JOIN US TONIGHT AND TOMORROW MORNING

You are invited to join us for Christmas Eve Services tonight:

5:00pm: Candlelight Serve
10:00pm: Candlelight Service with Holy Communion

Christmas Day Service: 10:30am

God Bless You with a Happy Christmas!

Peace: The Fourth Advent Candle

                                

Last Sunday we lit the fourth candle on the Advent wreath—the candle of peace.  Few would argue with the assertion that peace is the most prized, yet one of the rarest commodities humanity has ever known.

We tend to think of war  as an exceptions —as periodic and brutal  interruptions of the usual peaceful state of humanity. But at least one historian and philosopher has noted that war is actually the normal state of affairs for  humanity, and peace is the interruption You might disagree with that, but if you look back over the course of the twentieth century, it must be admitted that this argument isn’t without basis, and that the nations of the world have, by and large, not been very good at peace.

But peace, true peace, is more than a lack of war.

Conflict seems to define human relationship at many levels, from the nation to the family, from the workplace to the school, to the roads we drive everyday.

What is the solution to this problem , this problem which has plagued humanity for generation upon generation upon generation?

Well. The bottom line answer—the biblical answer is that humanity is really helpless to do anything on its own and by its own power.  We see the evidence for that in history. In trying to fix the problem, human beings have, more often then not, made the problem worse.

 The answer to the problem of war has really been the same—develop better and more sophisticated weapons, so that if there is a war, the right people would win it. The problem with that is our perceived enemy does the same thing, which leads to an arms race. An arms race was at the root of the First World War. The arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union, led to a situation where total war would mean total annihilation.  Fear of nuclear annihilation may have prevented world war three but arms manufacturers have ensured that a stockpile of conventional weapons are available to reap a harvest of death and destruction around the world. 

The spiritual underpinning of all of that is sin, humanity playing God, humanity turning from God and devising its own means.  And its like that at all levels.  Any human conflict is, at  the root basic level,   a conflict with God, a contention about who is in charge.

 If we despise our neighbour, we are rejecting the commandment to love our neighbour. When we reject the commandment, we are deciding that God should not be in charge. Yes, I might think that this business about loving neighbour, that might be a good commandment when we are dealing with nice people, but maybe, in this case, with this guy, there ought to be an exception. I am going to institute a temporary suspension of the commandment and punch this guy in the nose.  That’s playing God, and human beings have been playing God for a very long time, and it hasn’t worked, and it has led to every single sin ever committed.  It has given rise to a world of horror and pain. After being expelled from the garden of Eden, it didn’t take the descendents of Adam and Eve long to start killing each other, as we read in the account of Cain and Abel.

The answer, the ultimate answer cannot be the simple application of a new method. Methods are bandaids. There needs to be a transformation, a fundamental transformation, of the human heart.   That  transformation must come from outside.  It must come from outside, and it has come from outside.

The message of Jesus is not “give peace a chance”, but rather, ‘I am peace,” Jesus became, and is peace, for us and for the world.

Jesus Christ came into this world, not to judge or punish the world, but to save the world, save the world from its destructive course, and to bring true and lasting peace.

The Prince of Peace came to rule over his peaceable kingdom.  Now, during Advent, we anticipate the arrival of that peaceable kingdom in its fullness. But that kingdom is here in a very real way, and the peaceful fruits of its harvest are available. Those fruits are found in the forgiveness and healing of Jesus. Through that forgiveness  a new life is made possible—a new life which transcends death and suffering, a new life where peace is available, peace which does not come from us, but peace which comes to us.

Today we read the story of Mary, the young virgin. Nothing about Mary would suggest that she was special or different from the girls around her. What made Mary special and different was the decision God has made about her. God had decided that she was to bear his child.

God had decided that Mary, young, humble, Mary would be the entrance point for the very incarnation of peace. Mary was a special person because she was made special by God. The specialness of Mary has been a point of contention between Catholics and Protestants. But you do not have to be Roman Catholic to uphold Mary, the blessed virgin, as a special person, a special person because she was the special recipient of God’s Grace, and  entrusted with bearing God’s peace. What an incredible honour—what a magnificent election. Today we read together the Magnificat  from Luke 1. 

This was Mary’s response to the Grace which God had showered her with, a Grace she struggled with, because at first, she didn’t understand why God would choose her. But in the magnificat we read that Mary had a real understanding of God’s Grace and God’s Peace--that it would not come through the mighty or the powerful or the strong or the proud, but in the lowly and the gentle.

Those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord, are like Mary, like Mary in that they are the recipients of God’s Grace.  And like Mary,  they are called, to live in response to that Grace. Our worship is a response to God’s Grace. And in that Grace there is an everlasting peace, a gift of peace which surpasses all understanding. A peace which  the world cannot give.

Yet, there remains an absence of peace. The world is conflicted and hearts struggle. There is a lack of inner peace, even amongst those who confess Christ. External circumstances and internal storms and struggles define life for many—especially as we move into the heart of the holiday season. What is the answer to that?

The first answer is  Christ in community. Christ, and his peace, works through the community of believers, who help each other move through difficult times. The gift of peace has been entrusted to Christians to share with each other and the world. When we share the peace during worship, this isn’t  a  break  so folks have time to dig their wallets out for the offering. It’s a time to  share the peace of he who is the incarnation of peace. We, in effect, become that incarnation to each other. Peace becomes flesh and blood and not just an idea, or some abstraction. And that peace is carried through the worship service, into fellowship, and into the world. The storms of life may continue to rage, but they need not be endured alone.

Such accompaniment is important because in the minds and hearts of many people, storms rage and there is no peace. There is  often no peace because of intense and ongoing frustration. This frustration more often than not stems from relationships with other people, stems from the desire that others would be different—wishing that others would stop doing what they are doing or start doing what we think they ought to be doing.

We may somehow try to take steps to control their behaviour or lie awake at night ruminating and worrying.  But there is a real and fundamental problem in this approach, and the problem is that there is not one person in this world who we can control or change.  

 The illusion that we can change others springs from the age old problem of humanity—and that old problem is wanting to be God.  But the  illusion does not, cannot, bring the desired results.  Yes, we can persuade, we can influence. For children, adults can role model and provide safe boundaries.  But no amount of swearing or cursing is going to stop bad drivers from being bad drivers.  Even if someone really does need to change; we cannot change them. Only God can do the changing.

But ultimately the desire for others to conform to our expectations leads to a lot of distress, and most certainly a   great sacrifice of inner peace.

St Augustine, one of the great early church fathers  understood what this meant, because he lived it. He wrote his confessions, and in them he recognized the source of his bondage.

“I was bound not with the iron of another’s chains, but by my own iron self will.” That iron self will is incompatible with peace because the iron self will does not understand its own limits.  The peace restless hearts and minds so desperately need cannot be given by the iron will, on its terms, with its methods.

Most of you are fimilair with Charles’ Dicken’s classic, A Christmas Carol. When we think about the character Ebenezeer Scrooge, when we think abut his problem, it is easy to jump to the conclusion that he was just greedy, mean and miserly. But what is underneath that, is a misguided attempt to control reality and thereby achieve peace—a perverted attempt to maintain peace by blocking out the reality of a painful childhood, peace by blocking out the reality of the poverty which gripped industrialized London, peace by blocking out the reality of his own ultimate demise. Scrooge’s iron will kept him tightly bound, but there was no real peace in Scrooge’s heart.

In Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler upheld the human will, celebrated the will to power and the triumph of the will. History saw where that Triumph looked like. It was not peace, because peace, true peace,  comes only from one place—from the heart of God. When that peace is received, true peace comes.

True peace comes when it is received as a gift, not as something earned or achieved, or granted as reward. It is rooted in the Grace of God which is totally unconditional, a Grace which tells us that there is nothing we need so or can do to earn the love of God. This love is the foundation of our lives. The people around us might disappoint us, or anger us, or let us down, but what they can never do is remove the Grace God has given us. Jesus was crucified, but his status as God’s only begotten son did not change.

Yet,  even knowing this, we struggle. We struggle because that will keeps bubbling up and telling us that we have to earn God’s love, earn it, and get it through others, and on our terms.  The will tells us we have to do something to make God love us to give us peace. Maybe that something is being the perfect parent, child, spouse, teacher, accountant, sibling. Fill in the blank. Maybe we think that peace will come if we earn enough money, or have enough things, or make ourselves sound holy enough, or use the right religious words This is a sad illusion.

So again and again we need to hear the message of God’s grace. Again and again, we need to hear about the entrance point of this grace into the world. It is not in the strong or the most religious—it is in the meek and humble. This is the great truth we hear in the Magnificat. Mary tells us where this Grace and peace is found. It is found in he who entered this world as a humble infant. It is found in he who was crucified for the sake of  sinners. It is found in he who rose from the dead and has promised us a share in his resurrection. Now may his peace fill your hearts and minds today and for eternity. Amen.

Finding Joy this Christmas: Lighting the third candle

 Reading: John 1:6-8, 19-28

Today we have lit the third candle, the pink candle, of the Advent wreath, the candle which represents Joy. In two weeks “Joy to the World” will be sung by this congregation and by millions around the world. . But what is joy? And where can the joy of Christmas be seen, found, and experienced?

         Is the joy of Christmas to be found in the sugar-high of shopping, the last minute frenzy of party and dinner organizing,  the long, snaking lines to sit on Santa’s lap, the clogged parking lots, and boxing day blowouts? Most people have a solid answer to that question. Holiday stress has become an increasingly present reality for many in this part of the world—financial strain, high expectations, disappointment, loneliness. These experiences are, for many, part and parcel of the Christmas experience—pun intended. It’s no coincidence that the police find it necessary to step up drinking and driving patrol.  Yes, people get drunk when they’re happy, but surely, more than a few will turn to the bottle as a  means of escape from  the pressure and pains of the “holiday season.”

“So this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another Year Over and another just begun.” These words begin John Lennon’s famous Christmas ballad, often heard through the mall speakers between rounds of “Jingle Bells”  and “here Comes Santa Claus.”  It’s out of place, really, though, because unlike many Christmas songs, it alludes to, and alerts us to a reality not often acknowledged in the fun-filled lyrics of much Christmas music. It acknowledges that yes, another Christmas is here, and it will soon pass--that the world will go on, go on with its pain and problems.  December 25^th does not bring reprieve for the millions around the world caught in the grip of war and poverty. Indeed many people will not be happy this Christmas, many do not live in a “marshmellow world.”, many must endure present pain and relive past grief brought to the surface by the very holiday itself.

            “Why are you saying this, pastor? “ Some might ask “Why are you throwing  a damper on Christmas? Can’t you give a cheerful happy message? Seems like you talk an awful lot about the downers of Christmas! ”

       The simple answer to that is, this is the world we live in — a world where happiness can too often be elusive, even when we are bombarded with the message that we are supposed to be happy. Why is that the case?  Why can happiness be so elusive, even during Christmas? Well, happiness is elusive because it depends on external circumstances. The root word of happiness is  “happ,” and you have heard that in another word -- “happenstance”, which means “coincidence”. Happiness is therefore a feeling of well being based on events—things that happen to us. BC Lions fans were very happy when their team won the Grey Cup; Canucks Fans were not so happy last Spring.    

             People are happy at Christmas time for a number of reasons. Receiving and giving gifts is a huge one. A few days off is another. So is time spent together with friends and family.

            The problem with happiness is an obvious one. What happens if the external circumstances are not good? Or something happens to change things in a negative direction? Well under those circumstances, the happiness can diminish or disappear altogether. And unfortunately, in a commercial culture, Christmas has been presented and marketed in such a way that prescribes what ought to make us happy.  These messages come at us hard from television, and from radio in endless rounds of commercials. They are imbedded in film, certainly in much secular-based Christmas music.  Fad toys and fights over them are a sad symptom of the consumerism  which grips the holiday. There is indeed a dark side to Christmas  which the church must speak out against, and that is greed shown in unrestrained consumerism. Christmas Greed is sinful, and Christians must not be afraid to saying that.

            Pastor you are starting to sound a bit like scrooge! I plead guilty.  But there is a Grinch out there—a true Grinch. And what that Grinch has done has stolen  something from people—and that is the true meaning and joy of Christmas.

              The Grinch has taken the Peace of Christmas and substituted it with a calorie filled, sugar coated, candy cane, which may taste good for a while. But when you get to the bottom of it, its gone and nothing remains—except a big credit card bill, and a hangover from the sugar high.  That’s not good news.

           The good news is  that the true meaning of Christmas can be seen, and true joy can be found.

            Joy is different from happiness—happiness with its dependency on external circumstances. Joy, by contrast, does not depend on circumstances. Joy is rather, a state of being, which exists despite circumstances. Joy comes directly from the heart of God, which is unchanging.

            The message of Christmas is that the very embodiment of joy arrived to the world in the person of Jesus. The very embodiment, the incarnation of joy, was born in that quiet, humble, manger over two thousand years ago. There was no fanfare, no parades, no big sales, or extravaganzas in or leading up to that moment.  The nativity scenes many people set up in their homes communicates this idea—the quiet serene arrival of joy into the world, to a people whose hearts ached for comfort.

             Joy came into the world as a little light that shone in the darkness-- as the light whicht pushed back the darkness. That’s the joy of Christmas. It’s not that the darkness disappears.  We all live with the darkness in the background. Some live in the heart of the darkness. But true joy is knowing that God’s light of eternal promise shines into it—that the source of true and lasting joy shines into it, that the light of resurrection dawn shines into it, and the darkness cannot overcome it.

        The light that came into the world two thousand years ago is the light of God’s promise for a New Creation, where there will be no more war, or exploitation, or poverty. Indeed there will be no more darkness at all. This is the resurrection promise which we celebrate at Easter, but also burns in our modest Advent candles.

            It does us well to actually mediate on and contemplate the Christmas Hymns we sing every year. . What are they saying? What are they really saying?  Compare and contrast them to secular Christmas music. Do so, and you will notice a startlingly different theology—a totally different message. What is celebrated in those hymns isn’t good time cheer, but foundational joy—foundational joy gifted to us, foundational joy which can not or ever be taken away from us.  It is that joy that even a person who is physically dying, in the end stages of life, can experience. It is the joy in knowing the love of God, which has come to us in Jesus. This is the good news of Christmas. 

              It is time for Christians everywhere to share the real meaning of Christmas. That might sound like a strange observation. Don’t people just know this? You might ask. No. No they don’t. The conditional, ‘if you are good then you will be rewarded” theology of the red coated elf who comes down the chimney is well known. The theology of grace, the unconditional love of God come into the world through Jesus is far less well known.  Yet it was the “Good News” theology of Jesus Christ, which inspired St Nicholas, the real Santa Claus, to give to needy children  way back in the 3^rd century.  It was a time of great difficulty for the Christian Church, which was heavily persecuted under the Roman Emperor. In those dark days the gifts of St Nicholas represented the ultimate gift of Christ coming into a dark and painful world.

            If  this Christmas is a  happy time for you, count that as a blessing. But if it is not, keep the true meaning of Christmas front and centre, receive the gift which God has placed before you—and it’s not a new toaster. It’s the joy of knowing that you have a Saviour—a Saviour who has brought good new to the oppressed, who has bound up the brokenhearted, proclaimed liberty to the captives, released the prisoners, comforts all who mourn, who has given garland instead of ashes, gladness instead of mourning, a mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. This Saviour will raise up ancient ruins.  God has made a New Covenant Through this Saviour.           

             We are in the third week of Advent, and we are surrounded by all which has come to define the holiday season.  But we are also surrounded by signs of God’s in-breaking kingdom. We see people giving, not to get, but out of love. We see people testifying to the joy of Christ in the hearts through actions of love.

            There is much talk this time of year about the “Spirit of Christmas.” This is the explanation secular society has developed to push a more uncomfortable truth to the side--and that is that Jesus Christ is doing something in the world, that the Holy Spirit sent by the Father and Son, is doing something. God is moving in the hearts of people. They may not know it. They may not know why, and from where this  spiritual joy comes-- joy, not momentary happiness .They need to know—need to know that all of the generosity that we see, all of the incredible acts of charity we see this time of year come from one place, one person--and that person is he who gives light to the world. When people speak about “finding Jesus” it sometimes gives the impression that he is hiding somewhere. But the work of Jesus Christ, the person of Jesus Christ, is plainly visible, visible in the small, easily overlooked light which shines in the darkness. May the peace, and indescribable joy of Christ shine in your hearts, and be a lamp to your feet this season and beyond. Amen.

JOIN US THIS CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Carol Sing Along: Sunday, December 18th, 7:00pm
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service: 5:00pm
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service with Holy Communion: 10:00pm
Christmas Day Service with Holy Communion: 10:30am

Lighting the candle of Love: The Second Sunday in Advent

THE   SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Today on this second Sunday in the season of Advent we have lit the second candle on the Advent wreath, the candle which represents love. And on this, the second Sunday, in the new church year we read the first chapter in the Gospel of Mark, which will be the main source of the church ’s gospel lessons for the next year.

        The gospel of Mark is considered by most scholars to be the foundational text for the synoptic gospels, the primary text upon which the writing of Matthew and Luke was based. And in this gospel account  begins with bold words of proclamation: “ The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

            Where does this story of good news begin? It begins in a far off wilderness,  with the proclamation of John the Baptist.  There, in that rugged landscape, the message about Jesus was first proclaimed and heard—the good news  message that a  Saviour was coming into the world to make all things new and right; the good news message that  the love of God was arriving on the scene in the flesh and blood person of Jesus, the Messiah. In Mark’s account there is no back story, no explanation, no geneology of Jesus. Mark’s gospel hits the ground running with John the Baptisters new and bold proclamation.

            The message was new and bold, but it was borne our of an old promise, the ancient promise God had made to Abraham, and to Isaac and to Jacob, a promise articulated by Isaiah.  And Isaiah, the Old Testament prophet who told the Jewish people of the coming Messiah, tells also of the coming of John, the bold uncompromising voice in the wilderness who shouted God’s promise--the promise  which is the basis of Christian proclamation; the promise  which comes from the loving heart of God.

            Today, we have lit the candle of love to represent the love of God shining forth in a world which knows too little of love. And this begs the question: Why? Why is this the case? Why is there so much want and neediness, so much loneliness and conflict?. Why are there such massive gaps of need in the world today?  How can human beings who profess love as such a high value, such a lofty virtue, be so unloving toward one another? How can even those people who confess allegiance to Jesus Christ be so indifferent to the plight of the needy? How does that happen?

            The answer lies in the long and ancient struggle, the contention, between humans and God.  God has sent the world his love, and humans have resisted it. God has given commandments, but humans have rejected them. God has gifted people with a vision, but humans have ignored it—ignored it in favour of their own self-styled good-news, which all too often becomes an empty promise. Back in 1967 the Beatles sang, “ all you need is love.” But those words ring hallow when we see that human love can be so fickle, can be choosy, stingy,  exclusive and selfish.

This is not so with the love of God  which is  manifested, seen, in God’s great promise to the world—and that is the promise to make all things new, and not just in some future time, but in the present time. Where is the proof of God’s loving promise? It is found in the life death and resurrection of Jesus. The love of God, working in and through the resurrection promise, can transform that human narrow vision into the broad loving vision of Jesus. It is true: All we need is love— this is true. But we really need is the kind of love which has defeated death; the kind of love not bound by human limitation.

Creation itself was an act of love. Human beings create out of love. I am sure that any artist or artisan will tell you that it is difficult to create unless they love what they are doing. So it was and is with God as God creates. The love of God brought the worlds into being, created all there is, and is creating a new world—and the first step of that new creation was the resurrection of Jesus. If there is anything Christians need to understand, it is the proclamation of New Creation. It is very much at the centre of Christian Faith. Bishop NT Wright, who some of you had seen on our video nights, has done an excellent job of highlighting this truth. You see, it is very easy to adopt quite a flat interpretation of creation and eternal life: the common view of the afterlife as a place of pearly gates and harps and that the physical world we live in will simply vanish and no longer be relevant.  In fact this is not the vision which is presented in the pages of scripture. What is presented is a vision of reality transformed; what is presented is a vision of a new creation. We get a glimpse of this vision from the prophet Isaiah in today’s reading.

It is in this new creation  that real, and lasting, and ultimately significant love is found. It is the kind of love  which is not bound by death, or blocked by pain, or shut out by poverty, or dampened by indifference. It is the kind of love which shines through darkness, . This is why Christians celebrate Christmas—it is the celebration  of arrival, arrival of  he who leads us into the light of the new creation. During Advent we anticipate this arrival in memory, and anticipate Christ’s ultimate arrival to make all things right. The followers of Jesus anticipate in patience the fulfillment of the promise.

But in the meantime there is darkness. But the darkness cannot overpower the light of God’s love which radiates from his promise of a new creation.. When John first proclaimed the arrival of the Messiah, he did so in a very dark time. Those of you who joined us for the four part video series saw how the Jewish people were oppressed by the mighty and sometimes brutal Roman Empire. You saw how people were searching for answers, looking for a way out .

Well—this kind of situation continues as humans seek escape from  the strange and painful wilderness which life can too often be. People are hungry for answers and desperate for love. Yes, people are desperate for love in the romantic sense, of course. And many are looking in all the wrong places, as the song goes. But people are desperate also for a foundational love—a foundational love of their being, of their very being.  And many are also searching for that kind of love in all the wrong places.

But none of those places are the promised land. None of those places will lead you to where you really want to go.

God’s promise says that there will be escape—more than escape--. God’s promise says that there will be more than escape and relief, but that the darkness itself will disappear. You will perhaps find no clearer description of the New Creation, what it will look like and be like than what  we read in the words of Isaiah. And in that New Creation, there will no longer be separation between God and humanity. There in the promised land, in the New Jerusalem, there will be a great and ongoing agape feast, a feast of love, a feast of celebration, celebration of eternal life, no more death, no more pain, no more suffering, no more loneliness or pain or exile in wilderness, nothing but love. This is the world Christians anticipate; this is the coming Kingdom. Now that is a rich picture that puts to shame any popular caricature of what heaven will be like. But the good news is that the agape feast, the love feast, yes it will happen in its fullness in the future, but a part of it also happens in the present. There is a small porthole which lets us be part of that great celebration, and that happens in Holy Communion, the agape feast, the great foretaste of the eternal feast. In this small feast of wine and bread, God’s love becomes uniquely manifested in our lives.

 It is a sign of God’s love for us, just as Baptism is a sign of God’s love for us, just as God’s word of forgiveness to us is a sign of God’s love for us..  Such love breaks through the darkness and shines a light in our hearts like nothing else can.   The love present in the agape feast, of Holy Communion, the foretaste of the feast to come, is not boxed in and contained, it spreads out and through the Christian Community. The love present in the Word of Forgiveness and New Life, transforms us in the light of God’s New Creation, as we move through this old creation as children of the New Creation, as Ambassadors of God’s love.

Christ’s light has shone on us and we are called to reflect that love. The heart of  the Christmas celebration is not that the darkness of this age has been removed from our lives in the present, or that everything is okay in the world because  December 25   is around the corner.

The heart of the Christmas celebration is knowing that a Saviour came into the world to defeat the darkness--darkness which is here for a time, but will ultimately dissappear. May the light of God’s love illuminate your path, and the peace which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Lighting the candle of hope: First Sunday in Advent

 Mark 13:24-37

Today we have lit the first candle on the advent wreath—the hope candle. We have lit the first candle in this season of anticipation, the season of advent, the season when the church waits, in memory, for the coming of the Messiah, and waits his coming again.

      Today, as this first candle burns, we begin a new church year, a new cycle that will take us through Christmas,  Epiphany,Lent, Easter ,and Pentecost. Through all of those days, Christian Worship will be fueled by hope—hope which the world cannot give, but comes only through the cross, and through the resurrection of Jesus.

            Today as this hope candle burns, its light breaks through the darkness to enlighten hearts and minds to the reality of Christian hope—to the hope which this world so desperately craves and needs, both as individuals and as a society--but so rarely knows.

            You don’t need to be a theologian, philosopher, or psychologist to know that hope is important, and that its opposite, hopelessness, is emotionally and  spiritually crippling. You don’t need a PHd in sociology to know that people in this world are looking for hope, looking for a sign that the future will be different and better, that hands are outstreached , reaching for just a bit of comfort.

            Yet, where are people looking? Where are people, in this time and place, investing their hope?  Where are the popular places and sources people turn to to satisfy that deep down longing for the good life?

          Well, Money, financial success—this is a popular source. The thinking behind this is logical enough. After all, money means more resources, more security, less worry, more comfort, more possibility, more pleasure. And this is certainly true—money can do that.. But money can only go so far. There is a definite limit to its power.

           So where what else do people affix their hope? Well, people who are suffering with various illnesses and struggling with infirmity, with emotional and mental illnesses often turn to medicine and psychology. And while these arts can  and do bring healing, and the hope invested in them is legitimate, they have  their limits. There are limits to the healing  sciences and arts. You don’t have to be a medical doctor to know that there are diseases which cannot be cured, injuries which cannot be healed, mental and emotional scars so deep that even the best therapies cannot totally erase them.

            Many look to governments, politicians, and political movements to create real sustainable change and give real, foundational hope to the world. Yes, history has seen remarkable, incredible change—positive, progressive advances. Yet even these cannot provide ultimate hope—because even the most progressive advance cannot defeat the ultimate enemy.

            In the final analysis, it must be concluded that humans, by themselves cannot give the world ultimate hope, because, at the root of our hope, at the core, at the heart of the matter is the hope that death would be no more—that death would be defeated, that death would be annihilated. That is the basic and fundamental human hope—the death of death.

            Now, denial of the deathly undercurrent  which flows beneath human life, can keep people going for a while. People can move about their lives not thinking about this very much—that is until it strikes either through  a physical death or  the death of an important aspect of life—job loss, marital break-up, loss of function and ability.

           There has been much talk about the acceptance of death, and the healthiness of that acceptance, and that might be true as a person moves through grief and loss of a loved one.  But a moments reflection shows that there is something fundamentally unacceptable about death, something foundationally objectionable and revolting  and wrong about this reality—and it has been that way since human beings first walked the face of the earth.

            It is that way as human beings walk through barren landscapes, hospital wards, and crowded shopping malls, impoverished neighbourhoods, during the course of the next four weeks. True hope,  which is hope against this realty of death, cannot be given by the world. It cannot be found in science. It cannot be found on the physical plain of life—it is spiritual.

            A moments’ reflection shows that more people are expressing an interest in the spiritual. “ I am spiritual but not religious” has become a popular statement, especially in this city, over the last ten years. But what does that mean? Well, it basically means I can pick and choose what work for me and what doesn’t and live my life accordingly. I decide.  But where is the hope in that? Where is the defeat of death in self-styled “take it or leave it “spirituality?  I leave you to ponder that question.

            But as much as Christians might be critical of hip, New Age spirituality, we must admit, that, at least, people are  asking those deeper questions.  A more genuine existence is being sought beyond superficial materialism. People want to go to a deeper level, and it as that deeper level where the Christian proclamation can be heard, where that most audacious statement can at least be given a chance to be heard, where  the seed of Christian hope can be planted.

            A few years ago, Barack Obama wrote a book called the Audacity of Hope—and this is title speaks a truth. For Christian hope is audacious. For it is making an astounding claim, and that claim is that death has been defeated, that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the ultimate enemy has been destroyed. The tomb of Jesus was empty, so will our tombs  will be empty as well.

            But the skeptic asks. Then why is death present in our world today? Why is there so much suffering?  The answer is that while death has been defeated, the world still walks in darkness. Sin and evil feed on the darkness. Sin and evil feed on anxiety and fear and doubt.   

The kingdom of God is the small candle which pushes back the darkness, the kingdom of God is here in the here and now, it has yet to be established in its fullness.  When that day comes there will be no more darkness to push back—all will be light. That will happen when Christ returns again in glory—and that return is what we anticipate today.  That is the hope which shines in the darkness—the hope that death and suffering will disappear from our lives.

            Now this hope is not a vague wish, like hoping for a new set of golf clubs for Christmas. This hope is unlike any other hope the world has ever seen—because it is fixed to a promise, God’s promise, the promise of an empty tomb who has reversed the death sentence. 

            Living with the empty tomb on the horizon, changes life in the here and now because it means that the deaths we suffer through and bear the scars of do not have power over us. 

            In the next four weeks, the church anticipates him. But in the next four weeks the world will be anticipating something else. The holiday season has officially begun, and the frenzy has started. The endless round of popular Christmas song played through shopping centre speakers, the dash for the best deals, the round of parties, the planning for dinners—the joy and stress of Christmas is upon us. And there is a lot of pressure—pressure to be  chipper and happy,  But this won’t be a particularly holly jolly time for everybody. For the people struggling to make ends meet, who cannot give their children the best toys, for the people struggling with infirmity, for the people grieving the death of a loved one, for the victims of crime and accidents,  Christmas will not be easy for people who bear life’s heaviest burdens. For them the candy-cane coated frenzy will  not be particularly life giving or hopeful.

            But what is life-giving , what is hopeful is true Hope, true hope which shines in the darkness, which pushes the darkness back.

       We have  symbolically lit that candle today and boldly proclaim He who gives life. Yesterday, this congregation went down to feed  the poorest, most desperate  people in this city with lunch, and thereby shone the light of hope in their lives—if but for a moment.  If but for a moment, we witnessed to the Lord of Hope, the Lord of the empty tomb.          

         Through bowls of stew, serving hands, and smiling faces, this congregation, individually and collectively proclaimed Christ. We could make that proclamation because Christ is our light, our light of hope, whose shines in our hearts and shines in the darkness. We have been launched into this new year of the church with God’s Word of hope—hope that God has and will make all things new. May the newness of God’s coming kingdom shine in your hearts and mind today and forever.Amen.

          

           

JOIN US FOR THE SEASON OF ADVENT!

Sunday, November 27th, is the first Sunday in the season of Advent, the season of anticipation.
Advent is the  church season which leads to Christmas. But it is more than a "lead up" to merry-making and present-opening. Come and find out the true meaning of Advent.
        Please join us  for  Advent services, Sunday, 10:30am.
        Each Sunday in Advent, Pastor Thomas will be preaching on the meaning on the Advent Wreath, beginning with a discussion of the first lit, purple, candle--the candle of the hope. What is hope? How can true hope be realized in the world and in our lives? How can one experience ultimate hope in  what can seem to be a hopeless world?
        These questions will be answered this upcoming Sunday in the first series of advent sermons. Laying on of hands and prayers of healing will also be offered during the course of Advent. Please note the following dates and themes.

November 27th: Hope. (First Purple Candle)
December 4th:   Preparation (Second Purple Candle)
December 11th: Joy(Pink Candle)
December 18th: Love( Third Purple Candle)

Join us this Reformation Sunday, October 30th

This Sunday, 10:30am, Dunbar Evangelical Lutheran Church will be  celebrating Reformation Sunday -- commemorating the Reformation, when the Good News of the Gospel emerged from behind medieval darkness to enlighten hearts and minds with the  True Word of Jesus Christ.
     What does it mean for a church to be in "reformation?" It means to be refreshed and revived with the truth as revealed in the pages of scripture. It means to be comforted again by knowing the saving work of Christ. It means to let go of humanly constructed agendas--whether they be personal or cultural-- and trust in He who has done all for us--Jesus Christ.

Sermon: Luke: Luke 17:11-19

Today this nation celebrates Thanksgiving. This is not a day on the church Calendar, but it is still a special day—a day in which people come together to eat, to give thanks for all the gifts they have been given. Our neighbours to the south also celebrate Thanksgiving Day, but theirs will not occur until November. I confess my bias in saying this, but I much prefer Canadian Thanksgiving. This is not simply a mater of national loyalty, but because Canadian Thanksgiving  is  more specifically connected in an older festival—harvest festival which British and European churches celebrates a specific and very important event in the yearly life cycle—and that is the harvest.  You will notice that today we have decorated the church with pumpkins and squash. The celebration of Canadian Thanksgiving as an official holiday on the second Monday in October is not that old—just over fifty years. On January 31^st 957, the Canadian Parliament proclaimed “ A Day of General Thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed—to be Observed on the 2^nd Monday in October.”

            On Thursday evening I returned home from Saskatoon. And in that province, amongst farming families, Thanksgiving is a very big deal. The crops have made it through and have been harvested. Within farming culture the celebration of Thanksgiving has a special significance, it is rooted in something very concrete. The fattened Turkey and variety of vegetables come out of what has been grown and harvested.

            As people living largely in an urban context, in cities, and suburbs, who do not farm for a living, we might miss the full significance of this event—even though our lives depend on a bountiful harvest. It is easy for us to lose sight of the basis, the reason, for this special meal of thanks.

            Every Sunday Christians gather in worship to give thanks to God. And just like Thanksgiving, the reason for the thanks can fade into the background or even be forgotten.

            Thinking about Thanksgiving, Contemplate this question for a second, “ Why should we give thanks to God?” The answer which might spring to some minds is, “ Well, God wants us to” or “we’re supposed to” or “the Bible tells us we should” I don’t want to look our of place in church when everyone else says, ‘ Thanks be to God.”

            Yes, this is true, God wants us to be thankful. But if  a sense of duty is all which motivates us—that’s kind of sad really.. When we look at giving thanks in our human relationships we can see why. If I were to answer the question, “ Why should we  say thank you to someone who has done something good for us, or given us a nice present?” with answers such as “because I feel I need to”, or “it would be impolite not to.” or “I really should” you would undoubtedly think there is something missing in  me and my experience of receiving a gift.

            And what would be missing is sincerity, and true appreciation for the gift, and true joy in receiving the gift.. In our relationships with each other most people believe that expressions of appreciation should be sincere—real responses born out of true appreciation.

            Yet how often does God receive that?

            On this day, millions of people will gather for Thanksgiving meals.  How many people who regularly attend church, will not attend because of the holiday? How many people will give thanks to God before they eat? How many will give thanks to the source from which life, and breath, and all good things flow? How many people truly live with an attitude of gratitude this day and beyond? How many people will sit down today focused on all the things they don’t have instead of the gifts which overflow before them?

            Most people would agree that greed is not good. Yet what is greed? Greed is an attitude, an attitude born out of a disparity mentality. “I do not have enough. I need more”. One Turkey drumstick isn’t enough. I need another—need another despite the fact that I have high cholesterol, and my belly is grotesquely distended. Yet I will take that drumstick, even though Uncle Charlie hasn’t had one, would love just to have a half of one, a quarter of one, even just  a small piece of one. “Too, bad, I need it, and I take it.”  And if I don’t get it, I’ll pout, and feel hard-done by, and resentful, and impoverished, and blind to the great gift I have been given in receiving even one drumstick. That’s the mentality of greed in operation. And Greed makes thanksgiving impossible, so does selfishness, and self centredness.

            It is a sad irony that it is often the people who have been blessed with  an abundance who lack appreciation. And when we’re honest with ourselves, we know that we all fall into this category at one point or another—especially those of us who play golf. A few weeks ago I had an exceptionally bad hole. I wound up in the sand trap. it took me about three shots to get out, only to land in the sand trap across the green. Another five shots or so got me back into the first sand trap.  In those moments my attitude was not one of appreciation.—appreciation for the fact that I was privileged to  have several good holes, appreciation for even being able to  play in the first place.

          Perhaps the greatest display of thankfulness for any meal I ever saw did not occur in a dining room in front of a turkey, but in a palliative care ward in Saskatoon. Here a young man lay nearing the final stages of terminal cancer. It had been a long time since he enjoyed a Turkey dinner, but he asked for one thing, one thing , one food item more than anything else in that moment, and that was orange flavoured ice cream. And his mother gave him that. Not a lot—his stomach wouldn’t be able to handle it, Just a couple of spoonfuls. This turned out to be too much as he wasn’t able to keep it down. But that moment, the moment that ice cream hit his taste-buds, were lived in total and utter appreciation.

            In today’s gospel lesson we hear of another person who was grateful for the gift he had been given—the Samaritan leaper.  Jesus had healed him, and, in gratitude, he lay himself before Jesus on the ground. The other nine didn’t do that. But this man did. This non-Jewish outsider praised Jesus, and truly appreciated the gift of healing Jesus had given him.

            Jesus has given us a great gift also—the gift of divine forgiveness, the gift of eternal life, the gift of Grace, the gift of his Word of Life. Yet, how thankful are we really?

            Today, as we live in what many call a post-Christian culture, it is often said that God is love, and God loves people unconditionally, almost as if folks like to tell God what God’s job is.” God your job is to love me no matter what I do.” “God your job is to make me rich”. “God your job is to help the Canucks win the Stanley Cup.”

          Yes,  God is love, scripture tells us that God is love. But scripture also tells us that God loves righteousness; God loves his perfectly holy law. and scripture also tells us that humanity lives in sin, has departed from God’s Holy Will, and the wage of that departure is death, eternal death, damnation.

            Through Jesus Christ God has saved humanity from that fate. Can there be any greater gift than that? Through the blood of  God’s own begotten son, the world has been gifted with forgiveness. Martin Luther put it succinctly. Where there is forgiveness of sin, there is new life and salvation.  The good news of the gospel is that God has done all through Jesus Christ. There is nothing we need to do to earn salvation. It is unconditional, but not unconditional in some warm and fuzzy humanistic psychology way.

            The Grace of God was born out of a great cost, and, as the great German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, what is  costly to God should never be cheapened by us. Rather, an attitude of gratitude is the fitting response to all God has given to us. Sincere worship, disciplined devotion ,and a life lived out in faith and good works is  the fitting response. We have been given all we need. In Baptism and Holy Communion, Jesus Christ is truly present and tells us that.

            I invite you to specially attend to the words spoken before the Holy Communion. This is called the great thanksgiving. If you see this as simple ritual action, your not seeing its significance.  It begins with the worship leader saying “The Lord Be with You.”

            This in itself is huge. While it is proclaimed by the pastor—it is not the word of the pastor. It is God’s word of promise working in and through the worship leader, just as “And also with you” is the word working in and through the congregation.  Pastor and congregation proclaim to each other God’s promise—the promise that the Lord is with you. It’s so easy to just hear that, take it for granted, to not see it for what it is, and take it for what it is, which is God’s promise.

            But the preface reminds us that it is indeed  our right, our duty, and our joy that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to God for sending his son into this world  for us—for our salvation. That’s  the great thanksgiving—the great thanksgiving for the greatest promise ever made, thanksgiving for what is about to happen here in this place when Christ comes to us spiritually and physically in the bread and the wine. When we eat and drink that promise, there is no doubt that it is meant for us.

            God has not chosen to do what he could do—which is leave humanity in its miserable state of alienation—just as he could have left the Israelites in the land of poisonous snakes and scorpions.

            God didn’t have to save us. And those hard passages of scripture, the ones that are hard to hear—those remind us of God’s wrath, what he could have done.  Jesus tells us to fear the one who has the power to destroy body and soul in hell.  When he tells us that he is not teaching us to live in fear but to realize the power of God.—and to smash any human presumption about what God should or should not do. God chose instead to save us, out of his great love for  us and the world he chose to send his son into the world to save the world, to restore a broken creation, and to bring about a new creation. But the fact is that this word of promise needs to be heard again and again because the sinner is resistant—the sinner in us wants to shut it out, because the sinner wants to be in charge and give thanks to no-one, especially not God. This is why attending church regularly is so important,  it is to hear God’s great promise to you.  But its not just about us. God has saved us and has entrusted us with the task of proclaiming this good news as gift for others, so that they too would be fed and nourished—spiritually and physically.

            Today is one day on the national calandar—but for Christians Thanksgiving is a lifestyle. So today, as everyday, we are called to give thanks to the trinue God who has done all for us, and given us the tremendous gift of peace. Now may that peace, the peace which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

           

           

Thank you to friends and neighbours for joining us for our neighbourhood barbecue

Dear friends and neighbours of Dunbar Lutheran Church:

Thank you for joining us as we flipped burgers, drank far too much pop, wore goofy hats, and had an all-round good time. Thank you also to the congregation with whom we share our building, " Bread of Life" Church, who donated hamburgers, hot-dogs, and desserts. The balloon artist was fantastic(apologies her name escapes me at the moment).

Musical  ambience was  Abbla Banji and his steel drum and grooving sound. Click above to hear a samples of his work. He can be booked for a variety of functions. Contact abanjimp@yahoo.ca

God Bless you,
Pastor Thomas

Neighbourhood Barbecue this Saturday, Sept 24th, and "Back to church Sunday", September 25th

Please join us for a neighbourhood barbecue, this upcoming Saturday, September 24th with free food, entertainment, and an opportunity to meet and greet neighbours!

If you haven't been to church in  a while--or have never been--September the 25th is the perfect opportunity. Please join us at 10:30am for traditional song, God's Word of forgiveness, and an answer to the question "Why should I go to church?"


Looking forward to seeing you!

Peace and Blessings from Dunbar Lutheran Church