are told as the need arises or a milestone is reached. The birth of a child elicits a story from great-gramma about the new parent’s own birth; a move becomes the occasion for a story of a previous relocation. Such stories are designed to pass on family history, for sure, but most importantly, they are told to impart wisdom. Wisdom is gained from reflection upon experience and such collected wisdom challenges them to faithful action or in a phrase we hear more and more these days, builds resilience. Often, it’s only after reflection that we know what our own experiences have to teach us, let alone be useful for a following generation!

While the story of creation, as we read it in the first chapter of Genesis is about the beginning, almost before time itself, it obviously was not written then. It was written down during a time when the life of the community was in chaos. They had been defeated in war and were refugees, we might say. It is a time we now call, the Exile”. It is a period of time biblical historians call, “the exile”.

This story is proclamation about the nature and power of their God. The story that an unknown writer was led to write showed both that God was at the very beginning and that God’s word and will was what brought the world into being. This God called the creation “good” and eventually, “very good”. This God had called their ancestors into a special relationship and MOST IMPORTANT, this God was still with them.

In exile, forced to live in a foreign land, they desperately needed to know that the God who had guided their ancestors was still with them and could be trusted to BE WITH them and not abandon them!

Their God was not wandering around the ruins of their beloved city, pining and lonely, wanting for someone to offer a sacrifice, light a candle or pray in adoration or petition. Their God was the very one who had spoken creation into being, who held light itself, theirs was the one who was with them even into exile. Some of the peoples they encountered while in exile would have believed that their gods were confined to a specific area, or even to a specific temple or holy site, but this text and others like it affirm the proclamation that the God who spoke all that is into being, is not so confined. To those who later called themselves Christian, this text continued to have meaning. This God has the freedom to move at will, over troubled waters, over ruined cities and refugee campos, over the waters of the Jordan River in occupied Israel, and to descend, as a dove might, and speak truth and identity to one named Jesus. By extension this same identity is imparted to those who follow Jesus.

Before we get into a childish game of “my God’s and my religion is better than yours” let us look at this in terms of proclamation to the writer’s own people. While the people of Israel may have originally believed that God lived in the tent they carried with them in the desert or in the grand temple built by King Solomon, this writer has come to believe that the God of their ancestors is not that small! This God spoke and creation happened; at least from multiple “speakings”. With the temple gone, they needed to know that God was not!

In this passage a line is drawn in the sand. While were are not told God created the world out of absolutely nothing, this passage says, “no need to go back any further”. God created light and that is the beginning. Yet, a line is drawn beyond which there is no need to go. To know what happened from this point is all that one needs ton know.

Also we need to be careful that this is seen as faith proclamation and not as “eye witness testimony”. There were no video-cameras recording the events. This is no “fly on the wall account” and was never intended to be! Given what any child knows about the world the story is full of scientific holes, but that was never its purpose! Combined with the verses which follow, this is a story to tell the people who God is and whose they are as a people. They are the people of a speaking and creating God whose word brings light and life!

Likewise, the story of Jesus’ baptism is about Jesus’ identity. Our baptism is about our our identity! Arising from “the deep” we are re-created, named as God’s own and given a mission.

I think the Orthodox churches have the right idea when they baptize babies by immersion! They’ve been onto something there, for a thousand years or so! I almost always use as much water as possible! The font must be a great deal bigger! I’ll have to check into that!

When we baptize children, or are baptized ourselves, we accept the identity that God offers to us as beloved children.

I recall visiting a new mom in the hospital one day. She was sitting in bed with her swaddled baby on her lap, simply looking at the baby. Her facial expression was one of utter happiness, awe and admiration. Since that time this child has probably tried her mother’s patience, frustrated and angered her, caused her worry and anxiety. There have most likely been smiles and tears of joy, and cuddles and hugs and the pain of not being able to “kiss it better” when something happened that could not be so easily fixed!

This is traditionally the Sunday for baptism. Most of us remember December 9, 2019, when I baptized 9 children so it might be awhile before we have more! Confirmation is an acceptance of the baptismal promises. We have had one recently and one more is coming as soon as we can arrange it.

But what about us and our own baptismal identity? There are various rituals by which a congregation can reaffirm baptismal identity but as far as I know NONE are permissible or wise in this covid time.

The well-known 16th century reformer, Martin Luther, was understandably often under great stress and strain and I am told he would strengthen himself by saying something to the effect of, “I am baptized”.

I was baptized in s small church in rural PEI when I was a small baby. Some of you were baptized here in this church, or in the one which stood here before that and some of you, elsewhere. In the United Church it is something we don’t repeat - BUT perhaps we don’t remember it enough! Oh, we are supposed to remember it at our own confirmation! We are supposed to remember it at every baptism we attend. I ask the congregation to affirm their faith, “as a baptized and baptizing church”.

Why is it so important? I think it is because it is the great equalizer. Like a uniform which identifies every employee of a certain business, our baptism puts us all on the same level. We are God’s child, risen from the water, set out on a new journey of faithfulness.

We are called to remember our baptism, not in the same way we remember an event from the past, with nostalgia, but as a way of re-membering. We bring it into the present and, as with the rising sun, we acknowledge the role of the source of the light in our lives. We bring a past event into the present, as continuing reality.

The God of heaven and earth said, “Let there be light, and it was so.” In our baptism the same God said, “You are my beloved”. We are called to rise from the water and live the life to which we were called. In the end our only vocation in life is to live as children of God, created in light and faith and love.

Let us remember our baptism and be thankful.

Amen.

January 17, 2021 - Second After Epiphany

1 Samuel 3: 1-10
Psalm 139
John 1: 43-51

We Have Been Called By Name

I don’t know if Charles Dickens could ever have imagined how well known his novella, “A Christmas Carol,” would become, in the age of the silver screen and then television, none of which was invented in his lifetime! I’m not normally someone who prefers black and white TV or movies but it is the 1951 version, in Black and White, starring Alastair Sim, that is my favourite for the Dickens’ story. As far as I am concerned it never needs to be re-made!

We know the story well, I’m sure: a miserly and curmudgeonly businessman with few friends goes to bed on Christmas eve and is awakened by the calling of his name. Ebenezer. Ebenezer. Now, the name Ebenezer, means, literally, “sone of help.” In the biblical tradition, to erect an ebenezer was a way of proclaiming your faith that God led you to that point! I suppose the Canadian inukshuk constructed by the peoples of the high Arctic have a similar purpose!

I know someone who was nicknamed “Ebby” when he was going through a cheapskate phase! As Dickens’ story begins, Ebenezer Scrooge relies on himself and does not appear to trust in anyone BUT himself. His business dealings are harsh and very self-serving. He is not a nice man and not well-liked. He always looks out for #1 and is critical of those who can’t also manage to look after themselves. He ignores the pleas of his colleagues to help the poor at Christmas time! He recommends workhouses or “debtor’s prison”.

We know how the story goes! The “spirits” that visited him were able to show him the error of his ways and he changed, overnight, into an almost completely different person. He became smiling, generous and kind.

Dicken’s own life began in poverty and he had to leave school and go to work when his father was sent to debtor’s prison. Despite his lack of education he excelled at writing and soon became well known. He also campaigned vigorously for children’s rights, education and other social reforms.

When we look at the context of the passage from the first book of Samuel, we find a world in disarray. This “nation” was supposed to be living it’s life under the guidance of God. The priests were the ones who were supposed to speak with God and lead the people accordingly. Somehow things had fallen apart though. Eli, the priest, has stopped listening; has not heard from God in ages. He was so out of touch spiritually that when he saw Samuel’s mother in fervent prayer, a few years before, he did not recognize her words as prayer but thought they were the words of a drunk. Even with the witness of this woman who brought her beloved child to the temple to dedicate him to God, Eli was still no more attuned to the voice of God.

But it got worse! Eli’s sons, took every advantage of their role and status. We are given two specific examples - while they were permitted to reserve a portion of the offering for their own needs, they ALWAYS took the VERY BEST of the food that was brought for sacrifice and they took advantage, sexually, of the young women, who served at the temple. Eli knew this and did little more than give them a slap on the wrist! The story is filled with sad irony. Those who should have been teaching Samuel how to be spiritual leaders knew nothing about it at all and this child ended up leading them!

We are told that the boy Samuel became well-regarded. The people would, of course, have a sense that “something was very wrong”.

As the story goes God called to Samuel in the middle of the night. Upon hearing his name he sprang out of bed to go and see what Eli wanted. Who else would be calling to him but his mentor and teacher, Eli! The doors were locked for the night! There was no one else in the building! Eli should have understood that the mysterious voice had a different source but he appears to have so out of touch that it was only on the third try that Eli realized it was God who was attempting to speak to Samuel!

Eli would have felt that he had been punched in the gut! When it came right down to it, if God had a message for Israel, God God should have been talking to him ! Eli would have known, deep down, that it was not good news for him or his sons! Massive change was on the horizon!

When I was a young child this was one of those stories of that was taught to children. It was just after the story of his mom bringing him a new set of clothes every year. But, I ask you, “honestly, what 6 year old is going to be impressed by the story of a mom who wanted a child of her own so badly that she gave him away as soon as he was out of diapers?” I would not have thought she was a very good mom - I liked the kind that gave milk and cookies to her child and her child’s friends!!!!! and I wonder what the priest thought with a child underfoot all the time!!!! That part of the story is really quite bizarre! story, really!

But now the roles are shifting and Samuel is beginning to live into his calling.

I was talking with a classmate last week and we agreed that very little in our training, in the mid to late 1980s, prepared us to lead churches through a pandemic lasting a year or more. Of course theological education cannot prepare you for everything! Over the years since I graduated from theological school there have been changes in the church for which none of us who were already ordained were prepared, but with every change the schools and the internship program tried to prepare the next generation of ministers to rise to the occasion with faith and hope.

The people of Samuel’s time were coping with a leadership that had become corrupt and uncaring. We need to remember that this was before they had a king and all leadership came from the temple which had let them down.

In this passage the issue seem to be listening and responding. Sometimes we need to be taught how to listen. I suppose anyone can use a stethoscope but med students and nurses have to be taught what a healthy chest or a healthy heart sounds like through that stethoscope! I certainly don’t know!

The people looked to the priestly system, to people like Eli and his sons, for leadership but it was corrupt, out of tune and no longer listening to the messenger. Righteousness and justice had disappeared.

Often, it is the young who bring the message and it is often a message of change - I guess the trick is to keep those young people from growing old and complacent and not caring anymore!

In the last few years there have been several sweeping social movements which have unsettled many people, especially the old guard.

I think of the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and her forceful speeches about climate change and what needs to be done. While still a teenager, Canadian Craig Kielberger and his brother Mark, started a charity whose goal was to lift children out of poverty in the developing world. Though mired in controversy over ties to the Trudeau family, I believe this organization is still doing its work of education and poverty reduction.

A few years ago, one of our sister denominations in the USA revived its ten-year old motto of “God is still speaking” and reworded it to a shorter, “still speaking,” as a way of showing that their church had something positive, prophetic and progressive to say to the modern context. God’s will, God’s speech did not shore up “traditional views of the ten commandments or bringing pack prayer in schools” for example, but instead brought faith and modern problems into a serious dialogue, in the same way the prophets had done thousands of years before.

For most of our history the United Church of Canada has led the way of social change with a faith-based message. We have received a lot of flack because some people feel we should be more traditional, or stick to religion and not meddle in politics, but the reality is that separation is not possible. The connections between faith and justice are solid and once you start talking about justice you are into politics. I have also noticed how “traditional values” as defined by some denominations conveniently seem to favour those with power and money and ignore those the church should be serving.

The United Church has always sought to remain socially relevant and to speak to the real problems and real injustices in people’s lives, in Canada and around the world.

A large part of the impetus for church union came from Christians in these prairie provinces - farms and homesteads were far apart and the population sparse in comparison to other parts of Canada. It was felt that a unified church could do more for the gospel united rather than remaining separate.

Bridging gaps and overcoming differences has been part of who we are since very different people found they could work and worship together, where there were so few to gather.

The United Church does not hesitate to name as allies, those who may not call upon God in the ways that we do, but have similar goals.

In addition to the work of the notable young people I have already mentioned, I can think of the 1% movement from a few years ago and the more recent “black lives matter movement”. For us these are issues of faith and justice and following the guidance and challenge of the prophetic tradition.

We know our culture has become very polarized - right now in the USA there are 2 groups - Trump and Anti-trump. In Canada, the same sort of divisions are appearing as people line up for or against the current government. Our response to the COVID epidemic is broad but often focussed on the mask as a symbol - of safety and caution or of oppression!

The question for us is, “what is our yardstick?” Is everything decided on the basis of being “good for the economy?” If it is, then we need to ask a further question, “who benefits?” Are we favouring big business and it’s shareholders or the common folks that seek a decent living? Those are different economic models!

Or is it a question of how we are we are able to care for the people who don’t even make it to our radar most of the time?

What is our mandate as a people oif faith. Is it to be morally pure, or is it about justice. When we brought in medicare, for example, we decided that decent medical care was a Canadian right and value. We need to ask if our economy cares for the vulnerable or caters to the wealthy?

Last week we heard the first day of one of our creation stories, in which God spoke into being a good world. In today’s passage from the book of Samuel the leaders of the people had stoped listening to this creating and speaking God so Samuel was called to start over and usher in a new world based on the creative and life-giving word of God.

The message may change in details and specifics but I think the benchmark is the repetitive refrain of Genesis 1, “God saw that it was good” and Samuel’s response, “Speak for your servant is listening”.

Amen.

January 24, 2021 - Third After Epiphany

Jonah 3: 1-5, 10
Psalm 62
Mark 1: 14-20

Missing the Point

It was one of those stories I learned in Sunday school, but because of its fantastical events, that’s what I remembered and that’s all the vast majority of people remember! It was not until much later in life that I saw any broader meaning in the passage.

I googled “Jonah” and all hits I found in the category of “images” featured a whale or large fish. To be fair though, how do you choose an image to depict a prophetic message!

The whole story is a little long for a Sunday reading but, in order to figure out what it means, you kinda have to hear it all! It goes like this:

ONE: Jonah is asked to preach a message of destruction to what was considered a wicked city.

TWO: Jonah refuses;

THREE: Jonah flees to a distant place, by boat.

FOUR: A storm comes up, and at his insistence Jonah is thrown overboard, at his insistence, in order to save the other passengers, is swallowed by a big fish, spends a few days, and after being spewed out on land,

FIVE: he does go to preach his message of destruction and, as he feared, the people repent and God does not punish them after all. This is the “tricky” part of Jonah’s message. He did not want to preach to them because he actually WANTED TO SEE THEM DESTROYED. He knew that God had a merciful heart and that if they repented, God would not end up destroying them! If they did not hear the message - that would guarantee their destruction!

Now we come to SIX: Jonah has a pity party for himself under a shrub and when the shrub is killed by a worm he has a fit! God can’t quite believe it; Jonah is more worried about a shrub than he is about a whole city full of human beings!

In today’s passage we hear some details of his preaching mission. Two things stand out for me: FIRST: Nineveh is described as exceedingly large city - ‘a three days’ walk across. Archaeologists tell us that ancient Nineveh was nowhere near that large; no city was! I read somewhere that a three days walk would mean that the city was 60 miles across! Clearly a fantastical exaggeration! But Jonah was facing a task he regarded as revolting. Can’t you just see him, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders as he trudges step after weary step, for THREE DAYS. Each step is a great hardship. Each step is taking him deeper into the midst of as place where he does not want to go and among a people he detests!

SECOND: the sermon has to be is the world’s shortest; I don’t think it would even merit a mark at a theological school! The professor would return it to the student with the comment, “where’s the rest of it?” By contrast, with sermons that were common, at least in the Maritimes, at the turn of the last century, , this sermon is brief, very brief! “40 days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” That’s it! That’s all he wrote! “40 Days More and Nineveh will be overthrown”. I could preach that sermon twice and it would still only be half a minute – with pauses for effect!

Notice that he does not even say, “God will destroy you”! The sermon does not actually give the people of Nineveh any hope at all! There is NO “way out”! Despite the lack of an “unless” in his sermon, the people heard and repented even though he did not present them any alternatives! The king of Nineveh took this proclamation very seriously ordered that all the people AND the animals had to stop eating and drinking and all had to don sackcloth as a sign of their repentance! These were commonly accepted signs that the repentance was sincere, complete and thorough!

I cannot over emphasize how unlikely this story is: Nineveh, an Assyrian city was on the winning side of recent skirmishes; they would have regarded Israel with contempt, as a powerless annoyance. YET the prophetic word - as pathetically as it was delivered, has this effect on them!

I put a picture of “belted” cattle in the bulletin. These animals I often saw grazing as I drove too and from my hospital visits when I lived in Nova Scotia, appear to have some sort of blanket fastened around their mid-section but it’s as much a part of the breed as the black splotches are to Holsteins! Cattle would not be easy to dress up! Horses often wear blankets when outside in the winter, but not cattle!

As a humorous aside, there is a sign by the road that goes past the pasture where these cattle normally graze: “Pictures of the cows are free - but the bull charges!”

One thing we need to know is that most of the people who heard this story would have agreed with Jonah; they hated the people of Nineveh and wanted to see them all fry at the hand of an angry God; their angry God. The People of Israel were not in a forgiving mood! The Assyrians had caused them and their small nation such pain and anguish!

That’s is probably why the story of Jonah is in the bible in the first place. Throughout what we usually call the Old Testament, there are two competing streams which can be summarized: “foreigners are all bad” and “foreigners are capable of great faith”. The reforms put in place after their return from Babylonian Exile, intended to “get back to basics and keep their country pure” would be part of the first category; the stories of Jonah and of Ruth fall into the second stream!

As always though, the key, “what does it mean in 2021 in Nipawin, SK? We are not ancient Israel, living a precarious life with the threat of invasion and destruction a daily reality!

While out context is quite different. I believe that Jonah’s story can be ours.

I could mention a local Facebook page, or two, where divisions and divisive opinions are posted daily and the banter is often far from civil. I originally signed onto the page when my deck flags were stolen and I discovered petty theft was a popular hobby in parts of Nipawin. I think I’ll stop following them though!

Everything other than complaints about petty crime and surprised thanks for people buying coffee for strangers, each new post seems to unleash a torrent of contrasting opinion in which people seem to have lost all civility and decency. By far, the biggest is the all the rules surrounding the government measures to stop the spread of COVID 19. Mask are completely unnecessary - masks are needed. Staying home is necessary - staying home is killing people, destroying the economy and a socialist plot to turn us all into “sheeple”!

As we know the USA now has a new President. The official inauguration of President Joseph R Biden took place on Wednesday. Those who were expecting the kind of violence which began the year, breathed a sigh of relief when the day proved to be uneventful. Yet, many of us are on tenterhooks, wondering when and where the far right will appear next!

At the inauguration, President Biden spoke about the need to come tother and overcome divisions - because his country and the world needed unity. A senior colleague of mine in Nova Scotia called his speech, “a good sermon”! And that minister is, in my opinion, a very good preacher himself!

I was impressed also by the hope and the forcefulness of the 22 year old Amanda Gorman, American Youth Poet Laureate, a Harvard graduate, whose command of the words of hope were so compelling that it brought me to tears. I said, “she could be President one day ..no.... she SHOULD be President, one day”.

I hope that Biden’s administration can open the kind of dialogue that has been lacking for some time. As happens with any change in the US administration, we in Canada await what this means for foreign relations, particularly trade. We need to enter this dialogue with hope for the future, which will not be what we might have expected but which can be life giving and sustainable.

As always though, prophets speak of God and for God. Prophets, of the biblical kind, are not soothsayers or fortune tellers. While they may read the “writing on the wall” and predict the future, it is always in connection with what we religious types call, faithfulness. It is about actions and results or lack of actions and consequences. “If you take out your smoke detector battery because it is beeping you had better replace it, otherwise it can’t wake you up in the event of a fire and you may not make it out in time.” That’s both prophesy, and common sense!

The story of the prophet Jonah is the story of a persistent God who does not take “no” for an answer. This God continued to call Jonah, despite his objections, despite his actions to the contrary to proclaim a message that was, in the end, life giving. God’s will was not the destruction of Nineveh but the giving of true life to that great city.

On Christmas Eve I told the story of the famous Christmas truce which took place in the early days of WW1 and I introduced a powerful song which memorializes that event. The writer sings of the destruction of the wall between them that was necessary to wage war. When walls and other barriers between people come down, attempts at true understanding can be made and each can see the other as a child of God.

I remember having a discussion at a presbytery meeting many years ago with an elderly woman who came to presbytery because “she was interested”. A controversial topic came up and I tried to avoid it because I assumed she and I would be on opposite sides and I really didn’t want to have an argument with a minister’s widow! How wrong I was! Her take was, “they are God’s children too.”

Jonah forgot that the people of Nineveh were God’s children too. Jonah was to learn how persistent God’s desire was that these children should also hear the words of life.

We may say that we do not wish our enemies ill, but do we wish them well? We are called to wish well!

One of the more divisive movements in history has been National Socialism, in Germany - otherwise known as the Nazi party. It took hold in Germany in the time after WW1 as the people struggled with so many of the repercussions of the Great War.

From his life as a Naval officer, to his ministry in a church which opposed Hitler, and his imprisonment, the Rev Martin Niemöller, underwent many changes in his life. His opposition to Hitler had nothing to do with the Holocaust, but later in life he realized how much guilt all of Germany bore for that atrocity.

Later in his life he wrote “It took me a long time to learn that God is not the enemy of my enemies. He is not even the enemy of His enemies.” Think about that for a moment!

God’s grace refuses to allow God to hate those who are in opposition to the ways of God. God will persist in seeking to turn them around, show them the light and the way to true life. This does not mean that God’s standards are compromised but that God continues to persist in showing life and hope to all people - and we who are God’s followers are called to do the same, even if we feel we are beating a dead horse!

Let us resolve to be God’s people, God’s prophet and proclaim life even in those situations we deem hopeless - for even the King of Nineveh wore sackcloth!

Amen!

January 31, 2021 4th After epiphany

NO SERMON

February 7, 2021 - 5th After Epiphany

Isaiah 40: 21-30
Psalm 147
Mark 1: 29-39

Soaring With Eagles While Living With Turkeys!

There is a poster I have seen which depicts a tom turkey and the caption, “It’s hard to soar with eagles when you live with a bunch of turkeys!” It’s supposed to be a joke, but we know its truth! It IS hard to counteract negativity when you are trying your hardest to be positive. It’s hard to soar when others are dragging you down!

My father often spoke of his fascination with the bald eagles that nested near the farm, at home on PEI. When they spotted something good to eat on the ground, they would swoop down, and without missing a wing beat, grasp with their large talons that tasty morsel (usually a baby pig that had died) and effortlessly become airborne once again. Raptors can also snag a moving animal.

In Greek mythology, Icarus, and his father Daedalus were imprisoned on the island of Crete. To help his son escape, Daedalus fashioned a pair of wings for the boy out of wax and feathers and warned him not to fly too close to the sun. Ignoring his father’s warning, as sons do from time to time, he did fly too close to the sun, the wax melted and he fell into the sea and drowned. The moral of that story could simply be, “listen to your father!” or it could have more to do with human ego and pride. It’s not good to boast when doing something that is not usually accomplished by mere mortals!

Since there have been human beings, those human beings have envied the birds, and their ability to escape gravity and soar over the earth. In the third decade of the 21st century, we take airplanes, of all sizes, and even spaceships, for granted but there was a time when those things were only a seemingly impossible dream that lived in the hearts of some inventors. Alexander Graham Bell, born in Scotland is known not only for his invention of the telephone but also for his innovations in heavier than air flying machines. After this pandemic is over, I suggest that you go to Baddeck, on the Bras d'Or Lakes in Cape Breton, and visit his museum! I’m sure Christine or Karen would be happy to tell you all about Baddeck’s adopted son! It wasn’t just the Wright brothers!

Every child that has fallen out of a tree, or off of a roof, knows about gravity. Every child who has donned a Superman cape knows that THEY DON’T WORK! While they had no name for it, people in Isaiah’s time knew the basic laws of physics! Stuff falls down and cannot remain suspended in the air! Even after childhood is long behind us, we adults can look at eagles, hummingbirds and flocks of Canada Geese on their twice yearly migration and marvel at that freedom, that power and that grace.

Throughout history, there have been times when whole groups of people needed to be reminded that they could have hope, that they could soar. In times of trouble and great despair the prophets spoke to such people with words and images of hope.

Isaiah 40 marks a turning point in that great book. Scholars agree that the previous chapters were written by a different person, at a different time. Between the closing verses of Isaiah 39 and the first verses of Isaiah 40, something drastic happened.

There are various events in more recent history that are impossible to “get behind”. The events of 9/11 are the most obvious. In the middle of ever changing COVID restrictions, it is hard to tell if we will ever be back to “normal” or if once all restrictions are lifted, life will be irreparably changed.

The drastic event that is behind the scenes, between Isaiah 39 and Isaiah 40 is called “the Exile”. The situation in which this second writer called Isaiah lived, is very important. In the recent past, the Babylonians had defeated Israel and many of the people were carried off into captivity. Taken captive in three different “waves”, the brightest and best of the people - the leadership- ended up in Babylon. They were exiles. They were refugees.

Not only had their God let them down and abandoned them in their time of need, it was obvious that the god of the Babylonians was stronger, or they would not have won! While our Bible gives a picture of their lives as ones of complete despair, Babylonian records, show that it was not as bad as we might imagine. For a number of reasons, the Babylonian king did not want to turn them into slaves and it seems they were allowed to live as a group in certain areas. One of the things that became important to them was to preserve their identity by continuing some of their unique practices such as dietary laws and male circumcision.

This writer named Isaiah is reminding them of the great tradition from which they have come. The writer is reminding them that they have no need to despair. The God of Creation had not abandoned them. The God of their ancestors had not abandoned them. The God who led them out of Egypt, through the wilderness and into the land of promise, had not abandoned them. Their God was not wandering around the ruins of their beloved city pining for people to raise their voices in prayer and holy song. This God was with them, EVEN in Exile.

When I was in High School a young man from BC, who had lost a leg to bone cancer, dipped his artificial leg into the Atlandic Ocean and headed for BC with the goal of raising money for cancer research. Terry Fox’s personal Marathon of Hope ended just outside of Thunder Bay but in a way it has never ended. Every year, children take part in annual runs, and these are the children of parents who weren’t even born in 1980. His dream “somewhere the hurting must stop” spurs us on!

A few months ago, a British war veteran, approaching his hundredth birthday, wanted to raise a few thousand pounds for Britain’s National Health Service as a way of thanking them for their work treating those who were affected by the COVID epidemic. He accepted the challenge to walk 100 laps of the garden at his retirement home. As he came closer and closer to his goal, he received more and more media attention. When his trek ended he was given an honour guard and the title of Honorary Colonel of a military college. At the end of his trek his total raised was almost 45M £. In one of his many interviews he spoke of his wartime service and noted that there would be better days ahead. Capt Sir Tom Moore was knighted by the Queen for his extraordinary service. He died recently of COVID. Even as I heard the news of his death I could also hear the words of Dame Vera Lynn as she sang of hope in a very dark time in her country’s history, “There’ll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover,” and “We’ll meet again”.

On her 103 birthday when her nation was living in fear, not of bombs falling from the sky, but of a deadly virus they could not see, she advised her fellow Britons to “find moments of joy.” She died last June but her voice of hope will never be silenced as long as people continue to hear the music and take the words to heart.

Sometimes we forget that we are not the first people to go through difficult times, whether it be a series of personal difficulties, or a pandemic such as the one ravaging the world as we speak. Sometimes we forget to hear the words of hope that in spite of what seem like impossible odds, the faithful can persevere and overcome.

One day this will be behind us and like Peter’s mother-in-law we will be freed for service.

LISTEN, sometimes there is so much chatter that we can’t hear the eagle’s cry let alone the songs of the spring peepers or the chirping of songbirds. Too often the “anti this” and the “anti that” voices seem to really get us down, and distract us from our goal of healing and wellness.

Have you not heard, can you not see, the eagles are soaring - - - wouldn’t you like to soar with them!

Amen!

February 14, 2021 - Trqansfiguration

2 Kings 2: 1-12
Psalm 50
Mark 9: 2-9

Chariots and Mountaintops!

When I encounter the biblical story of Elijah and Elisha, the whirlwind, and the flaming chariot I can’t help but think of the movie, “Chariots of Fire”, which came out, during my first year of university. My 19 year old self was inspired by the story of Scottish track athlete, Eric Lidell, who refused to run in a race in the 1924 Olympics which was scheduled on Sunday because of his religious convictions. Even though he firmly believed that he ran for the glory of God and “to feel God’s pleasure” he would not compete on Sunday. The entire nation was upset with this son of missionary parents because they had pinned their hopes for gold on him. Even Edward, the Prince of Wales weighed in, and attempted to change his mind. Instead, Lidell switched to a race 4 times the length and won, despite the fact that he had not trained for this type of race. He went on to return to mission work in China and died of a brain tumour in an interment camp during the war. The closing music of the movie features a track team running along a beach with “Jerusalem” as the background music. Most folks associate the tune with a poem by William Blake that references today’s passage from 2 Kings and and connects it with the hope that God would transform and heal all that was evil in the England of the Industrial Revolution.

25 years or so ago, some female recording artists from Canada compiled the CD, “In Between Dances,” in aid of breast cancer research. On it is Holly Cole sings Johnny Nash’s words:

I can I can see clearly now the rain is gone.
I can see all obstacles in my way.
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind.
It's gonna be a bright (bright)
Bright (bright) sunshiny day.
It's gonna be a bright (bright)
Bright (bright) sunshiny day.

We know what its like to drive in bad weather, and meet a truck and our car is temporarily inundated with slush. We have to turn on the wipers and let them clear the windshield all the while staying on our side of the yellow line. Then, have that happen and realize that half your windshield wiper just took off in the wind! You discover a worn out spare is better than nothing!

I used to wear glasses all the time and occasionally noticed they had become very dirty. I would clean them and then wonder how I could have seen anything just a few minutes before.

Sometimes after a difficult experience we can look back and see things we did not think were there: lessons that were in the event, good that had come from it.

Sometimes it is only after a traumatic experience that we can appreciate what we have been taking for granted, or even putting on the back burner, for far too long. I was talking to a former parishioner one day and she referred to a decision that she and her husband had made some years earlier. She said, “it was the hardest thing we ever did, but it was the best thing we ever did.”

We have various expressions for sudden realizations -

-I had an Epiphany,

-I saw the light,

-it dawned on me,

-then something clicked,

-then all the pieces fell into place and many more!

For most of the first semester of grade 12, I was failing trigonometry. Everyone else in class did not seem to be having any trouble but there was something I was missing; Somehow, I just couldn’t “get it” and it was frustrating and humiliating. Then, just a few weeks before the final exam at the end of January something clicked, or so I thought, and I wrote the final exam relieved that I did not need a Grade 12 math credit to graduate! Back at school in February, and taking 4 new subjects, I encountered the teacher in the hallway outside the staff room. He shook his finger at me. I was sure I had flunked but then I saw the grin on his face. “How did you do it? I couldn’t believe it. Your exam was almost perfect!” Turns out I had made 96%. I still have that exam and the last time I looked at it I knew that I would not be able to make 6%! But, I have had no reason to think about trig for 40 years!

“The Great Realisation,” is an internet video from Britain that depicts a very tired young dad putting his son to bed. As is quite common for children everywhere, the child wants “one more story”, and a certain story. He wants the one about the virus. The dad really cant see why his son wants it AGAIN but he complies! Dad’s usually do! It seems, in the video, that the virus was long ago. The overall message of the video picks up on the plays on words in the saying, “hindsight is 20-20" and of course the year “2020". In the book, way back in 2020 people learned that the unceasing pursuit of more money and their go-go-go lifestyle was killing the planet and their lives as family and community.

Of course, it’s only 2021 and the pandemic is far from over! Some countries are talking about a THIRD wave because of mutations. At this point it’s not clear yet what, if anything, the world will have learned when life CAN get back to normal. DO WE REALLY WANT to go back to what was?

This is Transfiguration Sunday and it is an important step on our Christian journey. Unlike some trips or journeys we may take, it is a yearly one, not a once in a lifetime effort.

In late November or early December of each year we hit the re-set button and begin our journey through the Christian year and, as I said, we do it, EACH YEAR. At this time of year, winter is closing in, we are weary and we hope for a world made new. We sing and pray about peace on earth and good-will to all. We wait in hope. We then welcome the birth of the one who is heralded by angels and visited by shepherds and star-gazers from afar.

Within a few short weeks we learn many things about him and his mission. He goes around the country teaching and healing and calling people to be his disciples! On this day it all comes together in one amazing insight for several of these disciples.

The faith of the Hebrew people had been built on two parallel, and sometimes competing streams - the LAW and the PROPHETS. The former was often represented by Moses and the later by Elijah. In today’s story, the vision that is at the centre of this passage, reveals that this man, this Jesus, this itinerant rabbi somehow connects the essence of both the law and the prophets. He is the best of both sides of the tradition. “Wow,” the disciples may have said, “I can see clearly now”!

BUT, this insight is not the end of the disciples journey; far from it. It is not the end of our own yearly journey. For us it is a time to dig deeper, into scripture, into our own hearts, to figure out what it really takes to be his modern disciples. For the original disciples the journey ended at the cross. But, as you might expect that is an end that is not an end either! If we truly journey with Jesus and his disciples, we will discover that the cross does not have the last word but the God of life has more to say. The God of life continues to speak and offer freedom to those who follow. Pentecost reminds us of the power of the Holy Spirit who guides, challenges and accompanies us on our journey of faith and discipleship for the rest of the year as we grow in our faith and discover what it means to say yes, to the one who calls us. That journey ends as we celebrate the world made new, the thing for which we have been hoping for 52 weeks. That is the end but only for a week, when we begin the journey once again and all over again! Since we are are different people than the ones who began the journey 12 months before, we begin at a different place and experience the journey differently. As we continue from year to year we change and grow in ways we could not have imagined at the beginning of each portion of the journey.

In some ways this Sunday is not all that exciting for we preachers. The theology can be kind of “heavy” and end up leaving everyone, including the preacher in a bit of a fog.

This year I decided on a story-telling approach. It is in story-telling that we share the faith best, and in story telling we invite others to a similar journey.

If we remove the wind and fire and the spectacular elements of the story from 2 Kings each one of us knows where Elisha’s story for it is also our story. We have been brought up in a certain family or trained for a certain vocation and we know that one day, we will be the one who will take over from the generation that has gone before us or we will be passing it onto the next one. When couples bring a baby home from the hospital there is often a family member to help out at the beginning - and most often it’s “gramma”. But everyone knows that she cannot stay forever and there will come the day when gramma drives down the street and the parents look at one another and say, “well, I guess it’s just us now!. Yet most of them already know what they need to - and that the tasks of parenting will be accomplished and the child will grow and thrive.

Today’s passages are about being open to the holy. Like the child on our bulletin cover, we need to be open to the spectacular in the every day; we need to be open to awe - don’t take things like rainbows and the aurora borealis or a new baby or a sunset for granted. Marvel at the flight of eagles and hummingbirds and bumble bees (they really should not be able to fly, but they do!) At some point in the distant summer look at that field which is not white and cold and barren as it comes alive with the beautiful yellow of canola in bloom or the farmyard is filled with calves and lambs trying to get a drink from mom. Or you watch your grandchild make the same discoveries your own children made when the world was younger!

Seek connections that cultivate mystery. Celebrate the passing on of wisdom and experience from one generation to the next. Seek to see your own story in scripture - for those age old stories are our stories, and our stories can be found in Psalms and parables and prophecy.

The human journey as seen through the lens of faith is one of the most beautiful stories there is. It is as large as the universe and as small as the tiniest organism only visible under a powerful microscope.

When we are truly open to seeing we can catch glimpses of the connections and make those connections ourselves.

We live in God’s world and it is in God that we live and move and have being.

Let us marvel in this truth.

Amen.