June 10 is the 85th Anniversary of the United Church of Canada and this is NOT a lectionary sermon. Sorry to those who were looking for one.

John 17:1, 2, 6, 17–23
Acts 11
Luke 10: 1-12

Remember, Renew, Rejoice

Many of us grew up on, or in the shadow of the three “R”s - Reading, wRiting, and ‘Rithmetic. No matter that one was not spelled correctly, they provided a foundation for most education in North America for generations.

The United Church of Canada is 85 years old, and the theme has been expressed in terms of three R’s - this time - Remember, Renew and Rejoice.

At least two members of our congregation who are here this morning can remember Church Union - in my previous congregation I had one member who remembered voting for it - she was about 12 at the time and older people who not “full members” were envious of her vote.

On Wednesday, the tenth of June 1925, in the Mutual St Arena in Toronto the Inaugural Service of the brand new “United Church of Canada” began with a number of representatives from each of the founding churches entering in procession and singing, “The Church’s One Foundation”. We sang it today with slightly different words. No doubt it was sung because of the belief that the unity that was in Christ was greater than any differences between the founding churches that came together on that day.

As I look at the grainy old sepia toned pictures and see the hordes of people filling the bleachers and the many clergy officiating, I can’t help but wonder.

I wonder what they were thinking that day. “I hope this service gets over soon, it is sooooo hot!” I don’t know for certain, but a Toronto Hickey rink in mid June – - we all know what high-school graduations are like.

I wonder if they had mixed feelings about the union; some of them would have to begin attending new churches.

Some may have been wondering what would happen when Presbyterians and Methodists started to worship together?

Would they have to learn new hymns - it wasn’t all that long before that some of the Presbyterians had been singing hymns in the first place.

And now the Methodists would have to adjust to not having a new minister sent every second year whether they liked the old one or not?

How would the Presbyterians cope with the new thing (to them) called “the Conference”?

I wonder what hopes they had for this new church. Nothing quite like this had ever been tried before! Union was not new, the scale of the enterprise was.

First of all I suspect the movers and shakers wanted to keep the momentum going - ever since settlers had come to what became Canada there were many, smaller unions. Newcomers often brought their church connections with them when they came to Canada. The Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational Churches that entered union were themselves composed of a number of smaller denominations that had already amalgamated from smaller, often regional bodies, into national ones - take Presbyterianism itself, for example. In one such union the “Missionary Presbytery of the Canadas in Connection With the United Associate Secession Church in Scotland” united with others and became the “United Presbyterian Church in Canada in Connection with the United Presbyterian Church in Scotland” , then united again and became “The Synod of the Canadian Presbyterian Church”, and then “The Presbyterian Church in Canada.” Then again that process may not have been nearly as interesting a match as the “Burgher Presbytery of Truro” joining with the Anti-Burgher Presbytery” of Pictou. (There will be a chart of this at the coffee time - if you are interested in pursuing this further.)

Many of these divisions were more political than religious and it was discovered that western European politics and social order had little to do with Canada. However, some of the differences were theological. If you look at “doctrine” section of the Basis of Union you can see how the differing theologies are held in careful tension, enabling the unity in diversity that has become the hallmark of our denomination. This is where I get to put in another advance announcement. Come September, the session and the congregation are going to be studying our various statements of faith - because the General Council meeting in Kelowna approved adding some more modern statements to the Basis of Union if we agree. You will hear more about that later.

Of course, this was not a creation without pain - in some communities families were divided and some churches closed as it was determined that one village did not need two churches with the same minister. In some cities the churches and congregations stayed where they were and just changed the lettering on the signs. Each community would have its own stories and some are full of good will and others of conflict. No doubt those of you who are closer to 85 than I am will remember some of them.

Many more of you will remember the talks wee had with the Anglican Church of Canada in the 70s but which could not overcome the differences to see it through to an organic union.

I am told that back in the Mutual Street Arena on the tenth of June 1925 one of the presiding ministers decided to make a little change in the liturgy; apparently at the spur of the moment he asked all those communing, (and it was a lot of people) to hold onto the elements so that all could commune at once - it was a symbol of unity - if in fact it is true that it was a new thing, how common it quickly became. I remember the elder in one of my churches for whom that was the ESSENTIAL element of Holy Communion.

In reflection, I suspect that it took a great deal of time for people to develop a new identity - no longer were they Methodist, for example, but now they were United Church, just like the Presbyterians who had invited them into their building. They were able to do much more for the proclamation of the gospel than they had been able to do separately. The United Church of Canada was uniquely Canadian; there was nothing quite like it until the formation of the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977. Over time, as new generations came along this church became a vital and recognizable part of the Canadian fabric.

Of course our church is not a perfect expression of the Christian unity for which Christ prayed. It has not always been as welcoming as it claimed to be. For some it is too liberal and for others, too afraid of taking risks, particularly on the congregational level. From time to time we hear jokes about the “untied” church because we squabble so much - often we don’t see things the same way - but that is OK in the United Church of Canada.

But it is our church - in this United Church we have our fellowship; in this United Church we have our relationship with God whose love gives our lives value and purpose. It is this United Church which gives us our mission to proclaim God’s love through Jesus, the Christ, in word and in deed. It is in this United Church that we, along with our friends and neighbours from Lillooet to Souris and beyond, sing and pray together as we seek to be faithful disciples.

May it be so for the next 85 years.

Amen.

2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
Psalm 77
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Luke 9: 51-62

Chariot of Fire!

On an episode in the fourth season of the TV series, Criminal Minds, the youngest member of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, Dr Spencer Reid, becomes increasingly troubled by his dreams about a boy who had been kidnapped and killed when they were both young. He wants to reopen the investigation into the boy’s murder but two of the agents with whom he works warn him that he might not want to uncover the truth in this instance because the dreams involve his father with whom he has not spoken in years.

In the end they find out that the real culprit was murdered by the dead boy’s father and that Reid’s parents had known this but had covered up the second murder for the sake of the dead child’s family and for the sake of their own son who could have been the next victiom. Reid has his answer but the path on which he willingly walked could have brought him to a very different conclusion - that of his father’s guilt.

The Old Testament and Gospel stories for today both speak of moving forward as the result of answering a call - to be a prophet in the case of Elisha or a disciple, in the case of those called by Jesus of Nazareth. In both instances these calls were certain to lead them in paths of danger as they would be confronting an authority that did not want them to speak.

Yesterday morning I listened to the CBC news which carried interviews with some people who had been involved with various protests in relation to various summits of world leaders in the past. They noted that the Canadian government is going out of its way to keep the protesters as far as possible from the world leaders. They were upset at the suspension of the right to free speech and lawful assembly just for the summit. The protesters come from many perspectives and many want the world to know that there are some who are not willing to let the powerful elites of the world remain unconcerned about the poor and marginalized and the environment.

Unfortunately these protests can turn violent - as they did again yesterday but it says to me that many who are committed to social justice work are willing to risk police violence and arrest to make their voices heard.

In the past two weeks you have heard some of the stories of Elijah; how he angered Jezebel and Ahab and had to flee for his life. In our gospel for today we see Jesus moving steadfastly toward Jerusalem and the final confrontation with the powerful elites who would eventually engineer his execution on the cross to keep him quiet.

We see quite clearly that being a person of faith in these instances is no way to win friends and influence people; indeed faithfulness has a very high cost. Faithfulness demands complete dedication and a single-minded focus.

Three years ago, July 1 2007 was to have been my first Sunday in the pulpits in St James and Dundas, here in the Kings United Pastoral Charge - but my personal circumstances made that impossible. My first sermon was to be delivered the next week. It was a time of transition, in more ways than one - for my family, for me vocationally speaking and for this Pastoral Charge. Indeed the entire last three years have been a time of change and transition. As I said goodbye to ministry in one Pastoral Charge and Presbytery and hello in another; as you welcomed me, we both knew that the years ahead would bring change, in our own lives and for our church and its ministry within these communities. Long before I came here you had been struggling with the changes beyond your control that meant that the church was rapidly changing and that ministry had to be done in new ways if the United Church was to continue to have a vital and vibrant presence in these communities.

In the past three years ( and for a few years beforehand) we have had meetings and more meetings. And how we all love those meetings! At some of those meetings we talked and at some we voted. Among other things, we have decided to move to one congregation and one pool of money with which to fund our ministry together. In May we voted by the slimmest of margins on the future of one of our buildings and by a much wider margin on the future of another - and now we are waiting on the guidance of the Spirit and of Presbytery to help us decide what is the wisest course of action and when.

It’s summer after all - when the pace of life changes - for some it’s a time of much busier work and for others it’s a time of rest and refreshment. Those of you who are connected with the school system probably had various days marked with “end of school” stars, depending on your grade and responsibilities! We all like and need a bit of down time once in a while! When I was in theological school a friend started her countdown to the end of the second semester, on the first day of classes in January. It helped that her room was just at the top the stairs in the residence! After class we would see the growing number of x’s put through each day as it passed and it seemed to make the seemingly endless series of reading assignments and papers a little more bearable.

So here we are, in this season of rest and refreshment, reading stories about a journey from which there is no respite. The prophet Elijah leaves in the whirlwind accompanied by the fiery chariot and immediately Elisha takes up the mantle of authority and divine presence and power. In the Gospel Jesus is telling his followers that now is the time for following; they can’t wait for certain life transitions. They must give up everything for this journey - it’s a harsh statement; a seemingly impossible choice.

Put your hand to the plow and do not look back! Deny all your human connections. Strive only for God’s reign.

It’s a tough assignment.

Yet in these passages I see wisdom for our journey of faith; a wisdom that is relevant and realistic, if we journey in faith.

One of my favourite tv shows for a number of years was “er”. It followed the lives of the emergency room staff in a county hospital in Chicago. Violence and poverty brought many people in need through the doors as the students became doctors and then teachers of new doctors. Several times in the series 14 or so years as one doctor left the hospital the mantle of leadership was passed on with the words, “They all look to you, it’s up to you to set the tone.”

We all know that we owe a great deal to those who have gone before us and we know that we will eventually have to pass the responsibility for carrying on the journey to someone else. All that we are responsible for journey in the time and place in which we find ourselves.

If you want to plow a whole field in straight furrows you can’t be always looking back - but you need to focus on something unmoving ahead of you and move toward that - whether or not you are plowing with a mule and a one sod plow or if you have a large, fancy and very expensive roll over plow.

In this season of High School Graduation the only healthy way for our graduates to move is ahead. Our families must move on; as ours did when we were that age and moving on to make our own way in the world, despite our parents misgivings.

Likewise in our community and church we are not given the luxury or the burden of re-living the past. We cannot go back and do it over better, nor can we turn back time to a place where it was better.

The call of God is to live in faithfulness in the time and place in which we find ourselves. We can take our learning from the past but we can’t bring the past with us.

We do not know at this point what kinds of changes we will have to make in our churches, but we do know that we cannot keep everything we have know and grown to love. As we seek to proclaim the gospel we know that the status quo is not an option. We will need to develop new skills and strategies for times that things in our past cannot have prepared us for - like Elisha, and like the disciples we only need to know that God goes with us. This presence will not protect us from all harm; we know better than that but what we will know is that we are not alone as we journey.

For that we can say- thanks be to God.

Amen!

2 Kings 5: 1-14
Psalm 30
Galatians 6: (1-6) 7-16
Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20

Unexpected Prophets; Shocking Grace !

This story has been told so often that it should be true, even if it never happened! It was about 1919 and the Governor General and his wife, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, were visiting Prince George BC. As is usual for these kinds of events, a fine banquet was given in their honour. The good folks of Prince George pulled out all the stops! As the plates were being cleared after the main course in preparation for desert, a helpful waitress leaned over and whispered to the Governor General, “Keep your fork Duke, there’s pie”.

This legend has often been told of the current Duke of Edinburgh, but most serving staff, at a “Royal Visit” would be so well schooled that such a mistake would not be made in Prince Phillip’s presence - and I gather he would not be one to accept or appreciate such a gesture.

Like the great Aramean warrior Naaman, and his King, most royalty and their upper class friends expect a certain level of deference - and these days they also expect a separate fork or spoon for every course! They don’t worry about the extra dishes.

So when Naaman finds out that there is help available in Samaria his boss, the King, sends not only a letter, but a whole bunch of expensive gifts, and sends his army commander to the King of Israel. That’s how it works; power speaks to power. Where else would such healing power be found?

Where indeed! Many generations later mysterious visitors come and speak to King Herod because they assumed he would know about a new king powerful enough to make the stars in the heavens act in a very peculiar manner!

At any rate the King of Israel, is worried - not for the same reasons as Herod would be - but because he had just lost a war to this man and his army and now he comes looking for the impossible. HOW WOULD HE KNOW HOW TO HEAL LEPROSY? In those days they did not tear out their hair - they tore their clothes.

We might be interested to know that while these two peoples were enemies - they were also distant relatives. One of the pivotal texts of the Passover observance was the recitation of the history of their people which began this way: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor......” There are conflicting accounts in the biblical text of just how the people of Aram were related to the people of Israel - I guess no one really knew. But at this point they were bitter enemies. To make matters worse the people of Israel had been told by their prophets that God had given victory to the enemy - perhaps it was felt that they had something to learn from it all, or that they had to change in some way.

So the messenger arrives with all of the gifts and the king freaks out and tears his clothes - probably certain that another war is about to begin or that more reparations will be demanded.

Of course Elisha hears about the king’s reaction and sends word to him. “Give him directions to my place”. Naaman comes but instead of a welcome befitting a powerful man he is greeted by a mere servant, with a message. “Go and wash in the JORDAN”. He is offended. (They have better rivers at home after all!) But he is finally persuaded because by his own servants’ simple logic. He would certainly have moved heaven and earth if that was required, so why not go and wash!

So he followed their advice. He went and he washed and he was healed. We are told his flesh was restored to the condition of that of a young child.

What condition did Naaman have exactly? The text calls it leprosy, but it was most likely not the same kind of leprosy known in the 19th and early 20th centuries and now almost eradicated. That kind causes nerve damage which results in severe deformities of hands, feet and faces.

From descriptions in other passages it seems that this disease might have been a kind of eczema or some other kind of skin condition now treated with steroids - but whatever it was - it was seen as reason enough to banish someone who suffered from it. It would have meant the end of his life as a public official. He would become an outcast. He would have to move out of his fancy military housing and live in a colony at the edge of town.

But what’s the point of this story. I think there are several. One of them is that we must remember that he is the commander of an enemy army and for whatever reason the people of Israel believed they were being punished by God and so the Arameans won the latest war.

They discovered that they were able to agents of healing and life to one who was otherwise an enemy. Naaman was able to come and receive healing, even if it meant bathing in the dirty Jordan river - even though that took some persuading!

Sometimes we are like Naaman and we overlook the healing that is offered to us. We are looking for something much more complicated.

We live in an age of experts and figure that an expert is the only pereson who can save us. In an age of technology and fancy (and very expensive) medical interventions we sometimes discover that our best course of action is the simplest and often the much cheaper. Our doctors fight this constantly - we want the newest medication, advertised on TV, before we have tried others which are older and much cheaper and which work perfectly well in the majority of cases.

I am reading a book by a man named Robert Schnase that talks about 5 practices essential to fruitful and vital congregations; the theme presentations of this year’s Annual Meeting of Maritime Conference was based on this. These practices are: Extravagant Generosity, Radical Hospitality, Passionate Worship, Intentional Faith Development, Risk-taking Mission and Service. If you think about those phrases they seem kind of simple. They seem like the kinds of things that once we are told of them we can say, “I guess I knew that”. Sometimes though we need to be told what we already know. Sometimes we need to be told what we know in a new way. Sometimes we need to go to an outsider to tell us about ourselves.

Of course we have to do more than hear and agree that these are good things to be doing; if we want fruitfulness in these ways we have to implement the actions that would move our congregation in these ways. If we want to do these things we will have to change some other things - and change is never easy - it wasn’t for Naaman and it likely wont be for us.

We need to look at ourselves and realize that we need to do something differently and then seek out the wisdom to tell us what that is. When we see and recognize the promised healing we need to jump in the water and trust that the word is true.

Amen.

Isaiah 5: 1-7
Psalm 80 pp. 794-795 VU
Hebrews 11: 29-12:2
Luke 2: 49-56

Its the Journey!"

You have heard the phrase, I am sure, “There is something wrong with this picture!” Its when our work and expectations don’t match the outcome and we can’t figure out where we went wrong!

We have gone to church all of our lives and taught our children and grandchildren to go as well. We have invited our neighbours and friends. We have welcomed the newcomers and practised Christian charity. We have taught Sunday school and pounded nails and swished paintbrushes and mops and taken tonnes of baking to church bazaars and bought our neighbour’s baking and crafts so that our church could keep going - and it seems that it isn’t enough anymore - we are bewildered, exhausted and very sad. What did we do wrong along the line?

“There is something wrong with this picture!” The early church to whom the letter to the Hebrews was addressed knew exactly what that phrase meant! They had come to a belief that Jesus was the messiah and they joined the small community that was sometimes referred to as, “the way”. They pooled their resources and tried to live in the way of Jesus of Nazareth. Early in the morning on the first day of the week they gathered to break bread and celebrate the resurrection - that is after many of them, still faithful Jews had observed the Sabbath. How could it get any better than that?! The reign of God was upon them! Or was it!

They discovered that theirs was not a way to win friends and influenced people. Their Jewish neighbours became increasingly hostile and the Roman persecution went from bad to worse. For many in the early church the way of Christ was quite literally a way to torture followed by an early death.

What do we know about this biblical book, this “Epistle to the Hebrews?” As is the case with the whole of the Bible, it is important for our understanding of the letter to the Hebrews to know something about the community to which it was written.

Their life is no “walk in the park”. Their faith is being tested each and every day. It would have been much easier for these early Christians to believe in the beginning of an era of terror than the reign of God. They experienced terror each and every day!

There had been a terrible fire that had destroyed about half of the city of Rome. Emperor Nero, in a psychopathic desire to deflect blame for the fire away from himself, made sure the Christians were high on the list of suspects. He used every kind of torture imaginable to punish the Christians. They were crucified, torn apart by animals as a spectator sport, stoned, sawn in two, or burned alive. Their property was confiscated and they lost their jobs.

Theirs was a community under siege. The writer of this epistle seeks to give strength, not by reminding them that it would get better, but by reminding them of the people whose stories they would have known - essentially stories of people who remained faithful in tough times. You can take out your Bibles and read the stories later - you will find a guide in the bulletin - and as I said some of these stories are horrible stories; stories of people whose particular behaviour and attitudes we should not be emulating. Of course our attitudes have changed since these stories were held up by this anonymous author. We need to struggle sometimes to see something of merit on some of these accounts.

Yet what these folks hold in common, was that they lived in the light of the promise of God, even though many of them only saw glimpses of its fulfilment - and even though they were not at all perfect and shining examples of following in God’s way.

According to the writer they believed in God’s promises even if they never saw them fulfilled. Moses, for example, led the people through the wilderness but only saw the promised land from a distance; he never set foot in it.

It leads me to the belief that the journey of faith is not primarily about the destination, but about faithfulness in the midst of the journey itself. Raising a family is not about getting them out the door at 18, or 20, or 35 (or whatever age they leave) but about being present in the moment and valuing each and every stage including diapers, the terrible twos, the terrifying teens and the bills, bills and more bills. And those of you who are parents will tell me; you still worry about your 60 year old children - or at least your concern for them is still that of a parent.

We like goals - AND we like to reach our goals. We don’t like to be told that we wont reach that goal! (you can’t retire when you planned because of the market downturn, or the job you were sure you had in the bag has gone to someone else, or the girl you loved has decided she loves someone else.)

We all know how it is supposed to work, don’t we. As people of faith we will be successful, healthy and live long and prosper as long as we follow in God’s way. Yet we know all too well that the rain falls on the just and the unjust as well. We all know from hard experience that living the life of faith is no insurance policy against disaster.

If we live too much for our goals we miss the grace and beauty of the journey itself. If we live too much in the disappointment of what we have not achieved, we miss what we do have and the gifts we have been given. After a particularly disappointing time in my ministry a colleague of mine advised, “don’t let it make you bitter and overshadow all the good things that happened”.

Erma Bombeck, I think, wrote a book called, “If Life Is A Bowl of Cherries What Am I Doing in the Pits?” We all know that feeling; some of us more than others. We expect one thing and we do what we are supposed to do and we don’t get what we expect.

Songwriters have put pen to paper to express this in pieces such as, “I never promised you a rose garden, there’s gotta be a little rain sometime”.

Then again there are some who mistakenly think that a good way to avoid sorrow is never taking the risk of loving anyone. We may have our heart broken, but is that better than never taking the risk? The inevitability of saying goodbye to someone, does not mean that the relationship was not one of great value and meaning and that we are better people for having been in it. When we work with a particular goal in mind and we do not achieve it, it does not mean that the journey there was not worthwhile.

Sometimes we will take an unpopular action, and we will pay for it. People we thought were friends turn away from us or we lose a job or a promotion. Sometimes this might make us question our stand - but the writer of Hebrews has something to say to us.

We are not like the early church in that we do not suffer under persecution by the state. We live in the “post-Christendom” era! No one really listens to the church anymore - or gives it automatic respect, like they used to. The halls of largely indifferent to our message

But

sometimes if we threaten the profit of big business they become downright hostiile - if we oppose unjust wars or ask for the marginalized to be treated fairly and given a share of the pie - then the tune changes a bit.

What his passage says to us is that we should not stop proclaiming our message about the love of God as shown in Jesus of Nazareth.

We should not speaking of a world made new. We should not stope proclaiming that Jesus is Lord! What that meant to the church of these Hebrews was that Caesar was NOT Lord. The Roman Army was not Lord. The lions that tore many of them to pieces for the people’s entertainment, had no ultimate power over them.

What should it mean to us? Canada is not Lord? Our RRSP portfolio is not Lord. Our reputation is not Lord? The status quo is not Lord? Jesus is!

The early church was enjoined to see the bigger picture; they were challenged to take the long view. Anything worth accomplishing is worth more than one generation. Like planting a tree; we don’t often get to enjoy the fruits of our labours.

This great cloud of witnesses; those who had gone before and planted the seeds of faith trusted in the promise and trusted that someone would take up the cause of faithfulness and continue the journey.

The message of this epistle is about taking those hard times of life and seeing in them an opportunity to live our faith; to show our faith to others as a proclamation - as a way of supporting fellow believers within the community.

What is faith - it is not an intellectual thing - it is not the same as believing things - it is living in trust - even despite the evidence to the contrary.

It is about embracing life in all of its fullness - as much as we can at the time. Can we believe in a God of love in the midst of great difficulty? Can we proclaim that God is with us - even when we feel very alone? How do we go on as a people when what we have known is coming to an end; when our world is falling apart? This writer tells the people, “I cant tell you what the future will homed but I can tell you God’s people have been this way before - and they have known God’s presence and love through all kinds of difficulties and uncertainties. And we can too! We do not have to let this present situation defeat us - we can live in faith.”

As we approach another fall of church life. As we look at the many uncertainties of our life together as a Pastoral Charge, we need to take a serious look at this passage - God’s people have been this way before - and God’s people have come to know divine love and presence in the midst of all that has happened.

Let us journey in faith.

Amen!

Aigust 22, 2010 --

Jeremiah 1: 4-10
Psalm 71
Hebrew’‘s 12: 18-29
Luke 13: 10–17

“Stand Up Straight”

I have a great deal of sympathy for the anonymous “bent over woman”. Before my surgery in 2007 I felt very “bent over”. I had a great deal of difficulty walking on uneven ground, or stepping up on a curb. Steps were all but impossible without a railing and still, such as you would have to do in a lineup was sheer torture. After a number of treatments that did not work, I was properly diagnosed, referred to a neurosurgeon, had the needed surgery and the rest, as they say, is history.

The gospel of Luke does not really tell us why this woman was bent over; to say that Satan had done it, or she was possessed by a demon, gives us no evidence at all - an explanation was certainly beyond them!

Yet that is a fitting description of what her life would have been like. Any disability was seen as a work of evil or as a punishment from God. She would have had no value in that society and many would have wanted her to just “go away and keep quiet”.

In many countries in the developing world a great deal of manual labour is still carried out by the women, without the aid of labour saving devices or modern machinery. The hard physical work of women and men in Jesus’ day would have been similar. A person who could not work would be of no use to any family.

Off the top of my head I can think of four bent over people I have known. I think they had problems with their spines - or necks, and all had developed this condition in later adulthood. But I have known many others who were bent over in spirit.

Years of abuse, or depression, or life situations in general had gotten the better of them and they were unable to muster the strength to stand up straight - emotionally and psychologically - perhaps they had forgotten how. They had forgotten how to see any joy in their life. Perhaps they even saw their situation as God’s punishment. They saw this as “their lot in life”. Some were happy only when they are miserable enough to be the centre of attention - sharing their tale of woe with just about anyone.

So in today’s gospel we meet a woman whose only description is her disability. Along comes Jesus and he proclaims God’s power and love in such a powerful way that this un-named woman from long ago is healed, able to straighten up, able to face the world as a fully loved, fully functioning child of God.

And what happens. The religious elites are aghast. Jesus did this on a Sabbath. Surely this could have waited; she had been sick for years, what difference would one more day make?

Jesus, as usual, has no time for this kind of hypocrisy! The whole problem with the elites and their rules on Sabbath observance is the topic for another whole bunch of sermons. Jesus is not concerned about breaking one of the commandments - leaving her in her illness would be a greater sin! Its not really a case of “the better the day; the better the deed - it was about recognizing what was most important at the time.

If Jesus had waited a day - those folks would have found another reason to object - for unlike Jesus, it seems clear to me that they did not value her as a child of God.

Jesus came preaching a message of love for all people - ALL people! He came preaching a message of freedom. He healed people. He associated with sinners and outcasts. He preached of a God who wanted for ALL people the goodness that was intended at creation. In this healing, Jesus was proclaiming that no one is meant to suffer alienation and marginalization by anyone!

This passage is both comfort for us and a call to mission.

At General Council last year I met a wonderful young woman called Miriam. She was in a wheelchair and had Lacey, a black lab as a helper dog. She had a wonderful smile but when she spoke you had to really pay attention because it was very hard to understand her. Yet this is where any ‘dis” ability stops. She is active in her church and travels widely for justice work, has an active facebook page to keep all her friends up to speed, and is entering her fourth year of a journalism degree at Ryerson University. You can read her story in the July/August edition of the Observer.

When her family moved her new church had to learn what being truly welcoming really meant and both have been transformed by the experience of worshipping and working together in church community.

How are we doing at enabling people to shake off the ways in which life has bent them over? How well do we proclaim God’s healing and enabling love. How are we doing at being a welcoming church? Are we welcoming of all people or are we welcoming only of those who do not make us uncomfortable?

There are many people whose lives have not turned out as they had hoped - women who must seek shelter from an abusive partner; children who are taken into the foster-care system because of the home situation, people addicted to drugs, runaways living on the streets, children who are physically or mentally unable to sit still or be quiet in church, and the list goes on. As church folks we are called to in a role of leadership in our communities. If our own churches are not places of welcome - how can we expect the marginalized to find welcome elsewhere in society.

Some are called to work directly with such folks, to devote their lives to helping others as they help themselves in groups such as AA and Al-Anon - or support groups for those who are caregivers for those suffering from Alzheimer’s and we are fortunate to live in a country where such a wide support system is available. Yet the systems are not enough in and of themselves - they need people who are committed to right relationships and to justice and healing for all.

I am sure we all know of people who need a word of encouragement - a helping hand from time to time. I know someone who is always taking a couple of neighbour kids on mini vacations, sending them to camp, buying new clothes, taking them to the theatre, feeding them nutritious meals. For a few hours a week or month she helps in providing an environment they can’t get at home - because her children had those things and she has the means to be able to do it. She hopes that they are able to break out of a cycle and be the kind of parents these children did not have.

Sometimes though we have to ask, “What can I do to help?” We should not assume every person who is blind or hearing impaired or differently-abled needs the same things. Some activities may take longer for them to do it than it would for us to help - are we patient enough.

Sometimes it is natural disasters which cause people to be bent over. The flooding in Pakistan is just one more reminder of the tragedies and disparities that beset our world. With all of the need in the world, we could easily tire of helping and become victims of compassion fatigue but we are encouraged day by day to give what we can because the need is so great.

Our call is to use whatever resources we have to be a beacon of hope to others; to use our skills and gifts to proclaim the message to others that they are loved children of God.

This passage tells us and helps us to tell others, “Stand up child of God. You are loved. Be free of all that keeps you from bing all that you were created to be.”

Hallelujah and Amen!

Aigust 29, 2010 --

Jeremiah 2: 4-13
Psalm 81
Hebrews 13: 1-8, 15-16
Luke 1:1, 7-14

On my way to do some visiting the other day I heard a promo for an intriguing news item. It was advertised as a kind of “warning” for parents of school age children and it was this: “When you go out to go shopping for ‘back to school’, be aware that the music that is played in malls is designed to get you to spend as much money as possible.” I did not wait for the full report - mostly because I arrived at the place I had wanted to go and also because I don’t intend to do any back to school shopping this year. It’s been a while!

But we all know that the mall can be a dangerous place. We go in for one thing and come out with ten: and congratulate ourselves for hitting a sale we had not known about! Our economy is closely tied to consumer spending - good citizens are good consumers. We are supposed to have good jobs so we can buy stuff and created jobs for others. My Mom’s first kitchen stove lasted for over 40 years. I don’t think her second one will; and the manufacturers certainly don’t want them to. If the stoves don’t break down they come up with must have features to entice you to replace your old ones - with an energy efficient, or more environmentally friendly model of course.

In our busy and fast paced world we still need what human beings have always needed; we need to be happy and feel fulfilled in our lives. We need to have a sense of belonging and we need true friends.

In today’s passage from the book of Jeremiah the people of Israel also have similar needs, but unfortunately, they are looking to fulfill them in all the wrong places.

In some ways God’s words as recorded in the passage I read earlier sound a bit like a tired and frustrated parent. “I have done so much for you and now you have turned your back on me and gone your own way. Where did I go wrong?” Doesn’t that sound like the parent of a rebellious teenager or a grown up child who never calls home!

It wasn’t the first time God’s people had looked for fulfilment by following the ways of the world. It wasn’t the first time they had found the ways of the world looked a lot better from the outside looking in than they actually were when they were tried and found wanting.

The people of Israel had as their basic identity - a call to follow the God of their ancestors and to pledge loyalty to this God with their whole being.

Through this basic rule of life the people of Israel were being trained to take both the blessing and responsibility of that relationship seriously. Sounds good, in theory.

When things were going well the people began to forget God and think that they were solely responsible for their success. “Look at me”! “Look at how smart I am”. BUT when things were going poorly they began to blame God for ignoring or abandoning them!

While we might not set up a little shrine in our living room and pray in front of it every morning we can easily fall into the temptation of worshipping other gods.

Some of these gods are named consumerism and materialism, beauty, power and prestige. Yet - in our heart of hearts we know they are false gods. In our deepest selves we know that these things cannot satisfy; these things cannot fill the void in our lives. No matter how many toys we buy for our children and grandchildren, or for ourselves, we will not be fulfilled. No matter how often we scratch the itch of the “body beautiful” we will realize how shallow those kinds of goals can ultimately be.

Popular culture has dictated a certain kind of appearance and we spend inordinate amounts of time and money trying to look like the movie stars of the month. We look at all the beautiful people in the magazines and we spend a fortune trying to look like them! I have a cute picture of one of my nephews with a “six-pack” drawn on his abdomen in magic marker! The boys had received a weight set for Christmas and Will was on the fast track to body building!

To be happy according to the ads you have to buy the right stuff. That perfectly good 30inch CRT TV is not good enough anymore! To be happy you have to have the gigantic one at the video store - with all the bells and whistles. The same is true for your vehicles and recreation equipment.

Consumer debt is a great stressor in many families as the itch to buy is scratched over and over again and credit card balances pile up and long term savings are something that is left for a rainy day. We reason, “Don’t all good parents spend far more than they can afford so their kids have the same best stuff all their friends do?

And we wonder why we aren’t happier or more content than we were before we bought all this stuff! When we were working as hard as we can to make more money to be able to get better stuff than we have - we have lost our focus and need to take a step back.

The people of Israel were told, again and again that they were called to be different from the “other nations”; they had to model a different way and to show what true devotion to God looked like.

Far from being a “stiff scolding”, passages such as this, free us from our bondage to these things that will not satisfy. Passages such as this help us to step back from our lives, assess and reassess our priorities and ensure that we are living what we say we believe.

What I find is that whenever I fall into that kind of temptation and scratch the consumerist itch by buying one of those things I really - really - really - really want but don’t really need, very soon I end up being disappointed. The thrill is not as big as I thought it would be. If I am not careful - I need to go out and buy something else to keep the thrill going! And so the cycle continues.

Sometimes the stress of all of this is too much and we end up unhappy and bitter in the midst of a mountain of stuff; or unhappy and bitter that everyone else is happy with their share of the good life and we are the losers .

Our attachment to our stuff and our need to have all the best stuff can make us both mean and greedy. We may have lots of money for our family but none for families in need or for the needs of others such as the flood victims in Pakistan. When we have no place for the modern equivalent of the “widows and orphans” often mentioned in the Bible, we have lost touch with our reason for being faith communities, and people of faith.

It seems that we cannot win, doesn’t it! We are trapped in a culture and an economy that calls us to be all these things - and having nice things - is certainly better than not having much at all - (and there is nothing wrong in and of itself with having nice things) but our faith in the God who has been with us through all the times of our lives challenges us to keep our stuff in its place and when it threatens to take over, to shout out: ENOUGH!

When Dr Phill asks anyone, “How’s that workin for you?” we know the answer! We know that all of this chasing after things that can’t really fulfill us is really a futile exercise. We know that!

The passage from Jeremiah uses the striking image of the cracked cistern - a vessel that can hold no water. There’s a hole in the bucket, Dear Liza. How do we fix it?

Well first we have to realize that we are in need of a spiritual makeover. No one else can decide this for us. We have to look at our own lives and decide for ourselves if what we spend our lives doing is bringing us fulfilment or just grief and emptiness.

Are we really satisfied deep down? Or deep down do we know that our lives just don’t hold water!

Instead of trying to fill our lives with nicer and nicer things, trying to fit into the image of the body beautiful , and trying to win the right friends and influence the right people we are called to commit our lives to God. We need somehow to get off of that treadmill of consumerism and consumption; we need to to stop the vicious circle. We are called to be people of faith who trust that God loves us despite what we do not have, what we do not look like and who we do not know.

We are called to be a people to live to be a blessing to others; to be a people who bring hope to the lives of others. We are called to be a people who know that the greatest blessing in life is to be a blessing to others.

When we do that we may just turn around and be surprised to discover that our second hand, hand-me-down but perfectly good cisterns are filled to the brim with enough living water for everyone who needs it. -

Amen.