Genesis 1: 1-2:4a
Psalm 8
Matthew 28: 16-20

Poetry of Life

Back when I was in school, like all students, I learned something about poetry. When I was in theological school, I learned about Hebrew poetry and how it is different from that written in English. In school, we learned that traditional poems have a rhyming word at the end of each line. Some may have 4 lines where lines 1 & 3 rhyme and lines 2 and 4 rhyme. An example from the internet-

Sometimes I dream that I can fly.

I lift and flap my arms just so,

And soon I'm soaring to the sky.

Graceful like a bird I go.

That poem would have to get a lot more interesting before I read past the second stanza; but the rhyming is clear. Sometimes the rhyming is both at the end of lines and within lines: such as in the second stanza of this well known poem:

 Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows.
Why he left his home in the South to roam 'round the Pole, God only knows.
He was always cold, but the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell;
Though he'd often say in his homely way that 'he'd sooner live in hell'. 

Memorizing that poem is easy because of all the rhyme; the metre helps as well. Modern poetry, on the other hand, has different qualities altogether, but I’ll not elaborate. I’ll stop before Mrs Scott gets wind of this sermon and rescinds my pass in English 621.

We learned in theological school that those who wrote a poem in Hebrew must use repetition becuse Hebrew does not have rhyme. In the middle of Psalm 137 we read: “If I forget you O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth , if I do not remember you.” You see, line 2 is a repetition of line 1 (almost) and this repetition is what makes it poetry. In Psalm 119, the author decided to make a stanza for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet in addition to the repetition! I bet that was quite the challenge to write!

If you look at the story in Genesis it is obvious that there is no understanding of science whatsoever, (at least as we understand that term). We know light comes from the sun and that the moon has no light of its own. But we are told that light was created on day one and the sun and moon and stars on day 4. What does the light on day 1 come from, then?

Well, part of what is going on is that the author of this part of Genesis is a faithful and gifted poet and this chapter tells a timeless truth using an extended literary device. In this poem of creation, the days of creation are organized into two three day sets of actions.

It seems to me that this is poem is primarily designed to say something about the nature of God and creation and is not at all intended to be what we might understand as science or history!

One of the things that stands out for me in this passage is the line “God saw that it was good.” Vanessa Lovelace, a professor of the Hebrew Bible from Lancaster Pennsylvania, concludes her reflection on this passage, by saying that in a world of much turbulence and chaos, it is good to worship a God who is sovereign, blesses all of creation, blesses us and declares that it is all GOOD. (workingpreacher.org)

As I wrote this sermon I was reminded a poem I think I learned in High School about a tree, or is it about the tree’s creator - I’ll let you decide. Joyce Kilmer writes:

 I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Mr Kilmer was killed in WWI but his poem lives on.

We know that the world, as it is, is no longer GOOD in all of its aspects. Violence and crime have tarnished much of human life. We have known about pollution for many years and its affects on the oceans and the air in large cities. In 2023 we know that over time, humans have caused global warming which is affecting many aspects of our lives in a negative way.

Today is Trinity Sunday. The passages chosen for us today in the lectionary call us to reflect on the Christian understanding of God as “triune” - not three gods in one, but three aspects of God we call Father, Son and Holy Spirit or Creator, Christ and Spirit, or Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.

A few months ago, one of my Facebook groups got into a discussion about the recognition of baptism by a sister denomination. A number of years ago, the Presbyterian, Lutheran, United, Roman Catholic, and Anglican churches got together and decided that we would recognize one another’s baptism as long as the baptism was done in the name of the triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In so-called “Mixed marriages,” it makes things much easier to have this sacrament of initiation accepted and recognized.

Now, I will tell you that Trinity Sunday is one of my least favourite sermons in the year. I hoped against hope that the Living Skies Regional Council would have been meeting this weekend, but no such luck; Prairie to Pine has that slot this year. Living Skies took Pentecost! In our new structure, the executive minister has to be at three Regional Council Annual Meetings, so we can’t all have the same weekend!

When I was in University, I participated in an outreach program at the Westmorland Farm Annex, a minimum security prison under the umbrella of Corrections Canada. Almost every week, one man came to our fellowship tine with his green Bible and a determination that he could prove to the leader of the group, an Anglican Priest, that the trinity was not in the Bible and was, in fact, wrong. He’s partly right - the Trinity is not actually IN the Bible but it is derived from biblical passages which present God in ways that can be described as Trinitarian. The Trinity was not developed as a doctrine of the church until the 4th century. It came out of a need to describe and understand the action of God in the world through the person of Jesus, the Christ. The popularity of Greek and Roman philosophies made it essential that the church figure out how to describe and explain how God and Christ and Spirit related to one another!

Before I show that I was not listening closely enough to Fr Tom Mabey’s very dry lectures and get my credit for yet another course taken away, I’ll stop!

In our yearly cycle of progression through the lectionary we journey from hope and waiting through to Christmas as the fulfilment of those promises. As we journey to the cross we find out about Jesus’ mission. In the season between Easter and Pentecost we explore the meaning of the resurrection and from now until Advent turns the tables, once again to a new cycle, we explore the work of the Spirit in the church. Laying the church life aside for a moment, as we move through the seasons of the created order from winter through spring and summer to autumn and then around again, and again we grow and change and develop new insights and discard that which no longer works for us. Over a series of cycles we grow and mature and take the place of those who have gone before us. With each cycle we learn and grow and have a new perspective. Sometimes, like my nephew’s 6 month old son, or the average teenager, the growth is fast and very noticeable but at other times we can only assess how much we have grown by stopping to take a break and looking back on our lives, and perhaps counting the wrinkles or the aches and pains!

As we follow in the way of the Risen Once, we need to ask the questions, “Where has the Spirit led us in the past year and what is the Spirit yearning to teach us this year?”

The United Church has recently adopted a three pronged approach to our near future. As we enter the last few years of our first century as a denomination we have been asked to become a people of “Daring Justice, Deep Spirituality and Bold Discipleship.”

The theme of our most recent Regional Counil Annual Meeting was, “Discerning a Good Path Together”. At this gathering the Living Skies Regional Council of which we re a part decided to approve the request of the Indigenous Church to be able to form whatever structures and policies that will enable them to flourish as disciples of Jesus. Because it is a Remit requiring the vote of the Governing Body of all Pastoral Charges, we will be hearing more about this later.

The Living Skies Regional Council also agreed to become an Affirming Council which means that we will be public, intentional and explicit about out welcome of all people - without exception. Saskatchewan Conference, the body that existed in the old structure had also been affirming! As a Pastoral Charge we may wish to follow this lead and enter into that process ourselves; it is our choice.

Each of us as individuals, and as congregations, needs to discern what it means to follow Jesus of Nazareth, the one in whom Christians see God most clearly.

When we are facing decisions in any aspect of our lives as a church, in these last years of The United Church’s first century, we are called to ask, “What does it mean for our discipleship, our spirituality and our work for justice.

Today in Nipwin (Here in Nipawin) we celebrate the graduation from High School of several young people. We are giving the traditional Bible to a student in Grade 2. We do this every year. The sactions are the same but the faces are different. Some of you have been part of this congregation since you could remember. When I confirm a person, promises similar to those of baptism are made and people own for themselves those promises made at their baptism. To be clear, when children are baptized, as a congregation, we promise to walk with them and show them the way and when those children seek confirmation they intentionally make the promises again, this time, for themselves. At that point a young personn begins an intentional transition from childhood to adulthood.

Periodically, each of us needs to ask the question, “What does it mean for me to be a disciple of Jesus?” What does it mean tom follow the one who said, “I am with you always even to the end of the age.”

Do we try and hide from our faith, or ignore it? Do we intentionally seek to live it out! If we believe our call is to love those who are loved by God, what happens when we see someone being abused or bullied or persecuted or treated unfairly or any other example of “not loved”? Do we walk away? Do we join the abusers? Do we suck in our breath and wade into the action, standing up to those who would deny them a place or the honour they should have.

For many of us, our care for others is delivered through other agencies, such as the Red Cross. When we see the kind of need that results from a tornado or hurricane or house-fire, we may hear that the Red Cross or other agency is helping. Do we reach for our banking app or our chequebook so we can donate or do we ignore the need or justify our lack of caring by saying, “it’s their fault, or “it’s not my problem.” ?

It is true that we cannot give to everything, unless we are incredibly wealthy, but it is our problem - it is our responsibility to respond and care. The poet John Donne wrote something like this (I’ve edited the language slightly for modern ears).

 No (one) is an island entire of itself; every(one) 
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; 
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe 
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as 
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine 
own were; anyone’s death diminishes me, 
because I am involved in humankind. 
And therefore never send to know for whom 
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.   	

We are called into community by a God who is revealed to us in numerous ways, three of which are sometimes described as Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. May this God’s blessings be upon us always and may we be vehicles of this blessing for others.

Amen.

Genesis 21: 8-21
Psalm 86
Matthew 10: 24-39

Stories Told by Victors!

Sometimes you run into a biblical passage that seems so “off” that you wonder what the proper response to it being read in public worship is - shouldn’t the reader say, “THIS is the word of the Lord?” And there is no response needed; really, what other reaction than total confusion is appropriate?

As I have said, at first telling it is a horrible, terrible story. It seems to be so unlike any kind of behaviour that should be praised or emulated. In the biblical tradition, Abraham is a great ancestor and was thought of in heroic terms and as RIGHTEOUS!

Let’s go over this bit of background to this terrible story. “Readers Digest” version here! Abram, the great soon to be patriarch, was told to go forth and trust God and God would make of his descendants a great nation. So he and Sarai go off on their own (with servants and herds) and journey into the future even though they were old and had no children. This action was seen as trusting in the promise. They went off in a time when clan and tribe were everything. Clan provided both identity and safety. Eventually this elderly couple grew tired of waiting, or at lease Sarah grew tired. Soooooo, Sara gave Hagar, her slave, to her husband so that he could father a child with her. As weird as that is to us, it was not at all unusual in that time. Slaves did what slaves were told! I guess Abraham had no objection! A son, Ishmael, was born. The fact that a slave bore her husband a son while she herself was childless did not please Sarah, even though it was her idea in the first place. The friction was constant. Eventually, Isaac the child of promise was born to Sarah. This child grew old enough to be weaned which was, I gather, a sure sign of survival. BUT, Sarah saw her husband’s two sons playing together and became jealous.

Those of you who are OUTLANDER fans will remember the banquet scene early in the series during which Claire put her foot in her mouth by verbally mis-identifying a child she had seen Dougal playing with earlier in the day as “his son,” when the boy makes haste to tell her that he was the son of the laird, Colin MacKenzie. In actual fact she was right, and everyone knew it; the laird needed an heir and the poorly kept secret was kept silent.

On the grounds that she did not want her son having to divide his inheritance with his half brother, Sarah basically forced her husband to banish them to the wilderness, and certain death. Remember what I said about clan and family! They were given bread and water and told to leave. When the provisions ran out she prepared for death. We are told that God heard her cry of distress, an angel intervened and the woman and her son survived. God’s promise of “great nationhood” was extended to her son as well. Of course this reading is part of a larger story, but did you notice that neither the chil nor his mother have names in this part of the story; Sarah cannot even speak their names! It is, of course, a story that assumes the presence of slavery and the reality that even kin would sell one another or treat one another abominably. How many people have died in countries like North Korea because the supreme leader became nervous and wanted to hold onto power!!! You may remember that Isaac grew up and had a son Jacob and Jacob had 12 sons. One of his sons Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous half-brothers and the buyers were referred to as travelling Ishmaelites. Ding. Ding. Ding! Did Ishmael have time to beget a whole tribe or a retinue of employees to work for him- no - but that word association is meant to be heard.

On the one level, the story is told to explain how the Jewish people and the Muslim people are related. It may also explain why they did not get along even though they were closely related. I suppose origin stories grow, change or develop, depending on who is telling them. I’m not sure exactly what stories the Muslims tell about this “separation” but it is in the Koran, the Muslim holy book, considered by them to be God’s word. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are sometimes referred to as the “great Abrahamic” faiths because of this common descent from Abraham. Whether we like it or not this story is also ours.

I read somewhere that there are many more people who claim their ancestors came to Canada on the ship called ‘the Hector’ than was possible for this relatively small ship to have carried! I don’t know if the same is true for the famous “Mayflower” which arrived in the USA. Sometimes it’s hard to sift out the real truth! Immigration records might tell the tale; I suppose they exist in various archives- names were always recorded.

I have been taking a course over 4 sessions on de-colonization and we were all asked to trace the stories of how our ancestors came to Canada and where they settled. We were also asked to find out what they knew of the first nations people who had to be moved, in order to make room for them and their livelihoods of farming, forestry, mining and fishing.

For a week I was in Tatamagouche and studying the experience of black slavery in the Maritimes (slavery was known in Canada not just in the USA. After the American revolution some Loyalists brought their slaves with them) and the black experience in Canada, post slavery. Racism in Canada is not limited to first nations folks.

I was also part of a fantastic worship event but I’ll get to tell you about that later.

By the way, the Canadian slavery stories are as bad as, or worse than, what we heard about Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael.

While the story does tell us that God’s actions preserved the lives of Hagar and Ishmael, and that a second great nation was planned it does not mean that the actions of Abraham and Sarah were justified.

Yet, even while these people in terms of the so-called “Judeo Christian” story are the winners I don’t believe that we have to accept the story as a series of laudable events. We should not proof-text it as divine approval of the treatment of slaves. The reality is that the heroes of the bible are not photo shopped or whitewashed. So we hear about Abraham’s cruelty. We hear about Joseph’s arrogance. We hear about David’s lust for Bathsheba and compounding it by arrqanging her husband’s death. There is so much wrong on so many levels, with all of those stories but the truth is, OUR ANCESTORS IN THE FAITH WERE NOT PERFECT.

As I was preparing to write this sermon on this very difficult text I read one commentary that this passage is about faithful hearing. God heard Hagar and God answered her plea for help. Jesus would speak and end a parable with something like, “those who have ears to hear, let them hear.”

Sometimes though, people do not listen. Or want to hear. Or read instructions! Did you ever encounter someone who ran into trouble using a new kitchen gadget or putting together a piece of furniture which came in a flat box and they ended up with extra parts or a disaster realizing that they “should have followed the assembly instrucgtions or read the pamphlet titled “before using”. As they say in such cases, “When all else fails, follow the instructions!”

The message of this passage is always God hears and calls us to hear. Really, really hear with is a hearing that results in action.

The first passage that comes to my mind is what we call, “the shema”. Id love to be able to recite the “Shema Yisrael” in Hebrew (the sound of the words is beautiful) but I did not take that in school, I took Greek! Translation, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. And as for you, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” We should recognize this from the passages where Jesus is asked what is most important part of the law. It begins HEAR O Israel. In other words, LISTEN UP. PAY ATTENTION.

When I am talking to someone, I like to have some indication they are listening, a nod is often enough. I saw your sister in Saskatoon yesterday, she said “hi”! To the secretary, “can you make 20 of these and staple each one?” I was giving directions one day, to the theatre in Charlottetown, to a older couple fearing they would be late - to be sure they had it right, they went over the directions with their own hand gestures, nodded and smiled thanks, turned around and ran! Parents tell their kid to do the dishes, or other chores, and are frustrated with a positive response but no related action; dirty dishes remain. I read somewhere that you need to give a kid options, “you can do the dishes now or after your show” - not sure if it works but that’s what I read.

I read once of a person who described his prayer life as beating his bloody fists against the gates of heaven. The advice he was given was to stop and listen.

Years ago, a gas station chain had a promotion. Everyone was mailed a book of coupons with a percentage off their gas purchase but you had to take your coupon with you and the dealer would use a special decoder only available at the gas station to know how much discount you would receive. The discount was hidden behind a bunch of dots. I observed the gadget in use and thought it looked like nothing more than yellow coloured cellophane in a little cardboard frame. I happened to have something similar in a junk drawer at home so I found it and presto, I had my own decoder!

The image of using an “interpretive lens” is very common these days in biblical interpretation. It is actually not possible NOT to bring something to a story. It depends who we are or who we identify with when we read a story, especially a difficult story.

This story was told from the viewpoint of the Jewish people, the Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lineage - and in that story this was seen as justified - as necessary- as they way things were, at best.

BUT if we identify with Hagar, whose voice do we hear? Whose voice calls out for justice? Who answered her cries?

This story calls me to ask the question, “In today’s world who is crying out for life and for justice?”

The First Nations of our country are crying out for justice and for answers on behalf of the many Missing and Murdered women and girls. Who is listening? Not our justice system. How did Robert Pickton get away with his crimes for so long and how did he kill so many ? My guess is that they were not the sort of people the police worried about? How did the Residential Schools get away with the high death rate of their students? Simply, no one who could actually do anything was listening.

Why do injustices go unchanged? NO ONE IS LISTENING!

I remember hearing a multitude of complaints about the police response after the massacre by the man pretending to be a police officer in Nova Scotia in 2020; many of them that the police should have told people sooner what was going on. I do remember the Sunday morning the alert system on my phone lifted me from my bed with a super loud notice that something was going on, on the James Smith First Nation. Perhaps the authorities had heard and changed protocols. You may remember hearing of the escapades or Alan Legere, dubbed the “Monster of the Mirimichi” who killed 5 people in the late 1980s, often brutally. I cannot forget - I was living in New Brunswick both times! Before cell phones it was the radio that alerted citizens.

Our apps gives us tornado warnings, heat warnings, blizard warnings and most of the time were told what action is needed: go indoors or take other precautions. In Waskesiu, we can read a pamphlet on how to avoid getting attacked by a bear. My advice is to move to PEI. There are no bears there; except teddy bears! Then again I would have given the same advice to anyone wanting to avoid a collision with a deer. There are no deer in PEI either. Last year one lonr deer swam the Strait and came ashore near the bridge and was promptly hit and killed by a tractor trailer. I suppose the driver knew that no deer live on PEI. Well, they did, for about 5 minutes.

When we listen to the stories of victors ( and I’m not talking the Stanley Cup, the Gray Cup, the Scotties, or the Brier) what do we hear between the lines. Do we consider those who suffered in order for that victory to be won. When we hear of slum housing being demolished to make way for condos, and we are pleased that the street-scape will be much nicer, do we wonder where all those displaced people will live. The housing crisis in Canada is complex, but I think we need to listen to more of the people at the bottom than we do to the investors and those who see housing as investments rather than homes for people to live and raise their families.

When we listen or see through the filter of scripture which calls to love God, neighbour and self , perhaps we will see and hear things very differently.

Amen.

Genesis 22: 1-14

Psalm 13

Matthew 10: 40-42

Terrible Tales

You know what? I don’t think it will surprise you at all when I say that I don’t like this week’s story from Genesis any better than last week’s story. It is another horrible, horrible story. By anyone’s assessment, it is nothing less than child abuse. Even though Isaac survives and returns home with his father, I wonder what was affect it had on him for his life.

It is part of a terrifying tale of a God who strings Abraham along with an elusive promise and then seems to demand the very life of focal point of the promise once it was fully given.

A number of years ago a woman in one of my congregations, who used to belong to a more conservative denomination, told me that it was this story, which caused them to leave her former church. In a bible study she raised questions about the kind of God who would play with Abraham like that and almost cause him to sacrifice Isaac. Then minister of their particular church did not appreciate their questioning of this incident and “invited the both of them not to return.” Perhaps he had grown tired of their questions but it seems to me that this is one story that SHOULD be questioned. What kind of a god would demand such a thing; what kind of faith would give it. I have questioned it since I first heard it as a teenager.

Why would Abraham think that God was asking such a thing?

First of all, while we consider the sacrifice of humans, and especially children, to be abhorrent, it was not so in the ancient world. Such sacrifices were common. A quick internet search will tell you much more than you ever wanted to know about the practice. It was thought that human sacrifices appeased the angry gods; child sacrifice was symbolic of the innocent. An innocent animal could bear the sins of the people because the animal had not sinned! A child could bear the sins of the people because, I suppose, children had none of their own! The people of Israel regularly practised animal sacrifice but it seems that early they on drew the line at human sacrifice. It was clear in their literature that this was one of the ways in which they were not like the other nations.

Isaac is the child of promise - Ishmael was promised another nation of descendants. Isaac was the gift to an elderly couple long past the normal age of child bearing - the couple for whom physical pleasure was in the past, by Sarai’s own admission, earlier in the story. What kind of fiendish delight was God taking from this test?

Part of the fulfilment of this promise seems to be about testing Abraham. Perhaps God is forcing Abraham to say, “In killing Isaac I am showing I trust that God will find another way to fulfill the long ago promise”.

There is a story told about a man who fell out of an airplane but saved himself by managing to catch a rope that dangled from the open cargo bay. Holding on for dear life he cried out, “Is there anyone up there? Are you there God?”

“I am here” came the answer.

“Help me, God” the desperate man pleaded.

“Do you trust me?” God asked.

“Yes, I trust you.”

“Do you love me?”

“Yes, I love you.”

“Well then, just let go of the rope.”

The man responded, Is there anyone ELSE up there?”

We laugh, but when all our eggs are in one basket we want to hang onto the basket. Abram and Sarai had responded to God’s call to go from their home and tribe and undertake a journey to a place that was as yet unknown. They would have been seen as both brave and foolhardy - that kind of risk was just not taken in that time.

They were promised descendants to outnumber the stars. BUT they had no children and they were very elderly. Sarah even laughed when she overheard the news. They waited and they waited. They tried and they tried, but no pregnancy.

They had that hiccup with Hagar and Ishmael but eventually Sarah and Abraham had a child of their own. Can you imagine the joy and the relief. The promise of descendants might come true after all. BUT, TODAY Abraham is told to sacrifice Isaac, this child of promise, this child on whom all of their hopes had been placed.

Did Abraham trust the promise? Did Abraham trust the God of the promise enough that he would kill the child and thus reset the journey almost to square one. Was he willing to act in such a way that put all the cards back in God’s hand? I cannot imagine what was going through his mind and heart as he prepared to offer the sacrifice. Not only was Isaac the promised child, he was his own flesh and blood and he loved him. Any art I have seen that depicts this story has a teary eyed Abraham with a knife held high, ready to kill his son. In the fuzzy background, a lamb is caught in some brush.

We are told that we are not supposed to test God in this way, but does God test us? I’d like to think that the severest of tests was only in Abraham’s imagination. As I said, the culture around Abraham was full of the practice. But the story is clear - he was prepared to do this terrible thing.

I can do nothing but leave this horrible story where it is and see what can be gleaned from it for our lives.

I believe this story asks a question of us, “when we believe we are on a path - following a calling even, do we have so much invested in the steps of the journey that we cannot deviate one little bit? Do we trust in the broader picture of God’s goodness that we are not waylaid by hurdles and detours.

Being called and following a call is kind of “up my alley”. Over the years I have talked with dozens of colleagues and those who were seeking admission to the process to become ordained. I have heard and read many call stories and more than a few told of glitches along the way, roadblock and detours - I’m not going to say that God send those roadblocks, but for some they were a sign that ministry was not their calling. Others saw them as just a detour and found their way back to the path of ministry when they could. Others found God’s calling in some other helping profession as they discerned where their skills and heart were leading them as they sought to live out their faith.

For United Church ministers there are years of preparation and testing of the call through discernment, interviews, and internships as well as the academics. Now the program is more flexible with the Office of Vocation able to fine tune some of the requirements to those seeking to become ministry personnel. Additionally, in the United Church the community has always had a part in determining one’s suitability and readiness for ministry. I actually don’t know much about the new process - it was changed with the restructuring in 2019.

All of us can invest a great deal of energy and emotion in our plan and think it is God’s plan.

Parents can also invest a lot in their children and their children’s success. I was talking to a teen in my confirmation class about ten years ago and we got onto the subject of expectations about hockey. He said that his dad was great and was supportive and only wanted him to truly do his best. A team-mate, on the other hand, was always reluctant to leave the dressing room when he had a bad game because his dad would rant at him all evening about how much better he could have done, where he missed the passes and the goals he could have gotten.

Sometimes people live their own dreams through their children and place unreasonable burdens on them. For example, some invest enormous amounts of time and money and make great sacrifices in the hopes their son can be the next Sydney Crosby, or, for my generation, Wayne Gretzky. It is as if they have achieved something personally to have a son who does well in hockey.

Sometimes the dreams are about careers which involve academic pursuits. Just try being the only child in generations who has no interest in becoming a doctor, or a lawyer, or who fails to be admitted to medical school or law school or, perhaps, to be the only son left at home who also does not want to farm. For some farmers, the realization that theirs will be the last generation to earn a living and raise a family on a farm is a devastating blow. I understand this!

Despite this glitch in the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, I believe that the overall tone of the biblical story is that our God wishes for us abundant life and blessing. God wishes that people have the kind of happiness that comes from a life lived seeking fulfilment.

God’s promises are not that we will have a life free of anxiety and hardship but that there will be a way through it. Despite what Abraham thought that ram caught in the bushes was always there! Despite what Abraham thought, the promise was working its way toward fulfilment. Despite what Abraham thought, God was wishing the best for all of his descendants. The more I learn about this family story, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca and Jocob and Rachel had many setbacks, many interesting twists and turns but in all of it, at least in hindsight, they could see the hand of God.

So let us focus on the journey. Day by day let us seek to be faithful to the God who has called us and walks with us.

We will never walk alone.

Amen.

Genesis 24: 34-38, 42-49, 58-67
Psalm 45
Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-30

Yokes and Harness!

One of the questions I usually ask couples when they come to me for marriage preparation is, “how did you meet and fall in love?” The answers are varied. Some met on a blind date arranged by friends. Most had friends and activities in common. In small communities, many couples had known each other since childhood. In one, and only one case the couple met through a “personal ad” in a National Newspaper. (It was before those dating apps you see advertised on TV became popular.) The groom had tried personal ads before, to no avail, but as he approached his 40th birthday, decided to try it, ONE LAST TIME. She was living in a another province, saw the ad, was intrigued by it, and decided to respond. They corresponded. They talked on the telephone. Eventually they decided they had enough in common to meet. She flew to his city. They had decided to go camping. Her friends counselled her against it. They were adamant! “You don’t know him. He could have said anything about himself and you would not know if it was true or not.” One warned her not to be alone with him, because, well, (pause) “he could be an axe murderer.”

She ignored her friends and went anyway. When he picked her up at the airport his car was loaded with camping gear. At least that much proved to be true; he had told her that he was an experienced camper and had obviously gone camping before. He said to her, “before we leave town we have to stop at my place, I forgot to pack my axe.” (Pause) You really can’t make that stuff up! Next week is their 29th Anniversary.

I don’t believe I have ever married a couple whose marriage was “arranged.” Such marriages are not the usual way to meet a future spouse in this day and age. However, in what we might call “Bible times” they certainly were. Today’s long story from Genesis tell of the very un-romantic pairing of Isaac with Rebekah. If my family tree figuring is correct, Rebekah and Isaac would have been first cousins! Abraham was insistent that Isaac’s wife come from his own people, not from the Canaanites, the people among whom they were currently living. So a trusted servant who had sworn an oath to Abraham was sent to do his bidding. It was common to bring gifts on such an occasion. If my internet search is correct her nose ring weighed 5 grams and the bracelets about 100 grams. At current prices that much gold would cost you over $6,000, not to mention the jeweller’s fee to make it; a lump of gold is not very wearable. For desert nomads whose wealth was in flocks and herds, these were significant gifts!

These stories in Genesis go to great length to show how the three “first” generations were formed and established. So far we have read about Abraham and Sarah and their struggles. Now we will walk with Isaac and Rebekah. These stories show us the hand of God working through the people who were seeking to live in faithfulness. This people was a community formed by the leading of God and the following of three named generations and then the many that followed. When it was all said and done, I guess you can say, “it was quite a story!”

When I was young the water supply for the entire farm ran off of one water pump in the basement of our house. Whenever the power went out my mom would have my dad go to the cellar and turn off the waterline to the barn. She said, “one cow could drink all the water in the pressure tank”. Without that demand on the water supply we would have at least enough for a glass of water or two. If we suspected the power might go off we could run some water and have a few jugs on hand! I suppose my father could fill a few buckets for the barn as well.

I don’t really know how much a well-fed second-rate dairy cow might drink but I have read that a thirsty camel can drink 20 gallons at a time and Abraham’s servant was travelling with 10 of them! That’s a lot of trips to the well, or the spring for a woman with one jar! Water is 10 pounds the gallon. So ten pounds X 20 camels X 20 gallons each plus the weight of the jar each time - you do the math! It was quite an effort.

During the course of the events, the bride’s father and brother each agree that this stranger’s request on behalf of their relative is indeed part of God’s plan and they do not believe that they should stand in God’s way. Yet the young woman has a at least some say in the matter and agreed to go with the servant to marry a man she had never met!

We know the phrase about two or three being gathered together. We usually use that idea as a kind of “proof text” that the presence of Christ can be known in small congregations as well as the largest ones with a thousand bums in the pew and a mighty pipe organ, a seven piece band, a grand piano, a 40 voice choir and a grand cathedral to call home.

But in other senses, a small group is also what is needed to help one to discern the will of God. That’s part of the reason why we don’t immediately ordain everyone who comes to us and claims to be called. Their call is tested by a number of committees, supervisors, interviews and work that is evaluated. That’s part of the reason why I ask all of the guests who attend a wedding to stand and promise to support and honour the couple in their marriage. A couple needs the support of a community. Each member of the couple needs someone to talk to, for support, advice or just to listen. As a community of faith that’s the reason why we pray, as a group, for God to guide us as we make congregational decisions.

The Quakers are known for spending much time in communal silent prayer. I heard once of a congregation of Quakers who were facing a big decision so their leader stood up and said, “we have a full agenda tonight, with several very important decisions so instead of our usual hour of silent prayer before our meeting we shall spend two hours in prayer.”

Our usual inclination, in secular groups and even in church groups, is to hurry through business, especially when there seems to be too much. I remember a first-nations elder visiting Maritime Conference a number of years ago and, as usual, we had packed a great deal of business into the three days. We asked him about our process and the thing I most remember about his response was this: “you need to take MORE time. You are trying to do these things too quickly”

I think that the trick for church meetings is to discern what need not be discussed except for clarification and what needs full discussion.

This third decade of the 21st century is not an easy time for the mainline churches. Churches are closing and people are turning elsewhere for weddings and funerals; things that used to keep us very busy, kept some connection with the younger generation, even if it did not pay all the bills!

Some of us might have the idea that there was a time when our churches were full and we had no problem raising the money. But, I don’t think that was ever really true! I recall going through old minute books in my first pastoral charge.

One church was always scraping the bottom of the barrel when it came to the salary and it was often late. One was trying to get backsliders back into church. One church paid so little that the minister needed his own farm to keep his family going as well as doing his ministry work. I recall reading a set of minutes where the Pastoral Charge had contacted the Conference about an unexpected salary increase for the minister. I’m not sure what the reasoning for the increase was but apparently they were assured that there would be no further increase. That’s what the minutes said. How long this salary freeze was supposed to last, I really don’t know!

It seems that when travel became easier, smaller churches began to close - people could travel further and more easily. Then people found it easier to do other things on Sunday - especially youth sports. I am told that a certain Sunday evening TV program killed Sunday evening services! I know what “Stan the Man” and Switchback did for Sunday morning Sunday School in the 1980s!

What we do know is that many of our smaller churches have closed - and more closures are predicted. These days, congregations in rural areas are being encouraged to use technology to keep churches open and share professional ministry more effectively.

Now, in the good old days the television evangelists wanted you to think they knew and loved all the viewers and they would send you gifts for your contributions - but there was never any community and the star studded cathedral with the magnificent view never had an outreach program to show up at your door with soup and biscuits when you broke your leg and could not cook! I suppose it is hoped that our new models will still have the personal touch with people who know you and know where you live.

How do we discern God’s will for our future. I recall listening to a Sunday morning program on CBC that featured a church closing. I knew the reporter doing the story and I knew the congregation and it’s building! Apprently, there was a host of problems with the building - too many badly needed repairs mostly. They decided to find a new temporary home in a music conservatory. So for their last Sunday they developed a liturgy that would involve a very intentional taking leave of their old building and walking to their new, temporary home together with some furniture on wheels. (How else do you walk a communion table down the street) One of the senior members of the congregation said something like this:, “I thought I would be leaving many memories behind. Of services, of baptisms and weddings and such like. What I discovered was that my memories were with the people - and they came with me.” The congregation now operates of another location, which looks like a store- front. Their development plans were thwarted by the city and neighbours who felt the proposed building was too large and would cause more traffic congestion. Sometimes all the vision in the world cannot fight city hall.

The last few verses of the Gospel passage provide us with some guidance about discernment. The passage begins with Jesus’ frustration around a people who really do not seem to know what they want in a leader. A desert mystic or a preacher who interacted with the people and who loved to eat a good meal and have a good glass of wine. To me the passages tells Jesus followers to prayerfully discern God’s will and then work together to follow that call.

A yoke is a long curved hunk of wood with hoops and connectors and it is designed to enable two oxen to pull a load together, makikng maxim use of their combined ability. I have a picture in my house of two oxen, bound together by a yoke, being led by a handler. It was taken at one of those historic sites where you can go and see how they lived, in the “olden days.”

My yoke is easy and my burden is light! Working together shares a load and it becomes much easier much easier.

As we continue in our faith journey let us continue to discern what it is that God asks of us, in the here and now, and let us work together to journey in faithfulness.

Amen.

NO SERMON

NO SERMON

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Psalm 105
Matthew 14: 22-33

Where do we See the Holy?

There was once a student minister who arrived in “lake country.” She was their first woman minister. Even though she was not a “fella,” two of the older men of the congregation decided to take her fishing. They had taken the student minister fishing for many, many summers!

On the appointed day she was handed a fishing rod and showed how to cast. She got into the boat and one of the men started the motor and headed for the middle of a large lake.

But the fish were not biting and she became very bored. She stuck it out for several hours but finally she said, “OK, you fellas, I give up. I’m going home. I’ll see you Sunday!” She handed her rod to one of the men, stepped out of the boat and walked to the shore.”

The younger of the two men said to his friend, “did you see that?”

“Yeah, I saw it. She’ll never last in ministry in these parts; it’s obvious that she can’t swim.”

I’ll be the first to admit that I am not a strong swimmer, but I do have this pin that proclaims, “Walking on water is in my job description.”

Does this story actually claim that we can walk on water if we have enough faith! If we just keep our eyes on Jesus, can we do the impossible? No, I don’t think so. Remember, that part was Peter’s idea in the first place!

Taken in it’s context, it is one of several stories about being aware of the holy when we encounter it. While the walking on water seems to be the most startline, this passage is really about being called to see the holy. Noticing the holy, being open to awe, is particularly important when life is at its darkest. Let me explain!

The 14th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel begins with the beheading of John the Baptizer who was that rather odd preacher who prepared the way for Jesus’ ministry. At the time of these events he had been in prison for his outspokenness but King Herod was reluctant to have him put to death because he was so popular. However Herod’s wife hated him and one night she got her chance. You know the story! Herod had a party with his friends and his daughter danced so well that he promised that he would give her ANYTHING she wanted. Herod was not a smart man! She asked her mother for her advice. Jewellery? A fine horse? More servants? New clothes? The latest iPhone? Her mother instructed her to ask for the head of John on a platter! When she made this request, Herod had no choice to have John executed. His friends were all at the party. If he did not do it he would be considered weak. So, Herod ordered it done! When Jesus heard this, it must have been difficult to take in. He had to have time to think and pray, so he got into a boat so he would have time alone. The crowds followed him on the shore and when he went ashore he taught them. That evening was the so-called, “feeding of the 5,000.”

Matthew begins the next part of the story with the word, “Immediately.” Jesus sent the disciples away in a boat, immediately, while he dismissed the crowds. Then he went up a mountain to pray. He needed time. He had to think. He had to pray. He needed time alone. Meanwhile the disciples were on the lake, battling a headwind; they were not making any progress. Suddenly they see Jesus, walking toward them. Now, I don’t know about you, but if I was in a small boat, in choppy seas, and saw someone walking through the mist and the waves, I would not think I was being rescued, I would have felt that I was losing my mind, I would be scared, I would be very scared. Jesus tells them, “it is I” and tells them not to be afraid. The words he uses are important - the phrase, “It is I,” is meant to remind them of the biblical stories where the characters realize that they are in God’s presence by hearing a voice saying something along the lines of “I am here.” I AM is a biblical phrase that kind of stands for God’s name. In essence, Jesus is saying that the great I AM of their tradition was coming across the waves to them. Jesus is telling them that he is the I am.

Peter, not surprisingly, asks Jesus to bid him to get out of the boat and walk on the water which is what happens, but when Peter realizes what is happening he begins to sink. Jesus reaches out his hand to save him - they get in the boat and the storm is over.

The Gospels were written to show the readers that this Jesus of Nazareth was, indeed the son of God.” According to the Gospels, Jesus was continually amazed at how “thick” the disciples were, they had to be hit over the head in order to finally see what was going on. They did not come to faith easily!

Sometimes, we are just like those disciples; we do not notice what is right in front of us. It takes us a while to see what is in front of us!

Where do we encounter the holy? Where do we go to look for the holy? Are we even paying attention to such maters when all is going well, or better than well, and only seek the holy in desperation when our world is crashing down around us?

When white missionaries came to this land they made a concerted effort to “convert” the heathen and savage people they encountered in this “new world” in much the same way as they did in the countries of Asia and Africa. They had a particular zeal for bringing the good news and wished to “save souls” in the belief that there was salvation only for those who called themselves, “Christian”. Alongside the missionaries, there were politicians and business interests who were also intent on exploiting the natural resources of those countries. In Canada the politicians, business interests (and the churches) colluded in a system we now call “Residential Schools!” Students in these schools were not permitted to speak their language, or dress in traditional ways. Laws were passed that forbade the people from holding their traditional ceremonies. The church and the government destroyed many of the religious objects used in such ceremonies.

These days, in the First Nations people are seeking to re-learn these teachings and ceremonies. They are recovering their languages. They are recovering their connection to the land and the ways in which they connected with Creator and the earth.

Long ago I had a parishioner who thought our church was making a big mistake in allowing this spiritual shift to happen. She saw this as allowing people to return to “spiritual darkness”, as she put it. In the years since I was her minister, the United Church has come a long way in appreciating the ways in our first nations brothers and sisters worshipped Creator and had a very well-developed theology and experience of the holy. Their teachings have informed our understandings and we are the better for it.

When we imagine being asked to look for the holy, what are we looking for?

I am to the point in my life when I require a lot of light when I go to look for something. I am amazed at those TV shows in which the detectives who will come to a crime scene, at night, use flashlights, instead of turning on the lights! It would never work for me.

But we are not really talking about physical vision here; or at least, not always. Some of our best spiritual insights come when our eyes are closed and we tune out normal sounds and worries.

When we look at the sunset, do we see the holy. When we are away from street lights and other human created light, can we see the holy in the night sky? When we read a biblical passage, or hear a story from another faith tradition, can we see the work and nature of a God who spoke a universe into being. When we look at an infant can we see God. When we see people helping others, do we know we are in the presence of the holy.

Perhaps more importantly can we enable and encourage others to be open to an experience of God which comes in ways unfamiliar to us.

Are we the kind of folks who have no problem seeing glimpses of the holy when skies are blue and days are sunny but when the clouds roll in, do we lose touch with the holy?

Moses encountered God in the midst of the burning bush. He was living in exile, waiting for the Pharaoh’s posse to find him. The disciples re-encountered Jesus, God made flesh, when in a small boat taking on water and about to capsize.

In days gone by the night was divided into “watches”; perhaps for sentry duty in a military setting. The Isaac Watts hymn, written early in the 18th century, “O God Our Help in Ages Past” speaks of “the watch that ends the night.” It’s a common expression that “it’s always darkest before the dawn”. It speaks of divine time and human time; our long, long years are only short to God.

What the disciples only too quickly forgot, hours after the feeding of the thousands, was that they were not alone. God was with them, in Jesus. He was the one who brought the holy to life; he was the one who joined heaven and earth.

Let’s not think that we have to prove our faith by doing stupid stuff! Let’s pay attention to the grace we have experienced so that we know what it looks like at other times.

Amen.

Genesis 45: 1-15
Psalm 133
Matthew 15: 21-28

God Shows Grace Despite our Actions

Last week we began to hear the story of Joseph but I decided to leave the whole story for this week. First we need to ask why this story is part of the Hebrew Bible.

ONE purpose of telling the Joseph story is to set up the narrative for the exodus. You may know the story of the people of Israel being slaves in Egypt and Moses leading them to freedom. The parting of the Red Sea made for dramatic cinema in Cecil B. DeMille’s epic, “The Ten Commandments.” But, we may ask, “just how did these people who lived in tents and owned flocks and herds, in the land of Canaan, get to Egypt in order to become slaves and have to be led out by Moses?” Joseph’s story provides the missing link.

The SECOND purpose is to show that the nature of this God of Abraham and Sarah is “grace.” Theirs is a God who treats human beings, not as they deserve to be treated, but in grace and love.

The Joseph story is a long one; far too long for one week’s reading but one really does need to be know the basics of the story. Soooooooooo, let’s look at the story of Joseph for a few minutes.

We start with Abraham’s grandson Jacob. He had fathered children with two wives and two slaves. That was perfectly acceptable at that time. But he had a favourite wife and a favourite son! It was clear who his favourites were and taken together, it was a sure recipe for a troubled household. Think of all those reality tv shows about polygamous marriages. Modern “Reality TV” has nothing on the household of “Jacob of Canaan”, or many others, if you want to know the truth!

Jacob was no angel and neither were most of his sons. You can read about all their foibles in the early chapters of Genesis.

When I was a kid I learned about Joseph and his amazing many coloured coat. It seemed to be a lovely children’s story about a loving and indulgent father. Now I see it with adult eyes. It was no fairy tale; no good news lay within. The long, multi-coloured and obviously expensive, coat given to Joseph, the oldest son of his favourite wife, was a sign that he was not expected to do much work. That would have caused a whole pile of resentment, in and of itself! To make matters worse he told them of his dreams which involved him being in some kind of power relationship over them. They hated him and seethed with resentment!

On this day, ole Jacob was not astute enough to realize that he should not have sent Joseph to spy on his older brothers - wearing this fancy coat. He could have sent a servant or just trusted that they were doing what they were supposed to be doing. He was sending him into mortal danger.

When I was in junior high school, the music teacher Mr Nelson, played at least part of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat. I instantly loved it and asked him to copy it for me. I supplied the blank cassette - I confess that I wore it out, I played it so often. Eventually, I was able to buy a CD version when CDs came out.

A group of people even performed it at Berwick camp one year. It’s amazing what talented people can pull off in less than 10 days!

You may not know of the musical but you probably know the story; you heard some of it last week. When Joseph shows up where they are grazing the animals, his brothers overpower him and throw him in a dry pit to die of starvation and exposure. One brother plans to come back and rescue him, but before that can happen, they see a caravan of traders on their way to Egypt and agree to sell him to the traders; a common occurrence. He was sold and put to work as a slave in the house of a high official, falsely accused of sexual misconduct; sent to jail, then found favour with the jailor as a result of more of his dreams and then, during a time of famine, found favour with the Pharaoh who put him in charge of the entire food management system. The plan was simple: garnish a portion of the crop when food was plentiful and when the famine hit, sell it back to the people, or at least the people with the ability to pay. It would be a win-win for Pharaoh.

Eventually his own family was forced to come to Egypt seeking to buy food. He recognized them but they do not recognize him. Why would they? They had sold him into slavery and would have assumed he had met his end as the spoiled brat ran into the hard and brutal reality of slavery.

Joseph toys with them for awhile, makes them return with their baby brother, his only full sibling, and concocts a test. He plants and then “finds” a supposedly stolen object among his baby brother’s baggage. He pretends to be outraged and demands stiff punishment, but one of the older brothers begs him for mercy. We then find out that they have passed the test and he reveals himself to them and they are reconciled. His interpretation is interesting, “God sent me here so that I would be in a position to save you from famine when the time came.” That answers part of the first question we ask of their nation’s complex history, “We know about the exodus, but how did this family get from Canaan to Egypt, in the first place?” It does not satisfy the message we learn about God’s grace. It does not really tell us why God would bother with this bunch of really flawed people!

I wonder about old Jacob, sitting at home with his remaining wife, his children’s mothers and his other servants, with his sons away in Egypt, especially during the second trip when his youngest was summoned to go with the others. I wonder about his regrets. Did he ever wish he had played his hand with Joseph differently and not shown his favouritism so much? How he wished that he had not been killed out in the wilderness. Did he wish that he had not treated his brother Esau better? Did he wish that he had handled many of the crises in their family life differently? Did he blame himself? Did he wonder how God’s promises to make of them a great nation would be brought to fruition? Was he a sad old man? Was he a sad and bitter old man? Did he wish he could go back and have a second chance? Did he?

Family estrangement is a common theme in movies, TV shows, in literature and in our own lives. It is a common biblical theme. We know and probably use the term, “black sheep of the family.” This kind of estrangement is often laid bare at the time of a death in the family. I call recall a number of funerals which were made more difficult because of family conflict and estrangement. Sometimes it is an opportunity for the living members of the family to reconcile, but often increases the sadness if the newly deceased is one of the ones who has been estranged.

Part of the process of reconciliation is an acceptance of grace. Where feelings have been hurt and wrongs have been done there needs to be forgiveness and grace. First, we need to see God as a God of grace; not as a deity always cracking the whip and “keeping a list and checking it twice.”

We need to see that we are just as much in need of this grace as are the ones with whom we are angry.

When I was in high school I got a job as a camp counsellor at Camp Abegweit, PEI Presbytery’s Summer Camp. All the counsellors had to go for a week of training camp before we could work as counsellors. One of the things we looked at in our Bible study was that the biblical heroes, such as King David and good ole Jacob, are described with all their faults as well as their good points; they are not whitewashed. The stories are not like a political campaign. In modern days, candidates are often vetted, to ensure there are no skeletons in closets or past scandals which may come back to bite them, and the party, when least expected. Even incidents which have been all but forgotten can n end a political career for some would be politicians. A former American President seems to be an exception to the rule!

War Horse is a movie set in Europe during the Great War. Just before the war, a poor tenant farmer from county Devon in England, buys a thoroughbred at an auction instead of the plow horse he needs. His wife is furious with the alcoholic-dreamer-sufferingp-from- shell-shock, she married but their son Albert, takes the skittish horse in hand, names in Joey, and teaches him how to pull a plow. When war is declared, a cavalry officer notices Joey and buys him, promising to return him after the war. The officer does not survive his first cavalry charge and the horse becomes a spoil of war and serves on both lines, pulling heavy guns and all other manner of tasks. There is a beautiful scene in the movie where Joey attempts to teach another horse how to accept a horse collar and harness because, behind the lines, horses must work to earn their keep. In another scene the Naracott parents, still at home in England, are talking and he says something like, “I’d wouldn’t blame ye if ye stopped loving me.” She replies, “Ted Naracott, I may hate thee more but I’ll never love thee less”.

Distraught at the loss of his beloved horse, Albert finds his way to the battle lines and spends the rest of the war looking for his horse. In 1918, at the war’s end he is unable to get the army to ship the horse back to England and Joey is purchased at auction for an enormous sum of money by a man whose daughter has died as the result of the war. At some point the daughter had encountered this escaped horse, fell in love with him, and attempted to adopt him as her own. In a moment of pure grace the grieving father hands Joeys’ reins to Albert knowing that his daughter would have wanted that. The movie ends with Albert and Joey riding across the fields to their home in Devon and we suppose they all live happily ever after. It is a movie about the horrors of war, about the love of a boy for a horse, and about the grace and love that keep at least one family together.

From the first pages of Genesis, we encounter a God who acts in grace to call some very flawed folks to begin a new nation, a chosen people, a light to the nations. Their task was to show the world just who this God was and what one could become if you entered into a covenant relationship with this God who treated the first family and all who followed, not in the ways they deserved, but by grace.

Some would argue that grace was not invented until the ministry of Jesus but it seems clear to me that this is not the case. When we look at all the stories in what we might call the “Old Testament” we can only conclude that this God called people who were deeply flawed but acted in grace throughout their lives to make of them the chosen nation and the light to the world.

And for this we can say, Thanks be to God.”

Amen!

Exodus 1:8-2:10
Psalm 125
Matthew 16: 13-20

Courage for Life!

“The Hiding Place” is the story of a Christian family of watchmakers in Haarlem, Netherlands, who defied the Nazis occupying their country by hiding Jewish people in a secret room above their shop during the occupation. Eventually they were betrayed but as far as I know nobody new walked into a trap after the family was taken away and all of those in hiding at the time were able to escape in due time.

Half an hour away, in Amsterdam, a Jewish family, the Franks, were the ones in hiding. “The Diary of Anne Frank,” was written by the daughter, a young teen. The family were betrayed to the Nazis and only the father, Otto Frank, survived the war. The others succumbed to disease in one of the camps.

Some time ago I read, “Left to Tell, Discovering God During the Rwandan Genocide,” the first person account of a woman who hid with a number of others in a small bathroom to wait out the conflict - during which two rival groups turned on each other and former friends and neighbours became mortal enemies.

“Taken on Trust” is the story of Terry Waite, the special envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who went to Lebanon to meet with Hezbollah and negotiate the release of western hostages; he ended up being taken hostage himself and was held for 1,763 days. He was recently knighted by King’s Charles in recognition of his humanitarian work and bravery.

The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses in the early to mid 19th century to bring escaped slaves to freedom in Canada.

In the beginning verses of Exodus we learn that “there is a new sheriff in town.” A pharaoh who did not know or care about the story of Joseph has come to power and ethnic tensions are on the rise. Any time people begin to notice that there appear to be more and more of “them” than there are of “us,” these kinds of tensions can rear their ugly heads. The people of Egypt were certainly not the first to demonize the foreigners in their midst and they would not be the last. It has happened time and again in history. After hard labour did not decrease their numbers, the Pharaoh summoned the mid-wives to issue a direct order, “when you deliver babies for the Hebrew women, kill the boys.”

At this point, we are introduced to a couple who have at least one older child, but hd just welcomed a boy. The text tells us that when the mother “saw that he was a fine baby”, she hid for three months. I find that phrase a little amusing; doesn’t just about everybody think their child is “a fine baby”. What I want to know is how you hide an infant; babies cry. Had the baby been discovered there would have been penalties, not the least of which would have been the death of the child.

On the whole, biblical history is mostly about men. However, the story of Moses seems to be, at its beginning, largely about the courage of women. First there are the midwives, who actually have names; that is amazing in and of itself! We have to look elsewhere in the biblical record for the names of Moses’ mother and sister, but they are there! The midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, are the real heroes in this story. They lied to Pharaoh’s face and said that the women have already delivered their babies by the time they arrive on the scene. Why didn’t he punish them? Probably because Egyptian women also needed them and some of these women would have been married to high officials. Instead he extended the order to all the people, “kill the boys!” Surely that would work!

I recall a line of dialogue on the tv show, “Call the Midwife”, in which an older woman tells one of the Nonatus House midwives, “a woman never forgets the midwife who delivered her children”. As what we now know as the book of Exodus was being written, the Hebrew people did not forget these courageous women who, played a large role in saving their people from annihilation.

When Moses’ mother can no longer hide her fine boy the mother does follow orders and puts him in the Nile; well, sort of! She makes a little floating basket - a miniature ark, placing it where he is sure to be found by the right person. She had a strategy. She had a plan.

The Pharaoh’s daughter would have know about her father’s genocidal edict but she is sentimental and would have been able to sway his mind. But first she needs a nursemaid! Only three months old, Moses would still need to be nursed! His sister is waiting and at the right time, offers the services of a nursemaid whom she just happens to know! The princess and her father had to have figured it out; who would place a baby in a basket and not stay close by? I suppose Pharaoh might have thought that in the grand scheme of things, what harm could ONE boy do when so many had died! What harm indeed!

So, at the end of this part of the story, everything is in place for this baby, now under the protection of Pharaoh, to grow up with as many of the dreams and visions his parents could immerse him in, and then all of the education and political savvy the palace could teach. The only thing left for him to learn was how to survive in the desert. That too would come in due time! He would turn out to be the perfect leader! In hindsight, the people saw this as God’s plan!

Much like the story of Joseph and his coat, the story of Moses in the bulrushes, when it is taught to children, often misses so much. We need to follow it up with a more adult understanding. It is not just a sweet, cute story about a loving mother, an attentive sister and a kind princess. As children become older they can be guided to see this as a story of faith and courage in the face of insurmountable odds.

18th century Irish statesman, philosopher and economist, Edmund Burke, is credited with writing , “the only thing necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.” Among other things, Burke, opposed the policies of the government with respect to taxation in the colonies. This descendant of United Empire Loyalists wonders how history may have changed if Burke’s ideas had prevailed? I doubt one policy could have prevented the American Revolution but just maybe there never would have been a “Boston Tea Party”?

The courage of good women and men has changed the course of history from time to time and has turned the tide toward justice and the right! Courageous people have inspired others to work for change and has, at the very least, been a beacon of hope in a dark world.

One of the photographs I saved for many years; is of a lone young man standing in the way of at least 4 tanks, a day after the Chinese government massacred hundreds of protesters, in Tiananmen Square, in Beijing in 1989. He was not the only one to do what he did but he was the only one known to have been filmed while he did it. His courage was an inspiration to many. I am told that all photograph of Tank Man, are banned in China!

For 22 days, during the siege of Sarajevo in 1992, a cellist by the name of Vedran Smailović, played his cello, dressed in a tuxedo as he would have been when playing for the orchestra. He was not playing in a concert hall though, but amid the rubble of a destroyed library to mark the lives of 22 people killed by a mortar shell as they waited in line for food. His courage was an inspiration to many. In the midst of destruction he showed there was still life and beauty.

As our Gospel story for today opens, Jesus is talking with his disciples and takes a survey, of sorts, “What is the word on the street about me? What are people saying?” He then asks a new and different question, a question that asks for a decision from his disciples, “What do you say? Who am I?” Peter is the one who is able to move from mere hearsay to commitment; from what others say to what he himself believes. It is on the foundation of Peter’s daring faith that the church was built.

The cost of living has risen sharply and many people are struggling to keep a roof over their heads, food in the fridge, and have enough clothes for their growing family to wear. Charities are being confronted, by the reduction in funding from former donors who are more worried than ever by having enough for themselves.

The gap between producer price and consumer costs is ever widening. I read an article in a Maritime newspaper the other day about the low wharf price of lobster. As a consumer this summer, though, lobster prices were still very high; too high! Where is the money going?

As a people of faith who follow in the footsteps of a man who taught us to love God with all of our being and to love our neighbour as ourselves, how do we advocate for an economy where everyone has enough to sustain life and human dignity and where buyers and sellers do not try and gouge each other.

Consumerism, or what we used to term, “keeping up with the Jonses,” seems to be rampant in our culture. A great many people, especially school age children, these days want to have what other people have, indeed “need” to have what other people have. It has created a culture in which your value is determined by the amount and kind of stuff you have. The cost to families and our planet cannot be measured and it widens the gap between rich and poor to such an extent that the poor are becoming poorer and the rich richer. I suppose it was ever thus but it seems worse these days.

Many years ago a colleague of mine reported on the school orientation that he and his wife attended before their teenagers started school. They were told “the students in this school will make fun of your kids if they aren’t dressed in the latest fashions. There is nothing the staff can do about that.” They were dismayed because they could afford to do that but doing so would mean that they had nothing left for charity . Living in a community where most people were better off financially, what price would they pay to teach their children, by example, to be generous to others.

Many people operate by the maxim, “you have to go along to get along,” and by so doing, silence the voice for positive change within themselves. I see many Facebook posts I want to challenge but, to avoid a war of words, I don’t comment at all. BUT sometimes, sometimes, I have to challenge the post - with words of compassion and kindness to hold up a different vision of how the country or community should function.

Shpprah and Puah challenged the evil intentions of the Pharaoh in word and action. The tenBoom family in the Netherlands challenged the Nazis with their lives. Terry Waite risked his freedom to secure it for others.

We have to make our own decisions about how we live our faith when the price becomes high. Do we have the courage of Shiphrah and Puah to defy immoral laws. Do we have the courage of Peter to take the step from heresay to confident faith. Can we, like Terry Waite, stand up for someone trapped by forces beyond their control?

The call is God’s and the choice is ours.

Amen.

Exodus 3: 1-15
Psalm 105
Matthew 16: 21-28

“It’s About Time, Moses”

Today we stand with Moses, looking at a bush which is burning, but is not consumed. Unlike the trees and habitat being destroyed by the many wildfires devastating parts of our province and country, parts of Europe, Greece in particular, this bush was just aflame. No wonder Moses wanted a second look; prior to this day, anything he would have seen which was on fire would soon end up in a heap of ashes. This was no ordinary wildfire.

Since we last saw Moses he was going off to the palace to live with the family of Pharaoh. Then, at some point he kills an Egyptian who is beating a Hebrew slave and becomes one of Egypt’s “Most Wanted”.

One of his first acts when he arrived in the middle of nowhere was to defend seven shepherd sisters from a group of other shepherds (presumably men) who drove them from the well so that they could water their flocks first. With the shepherd bullies sent running, Moses even drew the water for their sheep himself. When they reported this to their father they were told to go back and invite this Egyptian to visit and eat with the family. Jethro needed to thank him properly. Soon Moses landed a job and was given the hand of one of the daughters in marriage.

Jethro is described as the “Priest of Midian.” The Midianites were distant cousins of the Hebrews and probably worshipped idols.

But now we are standing beside Moses while he talks to a bush! I find this whose scenario, particularly, Moses’ conversations, with himself and with God, to be amusing, if not downright hilarious.

Moses is working and when he sees the bush, aflame, but not being consumed, he turns to have a closer look. His internal conversation is recorded, “that bush over there is on fire yet not turning to ash. I must go closer.” When God saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ and he answers, “here I am”. Perhaps he thought the voice was that of a teacher taking attendance in class! (Do they even do that anymore?) In my school, though,I we were taught to say, “present,” not, “here”.

He is then instructed to stay put and take off his shoes, for the familiar desert sand has become “holy ground.”

A few years ago I attended a wedding where the groomsmen were all wearing tuxedos with tails, and top hats. The groom removed his for the beginning words of the service and his groomsmen did the same. The groom, whose father was conducting the service, then turned to place his hat on the chair behind him. The groomsmen, not noticing, began to put theirs back on their heads until the presider gave them a very stern, “don’t you dare put those hats back on” look and they were all placed on the chairs behind them.

The voice from the bush goes on to say, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Perhaps he thought, “God has finally found me, I can’t hide anymore.”

Moses was a Hebrew by birth; born into a slave population under hard labour in Egypt. BUT, in Moses’ case, as soon as he was old enough he went to the Palace to be taught by the best tutors the Pharaoh could hire. He may not have remembered his mother tongue but he would have always known he was adopted.

This voice takes him back, way back, back to his childhood. He had obviously not forgotten his heritage as the killing of the abusive Egyptian was the whole reason for him being in the desert in the first place. However, he was now encountering the God who had been calling to HIS people for generations. As we soon find out, this God was CALLING HIM to be the one to lead the people out of slavery.

I’m not the nominating committee, but I have frequently been in a position to call someone to ask them to do something for the church or to serve on a committee of some sort. Many time I get a “no” in response. In many cases I hear a re-cycling of Moses’ excuses. “Who am I that you could even think that I could do this thing?” “I don’t have the ability to do that.” “Did you notice that I stutter,” as some scholars think.

To all of his objections, God counters with a short history of his own people: “I am the God of all those slaves in Egypt, who are your flesh and blood, Moses. You do this for your people and I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall come back here and worship me.”

Moses was not ready to take the bait; he was searching for an excuse. Maybe his ancestors did not know the name of the God that called Abraham and Sarah, but Pharaoh would. They had many gods in Egypt. Pharaoh would want a NAME.

One of the things about names is that they give the speaker power. They give the speaker some knowledge about the one spoken to. When I know someone’s name I have a certain amount of power. “Hey you,” does not turn many heads, but if I were to say, “Hey Christene” “Hey, Rick” with some force, at least one head would look up. A name may tell me an ethnic heritage, or something else about a person. Pharaoh would want a name so Moses asks, “Who are you. The God of MY ancestors won’t cut it.” God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “I am has sent me to you. That has always been my name and always will be.”

Actually, that is not a name at all. I am is a VERB. The God of Moses ancestors, of Abraham and Sarah is the BEING verb. This God is the one who called creation into being; and calls creation into being as we speak and will always do so. That is God’s real answer to Moses.

Traditionally whenever Jewish people see the consonants for the verb I AM in a text they do not attempt to pronounce them and substitute the word LORD for them. To call God by name is presumptuous and blasphemous. It was much worse than calling a teacher by his or her first name.

As I said last week, Moses is perfectly suited to this task. He is a Hebrew by birth, an Egyptian by training and a desert dweller by necessity. He is the perfect one to get the people to trust him, to argue his case before Pharaoh, and to keep them all alive on their wilderness journey. No one knew at this point that it would take an entire generation, 40 years, we are told, to get back to the land they were promised all those generations ago. They were a people to be defined by their allegiance to this elusive God, this God of past, present and future, not by their captivity to the Pharaoh and his gods in Egypt.

Moses had probably been trying to forget the reason he had to flee to this forsaken wilderness in the first place; his bad temper, his sentimental loyalty to his birth parents that resulted in murder that resulted in being on the run. In all the years of his exile did he ever get used to hearing his name called and not think that “they” had finally caught up with him.

So here is Moses; finally done running from his past and trying to decide if he will follow the call of the one who has called his ancestors for too many years to count. He was terrified. Standing there between past, present and future and going, but, but, but. Standing there in front of the God he had been trying to avoid since he fled Egypt. Standing there in his bare feet on the hot sand and looking for any excuse he could find to keep it that way. Yet, this God was not going to let him go back to his anonymous life with a few half-baked excuses.

We’ve all stood on holy ground, I imagine; but probably not the kind with a burning bush anywhere nearby, not even the plant that goes by that name!

Anytime you are in the presence of someone who is actively dying, you are on holy ground.

Anytime you hold a new baby, your own or someone else’s, you are on holy ground.

I have a picture on my phone of my nephew’s son, being held by his smiling great grandmother who knew that she had just days to live. That was holy ground.

A former delivery room nurse I once knew, described a day in her life as a nurse, “There were three of us in the room and then all of a sudden there were four.” For her, it was holy ground.

Anytime you have the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life, you are on hold ground.

As a minister, charged with the care of souls, I walk on holy ground, perhaps more than most. I recall the woman who shared with me the story of the death of her child, more than 50 years previously, and the one who told me of the child who had died only a few years before. I recall the man whose wife had tripped on the strings HE had set up to mark the newly seeded lawn; and the fall resulted in a miscarriage and them not being able to have children. These visits were holy ground.

I recall a doing marriage preparation with a couple about 25 years ago, and hearing them speak of their newly found love after both had been widowed; their joy was a delightful and holy soil in which their new lives took root.

The “burning bush” and the Latin words, “nec tamen consumebatur” have long been symbols of Presbyterianism; and that bush is on the United Church Crest for that reason. I put it in the bulletin in case you can’t visualize it; the middle right, section. I have a coloured one here! [show picture]

So today we stand with Moses, maybe like him we have run out of steam. He has finally slowed down enough for God to pin him down, to put an offer in front of him that he can’t refuse. Lead my people, YOUR PEOPLE, to freedom and remember that I will be with you.

What is God callins us to do. Come on, your whole life up to now has been a preparation for this request. Open your ears and your heart.

Poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, wrote:

“Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”

Amen!

Exodus 12: 1-14
Psalm 149
Matthew 18: 15-20

Conflict Management 101

Did you ever realize, I wonder, that the oft quoted sentence, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” was NOT actually a passage about very small churches or small Bible studies or about Sundays when everyone was out of town and church attendance was very poor. I will admit that I tend to forget its original context.

In many of my previous pastoral charges someone in my second service would invariably ask about the attendance at the first one and at least some of the time I could reply, “well we had the 12 disciples, again!” I suppose that was 10 more than we absolutely needed, but the singing would have been deadly with just 2!

As you just heard though, the phrase people love to quote, in order to assure themselves that there is value in small numbers, was not originally a commentary on worship attendance but the conclusion to Jesus teaching on dealing with conflict. Does this make a difference?

There is a little joke that points to a classic example of “sibling rivalry.” A child calls her brother, “stupid.” The mother intervenes and orders the offender to apologize. The child responds. “Do I have to?”

“Yes, you do.”

“Ok then,” and with that she turns to her brother and says, “I’m sorry you are stupid.

There is no remorse or reconciliation in that interaction. And it’s not actually a real apology, either!

There are many people who long for the “good old days” of the courts being hard on crime and imposing long sentences on the offender. They tend to think that a get tough approach would reduce the crime rate, and make communities safer. “Lock them up and throw away the key,” is their approach. “Remove the offender from the community,” is their approach. Others propose different solutions which involve addressing some of the root causes of crime such as poverty, drug addiction and racism. However this passage is not really about criminal behaviour or stiffer punishments.

These words of Jesus refer to conflict within the community of faith. In various parts of the newer testament this is a community that is described as replacing biological family, in some cases. This community is bound together by the love of the God they have met in Christ. When this community is as important as, or more important than, biological family, this community wants to have healthy relationships with one another.

This is the community that is elsewhere described as similar to a human body. Moments after conception, the one cell begins to divide and soon these dividing cells begin to differentiate so that a newborn baby has ears and eyes, a liver and lungs, bones and skin and all of the things we need to survive and thrive. The process HAS to happen that way. Having three lungs and no liver would not be very useful. Obviously, one body part cannot say to another body part that they are not useful and do not belong.

You are probably already familiar with the “Potato Head” toys, I used for the children’s time. A potato head with nothing but arms would look quite silly. It’s a good tangible object to try and visualize the kind of situation to which Paul spoke elsewhere in the scripture. A body not only needs to have all those parts but they need to work together. The one exception may be the appendix. I don’t think anyone knows what it is there for but you can easily live without it! However, when body parts are not speaking to one another, the health of the body is diminished.

I have a friend who had a stroke and her body parts all work fine except that her brain is not speaking to some of these parts, particularly, her eyes. The eye doctor can find nothing wrong with her eyes but her brain cannot properly interpret what she is seeing. She cannot drive or read a book and had trouble with basic navigation. She can no longer work because of these “internal communication” issues.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus himself speaks to the kind of conflict that drives a wedge between members of the community and stops communication between and among them. In the gospel, the conflict is spoken of in terms of sin: “if a member sins against you.” Let’s not take that word, “sin,” in such a way as to assume that is talking about grievous offenses such as are mentioned in the 10 commandments or the Canadian Criminal Code. In such cases we should call the police! If we interpret sin in this way we are letting ourselves off the hook for a multitude of reasons people in faith communities become distanced and divided. We are talking about things that happen in churches and in other community organizations that cause friction and membership loss.

I once knew a person in her early 20s who was a very good cook; she even worked as a private caterer on occasion, in her university years. One day she went to the church to help with a church supper; there was a request in the bulletin, after all. One member of the women’s group, saw how she was doing something, and basically told her that she knew nothing and that she was doing it all wrong! I think that it was the last time she ever volunteered to work in the kitchen!

In many instances, these sins go by unaddressed. People who have always worked together know how to cut carrots, or peel potatoes, or set the tables, or arrange the dainties on the trays, and there is only one way to do those things and as long as those things are always done that way, everyone is happy.

Sometimes when cross words have been said and one member has hurt another, the “offender” does not even realize it. Hence the advice to go privately and seek to resolve the situation and trust that amends can be made and fences mended. Sometimes the “church” needs to go to the offender and tell them to “lighten up and stop being so critical of new ideas.”

The goal in this enterprise is not really to teach young people the “right” way to cut carrots, or set tables, or arrange dainties but to be able to work together and enjoy one another’s company.

When it comes to food preparation we do have Department of Health rules on food handling, and some things we used to do are no longer acceptable but in most facets of church life, being so rigid for no good reason, is cause of much friction. The church needs to be able to deal with differences in such a way that the community remains strong and robust.

We are to look forward to being together, praising and praying together and working together; not having to don our hockey equipment before we go off to a church meeting or activity.

This kind of community does not “just happen.” This kind of community takes discussion and intentionally working together,

I remember the old days of presbytery and conference meetings. I don’t know about here in Saskatchewan, but in the Maritimes, 30 years ago, we usually met in church pews or in theatre seating. We did not have much interaction with those around us and it took someone going to a mic and speaking to everyone, to realize that there might be a differing opinion, one as valid as our own. When we moved most of the discussion to table groups we were able to hear those opinions in a more intimate and safer space and sometimes, our minds and hearts were changed - not by the force of an argument from a mic, but from the heart of someone sitting a foot away!

Listening to all opinions and stories is not easy, but it is a necessary part of true community - of true reconciliation.

16th century English poet, John Donne wrote something like this, “(no person) is an island entire of itself; (everyone) is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less.”

If a family has a row and a member of the family becomes estranged, then that family suffers because of the missing person, in ways similar to the suffering that is caused by an untimely death. Likewise, when a Christian community that has a fight, the body suffers. The wound never fully heals and there is always a danger that it will come to the surface and cause problems in the future.

The L’Arche communities which operate residential homes where the disabled and their helpers live together in community, operate on the vision that “if you are not there, you are missed.” Every person is valued and they work hard to live these inclusion values.

Some churches have very little scope for differences and if you want to belong you are required to believe “the party line”. On the other hand, the United Church has always sought to value diversity. This makes living in Christian community much more difficult in denominations like ours.

People are different. Some have thicker skin. Offenses to one are not so to another. Many churches are composed of people who are very similar to one another. There is nothing wrong with that as long as there are not people who have been excluded or made to feel unwelcome because of differences. Today’s culture is highly mobile and very few communities are as homogeneous as they once were. The person next door may not longer look just like us and speak just like we do. If only everyone was just like us, and thought just like us and had the same goals, dreams and ambitions! If only!

There are some who audibly express the wish to get back to “the good old days” when the church was conflict free! I ask them, “when was that exactly?”

The fact is that the early church was born in conflict. The letters of Paul to the churches speak to differences that were encountered within the first generation.

When I was a student for ministry I visited a good friend of one of my much older relatives. She stated very firmly that the United Church should never have been formed because of the hurt and heartbreak caused by church union.

I served in a community which woke up on June 11, 1925 with two united churches and two united church manses and a group of homeless Presbyterians who had to BUY their church building from the United Church.

Conflicts arose over more things: the ordination of women, the ordination of married women, the so-called New Curriculum, the new Anglican/United Church Hymn Book, inclusive language, the decision in 1988 not to bar anyone from membership or being eligible to be considered for ordination, and the new Voices United Hymn Book. I suppose there are others.

When we look at conflicts from the point of winners and losers, victory and defeat, we cannot really be the recipients of the story of true hurt and loss. When we lose our pastoral heart we lose Christ in the mix. If we lose that we cannot make room for those who have felt that the church has not listened to them or willfully ignored them. While cannot remain forever unchanged because some will be hurt by any kind of change but we can show we have listened and heard and care for the breaking hearts and being Chriatian community despite differences.

We need to realize that it is in the midst of the twos and threes that ministry happens; it’s in the groups of two and three that pastoral care hppens; it’s the small groups which care for the vulnerable and the sad and the disappointed. It is in the small groups that we hear the understanding of bewilderment and disappointment; its in the small and intimate group that true community and reconciliation takes place and begins to grow and flourish.

May this spirit take root in us and come to its fullest flower in due time.

Amen.

Exodus 14: 19-31
Psalm (Exodus 15 - “Song of the Sea”
Matthew 18: 21-35

When I was in university, the person who punched our dining pass had in his or her hand a little counter on which the number of meals served was tallied. I suppose they had to know how many bags of french fries or pounds of hamburger it took to feed a certain number of hungry students!

It must have been some time in the 70's, before widespread use of credit cards, and shoppers wanted to keep track of spending in the grocery store, so that they had enough money when they arrived at the checkout - these gadgets came out. I vaguely remember some people using them. (Show photo) This one does not appear to be able to go over $9.99 but an internet search showed me some that could go up to 99.99. Back in the 70's, that would have been an enormous amount of groceries! I guess, even back then people thought groceries were getting so expensive that they really needed to keep track and avoid having to leave behind at the checkout.

(Chuckle) I recall my high school Home Ec teacher saying that groceries were becoming so expensive that these days, “dad had to come along with his chequebook” - instead of mom having the money in her purse! I didn’t bother telling her that my mother could make out a cheque!

Some things in life require careful counting while others do not usually. I remember being at a youth event and having the leader order pizza for our group as an evening treat! Of course it arrived, “pre-cut,” but he did not ask the pizza store how many pieces there were in the large square “party size.” One teen ended up with no pizza.

When you are feeding a number of people some meals are easier to stretch than others. Fried chicken, for example, comes in pieces but a roasted chicken can more easily be stretched because it is sliced nd of course you can add extra potatoes!

Not long ago, my sister posted on Facebook that she had achieved her goal of 10,000 steps for the 365th day in a row. She also has a km goal for biking. She has gadgets to count those steps and those kms; she does not do the counting in her head.

It seems that at least some of Jesus’ disciples were natural counters. Perhaps it was a situation of jockeying for position. Some clearly wanted the position of “Lead Disciple.” These disciples continually come to Jesus with questions about who is better, more favoured, and today, more forgiving. Have I forgiven enough asks Peter? How about 70 times! 70 times would be a lot? 70 times would be enough? Right?

The number of times suggested for forgiveness in this parable, of seventy-seven times, is meant to be AN UNLIMITED NUMBER OF TIMES! Jesus is saying, “Peter, stop counting - just forgive!”

The Rev Aaron Miller, in an online sermon on this passage, writes, “Peter is counting offenses, Jesus is measuring grace. Jesus is measuring grace and proclaims that God’s grace is immeasurable.”

As he often does, Jesus tells a parable, a made-up story which makes a point about forgiveness. The story starts with a man who owed an outrageous amount of money to the king. Canada used to have $1,000 bank notes; now our largest is the $100 note. I have seen and touched a $1,000 note, once! In Jesus day, the talent was the largest unit of currency available. Even if you had just one, it was a lot of money; we are not talking pocket change here! It was worth SIX THOUSAND DAYS WAGES and this man owed TEN THOUSAND of these, so doing the math, SIXTY MILLION days wages - for someone on minimum wage. But after being forgiven he encounters someone who owes HIM money, this time it is ONE HUNDRED days wages, which is still a great deal of money, but minuscule in comparison to his own debt. This man refuses to forgive the debt or even to give him time to pay. Word of this gets back to the king and he rescinds the debt forgiveness and incarcerates the ungrateful employee until he can pay. In other words, for life!

We don’t need to ask how either of these men could possibly owe so much; the story is a hyperbole, a story if wild exaggeration, whose meaning is found in the contrast between the two amounts owed.

The answer to Peter is simply: forgive. Forgive and forgive and then forgive some more. Forgiveness is a two way street. We are a forgiven people who must, in turn, forgive others.

Forgiveness is important for Christians. In the prayer we recite each week, we say, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” It seems clear that our being forgiving is directly related to our own forgiveness.

Years ago I served a church that had a yearly, “cemetery service” designed to raise money for the Presbyterian and United Church cemeteries in that small community. We alternated preachers, but the service was always in the Presbyterian church. You may know that when Presbyterians pray the Lord’s Prayer, they pray, “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors”. I was leading the prayers one year and the Presbyterian minister sitting in the nearby pulpit chair decided to use the United Church words but, since we were in the Presbyterian Church, I decided to use the Presbyterian ones. We had a chuckle over that!

So we are left with the words of Jesus: “forgive.” Of course this just leaves more questions, especially when it comes to monetary debt. What kind of an economy would there be if there was not the borrowing and repaying of money and borrowers were not accountable to the lenders?

Sometime prior to the turn of the century many main-line protestant churches and the Roman Catholic Church formed a coalition to petition the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to forgive the debts of a number of the poorest countries in the world. In many cases the debts had been racked up by their oppressive governments, the leaders of which had probably fled the country, leaving the people with crushing debt keeping them from any kind of progress. The churches argued that it was a debt they could never climb out from under AND that the amounts they had already paid in often outrageous interest rates were sufficient to have cleared the debt. I’m not really sure of any countries had debts forgiven at that time or not - the goal was the year 2000- but debt continues to be a issue for many countries and many individuals. I was talking with a couple who were visiting PEI from the UK in the hopes of moving to Canada and establishing a life here. They were considering moving because the housing market in the UK was such that their children could never, ever, hope to own their own home

Yet, this passage is about more than monetary debt. A sin against someone can involve far more than owing money. What if someone lied about you and damaged your reputation? What if someone caused you a permanent injury?

What if you were wrongly imprisoned? Corrie TenBoom was a dutch watch-maker who was imprisoned by the Nazis for hiding Jews in her house. Some of the guards were very cruel and she was the only member of her family to survive. Her strong, evangelical, Christian faith, compelled her to forgive her captors, but it did not come easily to her. In one of her books she wrote, “to forgive is to set a prisoner free only to discover that the prisoner was you.”

Sometimes, for those who have been sinned against, the weight of hatred, resentment, bitterness and anger they carry becomes so heavy that their lives begin to crumble.

We need to be clear here, to forgive someone is NOT to say to the person who wronged you, “What you did was, OK.” That’s not what forgiveness is. To forgive is to say that I am not carrying this burden around anymore and it is not going to have a negative effect on my life from this time on. When apologies are offered, reconciliation is possible.

One of the difficulties with this passage is that it does not address a question Peter could have asked, but which is included in the prayer Jesus taught. What about when we ourselves or we the church have wronged someone or a group of some-ones.

When we have been the perpetrators we should never compel others to forgive us so that we get off, “scot free”. If my negligence causes you great grief or expense, for example, then I should feel that the only right thing to do is to give at least some kind of compensation as a way of showing that I take my apology very seriously.

Many western democracies are involved in processes of reconciliation with their indigenous peoples who were pushed aside to make room for settlers who wanted to make use of the land, the minerals and other resources without regard for the original inhabitants of the lands.

Canadians have also had to deal with a history of mistakes with regard to Japanese Canadians who were abysmally treated during WW11. We have also realized that our treatment of the Chinese workers who came to Canada and risked their lives to build our railway was also wrong. The list goes on.

When the United Church apologized to the aboriginal peoples in 1986 the apology was received by representatives of First Nations peoples, but it was not accepted because we had to SHOW we were sorry, not just say it. We are in the process of showing it.

One of the motions passed at General Council this past year was to change our Basis of Union (the church constitution) to give Aboriginal Communities of Faith the right to organize their church in their own way without having to come back to the rest of us again and again for permission after permission for smaller changes. The Bridging Waters Board will be discussing this in October.

It is no good to say we are sorry without having to back that up with changed behaviour, attitudes and, often reparations. A number of years ago I was visiting a relative and the teenager in the house had broken something that had been borrowed from someone else. His father instructed him to call the owner of the now useless piece of equipment, admit his carelessness and ask what the person wanted in return. I heard part of the call but don’t remember what the requested compensation was - but it was an important lesson for this teenager on the verge of adulthood to learn.

While these words of Jesus challenge us to be forgiving they should not be used as a club to hold over someone who is angry, hurt and grieving. You must forgive. You have to. We must also be pastoral. We can only offer a solution that Jesus offers, a solution that others have found to the burdens people carry.

Of course we cannot forgive on our own strength but only through the Spirit who lives in us. Let us go forth as a people who have been forgiven and who live forgiveness from day to day.

Amen,

Exodus 16: 2-15
Psalm 105
Matthew 20: 1-16

When Being Fair Just Ain’t Right!

The Men of the Deeps are a coal miner choir, based in Cape Breton, who sing of going underground to extract the coal that was used to power engines, boilers and furnaces all over the word. Coal is a dirty fuel and coal mining a dirty and still very dangerous occupation. Its use is being phased out in much of the world as it is a major contributor to green house gasses and reduces the air quality wherever it is heavily used.

Historically, coal miners were exploited by the companies who profited off their labour, when it was, often, the only game in town. One of the songs the miners’ choir sings was written by Merle Travis, and its chorus goes like this:

You load 16 tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store

The whole coal mining “system” was designed to “own” the coal miners because the company for which they worked not only owned their small houses but also the stores from which they were required to shop. It was a general practice to pay miners in “store credit” and not cash. Often a family whose father died in the mine was asked to send a son into the mine - or else they would have to find another place to live. The son could even have been a young teen, still in school.

I was living in Nova Scotia when the Westray Mine exploded, killing all 26 workers underground that day. After an inquiry it was discovered that the mine had been mismanaged and the safety of the miners had been ignored because the mine had to be “productive”.

Canadian employment laws are supposed to ensure both worker safety and the concept of equal pay for equal work. In the early 2000s, the chapter of the Canadian University Women’s Federation to which I belonged, was advocating for the concept of equal pay for work of equal value. There is a slight but important difference in that wording. There are formulas to calculate how much value a certain job has and a points system ensures the pay reflects that value to the employer.

Then there is the question of employee needs. Should one’s financial responsibilities, outside of their job, govern how much they are paid? Years ago, when a young man got married, he often received a raise. It was assumed he was supporting a wife and soon, children. Women were paid less because their work was seen as a second income. Such an assumption ignored the fact that some women were single and living on their own or single parents who were responsible for supporting a household on their own.

When I was a young adult, minimum wage jobs seemed to be geared to young people, living at home, saving money for university, or for luxuries like their own car, better clothes, and partying on the weekend. When you got a little older, had more experience and found a more responsible job you would be paid more!

As we know, things have changed in the labour market! Labour laws decree that benefits must be paid after a certain number of hours are worked so employers keep as many people as possible in the part-time category to avoid this extra expense! That’s why so many health care workers were spreading germs from home to home, early in COVID; they needed more than one job to live!

I could go on but I have tried to set the scene for 2023 in order to contrast our experience and expectations with those in Jesus’ day.

This passage read today is one of Jesus’ parables and most especially one of his “head scratchers.” The parables of Jesus are not to be taken literally; they are not case studies in a Certificate in Business Management Program at Suncrest College, if they even have such a program! The Parable of the Prodigal Son will not be a case study on dealing with difficult children at the local Family Resource Centre. The Parable of the Sower will never be taught in an Agricultural College or even by a farmer to his daughter, given the price of seed. They are stories meant to tease the mind into active thought. They are meant to make people think and to challenge their assumptions about the ways of God. Perhaps being cranky at Jesus’ words is the beginning of new spiritual insight.

Some first century context is needed. I gather that most people who survived as day labourers would go to the town square, or some place the locals all knew about and waited to be hired for the day. In some places this still might be a reality but I suspect these days people register and the employer calls or texts.

I am told that, these days, some companies have a confidentiality clause in their contracts so that employees are not permitted to tell other employees what they are being paid.

In this parable the workers are paid in public anthe reverse order of their hiring; the first hired were the last to be paid and if they were expecting a bonus because the latecomers were receiving a full-day’s pay, they were sorely mistaken!

We tend to equate fairness with justice. Justice is about everyone being treated equally. It is unfair to give one child a piece of cake that is much bigger than the piece given to another child. When I was much younger, I kept careful note of my older brothers’ later bedtime and used this as a reason to advocate for a later bed time when I reached that age! Even children have an innate sense of what is fair or not. Even a child could tell this vineyard owner that this was not-fair.

Yes, it was unfair. Depending on your definition, it was unjust! But what about people’s need? In Jesus’ day the denarius was what was needed to feed and house a family. If they were paid less, the family would suffer. Of course, you will argue that the late comers should have been there at hiring time and not laze around till 3pm.

The vineyard owner has a different reasoning. He paid the early birds the going rate, to which they had agreed, and the late comers received a generous wage. It was the vineyard owner’s money after all.

One of the best things about the internet is Facebook. Via this platform, I can see the newest pictures of the children in my life. Ot, I can find out who has just taken a couple of dozen cinnamon buns with raisings out of the oven, and I think, “ummm, I have not visited her in a while, she might give me some”. Via Facebook, I may get under the wire with a quick online birthday wish or a 50th Anniversary congratulations. I might go, awwww, at a picture of a cute kitten stuck in a predicament of her own making.

One of the worst things about the internet is Facebook. I refer mostly its memes: you know those little pictures with overlaid captions. They can bring out the worst prejudices and knee-jerk reactions and it is too easy to agree without giving a second thought. I saw one the other day which was a picture of a homeless man sleeping on the sidewalk and words which went something like, “Why are we sending money to some foreign country when we cannot house our own homeless veterans.” People who regard themselves as “well-meaning” react immediately and re-post.

Then there are the ones of the sarcastic baby; and at the top of one in particular, “so you are suddenly concerned with helping “our own”, before we accept refugees?” At the bottom, “Tell me how concerned you were about veterans and the homeless last week?” (If you would like to know, the photo is of a real baby named Jason Knotken and taken in 2011 - His dad used the photo in a post of his own)

If I comment at all, on the first kind, I usually post, “We can do both”. I believe that, for a country, helping those in need is not an, “either or,” but an intentional and thought- filled balance. For the second kind, I usually just hit, “like”.

Today’s parable calls us to re-think everything we believe in terms of the parable’s literal situation AND everything we believe about God’s grace.

Perhaps this IS a story about economic need. Canada has a number of programs designed to help people who don’t have enough money for the basics. There are a variety of programs designed to provide income support, various social assistance programs, tax rebates, child benefits and the “supplement” to the Old Age Security. For many all you have to do if to file your tax return and tick the required boxes. Some people who are in need have not filed their Tax Return, for no reason at all. It’s frustrating when those who try and help find out they are not receiving funds to which they are entitled but does that mean we should let them go hungry?

In the past I have known folks who would not give to the food bank because they were raised poor, and to use one example, lived on oatmeal, and they survived. I would counter with, “do you really want other children to live like you had to?” Somehow our experience of a past scarcity becomes a prescription for others in the present. The landowner tells the first-hired, “you have what you agreed to, and it is enough, why complain if I am generous?” The first-century communities of faith included both poor and well-off people; perhaps this parable is quoted as a plea for generosity. In 2023, does that not challenge us to greater generosity?

While Matthew is quoting Jesus, he is writing his own gospel based a number of factors including his intended audience. Part of Matthew’s community are the people who grew up Jewish and some may have even known Jesus personally. They were the first-hired of the vineyard workers, you might say. Then there were the “johnny-come-latelys” who had been gentiles who had just joined the fledgling community of faith. You might say that they were the ones who only showed up at 3PM. So, if this is a story about first century communities if faith , it is a welcome to all who have decided to follow in “the way.” It says to them, “you are welcome, you belong”.

About 20 years ago, I was talking to someone who worked for the United Church (in the Stewardship department) but who was not clergy. In the church he attended there was little time for “what we did in the past.” They focussed on this year and next. By contrast, in many of the churches I served, there was the “old guard” who wanted to make sure as many things as possible never changed, such as the hymns we sang and the way communion was served. Once the younger people learned the way things were done they would be allowed to have a say. Of course, our contexts were very different, but it was a telling difference.

On a deeper level, in the light of God’s grace, what does this parable have to say to us.

The question is asked of all of us good church people, “in our heart of hearts do we feel we DESERVE God’s grace?” Well, (laugh) that’s an oxymoron, if there ever was one; grace by its very nature is undeserved! Is our church involvement and worship experience, like the little rhyme about “little Jack Horner” - an exercise in patting ourselves on the back, sticking our thumb in the pie of grace, pulling out a plum and stating, “what good boys and girls we are!”

Or is church involvement about coming here and in community, fearlessly listening for the word of God for us which may not sound like it did last week or last year and wondering if that could be what God us trying to say this day?

Is church involvement about realizing that we owe so much to God’s grace that we are compelled to reach out to those in need, in the light and strength of this grace. We are where we are today because of so many factors. As Jesus said in another passage, “if you love me, feed my sheep.”

Whether we have arrived for labour in God’s vineyard 99 yeears ago, or 9 years ago or just today, know that God loves you. Know that you are called to love one another and know that you are called to reach out in the same generous love you yourself have been shown.

Amen!

Exodus 17: 1-7
Psalm 78
Matthew 21: 23-32

What is Really at Stake?

This sermon was written in response to a new governmnet plan to require teachers to report all requests for pronoun or name changes from studwents under 16 - to their parents. I felt it was the right sermon to preach but it did not really follow the readings for the week!

Back in the day when the United Church had meetings in Toronto where committee members actually got on planes and flew to Toronto for face-to-face meetings, I could not help but notice the, seemingly young, homeless people sleeping on the streets as I made my way from the hotel to the subway which would take me to my meeting location.

They can be seen sleeping on heating grates, and doorways, and on drizzly winter days, their sleeping bags covered by a simple painter’s drop sheet it they are lucky. A colleague told me that they came from all over Canada, even the Maritimes, where I was then living. I suppose there are many from Saskatchewan as well! Another delegate to the meeting ans I talked about our fleeting wish to invite one or two of them to our hotel room for a shower and a comfortable bed for a few hours. We knew that the hotel would not have approved, and it would be risky!

Why do young people leave home to live such a precarious life?

Certainly some are rebelling against homes in which parents have lowered the boom in an attempt at “tough love.” Sometimes the behaviour of youth and teens makes it the only choice a parent has for the sake of the other people in the home.

Some have left because of alcoholic parents, or abuse. Others have been kicked out because their parents have discovered that the child identifies as trans, gay or lesbian. They leave because their revelation has resulted in an unbearable atmosphere and even violence in their home. Their parents have become their enemy and they no longer feel safe.

Ideally, a child’s parents would be supportive, even if they did not “like or understand” what was revealed and work with the young person. They would find a supportive counsellor so the child would grow into a healthy adult.

After a quick internet search, I found out that more than 25% of homeless youth self-identify as LGBTQ2S - in other words as, “not heterosexual.” Since this is a much higher percentage than the general population; the statistics are staggering and sobering. I have been told that the suicide rate among trans-gender teens is very high.

Living on the streets is very risky, especially for young people. With little ability to support themselves, the homeless often turn to petty crime or prostitution in order to eat and to drug addiction in order to cope. Their behaviours put them at risk and because they have no address they often cannot obtain proper medical care. They are often subjected to violence and exploitation.

There has been a great deal of controversy, since the beginning of the school year, about a new policy of the provincial government to require schools to contact parents when a student under 16 asks his or her teachers to change their pronouns or to use a different first name - in other words a boy named John asks to be treated as a girl and called Joan and instead of him and he, the child will be referred to as she and her!

On the surface, you would think a parent would want to know that! You would think a parent should know that! You might think that a parent would have the right to know that! If a child had other issues in school, parents would often be contacted to help work out a solution. For certain issues, child services and the police are involved.

In an ideal world, the child would feel safe, and actually be safe at home, and the child would be supported. Unfortunately, not every child lives in an ideal world.

Gender identification is a hot button issue these days. Some children do not want their parents to know because they are afraid that their home is not actually a safe place to be. Some parents would be perfectly accepting of such a revelation. Some parents would struggle greatly but try and “get their head around it.” Others though, would be totally opposed to any such situation. Some would just kick their child out. Some would seek some kind of reparative therapy (which I believe is now illegal, because it is both ineffective and harmful). Some would react violently against the child; the child would leave for their own safety. Lucky ones may find a friend to stay with, while others end up homeless and on the streets. I think that children have a really good sense into which category their parents would fit and when they tell a teacher and they ask not to have the parents told!

For them the school can be one place for support -8- and a beacon of hope. If the teacher is required to tell the parents, that one last place of trust and safety will be gone. I believe the provincial Teachers Federation is opposed to this policy because of their belief that it will end up harming vulnerable children.

I believe that this policy has more to do with government losses in recent by elections than it does with concern for families or timed for the start of school. This policy may well be an attempt of the government to try and stem the loss of seats to parties with a more conservative political view. Should schools and our children become nothing but political pawns?

A colleague emphasized that being supportive of trans-gender kids has noting to do with sex or sexual orientation, even, but with who the child sees themselves as, as a person. Supporting kids who identify as trans, has nothing to do with grooming or recruiting, as some parents fear, but is about being supportive of a child’s search for their own true identity and truth.

Within the past few weeks, there have been marches organized in many parts of Canada which seem to be in support of “families” and what I will call, “a parents right to know.” Some of the rhetoric of the protesters seems to hint that they believe their children are possessions and believe they have the right to control everything about their child. Do we think that way, or do we want to allow the child to express their own feelings about who they feel they really are and find their own way as they grow into adults?

In a much less informal way, counter protests have taken place (often right across the street) in support of those who want to protect young people who are vulnerable to hatred, violence and homelessness. The people in these counter protests want to protect vulnerable children and give them safe places to grow and mature into adults who are able to be the adults they feel they were created to be.

From what I hear, there were more people in the counter-protest than in the one which seemed to be about “the rights of parents,” but really seems to be y an ultra-right attempt to turn back the clock to a time when parents attempted to exercise complete control over their children. This time was also very male dominated, in ways we no longer accept.

When we look to biblical sources for guidance in this matter, there is really nothing directly relevant. In biblical times, there was no concept of homosexuality as an orientation - only as a behaviour usually connected with promiscuity and violence. The very idea that someone might feel they were not in the right body, would have been completely unimaginable. Indeed, it is only in the last few years that medicine has stopped seeing it as a disorder to be cured.

One of the most persuasive ways of arriving at some clarity, from my point of view, is to get to know people who would consider themselves LGBTQ2IS. We may well find that they are faithful and thoughtful followers of Jesus - concerned with justice and faithfulness and being the kind of community Jesus spoke of in his sermons and parables.

It has often been said that the United Church does not take the bible literally, but that we take it seriously! A serious look at the scriptures shows us a God who is concerned for the poor, the weak and those who have no other advocate. Jesus also wanted people to look at their own lives before they threw stones at those who were seen as sinners. You may remember the account of Jesus confronting an angry gang who were about to stone a woman caught in the act of committing adultery. Did you ever notice that the man in question is nowhere to be found in that incident!

Jesus advocated for justice and compassion. His parables make us think twice about at least some of our preconceived ideas. Jesus’ parables startle people and prompt the hearers to deeper thought. I wonder what modern people would say about the Parable of the Good Samaritan, if Jesus had talked instead about a “Drag Queen” being the neighbour to the man at the side of the road? Remember that Samaritans were the last people good Jews would think of when the word neighbour was mentioned. Who are our Samaritans today? Who are the ones acting like neighbours today?

Today’s passages ask us to reflect on the question, “Who are the truly faithful - those who pay lip service, or those who struggle and even complain, about assigned duties, but end up following and serving?” In the light of the passage from Exodus we may ask, “Where does the water of life come from for us as we walk our wilderness journey and seek to be both refreshed and to give the refreshing and life giving water to others?”

Amen.

Deuteronomy 8: 7-18
Psalm 65
Luke 17: 11-19

A Command to be Thankful

I am a Vicar of Dibley fan. I have DVDs of all the seasons and watch them all about once a year; I pick a cold and snowy day and scrapbook or knit! There are no new episodes being filmed, unfortunately. If you don’t know it, the show was a British Comedy, set in a rural parish near enough to London for Londoners to buy weekend cottages in the village of Dibley. The cottage near the vicarage is bought by a handsome Londoner and when he meets the female Vicar it’s almost love at first sight. Soon, they are spending all their free time together, but one day she sees him walking hand in hand with a beautiful blonde. (Who turns out to be his sister) That very night he arrives at the vicar’s door and asks, “will you marry me?” She initially thinks that he wants her to perform his wedding, to the blonde she has seen with him. That misunderstanding did in fact happen with another visitor to the village, a season or two before. She’s not about to be disappointed again! THEN, it becomes clear that he is proposing to her. As I remember it, speechless, she runs to the church and rings the church bell, rings the door-bell next door and kisses the boyfriend’s sister; when she comes back home, she is still speechless, she is so excited. When she can breathe once again, she wants to hear the question again and then says, “yes”. Then he says to her, “I absolutely know that we are meant to be together forever and that we will always be happy.”

I would hope that similar sentiments are expressed by all of those agreeing to marry - even though they do not know what “better or worse, richer or poorer, sickness and health” will actually mean on their journey to “love and cherish” - until they are parted by death.

In today’s passage from the book of Deuteronomy, the people are poised to enter the land of Promise, the land in which they have been waiting to arrive since they had left Egypt, 40 years previous. They had been in that disappointing wilderness for an entire generation. In this time they had not sown, nor reaped; their food appeared on the ground every morning. In this passage they are counselled not to forget the role of God in their lives and told not to assume that the success they will have is all due to them. We need to remember that once they come to live in this “land of promise” they will have to sow and reap, if they want to eat. They will have to become farmers! The passage given in the lectionary for last year, outlined a specific thanksgiving ritual, also given BEFORE they had set foot in the new land and harvested their first crop. That’s planning ahead!

When I was in high school I was on the staff of the Phoenix, our recently revived school newspaper. One day I was working on an article on thanksgiving and I was interviewing fellow students and teachers, asking, “what are you grateful for, this year.” Most of my interviews were done in the locker lined, crowded, school hallways! I asked one of my teachers who happened to be passing through but he declined to answer the question. Then I remembered that he had lost everything, including his wallet, in a fire sometime in September. His house was completely destroyed, even the deck. Thanksgiving was hard for him that year!

I was also on the school yearbook committee and when the stuff that had been submitted for the previous class’s year book finally came back from the publisher, I rooted through it and found the original “baby picture” his oldest son had submitted as part of the grad section. I gave it to him and he was indeed grateful. I suppose his relatives had replaced some of their pictures but otherwise the rest were gone. Back then there was no “cloud storage” for important pictures or phones that could hold hundreds of them!

Of course, we teach children to say please and thank you, just to teach them to be polite, if not to also teach thanksgiving. Perhaps we hope the feelings themselves will “rub off”!

Perhaps children are taught to be grateful because they depend on adults for everything. Children are looked after and “treated” to special things, not because they deserve such treatment, but because that is how families and communities work. We love children just because “they are”. A child has done nothing to deserve the room and board, laundry, clothing, chauffeur services or treats, they are being given. Gramma just gives treats to her grandchildren because she wants to.

But when we as adults look at our own blessings it is a little harder to think, “thank you.” Most of us work for the money that appears in our bank accounts, with which we pay our bills, raise our children, and donate to causes and organizations we value. We see it as “ours” and feel we have earned it.

Earning a living from farming involves hard physical work, being able to predict the future, reading the sky and despite all those skills and efforts, carries great risk. Farmers hope that the good years and the disastrous years will more than balance out! Farmers also hope that their banker is someone who understands these things.

But - it is to potential farmers, that this passage is addressed. Their immediate ancestors had been slaves in Egypt and probably knew no more than was needed to grow a meagre garden, if that! They knew nothing of the kind of skills that would be needed to plant wheat and tend vineyards and olive groves. As they say it was going to be a steep learning curve.

One of the important things we can learn from Native Spirituality is their appreciation of Mother Earth which sustains us all and of Creator who is apparent in all things. In Native Spirituality, thanks is given when anything is taken for human use- plant - animal - or mineral. In Native practice, only what is needed is taken and the rest left for future generations. As nomadic people, they did not have the ability, or the need, to haul a lot of stuff around with them; they did not need storage units for their stuff in the off season! Long ago, there was a home beside the church I was serving which was always decorated to the hilt for every season with lawn ornaments and window treatments. It must have taken their entire attic to store the stuff!

Too often we see nature as something to conquer, almost like a war. We win both kinds of battles by having a better strategy, better soldiers, better equipment, and better ways to control all the forces against us. When settlers arrived in this part of Saskatchewan this land was not ready for wheat. The trees that covered the land had to be conquered, and it was a lot of work.

Yet despite the work needed to farm the land, or to become a teacher, nurse, doctor or other professional or run a successful business, or raise a family there is still an element that is beyond us - we are still called to be thankful, to an “Attitude of Gratitude.”

A number of years ago I spoke with an elderly couple who lived in the same room in a nursing home. She had many health issues and his mobility was beginning to be very compromised. I asked them if they were “glass half full” people, or “glass half empty” ones, and they responded, “neither. Our cup runneth over.” I confess that I saw their lives as diminished by infirmity and age, and they saw abundance!

One day I asked the pianist in one of my congregations the same question and he replied, “It’s always full. All I need is a smaller glass!”

I meet almost weekly over Zoom with a group of colleagues from all over Saskatchewan and one of them noted that she reminds her congregation that this festival is, “thanks-giving, not thanks-feeling”. We are called to give thanks even if we are not feeling much like it; and perhaps especially when we are not feeling much like it.

This elicits a question in me, “How do we come to thanksgiving then, even if we do not feel that way?” You may be thinking that “thanksgiving is something that should be spontaneous?” You may question if we can be “forced to be thankful.” You may be thinking that “thanksgiving is something that should be spontaneous?” You may question if we can be “forced to be thankful.”

What if we feel bitter instead of thankful?

I have mentioned that I love watching, “Call the Midwife”, which is set in a poor district on London following WWII. In one episode, the fiancé of one of the nurses dies as the result of a fall. An expectant mother is limited in her options because her mother, a holocaust survivor, is afraid to leave her apartment. She lost most of her family in the death camps. One day she sees her grandchild in her daughter’s arms down on the street and decides that the baby is not dressed well enough, so she runs out with the baby’s sweater almost before she realizes that she has gone outside. Her fear is gone. The family makes plans to move and she goes around to her friends to say goodby - because she did not have that opportunity with her own family. She says goodbye to the nurse and expresses her sympathy. She also says to her, “it will get better than this, not right away but it will get better, ..................... you just keep living until you are alive again.”

Some swear by the practice of “fake it till you make it!” It is, essentially, practising gratitude even if we don’t feel like it. The practise of gratitude is part and parcel of our expression of faith. It is not an expression of how we feel as much as it is a training in how our hearts respond to the grace of God.

One of the things that a lot of families used to do for every meal was to say, “grace.” Even though getting the food to the table was a lot of work and cost a fair bit of money, God was thanked.

For those of us who eat out, the issue of “tipping” often comes up. How much should we tip - and why? When I was first out on my own it was 10%; now I hear it is 20% and if you don’t watch out for it, calculation on the card-reader terminal the waitress carries around often calculates the tip ON TOP OF the tax! My niece worked at a restaurant where they were required to tip out to the kitchen, and the amount was based, not on the amount of tips she received, but on the value of the food she served. On more than one occasion, she gave the kitchen more than she received for some tables!

The year will come and go, as they usually do; there will be ups and downs; and as God’s people, WE WILL BE THANKFUL.

Amen.