Christmas Carols Service
Welcome/Announcements
God Moments
Indigenous Land
Acknowledgement
Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples have occupied and cared for the land which many call Canada. In our worship together this day, in this area, we gather on the traditional land of the Wabanaki peoples, predominantly the lands of the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy. As a community of faith, we seek to rebuild right relations with these people, to learn from them and to live on this land, their land with respect and gratitude for its creation and Creator.
Lighting
the Christ Candle
220MV Hope Shines as
the Solitary Star
faith is the inner light
You and I together
mirror the Light of Lights,
and illumine the pathway
home.
Centering
for Worship with VU 59 Joy to the World
Opening
Prayer
Praise the Living God!
Praise God from the heavens:
Sun and moon and shining stars, praise the Living God!
Praise God’s Holy Name,
whose word speaks all things into being,
who is present in the expanse of the universe,
and in the voices of children.
Praise the Living God,
our rescuer and deliverer,
whose wonder is found in the heavens and in all creation,
who comes in innocence, and with mercy.
O God, our light, our beauty, our rest:
With the appearance of your Son you have brought us
into your new creation.
Form
us into your people, and root our lives in you;
through
Christ, the Living Light.
Hymn Go, Tell It on the Mountain” VU 43
Hearing God’s Word
Isaiah 35:1‒10
The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the
wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, 2 it
will burst into bloom;
it
will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the
splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord,
the
splendor of our God.
3 Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady
the knees that give way;
4 say to those with fearful
hearts,
“Be
strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he
will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he
will come to save you.”
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and
the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a
deer,
and
the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and
streams in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool,
the
thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
grass
and reeds and papyrus will grow.
8 And a highway will be there;
it
will be called the Way of Holiness;
it
will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
wicked
fools will not go about on it.
9 No lion will be there,
nor
any ravenous beast;
they
will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
10 and those the Lord has
rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting
joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and
sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Hymn - “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” VU
64
Story
In 1865, the famous
preacher and abolitionist Phillip Brooks rode on horseback from Jerusalem to
Bethlehem and participated in the Church of the Nativity's Christmas Eve
celebration. In response to his experience there, he wrote the now-famous carol
“O Little Town of Bethlehem,” which was first performed by the children’s choir
of his church a few years later. Unlike many Christmas carols, the lyrics of
this reflective and hopeful song are set in the present tense rather than the
past. The author’s experience of wonder and awe are palpable and cover the
seemingly great distance between the birth of Christ then and our experience of
it now.
Isaiah 11:1‒9
11 A
shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from
his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the
Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the
Spirit of counsel and of might,
the
Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the
fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or
decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will
judge the needy,
with
justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with
the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
and
faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the
leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together;
and
a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their
young will lie down together,
and
the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the
cobra’s den,
and
the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on
all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of
the Lord
as
the waters cover the sea.
Hymn
- “Good King Wenceslas”
Story
Though the tune is
taken from a much older madrigal, John Mason Neale’s “Good King Wenceslas”
(1853) is about a man who braves winter storms during Saint Stephen’s Day
(December 26) to help his poorer neighbours. The story it tells is based on a
real person—Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia—who was assassinated by his own
brother and had been adored by his subjects. His charity and popularity
eventually led to his being named the patron saint of the Czech Republic.
This carol is beloved
by many, in large part because of the evocative story images and the
possibility for performance. Traditionally, the part of the Page (the king’s
assistant) is sung by a treble voice, while the King is sung by a bass voice.
However, in a congregational setting, the same could be achieved by assigning a
part to higher and lower voices, or children and adults, or one half of the
church and the other, with everyone joining together for the non-dialogue
parts. The whole thing is quite a bit of fun, especially since the
opportunities to sing this simple Christmas story are so few.
Isaiah 9:2‒7
2 The people walking in darkness
have
seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a
light has dawned.
3 You have enlarged the nation
and
increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as
people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
when
dividing the plunder.
4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
you
have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the
bar across their shoulders,
the
rod of their oppressor.
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and
every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will
be fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to
us a son is given,
and
the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince
of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his
government and peace
there
will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and
over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with
justice and righteousness
from
that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will
accomplish this.
Hymn “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear,” VU 44
Story
Written by
Massachusetts Unitarian minister Edmund Sears, this pastoral-sounding carol
carries a much deeper meaning than simply retelling the birth of Jesus. Sears
hoped to offer an uplifting message amid the great poverty he was witness to
and to remind people that God, in the form of a child, had entered a world
sorely in need of love and peace. Richard Storrs Willis’ tune, CAROL, paired
with the words only a year later, gave the carol its lasting appeal and one of
its two most common tunes, the other being NOËL.
A very fine movie made
in 1992, A Midnight Clear, tells the story of American and German soldiers
laying aside their weapons on Christmas Eve of 1944. The story ends tragically,
as miscommunication causes hostilities to resume. Yet, the powerful third verse
of the carol, with its invitation to hush the noise of battle in order to hear
God’s “love song” to the earth and all people, is a strong one. This carol
speaks gently, yet powerfully, God’s word of peace amid strife and weariness.
Isaiah 63:7‒9
7 I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord,
the
deeds for which he is to be praised,
according
to all the Lord has done for us—
yes, the many good things
he
has done for Israel,
according
to his compassion and many kindnesses.
8 He said, “Surely they are my people,
children
who will be true to me”;
and
so he became their Savior.
9 In all their distress he too was
distressed,
and
the angel of his presence saved them.[a]
In his love and mercy he redeemed them;
he
lifted them up and carried them
all
the days of old.
Hymn “Silent Night, Holy Night” VU 67
Story
In 1816, Father Joseph
Mohr wrote the poem “Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!” while stationed at a pilgrim
church in Mariapfarr, Austria. Two years later, now at St. Nicholas’ church in
Oberndorf, he asked Franz Gruber to set the poem for guitar and choir, which
the two performed on Christmas Eve of 1818. Since then, a legend has grown
around the circumstances of this collaboration, beginning with a broken organ
at St. Nicholas’ and ending with a dramatic, last-minute musical setting for
the now-familiar carol. To what extent the legend of the carol’s origins is
true is perhaps less important than its beauty and simplicity.
Your Generosity Matters/ Our Gifts are Presented
In the gifts of word
and song,
we hear the story of
your gift of life, O God.
Here, we offer what we
can of ourselves,
we who are part of that
same story.
Thank you for bringing hope to so many.
Credit: Scopio (Canva)
As we look
forward to the New Year and all the hope and possibility 2025 will bring, it’s
also a time to reflect on the growth we experienced in 2024. Through moments of
peace and challenge, joy and sorrow, it has been a true blessing to witness God
at work through people like you.
Amid
earthquakes, conflict, economic struggles, hunger, and more, you have
consistently asked, “How can we help?” Thank you for holding our neighbors in
warm, compassionate care throughout a challenging year. Together, you have
helped put food on tables, rebuild communities after disasters, provide
life-saving medication, educate children, and so much more.
Your gifts
continue to support our partners as they respond to urgent needs in Canada and
around the world, bringing hope and breaking down barriers so that they can
keep doing their vital work. As we reflect on this past year and welcome the
new one, we are deeply grateful for your support of Mission and Service.
Thank you for bringing hope to so many.
Prayers of the People/ Lord’s Prayer
As you have drawn us to
your cradle of wondrous love, O God,
draw us together in
this place, that we might
pray for your people
and your world.
Today, we give you
thanks for the gift of your child, Jesus Christ,
who in birth, life,
death, and resurrection revealed
your unending love for
all people and opened to us
the purpose and promise
of life together.
We give thanks also for
the gifts of this season:
hope for the vision of
justice you promise, even in the midst of despair;
for peace within and
among your people, even in the midst of conflict;
joy found in reunion
and celebration, even amid the challenges of this life;
and love, with the
power to transform and heal all things, even in the midst of brokenness.
We pray for those who
still long for these, your gifts, God of Love:
for those who will
spend this season alone or anxious…
for those who grieve an
empty place at the table this year…
for those who are ill,
in body or in spirit…
for those in hospital
and in care…
for those who endure
the terror of conflict and oppression…
for those who will go
hungry this day, and who long for the simplest of creation’s gifts…
for your people and
your world, we pray, O God.
Let us listen to the
angels’ song again, your song of love for this world.
Move us to return that
song in what we say and do,
that we may be
instruments of your hope and peace and joy and love.
We pray these things in
the name of Jesus, who became the Christ,
and who taught us when
we pray to say, Our Father…
Hymn: VU 48 Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.
Sending
Forth (responsive)
As we go from this
place of worship,
may we never get so
involved
in our day-to-day lives
that we don’t make room
for Jesus.
May we not be so
self-centred
that we fail to notice
God in others
and at work in our
world.
Through the power of
the Holy Spirit,
we are ever in God’s
presence.
May we go forth
remembering Emmanuel!
Emmanuel!
God is with us! Amen.
Written by Carol Frost, Minnedosa U.C. Minnedosa, Man
Gathering Advent/Christmas/Epiphany 2019-2020
Page 40 Used with permission
Sung
New Year’s Blessing
by Timothy Haut, tune Auld Land Syne
May
God be with us, every one,
in
this unfolding year,
and
love bring healing in its wings
and
faith cast out all fear.
May
rainbows glow with shining light
o’er
all our deepest pain,
and
grace and joy touch every day
and
bless us all again!
Musical Postlude
Most of this service is © 2019 The United
Church of Canada. Licenced under Creative Commons Attribution non-commercial
Share Alike Licence. www.united-church.ca/worship-theme/advent-unwrapped.
Christmas Eve 2024
Faith Memorial United Church
Words
of Welcome and Invitation to Settle In
Whether
you are a regular part of our congregation, or you are in town visiting family
and friends for the holidays, or if you’re not entirely sure why you are here
at all, except that you felt some mysterious sense of wanting to be in church
somewhere or, less mysteriously, a family member or friend invited you, or
maybe dragged you here and you came, wanting to please them.
Maybe
you are here for wonder, for comfort or a chance to begin again.
Maybe
you ae here simply to catch your breath and reflect on the beauty of this
night.
Whatever
your reason for being here, we are glad you are here.
I
invite you to settle in, to settle your bones and open your heart and give
yourself over to worship the One who gives us the gift of himself, a gift meant
for sharing.
Hymn: 60
VU O Come All Ye Faithful
Candle-Lighting
Liturgy
On
Christmas Eve, the eve of Jesus’ birth, we relight each candle on our wreath,
remembering the gifts he brings.
We
light the candle of HOPE
as we
embrace the light brought into this world by the Christ child.
(candle is lit)
We
light the candle of PEACE
peace
brought to us by the Prince of Peace. (candle is lit)
We
light the candle of JOY
as we
delight in welcoming baby Jesus. (candle is lit)
We
light the candle of LOVE
as we
celebrate God’s great gift of love. (candle is lit)
And
finally, the moment we have been anticipating, we light the Christ candle
in
celebration of the Christ child’s birth. We breathe deeply as the Spirit enters
our hearts. (Christ candle is lit)
Hymn: (tune
of Hope is a Star)
Light of the world, it flickers
yet flames,
simple and humble salvation
proclaims.
When God is a child, there’s joy in
our song,
the last shall be first, and the
weak shall be strong,
and none shall be afraid.
Prayer:
Holy God, we thank you for the gift of
your Son, Jesus, and for the hope, peace, joy and love of his coming to be with
us. In our world too often overshadowed by injustice and uncertainty, open our
hearts to receive him anew. As we celebrate this good news of great joy for all
people and hear again this old, old story, may we rejoice with angels and tell
others of the light that pierces the shadows. We pray in the name of Emmanuel,
God with us. Amen.
A Story for all Ages: (Song of the
Stars: A Christmas Story by Sally Lloyd-Jones)
To listen to this story, click here:
Hymn: 69 VU
Away in a Manger
As we prepare to hear the Christmas
story through scripture and hymns, it is good for us to be reminded that God
did not wait for an ideal time for Jesus to be born, when things were perfect
in the world. As Madeleine L’Engle in
this little poem points out to us, in sending Jesus, God dared to take a risk.
The Risk of Birth
by Madeleine
L'Engle
This is no time for a child to be
born,
With the earth betrayed by war & hate
And a comet slashing the sky to warn
That time runs out & the sun burns late.
That was no time for a child to be born,
In a land in the crushing grip of Rome;
Honor & truth were trampled to scorn—
Yet here did the Savior make His home.
When is the time for love to be born?
The inn is full on the planet earth,
And by a comet the sky is torn—
Yet Love still takes the risk of birth.
And so even here, even now, with all
that is going on in our world in this year 2024, God takes that same risk. Let
us listen for the good news of this special night.
Isaiah 9: 2-4,6-7
2 ]The
people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
3 You have multiplied exultation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.
4 For the yoke of their burden
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
6 For a
child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders,
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Great will be his authority,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Hymn: 1 VU
(vs. 1 and 7) O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Luke 1: 26-38
26 In the
sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called
Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was
Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And
he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But
she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this
might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid,
Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you
will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He
will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God
will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He
will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no
end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I
am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit
will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of
God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age
has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month for her who was said to
be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with
God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the
Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from
her.
Hymn: 48 VU
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Luke 2:1-7
In
those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be
registered. 2 This was the first registration and
was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All
went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph
also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David
called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of
David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to
whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While
they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And
she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid
him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.
Hymn: 64 VU (vs. 1,3,4) O
Little Town of Bethlehem
Luke 2:8-14
8 Now in
that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over
their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood
before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were
terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be
afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the
people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a
Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be
a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a
manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory
to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
Hymn: 44 VU
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
Luke 2: 15-20
15 When the
angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,
“Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the
Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and
found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. 17 When
they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child, 18 and
all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, 19 and
Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The
shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and
seen, just as it had been told them.
Hymn: 43 VU
Go Tell it on the Mountain
Meditation:
In the story book that I shared with
you earlier, I liked the idea that not just human beings but all the creatures from
the forests and the fields, the seas and the skies, anticipated and proclaimed
the excitement of the good news of Christ’s birth. If you remember, one by one
as they stirred in the forests, the rivers and the sky, they shouted, “It’s
time. It’s time.”
Poet Lucinda Hynett in her poem Hush
captures some of this excitement and anticipation:
Sssh.
Can you hear it?
An expectant silence,
a hushed anticipation,
as if the very galaxy
is holding its breath.
There are some truths
even the stars know,
like darkness,
like loneliness
and how the night
can be a living thing.
And how once, long ago,
the night waited in wonder
along with the darkness
and the loneliness,
for the sound of a baby’s cry,
for the miraculous
to come down
to the earth mundane.
For the
creatures in this book, it was time when, one by one, they made their way to
the manger and ‘gazed in wonder at God’s great gift’
I have
been thinking lately about the various Christmas traditions that we have in our
households or perhaps the traditions from our childhood days. At what point in
these traditions do you always have that feeling in your heart that Christmas
has arrived, that “it is time”-
-maybe it
when you bring the Christmas tree into the house and put the angel or star on
the top
-maybe it
when you take your favorite Christmas cookies out of the oven
-maybe it
is when you get that annual phone call or email or card from an old friend
-perhaps
it is when a certain loved one arrives home from away
-maybe it
is when you hear your favorite Christmas carol for the first time
- maybe
it is when you attend a program or concert at the school or watch one of those
classic Christmas movies on tv.
- or when
you watch the joy on someone’s face as they open their gifts
- at
church, it might be when we light the Christ Candle in our wreath, or maybe
when we dim the lights and hold our tea candles as we sing Silent Night
I wonder
when Mary realized that it was Christmas for her?
-was it
when the angel Gabriel showed up with startling news?
-was it
after she visited with Elizabeth and sang her song of praise?
-was it
when she heard her baby’s first cry? Or when the angels or shepherds came?
-or was
it still later when as Luke tells it, “She treasured all their words and
pondered them in her heart?”
At what
point do we say to ourselves, the good news of Christmas has arrived. It is
time.
As I was
reflecting this week, I came across a story that helped me discover when the
good news of great joy for all people really arrives for each and every one of
us.
It’s a
story told by a minister about a church where he once served. Turns out there
was a Christmas nativity pageant in this church this one particular year. The
manger was down in the front of the chancel steps. Mary was there in her blue
robe and Joseph had a cotton beard. The wise men were there, along with a
handful of shepherds, and of course in the midst of them all was the Christ
child, lying in the straw. The minister was reading the nativity story aloud with
carols in all the appropriate places, much like we did here today. All went
like clockwork until it came time for the arrival of the angels of the heavenly
host represented by children of the congregation, who were robed in white and
scattered throughout the pews with their parents.
At the
right moment, they were supposed to come forward and gather around the manger
saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on peace, goodwill to all.” And that
is just what they did except there were so many of them that there was a fair
deal of crowding and jockeying for position, with the result that one
particular angel, a girl about 9 yrs old who was smaller than most of them,
ended up so far out on the fringes of things that not even by craning her neck
and standing on tiptoe could she see what was going on. “Glory to God in the
highest and peace, goodwill to all,” they sang on cue, and then in a momentary
pause that followed, the small girl electrified the entire church by crying out
in a voice filled with irritation and frustration and enormous sadness in
having her view blocked:
“Let
Jesus show.”
There was
still a lot of the service to go but this minister said that one of the best
things he ever did in his life was to end the service precisely there. “Let
Jesus show” the little girl had cried out and while the congregation was still
sitting in stunned silence, this minister pronounced the benediction, and
everyone filed out of the church with those unforgettable words ringing in
their ears.
For the
minister, that year, those words “Let Jesus show” became the very moment
when Christmas arrived for him.
I think
that is a pretty timely message for all of us to take with us on this Christmas
Eve. It is Christmas when we leave this place of worship and when we follow
Jesus’ teachings and let him show in our everyday lives. It is time when
we follow him into our homes, our workplaces, our schools and all the places
that we live. It is Christmas when we feed the hungry, heal the broken, shelter
the homeless, work for peace and reconciliation in this world and when we let
Jesus show in our everyday actions of love, kindness, generosity and hospitality
toward strangers whom we meet along our life journeys.
As we
share the story we have heard here today, a story of hope and promise, a story
first heard by the lowliest of shepherds working the back shift one night so
long ago, we let Jesus show. Tonight, we celebrate that the One we have been
waiting for and anticipating is here. As the gospel of John proclaims, the Word
has become flesh and made his home among us.
We have seen his glory,
glory like that of a father’s only son,
full of grace and truth.
It is time. The waiting and the
anticipating are over. God has moved into our neighbourhoods to be with us, as
one of us. Jesus is here now among us breaking
into our time, breaking into our world, longing to transform us. What’s left
for us to do is to let him to show. For unto you, unto us, a child is born. And
the world has never and will never be the same again.
Prayer:
God of
stable, stars and all sorts of surprises, we have heard the story this day of
your coming to be with us. We remember the praise of the angels in the night
sky and the journey of the shepherds to see this great thing that has taken
place. We remember the pondering of Mary as she tried to put all those pieces
together in her heart. We remember the concern of Joseph as he stood quietly
by.
In this
story of Jesus’ birth, you give our weary and struggling world reason to
rejoice. Seeing new life come forth out of the messiest of situations gives us
hope that nothing can ever separate us from your love.
We pray
this night for all those in our communities and throughout the world who
continue to yearn for this promise to become a reality where they live, for the
many who are hungry or homeless, for the many who are experiencing war and
turmoil, for the many who are feeling lonely and unloved, for the many who are
struggling with illness or addictions and for the many who are experiencing grief.
O God, let not our hearts and lives be so busy and preoccupied that we ignore
their suffering. Show us how we can respond by letting Jesus show in our words
and in our actions that bring healing and comfort. Inspire us as a community of
faith to reach out beyond our walls, beyond our fears, beyond our past and to
welcome your future. Shine in and through our lives. Bless our homes and our
celebrations. Keep us safe in your love as we carry this story out into the
world, seeking to reveal Jesus as the one who is alive and dwelling among us,
guiding our steps and promising us all the hope of new beginnings always. We
pray together in the prayer that he taught us saying… Our Father…
Many,
many years ago, in the 13th Century, a German theologian and mystic,
Meister Eckhart, wrote these words, “What good is it to me for the Creator
to give birth to the Son if I do not also give birth to the Son of God in my
time and in my culture? We are all meant to be mothers of God. God is always
needing to be born.”
Tonight, we each hold a candle in our
hands, a symbol of the light of Christ waiting and needing to be born in our
world in 2024. Together, we can make that birth possible in our culture as his
light pierces the shadows of this sanctuary and transforms the most obscure
corners of our world. Let’s light candles and see just what a difference our
lights can make as we let them shine out together.
Hymn: 67 VU
Silent Night (please hum after the last verse)
Blessing:
Go, tell it to the neighbours and to the
nations!
Tell it in the mountains and the valleys, in
the big cities and the tiny hamlets!
Tell of the inclusive love of
God-with-us
The light shines in the darkness, but
the darkness has not overcome it.
Let Jesus show- as
you shine his light for all the world to see.
**************
Since time immemorial,
Indigenous peoples have occupied and cared for the land which many call Canada.
In our worship together this day, in this area, we gather on the traditional
land of the Wabanaki peoples, predominantly the lands of the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet,
Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy. As a community of faith, we seek to rebuild
right relations with these people, to learn from them and to live on this land,
their land with respect and gratitude for its creation and Creator.
Call to Worship: (inspired
by Isaiah 12:2-6)
God is our salvation!
We trust in God and are not afraid.
The Lord is our song and our strength.
God alone do we worship.
Give thanks to the Lord;
call on the Lord’s name!
We sing to the Lord,
who has done marvelous things.
Let us worship God.
Let us shout aloud and sing for joy,
for great is the Holy One
who has advented into our time and space!
Lighting of the Candle of Joy
On this third Sunday of
Advent, we come with joy as a community of faith.
We watch, we wait, we wonder.
Joy, in the midst of sadness.
Joy, even when things are hard. Is such a thing possible?
Difficult, yes, but this is
the joy we seek today.
We embrace joy as we
anticipate the birth of Jesus. As we light the third candle in our wreath, we
take a moment to breathe in the Spirit of joy. (take a breath as candle is lit)
Hymn: 7 VU,
vs. 3 Joy is a Song
Prayer:
God of joy, we praise you for
the joys that come to us in this season-
the joys we find in
relationships,
the joys we find in gathering
as a community of faith,
the joys that come in serving
you by sharing our gifts and by opening our lives to you and to one another,
and the joy that awaits us in
the coming of Jesus.
May this time of worship help
prepare the way. Amen.
Hymn: 59 VU Joy to the World
Prayer of Confession:
O God, where is the Good News?
What shall we do?
Millions face hunger while we
fret over what gift we can buy our relatives and friends.
Millions are homeless and
wander the streets of our communities and the nations of our world while we
bask in the safety and warmth of our homes.
Something is wrong, God.
There are things in our world
that need changing.
There are things in our lives
that need changing.
We need to start where we are.
We need to look around and
find ways of producing fruit that shows we have changed our hearts and lives.
We need your help in opening
us to the obvious places where we need to start over again.
Renew us, we pray. Reveal to
us what you have in mind. Amen.
Words of Affirmation (based
on Isaiah 12:2-3, from Robin Wardlaw in the Gathering, Advent Christmas
Epiphany 2024)
The prophet Isaiah proclaimed:
With joy, you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.
On that day you will declare;
Give thanks to God.
Today, with joy, we draw water
from the wells of salvation. Today we declare:
Give thanks to God for all
God’s goodness.
We are a forgiven people.
Readings and Reflection: Click
for Audio Version here:
Good News, Eh?
Amidst the rising cost of food,
the general unrest and unease in the political climates of so many nations and increasing
“polarization” (the newly announced 2024 word of the year in the
Merriam-Webster dictionary), who among us is not looking for a little good news
these days? Seems to me that our sentiments these days are right in there with Tommy
Rocco, Charlie Black and Rory Bourke, the writers of that song A Little
Good News that became one of Anne Murray’s greatest hits back in the 1980’s. It
is the one I sent to you on email on Friday. This song expresses despair over
all of the violence and suffering she reads about in newspapers and witnesses
on TV news coverage, and notes how wonderful it would be if, for just one day,
the newspapers and television news anchors had nothing to report, because they
had "nothing bad to say". We can certainly identify with those same
yearnings today, can’t we? As commentator David Lose says there is no shortage
of things out there that will “induce us to lose confidence and hope and
tempt us to believe there is little that is good and beautiful in the world”. We
are bombarded with stories of fear, oppression, dishonesty and chaos that stand
as impediments to joy.
Yet, perhaps rather defiantly,
on this third Sunday of Advent, we light the candle of joy. We ask ourselves
how, in the midst of our own personal and global contexts, do we hear good news
and joy? To begin it might be helpful for us to ponder for a moment about what
joy really is. Sometimes I think we mistakenly equate joy with happiness but
that is not always the case. Joy does not necessarily depend on our outward
circumstances like happiness does. Joy is much more deep-seated. The way I
often think of it is as that feeling we might have when even in times of sorrow
or hardship; joy can be felt as an internal sense of connection with all
creation...the inner knowing that we are connected to all parts of God's
creation and also to God. Like when someone reaches out to you in a time of
grief with just the right words or physical presence and when, even in the
midst of your tears, you feel a sense of gratitude welling up within you.
That is how I imagine it must
have been for the exiles in Babylon to whom the prophet Zephaniah speaks. Carried
away from their homes and languishing in a foreign land, they hear words of joy
breaking through. Up until now, Zephaniah had spoken nothing but judgement to
the people in the face of their idolatry and faithlessness. Suddenly though,
this gloomy prophet cracks the door open to hope and good news. It is a promise
to them that a new future is in store. A divine reversal is about to happen. Let’s
listen to the good news that they hear:
Zephaniah 3:14-20
14 Rejoice,
Daughter Zion! Shout, Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your
heart, Daughter Jerusalem.
15 The Lord has removed your judgment;
he has turned away your enemy.
The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst;
you will no longer fear evil.
16 On that day, it will be said to Jerusalem:
Don’t fear, Zion.
Don’t let your hands fall.
17 The Lord your God is in your midst—a warrior
bringing victory.
He will create calm with his
love;
he will rejoice over you with
singing.
18 I
will remove from you those worried about the appointed feasts.
They have been a burden for
her, a reproach.
19 Watch what I am about to do to all your oppressors at that
time.
I will deliver the lame;
I will gather the outcast.
I will change their shame into
praise and fame throughout the earth.
20 At that time, I will bring all of you back,
at the time when I gather you.
I will give you fame and praise
among all the neighboring peoples
when I
restore your possessions and you can see them—says the Lord.
It is not hard to tell why
that text comes in on this joy Sunday. It has joy and good news written all
over it. The same with the selection from Philippians 4:4 that I shared with
you earlier in the week where Paul, in spite of being locked up in prison,
proclaims, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, Rejoice.” Both
of these passages suggest the promise of God’s presence in their midst in spite
of outward circumstances that are far from ideal.
Now that is good news to all
of us for sure, isn’t it? Something we can take home with us even when the
heaviness of our world bears down on us.
But then we come to John the
Baptist once again. This week the people have come out to the wilderness to
hear what he has to say. And, to say the least, it is not a very promising
beginning. Just as we are starting to feel a little of the joy and the hope of
good news, let’s listen to how John bounces in and throws a wet blanket on us:
Luke 3: 7 -18
7 Then
John said to the crowds who came to be baptized by him, “You children of
snakes! Who warned you to escape from the angry judgment that is coming
soon? 8 Produce fruit that shows you have changed
your hearts and lives. And don’t even think about saying to yourselves, Abraham
is our father. I tell you that God is able to raise up Abraham’s children from
these stones. 9 The ax is already at the root of
the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be
chopped down and tossed into the fire.”
10 The
crowds asked him, “What then should we do?”
11 He
answered, “Whoever has two shirts must share with the
one who has none, and whoever has food must do the same.”
12 Even
tax collectors came to be baptized. They said to him, “Teacher, what should we
do?”
13 He
replied, “Collect no more than you are authorized to collect.”
14 Soldiers
asked, “What about us? What should we do?”
He answered, “Don’t cheat or
harass anyone, and be satisfied with your pay.”
15 The
people were filled with expectation, and everyone wondered whether John might
be the Christ. 16 John replied to them all, “I
baptize you with water, but the one who is more powerful than me is coming. I’m
not worthy to loosen the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit and fire. 17 The shovel he uses to sift
the wheat from the husks is in his hands. He will clean out his threshing area
and bring the wheat into his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that
can’t be put out.” 18 With many other words John
appealed to them, proclaiming good news to the people.
Wow, what a kill joy! John is
like the Grinch who Stole Christmas. Did you hear all those lines- you children
of snakes or as some versions say you brood of vipers, don’t rely on the
tradition or your ancestry in Abraham to pull you through, it won’t work.
Family background, status in the community, coming to worship all your life,
none of this will cut the mustard, folks. Memorizing a few choice scriptures
won’t either. No, John’s words are downright alarming and scary. He certainly
is not one to beat around the bush, is he? Yet, for some reason, as alarming as
these words are, the people quite remarkably lean in. He has their attention.
And then, I hope you heard it, by the end, Luke writes, “With many other words,
John appealed to them, proclaiming “good news” to the people. As one
commentator said, “If this is good news, I’m not sure I want to hear the bad
news!” Really, Luke, good news? Come on. You have got to be kidding. How did you
arrive at this conclusion?
So, let’s back up for a
minute. After John fires the crowds up, what do they do? They begin to ask a
question. First it is the crowds at large. “What should we do?”
John replies, “Whoever has two
shirts must share with the one who has none, and whoever has food must do the
same.”
Then it is the tax collectors
turn. “What should we do?”
“Collect no more than you are
authorized to collect.”
Finally, it is the soldiers
who ask, “What should we do?”
“Don’t cheat or harass anyone,
and be satisfied with your pay.”
It all sounds so simple.
Things we all should have learned in kindergarten. Share. Play fair. Don’t
bully.
And maybe that is why Luke
calls John’s words good news- because it is all doable stuff. What he calls
them to do are all very practical, everyday actions. Think, for a minute about
what he could have said, but didn’t-
He could have said go back and
dwell on your past and sift through all your regrets.
He could have said oh, folks
it is hopeless, you might as well throw up your hands in despair.
He could have said abandon
your lives and livelihoods and retreat to the wilderness with me and we will
form a monastery together.
He didn’t say start a
revolution.
He could have said come and
pray more, or worship more or offer more sacrifices.
But he didn’t say any of this.
He looked at each of them standing before him and one by one he said, “Begin
where you are now. Look around and see how you might reorient your life where
you are. See where you might make a fresh start. If you are a tax collector, collect
the taxes honestly. Don’t skim off portions for yourselves. If you are a
soldier, don’t abuse your power by harassing and bullying. In other words,
bloom where you are planted. You don’t have to change jobs or locations.
And that is why this is good
news. Because what John is suggesting is doable for us all. It is about
becoming engaged where we are. It is a call to each and every one of us to look
around our homes, our places of work and our neighbourhoods and see how we
might do what we are doing with more kindness, more integrity and more honesty.
It is about serving where we are, showing that we have turned around by bearing
fruit as we align our lives with the ways of God. That’s what makes this such
good news for all of us. Because it reminds us that the kingdom of God shows up
not in heroics necessarily or in grand actions but in simple, everyday actions
that show forth our faithfulness. It is good news because it presumes that we
each have the capacity in our everyday lives to rise up and meet the challenges
by living more generously, more compassionately and more respectfully of
others. This is John saying to us from now on, things can be different. While
in many ways all this seems so obvious but really when you think about it for
the world to become a better place, each of us, in our own way are called to
engage in these practical actions. Sort of like that hymn let there be peace on
earth and let it begin with me.
When we absorb John’s words
which at first seem like a harsh and abrasive wake up call, and really let them
sink in, it is not so hard for us to start to receive them as good news. Why?
Because they give us fresh hope as we work for the future. They help ready us
for the coming of Jesus as both a baby in a manger and an adult who brings
renewal to our world. It is little wonder that John wants to get our attention
by reminding us that God isn’t finished with any of us yet!
We might even imagine John
showing up in our lives here in 2024 something like this:
To parents and grandparents,
perhaps he might say free up some time to really listen and pay attention to
your offspring. Raise them to know the love of God
To grocery store clerks,
engage in friendly conversation with the customers who come through the line.
To school teachers, be as
patient and compassionate as you can be to the students in your care
To farmers, offer good care
for the gifts of the earth that provide produce for many
To volunteers who make meals,
who drive shut ins, who guide people to appointments, do your work with smiles
on your faces and compassion in your hearts.
To a spouse or partner, be
faithful.
To a friend, be attentive
To employers, be considerate
of your employees and their struggles
To students, do your studies
with the hope of making the world a better place
To caregivers of people with
special needs, do your work with patience and knowing that you are making a
difference
To office workers, offer
support to others in your office, help them any way you can.
You
get the picture. And then when John comes to you, ask that same question, what
about me, what should I do? Answer as Pope Francis says by finding something
concrete to do and do it. Maybe it’s a call to a shut in or someone who is
alone. Maybe it is an offer to look after some children for a bit while a
parent gets a needed break for an hour or two. The possibilities are all around
us as we each think about where we are right now in our lives, our
relationships, our connections in the community and world. How might we serve
where we are to bring about transformation of some person or situation, however
small or insignificant our efforts might feel to us. Take that first step at
something that is doable but maybe still challenging to us at the same time. A
word of thanks, an offer to assist, a gesture of support or encouragement. Just
do it- and watch as the good news brings about transformation and joy in even
the harshest and heaviest of life situations. For by these ordinary, doable
things, we are, like John the Baptist, showing that a new reality is possible
and is on its way. There is joy. There is hope. And in each of these fruit
bearing actions, there is nothing but good news. And yes, it is just that
simple – share, be fair, don’t bully. All ordinary, every day acts that help
prepare the way for the One who has come and comes again in the midst of all
the brokenness promising us another way.
Amen
Sometimes we wonder how generous we should be. John the Baptizer was very clear: Share what you have so that everyone has enough, and do not give in to greed. I wonder what that could look like here? What joy would that kind of generosity bring us? May our offerings for our community of faith and for God’s work in the world through Mission and Service be seeds of hope and joy that will draw us closer to God’s vision for this world.
Your Generosity Matters/ Our
Gifts are Received
Give meaningful gifts that
transform lives.
Credit: The United Church of
Canada
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Each Gift with Vision supports
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So, this Christmas, skip the
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Prayers of Thanksgiving and
Intercession
God of our Highest Joy,
we come to you this day as your servants, gathered to worship you and you
alone.
As we continue this Advent
season and as we approach the shortest day of the year, we look for the light
of your presence to show us the way, to keep us focussed on what we really need
to be about as we prepare for the coming of your Son, Jesus.
Even as we share the joy we
find in you and in company with friends and family who make this such a special
time of the year for us,
we are mindful of those for whom joy is hard to find,
for those who don't have enough clothes,
for those who don't have enough food,
for those who don't have enough (or any) shelter,
for those who don't have enough protection and justice,
for those who sit at bedsides accompanying
the sick or the dying,
for those who long for acceptance and
love.
May we be a people willing to
look around and ask the hard questions of this weary world -such as why are
there so many in need, what shall we do right here, right now, right where we
live our lives to help make a difference in the lives of others? Help us to
bear the good fruit that the Baptist called us to bear.
Show us ways that we might proclaim the Good News in word and deed, bringing
hope to the despairing, peace to the restless and fearful, and deep-seated joy
to all who are feeling the harshness of the world’s aches and heaviness.
We pray this day for those
longing for spiritual renewal and for a fresh start in the weariness of their
lives.
We pray, for those dear to us... and we offer these and all our prayers to you
with the hope that the joy we find in you not be a commodity to be hoarded but
a gift to be shared with one another.
As we continue this blessed journey, we do so in the name of the One whose coming
we await, Jesus, who taught us to pray together saying… Our Father… Amen.
Hymn: pp. 884-5 VU You Shall Go Out with Joy
Blessing: (based
on Philippians 4:4-7)
Rejoice in the Lord always,
show gentleness to all,
do not be anxious,
make your needs known to God
by prayer, with thanksgiving;
and the peace of God
guard your heart and mind
in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Hymn: 221 MV
We are walking the path of JOY
*****************
Since time immemorial,
Indigenous peoples have occupied and cared for the land which many call Canada.
In our worship together this day, in this area, we gather on the traditional
land of the Wabanaki peoples, predominantly the lands of the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet,
Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy. As a community of faith, we seek to rebuild
right relations with these people, to learn from them and to live on this land,
their land with respect and gratitude for its creation and Creator.
Call to Worship (Written
by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, June 2024)
Children of God, the arrival
of the Promised One is almost here!
We wait as people of God’s
promise.
The message of the prophets
and the expectation residing in Mary’s womb call to us today.
We listen as people of God’s
promise.
Mary’s “yes” and Elizabeth’s
faithfulness guide our path, showing us that we too have a role to play in
bearing God’s good news into the world.
We follow as people of God’s
promise.
This is the promise Mary,
Elizabeth, and the prophets bore that we continue to carry even today—God is
with us!
God is with us! We are not
alone. Thanks be to God!
Lighting of the 4th
Advent Candle (Love)
On this fourth Sunday of
Advent, we come with love as a community of faith.
We watch, we wait, we wonder.
Love is a choice. Love is a
verb. Love is less what we feel and more what we do.
When we feel God’s unfailing
love, we are able to give love to- and receive love from- our families, our
friends, our community of faith, and, yes, even those we find hard to love.
We experience God’s love in
the greatest gift of all- the birth of Jesus who is bringing love to the world.
As we light the fourth candle in our wreath, we breathe in the Spirit of Love.
(candle is lit)
Hymn: 7 VU,
vs.4 Love is a Flame
Prayer: 13 VU
Hymn: 29 VU Hark the Glad Sound
Prayer of Confession:
God of this world:
where the rich are richer and
the poor poorer,
where the powerful have more
power and the powerless are trapped,
where the full are well fed
and the hungry starve,
when we fail to do your will,
forgive us and pardon us.
God of this world:
where war and terror seem
acceptable,
where genocide and prejudice
are policies,
where greed and meanness are
condoned,
when we fail to do your will,
forgive us and pardon us.
God of this world:
where we’ve built communities
that are divided,
where we leave awkward people
isolated,
where we ignore families who
are lonely and hurting,
when we fail to do your will,
forgive us and pardon us.
Words of Affirmation
God never gives up on us or on
this world.
God comes to be with us, as
one of us, to show us the way of love.
In Jesus Christ, we are
promised a fresh start!
Thanks be to God!
Readings and Reflection:
Audio Version is
here: Please click on this link:
My Soul Cries Out
Words by Rory Cooney,
Traditional Melody
Copyright 1990
Used with permission:
One License # A-741698
The
World is About to Turn
In many of your homes, I
suspect that the countdown is on. The decorations are up. The turkey or ham is
thawing in your refrigerators. The guest room bedding has been freshly
laundered in anticipation of family or friends who may soon be arriving from
away. Some of you are probably doing your last-minute gift buying. Others are
making mental lists of things you need to pick up at the grocery store. Or
perhaps you are closely watching the weather reports to see which will be the
best travelling day to drop in on loved ones. Or maybe you are simply planning
a quiet time at home. As the song says, “It is beginning to look a lot like
Christmas everywhere we go”.
Yet, as close as we are to
what we call the “big day”, we continue to linger in the threshold of these
last Advent days as we shift our focus to two women who play pivotal roles in
the story that is about to unfold.
Mary has just received a rather
disturbing message from the angel Gabriel telling her how she is about to give
birth to one who will be called God’s Son. As a little addendum to that message,
Mary also learns that her kinswoman, Elizabeth, is also pregnant. It is this
piece of news that leads Mary to take a journey to visit Elizabeth. This is
where we pick up the story:
Luke 1: 39-55
39 In
those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill
country, 40 where she entered the house of
Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth
heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled
with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud
cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And
why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For
as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for
joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there
would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
46 And
Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God
my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of
his servant.
Surely from now on all generations will call me
blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name;
50 indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their
hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has come to the aid of his child Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
Imagine with me for a few minutes what this encounter must have been like. Two pregnant women at opposite ends of life. One barely a teenager. One a senior. One unmarried, whose punishment in her day for becoming pregnant could be as severe as death by stoning. One who had all but given up on the possibility of ever having children. Yet, both of their lives soon to become intertwined by mysterious, unexpected pregnancies. Let’s pick up the story as Elizabeth might tell it. As we listen, I invite all of you to play the part of Mary joining with her as she sings her revolutionary song. (In order to do this, you will need to turn to 120 MV and you will be cued when to sing it one verse at a time.)
Mary's Magnificat MV 120
I wasn’t expecting visitors.
In fact, on that day about 6 months ago, I had just nicely finished the chores
around the house and eaten the noon meal with Zechariah and nicely sat down
with a cup of tea to put my aching feet up for a little rest. No sooner had I
sat down, however, when there was a commotion at the door. Lo and behold I
heard a familiar voice. It was my cousin Mary. “Elizabeth,” she cried. I could
hear both joy and fear mingling in her voice. She was out of breath, looking
exhausted from her journey. “Mary!” We ran toward each other and fell into each
other’s arms. When she caught her breath, she began to sing the most beautiful
song:
120 MV (Vs. 1) My Soul
Cries Out
I was delighted to see her.
And so too was the baby I was expecting inside of me. I felt him leap for joy. “Let
me take a look at you, Mary,” I said. I cupped her face in my hands. I looked
deep into her young eyes and I saw pain there. “Mary, what’s wrong?” That’s
when the dam burst. The flood of tears, held back by the courage of that song
she was singing. When she regained her composure, that’s when she told me.
“Elizabeth, I am pregnant.”
“God help us,” I said. I meant
it not as a curse but as a prayer. Mary tried to explain further. “Don’t bother
trying to explain, Mary. Just know that regardless of what may have happened I
love you and God loves you.” That’s when I told her about the child in my womb
kicking as she entered our home. “Mary, you are a blessing to me. Your child is
a blessing to the world, a child who will bring God’s promises to the world.”
Once again, Mary began to sing:
120 MV vs. 2
“Come sit down with me, Mary,
and have a cup of tea.” We talked for hours that day and in the days that
followed. We talked about the changes taking place in our bodies. We talked about
the abuse of power in our country. We talked about all the struggles of our
people overcome by the oppression of the Roman government. We spoke about all
the exploitation of the defenseless and marginalized ones. We talked about how
things as they are needed to be overturned. We shared dreams and hopes about
our unborn children. We talked as only women who know pain and joy know how to
talk. We shared similar experiences. I recounted how Zachariah had been visited
by the angel Gabriel in the temple promising us a child who would prepare the
way. She shared with me all about how this same angel spoke to her. I listened as
she wondered how she was going to share all this with Joseph and her parents.
Mary was from a small town and you know as well as I do how news travels in
small towns. It would be impossible to keep this pregnancy a secret. While my
situation wasn’t exactly the same, I could relate. I knew all about shame and
exclusion. In my day and age, the primary purpose of a woman in society was to
bear children so I knew all about the finger pointing that can go on when you
are old and childless. People make you out to be somehow lesser than others, a
failure. I wasn’t going to let that happen to Mary. I wanted her to know that
no matter what happened I would be there for her.
I knew it wasn’t going to be
easy for Mary. She was so young. Yet, she had such courage! Courage to say yes
to Gabriel for sure. Courage to share her story with someone else, knowing too
that she would need support, that she couldn’t do this alone. As much as many
might have found it impossible to trust though, Mary had something welling up
within her. As we poured out our hearts to one another, Mary looked at what was
happening to her and knew that it would have far reaching impacts, not just for
her but for the whole world. This was no gentle Mary, meek and mild that you
sing about in your carols. Believe you me, as Mary kept singing her song, it
was no gentle lullaby. It rang out like a battle cry. It was a song of
liberation, a prophesy for our people as much as it was her personal song of
trust. It spoke a language of protest, of toppling the powers that be, of
resistance to the status quo and a reversal of the way things are. With
boldness she celebrated the role God had given her in the fulfillment of the
ancient promises to Abraham and his descendants:
120 MV, vs 3
During those 3 months that
Mary stayed with us, we worked hard at piecing together the big picture. You
might say we connected the dots. Mary’s song continued to give me hope. It wasn’t
just hope for our babies, though it’s hard to think of anything more hopeful
than that. It gave me hope that no matter what happens, God will be there to
lift up lowly people like us, to wipe away our tears and to remind us that
there will always be hope.
While I looked at Mary, that
slip of a girl, so thin, so weak, so vulnerable, I saw still something more.
Deep in those dark, youthful eyes, I saw unquestionable strength and courage
and such unshakeable faith. I said to her, “I don’t know how, Mary, because I
know all the laws and customs of our people are lined up to destroy you. But
somehow, I believe God is with you. And God is with me. Ordinary people that we
are. The child in my womb, the child in your womb are God’s gifts of hope. God
is at work through us and through this weary and suffering world. I just know you are going to be a great
mother- such a perfect combination of courage and compassion.”
In the deepest part of me and
through the witness of Mary to me during our time together, much like her, I have
come to the realization that something bigger is going on here and we are called
to be participants in it. The Holy Spirit is working and moving among us all,
making the impossible possible. God is about to do a
new thing. Watch for it and wait for it
with us, won’t you? Mary’s song says it all and it gives me all the hope I
need to believe that with our help, God really is about to turn this whole
world around! Won’t you, with me, make her song your song – one that we sing
together as we anticipate the good news of great joy for ALL people:
120 mv vs. 4
************************************************************
Hearing the words of Mary as
recorded in the Bible, it is too easy to believe we are the chosen ones; we
believe we are the ones God raises up and fills and protects. However, many of
us are the rich, the proud, and the powerful. Yet there is good news for us,
too. When you choose to generously share all that God has given you to feed and
house, to comfort and heal, to seek justice and resist evil, you ally
yourselves with the love of God you have found. Let us share our gifts, that
all may know God’s love.
********************************************************
Your Generosity Matters/ Our
Gifts are Presented
"Now I can help provide
the support I had."
Credit: Beasley Community
Centre
Mission and Service
partner Wesley(opens in a new tab) in
Hamilton, Ontario, operates safe programming for teenagers. Beasley Community
Centre is one of the two main life-changing locations, offering resources,
social opportunities, nutrition, and more.
For some, Beasley Community
Center is just a building to pass while driving down Wilson Street in Hamilton,
Ontario. For others, Beasley is a sanctuary, a safe place where they can truly
be themselves and thrive. For Cyris, Beasley’s meaning and purpose have gone
through many seasons of change, starting as a young child and continuing today
as he works as a summer student with the After School Program.
In 2010, when Cyris was nine
years old, Dr. J. E. Davey Elementary School and the connected Beasley
Community Center opened. Here, he attended Wesley’s after-school program and
recreational drop-ins almost daily. Programs run by Wesley gave Cyris a place
to spend his afternoons with his friends, particularly on the basketball court.
“I loved being at Wesley. It gave me a place to be where I felt safe and
comfortable,” says Cyris. “I got in trouble in school a lot; it was somewhere I
could just play and not think about the stuff going on at home or at school.”
It was at Beasley that Cyris’
natural drive to help others began to flourish into a fierce dedication to
serving his community in meaningful ways. “I love being in my community,” he
proudly states.
Now, Cyris is 22 years old,
and is attending the University of Ottawa to study Criminology with a goal of
becoming a police officer. With this career, he feels he can give back and make
a positive difference in his community while working in his hometown of
Hamilton. When his school break rolls around, you can find him right back at
Beasley working as a summer student at the same after-school program he
participated in. “I love working with the kids, interacting with them,
inspiring them, helping them,” he says.
When asked about what
motivates him to help others and work with kids, Cyris credits the influence of
the mentors he had at Beasley and his mother, who has spent her life working
with young children. He had older friends who started working at Wesley. In
high school, while he was still attending the recreational drop-in programs, he
decided that he would follow their lead.
“I love helping people; that’s
my biggest motivation,” he says. With the kids at Beasley, “it’s a full-circle
moment, I was them at one point. Now I can help provide the support I had, and
it feels pretty cool.”
Through his work at Beasley,
Cyris hopes to help the children he mentors see that they, too, can overcome
obstacles and achieve their dreams. “Just follow your dreams, do what you want
to do, do what makes you happy,” he reminds them often.
Cyris’ work helping others is
far from over, and he hopes the kids he works with find their own versions of
success and that some will return to help when they’re older. He’ll be there
too—“I’ll always be around. I can’t see myself not being here. I’ll keep my
hand in it somehow. I love it here.”
Your gifts to Mission
and Service support programs that help children and young adults grow
and thrive. Thank you.
In person service continues
with Sacrament of Communion
Hymn: 134 MV Dreaming Mary
Blessing:
Soon, but not yet …
Always, and yet to be …
Now, and then …
Birth, life, another day.
Go in peace to wait, to watch, to wonder.
Go in peace to think, to do, to dream.
Go in peace to welcome the Christ child and walk with him into the world.
Hymn: 221
MV I am Walking a Path of LOVE
**************
Welcome to the 2nd Sunday of
Advent as we meet up with John the Baptist!
Thank you for all the
contributions from FMUC to the Food Bank totally 225 lbs!! Thanks to Rob and
Tracey Johnston for delivering. The
needs continue to be great.
Thanks to all for your
generosity through White Gift envelopes for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and
children’s ministries through our Mission and Service. We will have a total for
you soon!
Next Sunday Dec. 15 after
worship- caroling in the community so dress for the weather!
Dec. 22 – Communion
Dec. 24- 3:30 pm Christmas Eve service.
Since time immemorial,
Indigenous peoples have occupied and cared for the land which many call Canada.
In our worship together this day, in this area, we gather on the traditional
land of the Wabanaki peoples, predominantly the lands of the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet,
Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy. As a community of faith, we seek to rebuild
right relations with these people, to learn from them and to live on this land,
their land with respect and gratitude for its creation and Creator.
Call to Worship: Written
by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, June 2024.
Children of God, prepare the
way! The Word of God is coming!
We come to listen and receive
God’s Word among us.
Children of God, the prophets
call to us now and from generations past, urging us to prepare and refine our
hearts for the coming of the Word of God. Are you listening?
We come to listen and prepare
to receive God’s Word among us.
Children of God, this is the
mark of our preparation: that passion for God’s Word would burn within us,
cleansing us and renewing us to reflect God’s love throughout the world.
May God ignite our passion for
God’s Word that has come among us as we listen, prepare, and receive all that
God has for us today.
Advent Candle Lighting
(Peace)
On this second Sunday of
Advent, we come in peace as a community of faith.
We watch, we wait, we wonder.
Let peace begin with us. In
every breath we take, may we live in the peace of God’s promise to be with us
always.
We wait for Jesus, the Prince
of Peace, to come into the world.
As we light the second candle
in our wreath, we take a moment to breathe in the Spirit of peace. (Take a
breath as candle is lit)
Hymn: 7 VU,
vs 2 Peace is a Ribbon
Let us pray:**
Merciful God, you remember the
covenant you made with our ancestors. You have promised to keep us on the path
of peace, according to your deep compassion for us. You have sent us many
messengers to prepare the way of the Lord, giving us the wisdom to discern what
will truly matter when Christ returns, and what won’t matter at all. Spirit,
lead us now, and teach us throughout this Advent season, guiding us as we
journey forward in faith. Amen.
Hymn: 20 VU On Jordan's Bank
Prayer of Confession:**
Merciful God, you offer us
unending comfort and perfect peace, through Jesus Christ.
We confess that we have turned
away from your unlimited grace, choosing instead to try to carry the weight of
the world on our own frail shoulders.
You offer us confidence and
compassion, but we have chosen worry, nurturing fear over faith, and now we
feel overwhelmed by our circumstances.
We are sorry, God. Please
forgive us! Renew our minds as we embrace your peace.
We now pause to prayerfully
search our hearts, sharing with you those thoughts, words, and actions that we
so deeply regret and no longer wish to carry … (silent confession).
Words of Affirmation**
Siblings in Christ, receive
this good news; in Jesus Christ, our peace is restored—peace with God, peace
with one other, and peace in our own souls! As Luke 1:77–79 tells us, salvation
is freely given to us by our compassionate God. Our failures, faults, and
frailties are forgiven. The Prince of Peace eternally absorbs our human
limitations and treats our finite vulnerabilities with infinite tenderness and
grace. Thanks be to God, Amen!
Readings and Reflection: Prepared
by Rev. Susan Estabrooks of Faith Memorial United Church, 2024
The
Stage is Set for a New Thing
Several years ago, I picked up
a book by Budge Wilson entitled Before Green Gables. In this book, Wilson imagines what Anne’s life
was like after the death of her parents and before coming to Green Gables. By
providing a glimpse into the harshness of Anne’s experiences in the orphanage, Wilson
provides us with some insight into the making of the resilient and precocious personality
whom the world has come to know and love as Anne, with an “E”. While some
didn’t appreciate Wilson’s efforts and preferred to simply let L. M.
Montgomery’s depiction of Anne rest on its laurels, I found that being invited
to imagine Anne’s backstory enriched and deepened my understanding of who Anne
was.
Of all the gospel writers, it
is Luke who is the master of the backstory of the circumstances surrounding
Jesus’ birth. Mark and John just jump right in there with the adult Jesus.
Matthew gives us some genealogy and the story of Joseph’s dream and then later
the arrival of the magi. But it is Luke who helps us to get that bigger picture,
that wider insight into Jesus’ family background as well as the background of
John the Baptist, the one whose work it was to prepare the way.
While we are familiar with the
story of Jesus’ birth that Luke 2 reveals to us, I suspect that the backstory
of Luke 1, other than maybe the visit of Gabriel to Mary, is not near as
well-known. It tells us of another birth, the birth of John the Baptist. The
role that his parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, play is often overlooked. Yet,
through their actions and insights, they too play a significant part in setting
the stage for what is about to take place. Zechariah is a village priest.
Similar to perhaps Abraham and Sarah, he and Elizabeth are elderly and
childless. One day while serving in the temple, Zechariah has an encounter with
the angel Gabriel who reveals to him that Elizabeth will conceive. His response
is disbelief. Gabriel pushes the mute button and Zechariah doesn’t speak again
until the birth of his son John. Yet, it is during his time in silence that
Zechariah, I suspect, does a lot of thinking and composing. I say this because
the minute he is unmuted, the words just pour out of him. They are not just
spoken. They are sung in what has been called the Benedictus. In it, Zechariah sings
of the coming of a new era and how his son, John, will play a role in
preparing the way for what is about to be revealed.
Luke 1: 68-79
68 “Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has looked favorably on his people and
redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a mighty savior for us
in the house of his child David,
70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets
from of old,
71 that we would be saved from
our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
72 Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our
ancestors
and has remembered his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
to grant us 74 that we,
being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and
righteousness
in his presence all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the
Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
79 to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the
shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
As we can see right from
birth, John has a role to play and Luke doesn’t want us to miss out on any of
the details. As John grows into his role, Luke continues to set the scene, the
backstory if you like, of what is about to take place. In chapter 3, Luke sets
the beginning of John’s ministry in the context of real time and real history:
Luke 3: 1-6
3 In the
fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was
governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch
of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during
the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, son
of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into
all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book
of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in the
wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
5 Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”
While we might wonder why
couldn’t we just have skipped all those names and places, and just get on with
what John the Baptist said and did, we need to remember that in giving us all
those details, Luke is making a point. A big point! He is not just adding all
these names and places because he happens to love history and wants to impress
us with his knowledge. He is telling us this because he wants us to be
surprised. Tiberius Caesar, Pontus Pilate, Herod, Philip, Lysanius, Annas and
Caiphas, what do they have in common? They are all big wigs! They are the
movers and the shakers, the people with influence, power, privilege and might.
They represent political power and religious authority. They are VIPs. In our
day and age, we might imagine them as the ones who sit in plush leather chairs
in corner offices. Yet, and here is the clincher, the surprise piece that Lukes
shares with us as he sets the stage- the word of God bypasses all 7 of these
powerful people! And where does it go? To John, son of Zechariah, in the
wilderness. Not the temple, not the legislature, not the board room, not the
palace, not the senate, not to the president or the prime minister, not to CNN
or Fox News, not to CBC or CTV, not to Facebook or Twitter, not to Washington
or Ottawa, but to John, a virtual nobody, a fellow on the edges, the margins,
in the wilderness. To John, the word of God comes. All the other powerful, puffed-up
people are pushed aside.
This is Luke’s point and he
will make it over and over again in his gospel. The word of God comes from the
off-side, far from the maintainers of the status quo, far from the halls of
power and greed and self centredness; it comes from the most unlikely people
and in the most unlikely places.
This is important so let me
say it again-the word comes to John, in the wilderness. With his witness, the
stage is set for a new thing- a call to turn around, to step away from the
status quo, to rethink, to reimagine a new way and to do the work necessary to
make that way possible. It’s a word that calls us to rethink the systems and
structures that we have grown accustomed to and to rebuild a new more just,
more peaceful, more compassionate and more inclusive way.
In our world, in our time, the
stage continues to be set for us to nurture a new thing into being, to let it
come to birth. We don’t have to be celebrities. We don’t have to be in the
centre of that stage. We don’t have to be in power or have worldly influence.
For even now, when Justin Trudeau is Prime Minister, when Susan Holt is
premier, when Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne is Moderator of our church, when Andy
Harvey is mayor the District of Carleton North, in the midst of issues of
homelessness and food insecurity all around us, in the big picture of war and
economic struggles, of concerns about borders and tariffs, and all sorts of uncertainties,
God’s word speaks to each and every one of us, as ordinary, every day people. In
the wildernesses of our relationships and our work places, we are called to
stand on tiptoe with hope and expectation, to lean in as ordinary, everyday
people and to be ready to become ablaze with the light of God’s love.
And when the word of God comes
to us in these wilderness places, it invites us to do the necessary preparation
work of these Advent days; to dust off our hearts, to take down the barriers
that block the Holy Spirit, to cast aside the apathy, the bickering and the
self centredness and to set the stage for a new way, God’s way. Advent is our
time to do the ground work. To turn around. To make the necessary changes. To
look not to the places of power and privilege but to cast our vision to the
wilderness places of this world- the refugee camps, the homeless encampments,
the food bank line ups, the children who are hungry, the places where people
are feeling unwanted, unloved, the places where life is harsh and raw. Now is
the time to pitch in, to level the ground of inequalities and to demolish the
hatred. Now is the time to remember that even in our ordinary, everyday lives,
we have a role in setting the stage for the new things God is doing, for the
new dawn from on high that will break upon us. Like Zechariah, we have a song
of praise to sing of a God who is coming to be among us, as one of us, “to
shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our
feet into the way of peace.” It is this Word, this Good News, that calls out to
us not from centre stage, but from those wilderness fringes where we live,
inviting us to prepare the way and to point the way by our words and by our
everyday actions of kindness and generosity. It is a call to ordinary, everyday
people like you and me, reminding us that a new future is possible. We don’t
have to be famous. We don’t have to have clout. We don’t need to have power,
wealth or influence to change this world. We simply need to do the work of
preparing the ground, levelling the rough spots, dismantling the systems and
the structures that stand in the way of the One who is coming to reshape the
landscape of this world with love, mercy, justice and peace. The stage is set.
God is about to do a new thing. Like Zechariah and Elizabeth, like John the
Baptist, may we take our place in the still- unfolding story as we watch, wait
and work that the glory of our God might be revealed to all people, even
through ordinary, everyday people like us. Amen
********************
The world is crying out,
"Where is the God of peace?” By offering our gifts, we give an answer. The
impact of what we offer, through this church and through Mission and Service,
loudly proclaim that the God of peace is active in this community of faith and
around the world. Just as John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus, so
through the offering of these gifts, we help prepare the way of God’s realm in
our world today. May God bless us in our giving.
Your Generosity Matters/ Our
Offerings are Received Credit: 14119943 © Visual Generation |
Dreamstime.com
This past year, Wesley
supported over 1,000 newcomers from Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and other
countries.
This is the story of one
family of refugees.
Christine is a courageous and
resilient mother who has been through unspeakable danger and sorrow to ensure
the safety and success of her family. Christine, her children, and her
grandchildren can teach us about self-sacrifice, endurance, and dedication to
those we love. Initially from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Christine
and her family fled to a refugee camp in Zimbabwe after a violent attack in
their village. They lived through deplorable conditions and danger for ten
years before finally being granted asylum in Canada.
When Christine and her family
arrived in Canada, they were exhausted and emotionally drained from their long
journey and years of unrest. Their first stop was Wesley’s Newcomer Reception
Centre, where they found support from Wesley staff and a comfortable place to
rest. With the help of Wesley’s programs and services, the family is rebuilding
their lives in the Hamilton region.
Christine’s dream for her
children and grandchildren is to have a safe and bright future filled with
opportunities. Thanks to the generosity of donors like you, Wesley can provide
supportive programs to newcomers, those experiencing homelessness, addiction
and mental health barriers, and local families experiencing poverty.
With your support of Mission
and Service, we can change lives.
Prayer of Thanksgiving and
Intercession:
Loving God, as stores beckon
us inside, as online deals bombard our inboxes with their offers that entice us,
we come before you this morning seeking to be led in another way. Through the
words of John the Baptist, we have heard your call to prepare this way, to live
simply, mindfully and responsibly as we make the way for your reign, your grace,
your shalom and for the liberation, justice and peace that you bring. We live
in a world that so often feels like a wilderness place, where many are left
vulnerable, hurting and in need. Yet, we know that it is in just such places
that your voice speaks.
We look to you for those words
of good news for our planet in crisis, for countries like Ukraine and the
Middle East struggling with violence and war, for the many who have experienced
the devasting impacts of climate change, the floods, the fires, the droughts,
hunger and disease. We pray for leaders of our nations, for decision makers
that they might find ways to cooperate as they confront these global
challenges. Grant them calmness and wisdom in the midst of economic and
political strife. Show them your way.
We pray for our churches and
our communities in need of your good news. We ask that your peace might
saturate our hearts, cleansing us of old hatreds and prejudices and hungers
that do not satisfy.
We pray for your peace to touch
us with your healing and grace, to mend ruptured relationships, to reassure
stressed -out bodies and souls, and to guide us in ways that reshape and
rebuild paths before us. We pray for all who are living with loss or illness,
who face depression or discouragement, who find this time of year especially
difficult. Equip us to reach out to all who are in need of your embrace and
ours.
Give hope and stamina to all
who are working in food banks, refugee centres, shelters, detox centres, and
mental health agencies as they strive to meet the many needs that continue to
present. Where they see no way to provide for the needs of all people, show
them a way.
In a world where we are
tempted to see so many of our challenges as dead-ends, we pray for a new
vision, a new heart and a new commitment. Attune us to hear your voice in these
and all the wildernesses of our world and to do the heavy lifting, the
levelling, the smoothing of the rough places, the offering of our time and our
gifts so that the way might be ready for the new thing you are bringing to this
world through the life and ministry of Jesus who enters our lives, not as a
powerful big wig but as a humble babe, ready to set this world right side up
with your love and justice. It is in his name that we pray boldly saying… Our
Father…
Hymn: 18 VU
There’s a Voice in the Wilderness
Blessing (based
on Luke 1: 78-79)
A new day is dawning!
Despite what we see and hear
in the world around us,
the sunrise is coming.
When it comes, it will break
through the darkness of our world—
darkness caused by violence
and death and hunger and despair.
And all those who now sit
huddled in the shadows
will be able to rise and journey
with confidence in the light.
May these words empower us to
live in peace this week as we share the good news of the One who is coming
among us. Amen.
Hymn: 221 MV
I am walking a path of Peace
**© 2024 The United Church of
Canada/L’Église Unie du Canada. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution
Non-commercial Share Alike Licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ca. Any copy must include this notice.
****************
Hanging
of the Greens Worship- Dec. 1, 2024
Since time immemorial,
Indigenous peoples have occupied and cared for the land which many call Canada.
In our worship together this day, in this area, we gather on the traditional
land of the Wabanaki peoples, predominantly the lands of the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet,
Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy. As a community of faith, we seek to rebuild
right relations with these people, to learn from them and to live on this land,
their land with respect and gratitude for its creation and Creator.
Call to
Worship (from Jeremiah 33: 14-16)
The days are
coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I
made to the people of Israel and Judah.
In those days and at that time
I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;
he will do what is just and right in the land.
In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’
Lighting of
the First Advent Candle (hope)
On this first
Sunday of Advent, we come with hope as a community of faith.
We watch, we
wait, we wonder.
We come in
hope for God’s promise to bring light to this world.
We wait in hope
for the coming of Jesus, the Christ child.
As we light
the first candle in our wreath, we take a moment to breathe in the Spirit of
hope… (take a deep breath as the candle is being lit)
Hymn: 7 VU,vs 1 Hope is a Star
Let us pray**
Long-Expected
Jesus, the day of our redemption is drawing near! Your holy Advent weaves past,
present, and future together in a timeless tapestry of hope, of gracious
promises made and fulfilled. We remember your faithfulness to your people, O
God, and we are encouraged. As we worship, keep us alert to your kingdom and
watchful in prayer. We anticipate the future, longing to journey more
completely in your presence as we await your glorious return. Holy Spirit, lead
us in your steadfast love; we humbly place our trust in you. Amen.
Introduction
to the Hanging of Greens:
Most of the
signs of Christmas are ones our North American society has inherited from Germanic
traditions made popular in Victorian England- things like wreaths, branches,
boughs, lights and evergreen trees. Over the years, in our churches, we have
simply borrowed these ideas for our own spaces. Yesterday, we shared as a faith
community in a decorating party. As a community of faith, though, we aren’t so
much decorating our sanctuary and our building as we are preparing ourselves
for the birth and rebirth of Jesus in our lives. This Hanging of the Greens
service today, which is actually adapted from a Welsh custom, reminds us that
through these symbols, we are sharing our story of Christ’s coming to us first
as a child in Bethlehem and then, as an adult who turned and continues to turn
our world upside down.
Perhaps this
year, even more so than ever, as we hear of tensions and difficulties in our
world and in our communities, we need these visual reminders that Jesus comes
to offer us a new way to live, a way of justice and fairness and kindness for
all people. Together, we make a place for Christ’s birth in our hearts.
Of course, we
know that God does not require a fine place for the birth of the holy child- a
stable was sufficient. But God accepts with pleasure the love and devotion we
show in preparing a place for our saviour’s birth. While we are not yet
celebrating his birth in these preparations, we are, much like John the Baptist,
pointing the way to the light that is coming.
Let us then
make ready for this house of God together, recalling the meaning of the symbols
we use, that we may remember, and tell our story to others of God’s love and
glory. Joyfullly, let us anticipate the nativity of our Christ.
Hymn: 9 VU People Look East
The Holly
Garland: God’s Promises Eternal Life
Scripture: Isaiah 61: 1-4
The spirit of
the Lord God is upon me
because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.
Holly is
evergreen, a symbol of eternal life shared with us through Jesus Christ. The
red berries remind us of the events of his passion. The thorns remind us of the
crown of thorns placed on his head. Eternal life begins this very moment as we
live into Jesus’ mission- bringing good news to the oppressed of our world,
comforting the broken-hearted, proclaiming liberty to all who are held captive,
and release to the prisoners. As we line our doors and handrails with garland,
we are reminded of God’s welcome and radical inclusion of all people and that
promise we heard in our reading from Isaiah- a promise of gladness instead of
mourning, of praise instead of a faint spirit.
(Holly
garland is placed)
With this
holly garland, we prepare the way of the Lord!
Open wide the
doors of God’s house, that all might feel God’s welcome and promise of eternal
life!
****************************
The Poinsettia: God’s People Will Blossom
with Life in Unexpected Ways
Scripture: Isaiah 35: 1-2
The
wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus 2 it shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice with joy and shouting.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.]
Native to
Mexico, the bright red colour of the poinsettia reminds of the unexpected
blossoming of the desert. A surprising thing about the poinsettia is that its coloured
leaves have the same shape as its flowers. Most plants need sunlight to develop
flowers but the poinsettia needs darkness every day to develop its flowers. And
so, the poinsettia symbolizes the unexpected happening. When we think of the
story of Jesus, there are a lot of unexpected things happening too- his birth
in a stable, not a palace; in a the small, obscure town of Bethlehem, not the
great city of Jerusalem; his parents who are very ordinary and humble people,
not dignitaries; the birth first made known to lowly shepherds working the
night shift, rather than to kings and dignitaries
The
poinsettia reminds us that God is full of surprises! New life comes to us in so
many unexpected ways, often when and where we least expect it.
(poinsettia is placed)
With this
poinsettia, we prepare the way of the Lord!
Look for the
unexpected. See new life blossoming in the harshest places and circumstances,
even in the shadows of this world!
Hymn: 8 VU Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming
****************************
The Wreath:
God’s Promises to Surround Us with Love
Scripture: Hosea 14:4-8
I will heal their disloyalty;
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he shall blossom like the lily;
he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon.
6 His shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.
7 They shall again live beneath my shadow;
they shall flourish as a garden;
they shall blossom like the vine;
their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.
I am like an evergreen cypress;
your fruit comes from me.
Wreaths are
circular. The have no beginning and no ending. They remind us of God’s promise
to love us no matter what. They remind us of what it feels like to be encircled
in that warm embrace, like when Mary held her infant.
(wreath
is placed)
With this
wreath, and with love in our hearts, we prepare the way of the Lord!
No matter how
we may be feeling in these Advent days, we celebrate that the love of God has
us surrounded and we recommit to reaching out to one another.
Hymn: 602 VU Blest be the Tie that Binds
*******************************
The
Mistletoe: God’s Promises Peace
Scripture: Zechariah 9:9-10
Rejoice
greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall command peace to the nations;
his dominion shall be from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Mistletoe is
unique in that it is a plant that has no roots and no seeds. It grows in trees
and never touches the ground. How it propogates is a mystery- like the mystery
of God’s love. In ancient times, when people fought with one another and wanted
to reconcile and make peace, they would go to where mistletoes grew. This was
considered to be a holy space where people would work to let go of anger and
past grievances. As part of their commitment to one another, they would
exchange a kiss of peace (not in the romantic sense!) The kiss of peace became
a tradition in the Christian church when Christians greeted one another. Today,
we call it passing the peace. The symbol of the mistletoe in our worship space
reminds us that this is a holy space, a place where Christ calls us to let go
of anger and past grievances and to go forward, loving and serving in his name.
(mistletoe is placed)
With this
mistletoe, and with a desire for peace in our hearts and in our world, we
prepare the way of the Lord!
We share Christ’s peace with
one another….
Hymn: 577 VU (vs.
1) I’ve Got Peace Like a River
The Christmas
Tree: God Promises Beauty and Joy
Scripture: Isaiah 60:13-15
Lebanon’s
glory will come upon you,
cypress, elm, and pine,
to glorify the site of my sanctuary,
and I will honor my royal footstool.
14 The children of your tormenters will come bending low
to you;
all who despised you will bow down at your feet.
They will call you The Lord’s City,
Zion, of the holy one of Israel.
15 Instead of being abandoned,
hated, and forbidden,
I will make you majestic forever,
a joy for all generations.
The psalmist
also talks of being planted like a tree by the waters. It reminds us of
waiting, of being patient for God’s coming among us. What is coming is worth
waiting for. It will be a thing of beauty and joy. In that spirit, we decorate
our tree, to say thank you to God.. for Christmas hope, for God’s constant
presence with us and for the gift of rebirth in our lives.
(last few decorations placed on tree)
With this
Christmas tree, and with a desire for the joy that only God can give, we
prepare the way of the Lord!
We open our
lives to the joy that comes with the awareness of God’s presence in our
lives in every moment.
Hymn: tune
of O Christmas tree
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree
Your beauty green will teach me
That hope and love will ever be
The way to joy and peace for me
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree
Your beauty green will teach me
The Candle
and the Lights: God’s Promises to Give Light
Scripture: Isaiah 60: 1-3
Arise, shine,
for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
2 For darkness shall cover the earth
and thick darkness the peoples,
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will appear over you.
3 Nations shall come to your light
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
In the
shadows of these Advent days, we look toward the Light that is going to shine-
a light that will point us to a new way.
(tree lights
are turned on)
With these
lights, we point to the Light of Lights and we prepare the way of the Lord!
We remember Jesus, the Light of the World, coming to be with
us this Christmas and for always.
Hymn: 82 VU (vs 1-2) A Light is Gleaming
The days are
surely coming,” says God, “when I will fulfill the promise of justice and
righteousness.” Our gifts that we offer through
our offering plate and through PAR help in fulfilling God’s promise. May our
giving be a sign of our faith and hope as we work for the day when justice with
peace becomes a lived reality in our world.
Your
Generosity Matters/ Our Gifts are Received
Helping
children and communities grow.
Credit:
Fairview Resource Centre
Becoming a
new parent can be overwhelming, with the constant demands of caring for a
newborn, sleepless nights, and the pressure to make the right choices for your
child. The exhaustion and balancing daily responsibilities while navigating the
unknowns of parenthood often leaves new parents feeling unsure and isolated.
It’s a time filled with great joy, but also uncertainty, as parents adjust to
their new roles and work to create a safe and nurturing environment for their
little one.
At Fairview
Resource Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the New Parents Support group aims to
walk with parents as they navigate the complexities of raising a newborn. Once
a week, parents gather to meet with a public health nurse who provides
education and answers questions. From expectant parents to those with babies up
to 18 months, the program provides resources for those who might not otherwise
have access to in-person support or resources.
Parents
connect not only with health professionals, but form deep bonds with each
other, and some are still in contact many years later. Many of us have heard
that “it takes a village to raise a child,” and Fairview Resource Centre is
truly taking action to give a positive space for children in the community to
flourish. Thank you for walking alongside our Mission and Service partners as
they help children and communities grow.
Prayers of
Thanksgiving and Intercession:
O God, we are
thankful for this opportunity to be together in community both yesterday and
this morning to beautify this place of worship and furnish it in preparation
for the coming of your Son, Jesus, the Christ. Thank you for the gifts of the
earth, the work of faithful hands, the laughter shared and the community
building that has taken place. As we have heard the stories behind these
symbols all around us and continue to look upon them over this season, may they
remind us and serve to point us all to the meaning of your coming to be among
us.
We thank you
for the love and joy that fill our hearts at this time of the year. May we also
be filled with your spirit, compassion and vision, that your loving kindness
will be known through all our thoughts, actions and words.
Bless our
community of faith as we seek to reach out and support others in need.
We remember
those for whom this season will be difficult, even painful- those who grieve a
lost loved one, relationships that have been broken, health issues that fracture
peace, those without enough to eat or a safe place to live.
Help us to be
present to those who feel alone, to share with those in need, to offer our time
and attention to those who are anxious, to seek the strengthing of the lives
and communities around us.
We pray these
things in the name of Jesus, the One who comes, who taught us to pray saying…
Our Father…
Hymn: 221 MV I am Walking the Path of HOPE
Blessing: (by Laura J. Turnball in Gathering, Advent, Christmas,
Epiphany 2024-5)
The Advent
season is a time of leaning into the wonder of the coming again of the Christ
Child.
So, we wait
with eagerness.
Over the
coming weeks, may others know through us the true meaning of the season. May
the love of God embrace you, the tenderness of Christ enfold you and the Holy
Spirit fill you, this day and forevermore.
Amen.
**© 2024 The United Church of Canada/L’Église Unie du Canada. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike Licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ca. Any copy must include this notice.
Since time immemorial,
Indigenous peoples have occupied and cared for the land which many call Canada.
In our worship together this day, in this area, we gather on the traditional
land of the Wabanaki peoples, predominantly the lands of the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet,
Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy. As a community of faith, we seek to rebuild
right relations with these people, to learn from them and to live on this land,
their land with respect and gratitude for its creation and Creator.
We light this Christ candle as
a symbol of the presence of Christ who lights our way even in the midst of
life’s fears and uncertainties.
Call to Worship: (Written
by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, August 2024)
Children of God, when wars and
rumors of wars circle all around, Jesus says:
Do not be alarmed. This is not
the end.
When earthquakes, hurricanes,
fires, famines, and floods produce chaos and destruction, Jesus says:
Do not be alarmed. This is not
the end.
When misinformation and
disinformation try to dismantle relationships of trust in our families,
churches, cities, and nation, Jesus says:
Do not be alarmed. This is not
the end.
Children of God, whatever
leaves you feeling unsteady, insecure, scared, and confused today--do not be
alarmed. This is not the end.
We come to worship God who
inscribes our ending, our beginning, and everything in-between in Love. Thanks
be to God!
Opening Prayer:
Eternal God, in the midst of
the uncertainties of this world,
may our worship of you this
day bring us comfort and courage.
May our hearts be open, our
minds be clear, and our spirits be receptive
to your wisdom, compassion, and love.
Teach us to see the world with new eyes,
and to walk with grace in all that we do.
We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Hymn: 688 VU O Day of God Draw Nigh
Prayer of Confession: (adapted
from Worship Ways, United Church of Christ)
Redeemer and Liberator, we
know that all is not right in our world,
but we cannot say with
certainty what is wrong.
So much of the values that we
hold most important to us- things like the dignity of all peoples, respect for
differences, radical love, hospitality and inclusion seem to be collapsing all
around us.
There are deep divisions between
us and others.
There are too many who live in
poverty and fear.
We have been satisfied with a
faith that conforms to the world rather than one that challenges the systems
and ways of the world.
There are too many horrific
stories, and not enough hopeful ones.
So, we pray to you to make things right, and
to make us right with you and each other.
Forgive us for our focus on
our own survival and pleasure while your creation perishes all around us.
Turn us around from that which
destroys toward that which heals and brings joy. And hear us again, as we offer
you our confession in silence…
*************************
For your mercy and in
repentance, we pray. Amen.
Words of Affirmation and Grace
(from
Worship Ways, United Church of Christ)
Beloved,
you bear the image of God. You receive power from the Spirit of God. Be
encouraged that Holy Love meets you with boldness and renewal. Let God be
glorified as you accept the call to be the activating agents of a new world
where love reigns, hope endures, and peace abound
Scripture Readings and Reflection;
Encouragement
in the Face of Turbulence
If you have ever flown in an
airplane, chances are probably pretty good that at some point or another in
your flight, you may have heard an announcement come over the speaker that said
something like: “This is your captain speaking. We are about to encounter some
turbulence up ahead. Please return to your seats and ensure that your seatbelts
are safely secured.” This is your notice that things are going to get choppy on
the plane. The way ahead is not going to be all that smooth. And while we can’t
control the turbulence that we are likely to experience, we can control our
response to it by trying to remain as calm as possible. Easier said than done
though.
The feeling we have as we
buckle those seatbelts is more than a little disconcerting. Perhaps our palms
become just a little sweaty as we brace ourselves while the plane shakes and
shifts. Or our mind starts to feel overwhelmed and anxious. We might imagine
all sorts of worst-case scenarios.
As I listen to newscasts of
late, I confess to you how this sensation of turbulent times ahead has overwhelmed
me. We are living in the midst of a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety and
outright fear of what is coming next. So much feels up in the air almost like a
weight that is bearing down. I am troubled at the heaviness of hate and
division that has found a new foothold in the nations of our world, between
peoples of differing political persuasions and between different races, genders
and ideologies. There is no doubt about it, we are going to need much courage as
we support one another in holding fast to our faith and hope as followers of
Jesus Christ.
What a comfort it was for me
that our lectionary passages for this Sunday concern themselves with people who
also were enduring turbulence. In both of these texts we hear bold reminders
that even in the face of chaos and uncertainty, our call is to endure and to
not abandon our faith in Jesus. We hear first from Hebrews:
Hebrews 10: 19-25
19 Therefore,
my brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the
blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that
he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), 21 and
since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let
us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts
sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure
water. 23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our
hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24 And
let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25 not
neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one
another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
What I hear in this passage is
a call to persevere through the struggles, to hold on to hope in the midst of
despair as the encroaching Roman powers and other variations of faith groups
compete for dominance. As they do so, they are encouraged to “provoke” one another
to love and good deeds. Such a good word- provoke. I liken it to pestering one
another to be the best we can be, spurring one another on in community as we
meet together. To me, there is no better image for what it means to be church.
For isn’t that why we gather for worship? To offer support to one another and to affirm
one another in reaching out with love in our day to day lives. It is reminder
to us that we can’t do this alone. We are here to inspire one another to be the
hands and feet of God in the world as we challenge the incivility that is
permeating our communities and world, as we build meaningful and enriching
relationships with one another and as we take concrete actions to serve the
poor and marginalized. It is, as our passage says, how we are to live in the
meantime, until the Day of the Lord approaches.
It is similar to the message
Jesus gives his disciples as they stand in awe gazing at the grandeur of the
temple. They had just been inside that temple where Jesus noticed a widow
contributing her last coin to the temple treasury. While he had complimented
her generosity, Jesus also expressed his outrage at the whole temple system
that was build off the sweat and exploitation of the poor and the widows. The
disciples, however, still hadn’t quite connected the dots. As they stand in
admiration of this massive temple with its architectural wonders and impressive
stones each measuring anywhere from 50 to 300 tonnes and its shiny features of
gold glistening in the sunlight, Jesus is less than impressed. Built by Herod
the Great and labelled as one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, the temple
represented stability, permanence and security. Yet, as we will see, Jesus
points out that all this is illusionary. There will be turbulence ahead for his
followers. Not even this temple will remain. In the meantime, something new will
struggle to be born.
Mark 13: 1-8
As he came out of the temple,
one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what
large buildings!” 2 Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see
these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will
be thrown down.”
3 When
he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John,
and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will this
be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be
accomplished?” 5 Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware
that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name
and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7 When
you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place,
but the end is still to come. 8 For nation will rise
against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in
various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth
pangs.
Interesting, isn’t it that
when the disciples asked when all this is about to take place, Jesus doesn’t
answer their question. He doesn’t want them to get obsessed with times and
dates. He doesn’t fall for their need for details in the face of so much
uncertainty. All he says is essentially-
expect turbulence. The way will not be smooth. Many will come in my name and
say I am he. There will be false Messiahs. They will lead many astray as they
claim to have all the answers. Don’t get sucked into the deception of those who
say follow me. Learn to carefully and
critically discern and interpret what is being said. Remember that we are
followers of Jesus. The only thing that
is permanent will be God’s faithful presence in the midst of the turbulence and
the uncertainty.
I like how Rev. Karen Georgia
Thompson, the General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ
expressed it, “Now is a time to pause for prayer, to break from the toxicity
and to gather ourselves for the work that is ahead for us as people of faith…
As people of faith and followers of Jesus, our values and our commitments are
not changed by the politics of the day. Instead, we remain called to be
advocates for justice and to find ourselves providing solidarity with those
whose voices have been silenced, those who find themselves living on the
margins of our society, and those whose rights are threatened among us.”
In other words, through the turbulence, remain
on the tasks at hand. Stay focussed as God continues to work with us and
through us to bring something new to birth. Continue to trust that God’s peace
is available to us at all times no matter how chaotic and turbulent the world
feels just now. Continue to provoke each other to not give up in the quest for
justice, to show love where there is so much hatred being spewed and to protect
what is sacred and good. As Cameron Trimble writes, this doesn’t mean simply
hanging on for dear life. It is about preparing ourselves for what is ahead-
uniting and grounding ourselves in the present moment. Sometimes, too, it helps
us to remember others who have walked this path before us. Trimble shares the
following story of Fannie Lou Hamer who was born into poverty in the Jim
Crow South. Fannie Lou knew the sting of injustice from an early age. She
worked the cotton fields from childhood, felt the weight of racism daily, and
endured brutal treatment simply for standing up for her rights. In 1961, she
was forcibly sterilized without her consent, a violation that could have
shattered her spirit. But instead, she let that heartbreak shape her resolve.
In 1962, Fannie Lou attended a civil rights meeting where she learned about her
right to vote. This knowledge was transformative—it was as if she’d found a new
purpose in the midst of her suffering. Despite threats, violence, and
relentless opposition, she worked tirelessly to register Black voters, becoming
a powerful voice in the fight for civil rights. She endured beatings that left
her permanently injured, was thrown off the plantation where she worked, and
faced hatred that would have crushed many. Still, she held firm, famously
declaring, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
Her journey was one of
continuous grief, but she never let her sorrow turn into despair. Instead, she
used it to fuel her fight, allowing her heartbreak to deepen her compassion and
strengthen her commitment to justice. Fannie Lou did not deny her pain; she
named it, honored it, and let it transform her. Her life reminds us
that grief and resilience can coexist, that we can be both broken-hearted
and unbreakable....
As I think about the heaviness
in the world just now, it strikes me that this is what we, as faithful
followers of Jesus Christ in our day and age are being called to do as well.
More than ever before we need to remember our calling to witness to another
way, to become the people God has called us to be, to persevere and provoke
each other to love, to put that love into action and to share those God moments
that are revealed to us in the chaos. Now is the time for us to work together, to
support one another and to hold each other tight despite the brokenness of the
world.
And, most of all let’s
remember who we are- children of God, called to look for and point out God’s
presence and activity in the midst of the chaos – in the kindness of friends,
in the opportunities to reach out as we encourage others through their hurt and
pain. May we never forget that all that is wrong with the world is not the end
of the story. Something new is struggling to be born. With our help, God is
making a way. Do not fear. Do not give up. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.
Amen
In a world full of
uncertainties, we bring our offerings that they might be used to spread God’s
hope and love beyond the confines of this building. May they be a balm to a
world in need of comfort and a fire to a world in need of refining.
Your Generosity Matters/ We
Offer our Gifts
Supporting practical,
long-term solutions to drought and food shortages.
Credit: Zimbabwe Council of
Churches
In Zimbabwe, severe drought
and food shortages continue to take a toll on communities, but the Zimbabwe
Council of Churches is leading efforts to provide support. In partnership with
Mission and Service and the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, the Scaling Up Resilience
Project focuses on practical, long-term solutions. By emphasizing climate-smart
farming, gender equality, and community-driven initiatives, the project is
helping families strengthen their resilience and work towards a more secure
future.
The challenges facing Zimbabwe
are immense, with frequent droughts, unpredictable rains, tropical cyclones,
economic instability, and outbreaks of diseases like cholera all contributing
to severe food insecurity. In the Bikita and Gutu districts, up to 60% of
people are affected, with many families struggling to put food on the table,
send their children to school, and are at risk of gender-based violence. Crop
failures, especially due to El Niño, have worsened conditions, leaving
communities in urgent need of solutions.
The Scaling Up Resilience
Program addresses these issues by building on the success of previous
humanitarian efforts. It will provide training in gender-sensitive,
climate-smart agriculture, strengthen disaster risk management systems, and
revive essential community assets, such as water conservation works and
irrigation schemes. By promoting gender equality, supporting financial
resilience through savings and loans programs, and ensuring that all community
members, including the elderly and those with disabilities, are included, the
project is creating a brighter future for thousands of people.
Your gifts through Mission and Service(opens in a new tab) have provided
crucial support to partners like the Zimbabwe Council of Churches as they work
toward a secure and sustainable future. Your continued support is deeply
appreciated.
Hymn: 187
MV We Give Our Thanks to God
Prayers of Thanksgiving and
Intercession
God of our past and future,
God of these present times, we know and trust that you are with us through all
the times of our lives. In you we find refuge in these uneasy and turbulent
days. Even though we don’t know what is in store for our world in the midst of
so much chaos and brokenness, we know how the story ends and that you hold the
future. Your love and strength offer us a launching place from which we can
make our way forward especially in those times when we find ourselves anxious,
weary and despairing. We look to you for the stamina and resilience we need to
be followers of your way as we work for a world where all are treated with
dignity, a world free from racism and oppression, hatred and suffering. Show us
ways that we might build bridges of understanding by listening in the midst of
differences and acting boldly so that peaceful relationships might flourish in our
homes, our community and our nation.
Teach us to name our own pain
and heaviness in the face of so many struggles all around us- natural
disasters, the climate crisis, inadequate food and housing of so many, unrest
and violence, lives being directed by forces beyond their control. We know many
among us who are wrestling with sorrow and grief, illness or pain. Provoke us
to show love and support to one another and to sow seeds of hope through acts
of generosity and genuine hospitality.
May we never forget that you
are a God of fresh possibilities even in the midst of uncertainty, and that you
are moving within us as we hold your vision for a world made new. In the name
of Jesus who continues to call us to be alert and who encourages us for the
work that is before us, we pray as he taught us… Our Father...
Hymn: 424 VU May the God of Hope Go with Us
Blessing:
May we hold fast to all we
hope for
without wavering.
May we know God's promise of faithfulness
in all things.
May we continually provoke one another
to love and good deeds.
And may the blessing of God,
the peace of Christ and the encouraging presence of the Holy Spirit guide us as
we make our way forward. Amen.
*******************
Remembrance Sunday
Adapted
from the Contribution by Capt (Rev.) Nathan Wright—Chaplain, The Royal New
Brunswick Regiment (Fredericton, NB)
Gathering Music
Act
of Remembrance
Laying
of Remembrance Day Wreath
Hymn
“O Canada,”
In Flanders Fields (by LCol John
McCrae)
In Flanders fields the
poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short
days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel
with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Words of Remembrance
They
shall grow not old,
as we
that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning.
We will remember them.
Last Post
Minute of Silence
Rouse
Responsive Prayer
Eternal rest grant to
them, O God, and may perpetual light shine upon them.
May their souls, through your great mercy, rest in peace. Amen.
Welcome
Welcome, everyone, to
this service of remembrance. We have gathered here with gratitude to recognize
the sacrifices of our Canadian Armed Forces and RCMP members who have offered
themselves in service to our country. Through world wars and regional conflicts,
at home and abroad, they have demonstrated courage, loyalty, integrity, and
service to Canada before self. The freedoms we enjoy today would not be
possible without them. And so, on this Sunday before the 11th day of the 11th
month, we remember them.
Announcements
God Moment
Land Acknowledgement
Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples have occupied and cared for the land which many call Canada. In our worship together this day, in this area, we gather on the traditional land of the Wabanaki peoples, predominantly the lands of the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy. As a community of faith, we seek to rebuild right relations with these people, to learn from them and to live on this land, their land with respect and gratitude for its creation and Creator.
Candle Lighting
Jesus said (Matthew
18:20): “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among
them.” We light this candle as a reminder that we are not alone. May its flame
warm our hearts and inspire us to live the message of the gospel.
Call to Worship
From east and west,
north and south, we gather on this day of remembrance to give thanks and
praise.
We come to be inspired by the Word of God and honour the
sacrifices of those who have committed themselves to service before self.
In times of peace, in
times of conflict, and in times of uncertainty,
We remember that we are not alone.
We are the people of
God, connected across time and space, from generation to generation.
We are united by the love of the One who said: “No one has
greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
As we gather to
remember, let us sing and pray.
Let us worship God together!
Opening Prayer
God of our past, present, and future, we have come to this
place as a people of hope. We hope for a future without war and a world that
lives together in peace. In years past, and in the present day, members of our
armed forces have put their lives at risk for this hope, with some paying the
ultimate cost. May what we do here today strengthen our resolve to work
together so that this hope may be fulfilled. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Responsive Reading: Micah 4:3
“[God] shall judge
between many peoples,
and
shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;
they shall beat their
swords into ploughshares,
and
their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift
up sword against nation,
neither
shall they learn war any more.”
Hymn
“O God, Our Help in Ages Past,”
VU 806
Prayer of Confession
Holy One, when our
lives are comfortable and we live in relative safety, it can be all too easy to
forget that what we enjoy today has come at a great cost. For some, the price
was their last breath. For others, it was wounds to body, mind, or spirit. Our
inability to resolve conflicts through peaceable means has caused harm beyond
measure.
Forgive us for using violence as a way to resolve our
differences.
On days like this, we
remember those who defend our freedoms and we say “Lest we forget.” Yet, too
often we forget that the wounds to mind and spirit can last a lifetime.
Forgive us for not remembering once the poppies have been
put away.
Jesus said, “Blessed
are the peacemakers,” but we have often focused on what divides us rather than
on what can bring us together.
Forgive us for our reluctance to do the hard work of
peacemaking.
For all these things, and for those which we name before
you now in the silence of our hearts, forgive us…
Time of Silent Prayer and
Reflection
Words of Assurance
Jesus said (John 3:17): “God did not send the Son
into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved
through him.” Receive the Good News: in Christ, you are forgiven! Our loving
God desires that all people, indeed the whole world, be restored to right
relationship with God and one another, so that we might live together in peace.
1st Scripture
Reading
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
There is a time for everything,
and
a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a
time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a
time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a
time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a
time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a
time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a
time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a
time for war and a time for peace.
2nd Scripture
Reading
Ephesians 6: 10-18,
23-24
Finally, be strong
in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that
you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the
powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms. 13 Therefore
put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may
be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth
buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the
readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In
addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds
of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on
praying for all the Lord’s people.
23 Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with
faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace to all who
love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.
Gospel Reading
Luke 7:1-10
When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who
were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his
master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The
centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to
come and heal his servant. 4 When
they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have
you do this, 5 because he
loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So
Jesus went with them.
He was not far
from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t
trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did
not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my
servant will be healed. 8 For
I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one,
‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do
this,’ and he does it.”
9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the
crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who
had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
Sermon REMEMBERING THE STORIES
A WOMAN'S STORY
The story of a woman whose husband
has just left for who knows where for who knows
how long:
I couldn't bear to see him go.
We'd only been married for 18 months.
But there he
was looking out at me through the
greasy glass of the passenger train.
Trying to
smile. Waving a hand. Holding the carnation I had given him as we
spent our last
few minutes together on the
platform of the train station.
We were both trying to be so brave
but I couldn't let go of the thought that this
might be the last time I ever saw
him. And, if that was going to be the
way it
was, every moment, every sound and
smell and texture was going to be cherished
and stored away in my heart and
mind.
Finally, the engine blew its
whistle. There was a lurch as the train
began its
journey. "This is it!" I thought. "This is it! He's really going. Tell me it's
not so!" But it was so and as the train picked up
speed, we tried to watch one
another through the glass until
the last possible moment. Then he was
gone.
I watched as the train powered out
of the station. Car after car passed and
finally
the caboose. I watched it until every last car was out of
sight and then I stood
there and just started to sob.
Then there was a touch on my
shoulder. I turned my head to see
another woman, one
whom I had never seen before. In her eyes were understanding. "I know
what you're
going through," they seemed
to say. Then without saying a word, she
came around to
face me and she reached out her
arms and held me - held me as the tears flowed.
Held me as I let go of all my
grief and fear and anger. She cried as
well and we
held each other until we could cry
no more.
It was so good to know that she
was there, that there was someone who knew what I
was going through and that I was
not alone. I will never forget her act
of support
and encouragement.
A FLIER'S STORY
The story of a man who remembers
his first mission over France and Germany in a
Lancaster bomber:
My stomach felt like the new
wringer washer that Mom just bought.
What wasn't
being sloshed about was being
squeezed dry. I was new to the crew, an
18 year old
tail gunner - the most dangerous
position in a bomber. My predecessor had
been
wounded during the last mission
sitting right where I was sitting. It
was a
sobering thought.
You couldn't see much in the
dark. We'd left England ages ago and
crossed the
black water toward France. I kept hoping we were going in the right
direction but
if we were lost then the rest of
the squadron was lost too. I could see
them
faintly around me in the dim
moonlight.
Suddenly the sky behind me let up
in an explosion that sent a termor through our
aircraft. Then another one went off over to the port
side. It was my first taste
of anti-aircraft fire and it was a
frightening thing.
Suddenly, explosions were going
off all around like a hundred flash bulbs all at
once. One of the bombers behind us was hit, losing
a small piece of its wing but
it carried on. Another plane was hit. One of its engines caught fire.
I felt a morbid fear well up in
side of me. What if that happens to
us? What if
we get hit? There's no knowing who makes it and who
doesn't. What if we don't make
it? What if...?
All I wanted to do was turn around
and go home. But I couldn't. Suddenly, none of
this made any sense. I guess I was near panic.
Then I heard the captain's voice
on my headset. "How's it going
Duke? If you're
a little scared that's okay. The rest of us are a little scared too. But we're
here together and we each have our
job to do. I know that you can do
yours. Just
settle down. Sing a song for us, why don't you. We'll be out of this in no time.
You'll see."
I heard what he had to say and
tried to think of a song but the only one I could
think of was Jesus Loves Me. So I started singing it: "Jesus loves
me, this I know,
for the Bible tells me
so..." When I finished the second
verse, I heard a few
snickers from the rest of the crew
but that was okay. It let me know they
were
there and listening and caring.
The pilot was right. It wasn't long before we were through the
ack-ack and on to
the target. We got back to England safely on that first
mission. Two aircraft from
our squadron weren't so
lucky. The encouragement that I received
from the rest of
the crew was such a big help. I will never forget those guys.
A NURSE'S STORY
The story of a nurse who served in
a field hospital remembering a young soldier
who came in with severe wounds:
The stretcher bearers brought the
unconscious soldier into the field hospital and
laid him in the waiting area. Then they were gone again. His right leg was
shattered - part of it
missing. There was a tourniquet on
it. The first aid team
had done their job well.
I started to clean him up and look
for any less obvious injuries. With a
wet towel
I began to clean some of the mud
off of his face and neck. What I
discovered was
the most beautiful face. It was boyish and without blemish - like the
face of an
angel. I paused for a moment. As I was looking at him, his eyes flickered
and
opened. They were a clear, deep blue.
At first, he was confused and
scared, still in shock. I told him who I
was and where
he was and that he was going to be
okay.
He said he was scared and could I
stay with him. I looked around. He was the only
one waiting for surgery. "Sure," I said. "I'll stay
with you as long as you want."
Then I took his hand and he
squeezed mine tightly.
We sat there like that for more
than half an hour. He would drift in and
out of
consciousness and when he woke up,
he was always scared. But when he looked
up and
saw me, he would relax, squeeze my
hand and, once again, close his eyes to rest.
Finally, it was his turn for
surgery. He squeezed my hand one last
time and was gone
to the O.R.
That was the end of his soldiering
days. It's tough to march on one
leg. He was
stabilized and, the next day,
shipped further back behind the lines toward England.
For the longest time, the image of
his angelic face stayed in my mind. I
wondered
how he made out. Then, one day, I got a letter from him. In that letter, he told
me what a comfort I had been to
him during those very dark hours.
"I still wake up
frightened sometimes," he
wrote," but when I do, I think of you there beside me,
holding my hand, and I feel a lot
better. You will never know what an
encouragement
you were to me. Thank you."
The stories of encouragement are
some of the most powerful stories of all.
Encouragement comes in many
forms. Through an embrace, through
words, just by
being there. People were able to communicate their concern
and their care for
one another.
PAUL'S STORY
In 1 Thessalonians, the Apostle
Paul tells the young Christians another story.
It
is a story that is meant to
encourage them in times of persecution that they were
beginning to face. It was not a story about what had happened in
the past. It was
a story of what the future was
going to hold for them.
Read 1 Thessalonians 4: 13 - 18:
Brothers and sisters, we do not
want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you
do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with
Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According
to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until
the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen
asleep. 16 For the Lord
himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of
the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in
Christ will rise first. 17 After
that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the
Lord forever. 18 Therefore
encourage one another with these words.
"The day of the Lord is
coming," he wrote, "when the heavens will open up and we
will see Jesus Christ descending
through the clouds to be with us once again,
forevermore. He will come to gather us up to be together -
the living and the
dead - and to be in God's
Kingdom. Until that time, take heart,
have hope and
never stop encouraging one
another."
Paul doesn't take the time in this
letter to describe the Kingdom of God in any
detail but, in other places, it is
spoken of a place of peace and justice.
God's
reign will be one in which there
will be no war and no suffering. It will
be a
place where everyone has enough to
eat and drink and a roof over their heads.
No
one will be a slave to
another. There will be no subservience
or subordination.
No one will be oppressed,
persecuted or marginalized.
That is the time toward which Paul
and the early Christians were looking.
In the
face of pain, the coming Kingdom
was the image that gave the people hope.
Sharing
that image encouraged the people
of Thessalonica to carry on in the face of great
suffering.
In an odd kind of way, I have come
to believe that those young Canadians who went
to war were working toward a
vision of the Kingdom of God. For sure,
God's Kingdom
is not one of warfare, bloodshed
and suffering. It is, however, one of
self-
sacrifice and one in which
persecution and injustice cannot be tolerated.
We all
know that that Kingdom will not be
completed until Christ returns at his Second
Coming to finally defeat the
forces of evil once and for all. In
struggling against
the human forces of evil, all of
the people who contributed to the war effort sought
to offer a glimmer of light to
many for whom the world must have seemed a very dark
and bitter place.
We need to remember them, their
struggle and sacrifice. And we need to
thank God
for the encouragement that they
give to us when we wonder where our world is going
and sometimes are tempted to lose
hope.
The torch of justice and freedom
must be passed on to each generation.
May we hold
it high and honour it as legacy to
be cherished and continued.
Lest we forget.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Invitation to Giving
Each day of our lives
we are presented with opportunities to respond to God’s love and give of
ourselves in faithful service. There are many ways to give, each according to
our own abilities, with all gifts working together for the sake of the mission
and ministry entrusted to us by God.
Offering Prayer
God of abundance, we thank you for the gifts that we present to
you now. We ask that you receive them and bless them. May they enable us to
serve the world in ways that inspire hope and make your love known. In Jesus’
name, we pray. Amen.
Your Generosity Matters
Your gifts support people building a better
future for themselves and their families.
Credit: Cathie Coward, The Hamilton Spectator
Sue, 61, has
faced a lifetime of challenges, starting in her youth when her mother was
involved with organized crime and jailed for fraud. Later, as a young mom, a
car accident left Sue with chronic back pain. And last fall, a fire destroyed
her Hamilton apartment, forcing her onto the streets. Despite these struggles,
Sue has found stability at Mission and Service partner Wesley. In Wesley’s
special care unit, Sue is working to overcome the drug addiction that she has
lived with since she was 11. While the process has been difficult, she is
slowly reducing her drug use with the help of prescribed medications and
support from Wesley’s staff.
The care unit
operates under a harm reduction model, allowing clients like Sue to manage
their addictions in a supported environment. Wesley’s program is part of a
broader effort in Hamilton to address homelessness and substance use. Recently,
the program expanded its capacity, and now provides about 30 beds for
individuals struggling with multiple substances. Clients are not expected to
quit drugs immediately but are supported in stabilizing their lives, receiving
medical care, and reconnecting with family. Wesley’s team includes doctors,
nurses, and addiction specialists who help clients find their own path to
recovery.
For Sue, this
support has been transformative. Her room at Wesley provides a much-needed
sanctuary, offering a reprieve from the constant stress of homelessness and
addiction. She continues to focus on her recovery, working in the garden and
taking steps toward quitting fentanyl altogether. Sue dreams of eventually
finding her own home and reuniting with her beloved cat, Kitty Cat, who was
rescued from the fire and is being cared for by a friend.
Your gifts
through Mission and Service help support people
like Sue on her ongoing journey to build a better future for herself and her
children. Thank you for your continued support.
Hymn
“God! As with Silent
Hearts,” VU 527
Prayers
of the People and Lord’s Prayer
Holy One, we come
before you now with praise and thanksgiving, as well as sorrow and concern, in
our hearts. With gratitude on this Remembrance Sunday, we call to mind the
soldiers, sailors, air personnel, and RCMP who have paid the ultimate price
that we might live in freedom. We remember those who died in distant wars and
those more recent. By sacrificing their lives, they left us the responsibility
and the duty to continue their work on the things that make for peace. From
generation to generation, may their valour and selflessness never be forgotten.
We are especially
mindful today of the effects of military life on the body, mind, and spirit.
Give courage, comfort, and healing to all those who suffer wounds, both visible
and invisible. Help us to remember that the effects of conflict reach far beyond
the battlefield and can last a lifetime. Enable us to provide the support our
service members need to live happy and healthy lives. May our commitment to
them be as full and complete as their commitment to serve Canada before self.
Lest we forget, the
families and friends of our service members share in the burdens of military
life. Bring comfort and strength to the relatives and friends of those who
serve. When they are grieving the loss of their loved ones, may they know your
compassionate and comforting presence. When they are separated from one another
due to deployments or other operational requirements, may their bonds be
strengthened. When their lives are uprooted because they are posted to a new
location and everything is new all over again, may they be upheld by the
constancy of your steadfast love. Accompany them in their daily joys and
protect them in difficulties.
May our act of
remembrance this day honour those who have put themselves in harm’s way for the
safety of others. May we never forget their sacrifice, the families who grieve
for them and support them, and their example of integrity, loyalty, courage,
and duty.
As people of faith, we
re-commit ourselves to work together for peace in our world. May the hope that
we carry in our hearts lead us to seek new and creative ways to resolve our
differences. We look forward to that day when your reign is fully realized among
us and swords are turned into plowshares and nation no longer lifts up sword
against nation.
We also long for the
moment when mourning, suffering, and sickness are no more. Until that day
comes, we ask that you respond to us when we lift before you in the silence of
our hearts the names of those people, places, and situations that are in need
of your tender loving care this day…(moment of silent prayer)…Restore them to
health and wholeness, O God.
We ask all these things
in the name of the One who came to show us your ways and who taught us to pray
together, saying: [Lord’s Prayer]
Commissioning
and Benediction
(Based on Ephesians 6)
Remember the sacrifices
of those who have gone before us.
Take up the whole
armour of God and remain steadfast.
Fasten the belt of
truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness.
Put on whatever will
make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.
May the grace of God,
the love of Christ, and the hope of the Spirit be with you now and always.
Amen.
Since time immemorial,
Indigenous peoples have occupied and cared for the land which many call Canada.
In our worship together this day, in this area, we gather on the traditional
land of the Wabanaki peoples, predominantly the lands of the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet,
Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy. As a community of faith, we seek to rebuild
right relations with these people, to learn from them and to live on this land,
their land with respect and gratitude for its creation and Creator.
We light the Christ candle to
remind us that his presence is always in our midst, a beacon of grace for our
lives.
The light of Christ shines
forth in our lives and through the lives of that great crowd of witnesses who
have gone before us.
All Saints Moment
On this special day we
remember people who by their faithful living have reflected the goodness of God
to us. Although they have passed on to the other side of this life, their lives
continue to affect who we are and what we do. While, like us, none of them were
perfect, they were committed to allowing God to transform their lives for the
sake of the world. We too are called saints. We are set apart for something
special, something holy. We each are given the gift of God to share in this
world. After us will come the next generation of saints. We are responsible for
sharing our faith and witness to them as we let our lights shine forth.
We name these names, and
perhaps bring to mind other names, as we light these candles in gratefulness
for all we have learned from them and the inspiration that their living has
brought to many;
Floyd Geldart -- Eleanor
Geldart
Gene Patterson – Steve &
Betty Patterson
Mona Lavign – Steve &
Betty Patterson
Anna Marie Vautour – Sonja
Wright
Shirley Morris – Faith
Memorial United Church
Glen Greene – Kim Brooks
Aerolynn Greene – Kim Brooks
Bob White – Elaine White
Kevin Broad – Faith Memorial
United Church
Delores Broad - Faith Memorial
United Church
Randy
Prosser – Anne Prosser
Mike
Prosser – Anne Prosser
Ruthie
Elliot – Anne Prosser
Hilton Chase – Vera &
Doranda Chase
The Very Rev., The Honourable
Dr. Lois M. Wilson, first female moderator of the United Church of Canada
Reading: For Those who Walked
with Us (written by Jan Richardson from her blog, The Painted Prayer Book)
For those who walked with us,
this is a prayer.
For those who have gone ahead,
this is a blessing.
For those who touched and
tended us,
who lingered with us while
they lived,
this is thanksgiving.
For those who journey still
with us
in the shadows of awareness,
in the crevices of memory,
in the landscape of our
dreams,
this is benediction.
Opening Prayer (adapted
from a prayer by Barbara Johns in Gathering, Pentecost2, 2024)
God, we open ourselves to you
this day, seeking to love you with heart, soul, mind and strength.
We long to love our neighbour
as ourselves.
May our time together help us
recommit to the discipleship of sharing your great love in the world, so that
we too may be in that number “when the saints go marching in”. Amen.
Hymn: 705 VU For All the Saints
Prayer of Confession:
We are inspired by the saints
who have gone before us and the saints who live among us.
We confess though that we do
not see ourselves in their company.
It is true, O God, it is so
easy to feel very much alone.
We often prefer to keep to
ourselves. We feel safer mixing with those we know. It is challenging to reach
out to welcome the stranger and those who bring different traditions and
cultures.
Loving as you love, O God,
challenges us.
Write your commandments on our
hearts…not as a list of do’s and don’ts but as a vision of the people we can
be, the lives we may live, and the world we may create.
Transform us with your love so
that we may reflect your love toward our neighbor and toward ourselves. Amen.
Words of Affirmation
Beloved, you are loved, and
you have power to choose love in every moment and every encounter. Love has the
power to lift, to heal, and to change. Let Holy Love move the mountains before
you and the valleys within you.
Readings and Reflection:
A Love
that Accompanies Us from Emptiness to Fullness
I think it is especially
fitting on this Sunday when we begin our worship service by remembering the
names and lives of those who have journeyed onward to that great communion of
saints that the theme of love figures prominently in both of our readings. Not
just love as a feeling but love as sacrificial action and total commitment to
another. When we think about saints, both the famous ones and the ones we know
personally, it is those attributes of love that generally stand out for us- the
way they cared for others, the way they made us feel when we were in their
presence and their steadfast devotion to listening for the voice of God in
their lives.
For our first reading this
morning, I am going to read from Ralph Milton’s Lectionary Story Bible. It is
the story of Ruth. The lectionary actually gives us two Sundays in Ruth but
chopping it up like that prevents us from getting a good overview of the whole
of the story. Ralph does an excellent job of putting it all together for us in this
story he calls Two Brave Women.
Our gospel lesson is set in
the context of several encounters Jesus had been having with various religious
leaders who are trying to test him. In this passage, we find a scribe who is
open to hearing what Jesus is saying. Finally, for once, both he and Jesus have
a shared vision of what living a faithful life looks like. Such a life is
centred on one core value- love for God and neighbour. We can only imagine what
a relief it must have been for Jesus that finally, here is someone who really
gets what he has been trying to affirm all along. Surely a turning point as
Jesus moves ever closer to the conclusion of his earthly life.
Mark 12:28-34
28 One of
the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing
that he answered them well he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of
all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel:
the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The
second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no
other commandment greater than these.” 32 Then the scribe
said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and
besides him there is no other’; 33 and ‘to love him with
all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength’ and ‘to
love one’s neighbor as oneself’—this is much more important than all whole
burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he
answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
After that no one dared to ask him any question.
In the book of Ruth, we find many
examples of this kind of love for God and neighbour lived out amidst an ordinary
family’s many responses in the face of upheaval and tragedy. Through unexpected
people and circumstances, God is at work, bringing about many reversals that
help both Ruth and Naomi find a way forward.
This morning, I thought it
might be insightful to hear this rather familiar story, not through the voice
of Ruth whom we usually consider to be the main character in this book that
receives her name, but through the voice of Naomi. Perhaps, as we do so, hopefully
we might see how her actions played a pivotal role in how the story unfolds,
and most importantly, how Ruth ends up as the great grandmother of King David
from whom Jesus will one day trace his own ancestry.
So, let’s sit tight for a few
minutes as we listen to how she interprets her life journey:
Little Obed over there- he is
such a sweetie. Can you hear him giggling? Today, it simply feels like my cup
is running over with gladness. All my neighbours are here today. They call me
blessed by God. They are rejoicing that Ruth, my daughter in law who gave birth
to Obed, is like seven sons to me. I do love her. Yet the joy and fullness I
feel today has not always accompanied my journey. What I have been through has
not been at all easy.
Oh, it all started out fine.
Like many women of my day, I married a good man. His name was Elimelech. Things
were going fine for a few years. We had two boys. But then there was a famine
all throughout Judah and we were forced to leave Bethlehem. You today would
probably call us economic or climate refugees or migrants. I remember the day
so well when we loaded up the cart with our belongings and headed out of town.
We had heard that there were good crops and food in Moab. As we journeyed
along, I couldn’t believe it that we were heading there. Our people and the
Moabites had been bitter enemies for years and years. We had fought in war
after war. Yet, what were we to do? We had ourselves and two sons to feed. We
couldn’t stay where we were. Then I began to wonder and fret, what about those
sons? What if they wanted to marry Moabite women? Our people frowned on such mixed-race
marriages. Yet, in time, that’s exactly what happened. They both married
Moabite women. For a while, things went well. The Moabites accepted us and some
of them were actually quite hospitable to us.
But then tragedy struck us.
First Elimelech died. Then, not all that later, my two sons, Chilion and Mahlon
died. So, there we were, three widows without a leg to stand on. Everywhere I
looked it was loss, loss and more loss. You see, normally in my culture, when a
husband dies, the sons inherit his wealth. There was no provision or safety net
for women whatsoever. You are either some man’s daughter or some man’s wife.
Being a widow meant nothing but sheer destitution. And to add insult to injury I was living in
this strange land of Moab with no next of kin whatsoever to take me in or help
me the least little bit. And what about my daughters in law, Ruth and Orpah? That’s
when I turned bitter, really bitter. I even changed my name to Mara which means
bitter. Some even called me a female Job because all around me was nothing but
loss. And where was God, I asked. Why had God brought all this emptiness upon
me? Where was I going to turn? What would become of me, let alone Ruth and
Orpah? I remember the sleepless nights
and the gut-wrenching grief as I pondered our hopeless situation. All our dreams-
dashed.
I knew I could do nothing but
return to my homeland. It was my only hope. That way, too, I could leave behind
all those painful memories that were sucking the life out of me. I had heard
that the famine was over back in Bethlehem and I did have some distant kin
there as did my late husband Elimelech. Surely, someone would give me a tiny
corner in their home. So, I told Ruth and Orpah of my plans. I was simply going
to cut my losses and pack my bags and be off. But it wasn’t quite that simple.
Ruth and Orpah would have nothing to do with my leaving. They wanted to come
with me. “Are you crazy?” I said. “Don’t be so ridiculous. Why would you want
to take on any more hardship than you have already experienced? Don’t even
think of it. Stay here where at least you will have some faint hope of marrying
again. It is the only practical thing for you to do. Besides, if you were to
come with me, my people would not be very welcoming of you. Your future in
Judah with me would be so uncertain. Your prospects for marriage would be virtually
nil and you will never see your birth family again.” Somehow, I finally
convinced Orpah to stay in Moab. She was sensible about it. But Ruth- well,
there was no convincing her.
“Do not press me to leave you,
to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people
and your God my God.
17 Where you die, I will die,
and there will I be buried.
May the Lord do thus to me,
and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!”
I said nothing to her. In
fact, I was kind of irked. Now this could make things even more complicated
when I returned because it would mean there were two mouths to feed and two
people in need of shelter. Yet, there was no holding her back. Now that I think
about it maybe at the time she knew something that I didn’t. Maybe she could
see something that I couldn’t see. As we trudged over those roads, we talked
and talked. I guess you could say we bonded on that journey. Seems strange
though as we were so different- different languages, different ages, different
cultural and religious backgrounds. Nonetheless, I learned a lot about Ruth-
just how strong and determined she was and just how devoted she was to me and
my well-being. I could see that she had a heart for God, a loving heart. She
even shared with me how much she learned from me about the God of Israel. While
her conversation made me step back and reconsider my feelings about God, I was
still not in a very good frame of mind, still bitter and still so uncertain
about what was ahead for us.
When we arrived in Bethlehem,
we must have been quite a sight. It had been many years since I had lived there
but still the people came out to greet us. But it was not quite such a
welcoming place for Ruth. I remember them asking who is that Moabite trailing
along with you? Where did you find her? She’s not one of us. Why did you bring
her here? What is she going to do– sponge off us like all the others? As hard
as that must have been on her to hear such insults, Ruth for the most part,
soldiered on. Our first priority was food. Ruth wasn’t long in pitching in and
finding her way by gathering some of the left-over grain after the farmers
harvested. It was the law, you know, to leave some for widows like us. I
remember the conversations that we had though when she came home in the
evenings. Stories about how she was harassed by the men in the fields. They
would taunt her and shout cat calls. For the most part she tried to keep her
head down, trying not to draw any attention to herself. It was hard for her
working alone among all those strangers.
One day, however, she did
speak about a man who was especially kind to her. he was the owner of the
field. He had heard about how she had accompanied me back to Bethlehem. Because
she had been so supportive to me, he instructed his workers to drop extra grain
for her. When I asked Ruth his name, she said it was Boaz. That’s when it
clicked for me. The wheels in my head started turning. Boaz was a distant
relative. What if I could find a way of bringing them together? Surely, then
Ruth’s future would be secured. And to make a long story short… my match-making
plan worked. The rest, as they say, is history. Ruth and Boaz got married. Oh of
course people talked. Why would a good Israelite man choose a Moabite woman?
Boaz, didn’t care that she was a foreigner. Not one bit. Much like me, Boaz saw
something very loyal and loving in Ruth.
Now to think, this beautiful
baby boy, Obed is our pride and joy, our future. Through him, our lives have
been renewed.
Amazing, isn’t it how God’s
hand is at work through all the ups and downs of our life journeys, even across
and despite boundaries and barriers, to bring about new life and hope among the
most surprising and unlikely people-strangers, outcasts and even widows like
myself. As I look back over my life, through all the emptiness and upheaval, even
when God felt unseen to me, even amidst all that bitterness and loss, when I
put it all together, God was still there. And to think that it took Ruth, a
foreigner, a Moabite to reveal all this to me as she stuck with me through it
all and made that love so real for me.
I can’t help but wonder just
how crucial her witness of barrier crossing and bridge building might be for
you in your world today. I am pretty certain it is our one and only hope.
Because, really, when you think about it- we’re all strangers in a strange
land. We are just passing through. It’s a short journey this thing called life.
None of us can go it alone. We’re on the journey together. It is all about reaching out with loving
kindness to neighbours near and far, especially in the brokenness and emptiness
and yes, even in the bitterness of life’s losses like I experienced.
May love for God, with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength and love for
your neighbor as yourself inform your actions, guide your journeys and bring
forth new birth among you all as it has done for me. Thanks for helping me to
reminisce. Amen
The call to generosity is a
charge to love with our resources in material ways. When we give from our
abundance, we express our gratitude to God our Provider, we assert our trust in
God our Sustainer, and we affirm our communal commitments to God our Creator.
Let us give from love in action and in energy, in spirit and in truth, in hope
and in expectation that the kindom comes when we choose to live it.
Your Generosity Matters/Our
Gifts are Received
Supporting young adults
through some of the most transformative years of their lives
Credit: University of Guelph
Ecumenical Campus Ministry
We would like to share a
wonderful thank-you letter we received from the Ecumenical Campus Ministry
(ECM) at the University of Guelph, a Mission and Service partner located in
Guelph, ON. We're sharing it with you with deep gratitude for your generosity.
“Thanks to support from United
Church Mission and Service, the Ecumenical Campus Ministry at the University of
Guelph has been able to support the UofG community and accompany young adults
during some of the most transformative years of their lives.
The Ecumenical Campus Ministry
has been a partnership of the Anglican, Presbyterian, and United Church at UofG
since 1968. The chaplaincy is fully supported by alumni, parents, and grants
from partner churches—the university does not fund faith programming.
Over the 2023/24 academic
year, ECM was able to serve 25 free meals to university students, provide
weekly worship services right on campus, conduct field trips to 10 local
churches, hold 3 public presentations on issues of faith and inclusivity,
mentor 5 student leaders, host 2 different weekend retreats, and coordinate the
Queer Christian Community for 2SLGBTQIA+ students at UofG. This just scratches
the surface!
This kind of ministry presence
is made possible because of ECM’s vision of having a full-time chaplain,
something that would be unthinkable without support from United Church Mission
and Service.
So, from all the students at
UofG, thank you for your gifts to United Church Mission
and Service! Your support is making a difference in the lives of young
adults at the University of Guelph.”
Hymn: 187 MV With Give Our
Thanks to You
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession:
From generation to generation,
you, O God, are faithful. Your presence and unconditional love and grace has
accompanied us through life’s joys and challenges. Often, as Naomi has
demonstrated to us, it is in looking back over the events and experiences of
our lives that we have seen your hand at work, nudging us as decisions were
being made and as we embarked on paths unknown.
We give thanks for saints of
the past and saints of our present day who continue to model for us your ways
of love and service. We give thanks for those who have supported and encouraged
us in our faith development by helping us grow in our love for you through
Jesus Christ. We thank you for the witness of their faith as they shared
visions of how this world could be and took actions to make these visions come
about. We pray for all the saints living among us today who face hardship in
defending justice, working for peace and caring for those suffering in the
midst of violence, oppression, hunger and fear. We remember the many who, like
Naomi and Ruth, find themselves facing the insecurity of an unknown future with
little support, for refugees forced to leave their homelands in search of food,
safety or shelter and for all who travel through the pain of grief and loss.
We pray for the many who this
day are challenged by mental and physical illnesses, the many who are
frustrated with long waits for surgery or treatment, and the many who are
feeling especially vulnerable or isolated. We hold before you the people of the
United States as they go to the polls this week and pray that peace might
prevail in the face of so much anxiety and polarization.
We pray for ourselves, our
friends and families, our faith community here at Faith Memorial, that working
together, we might be companions to each other, loving as you love, reaching
out beyond ourselves as we follow in the Way of Jesus. Receive these prayers, O
God, together with the prayers of each of our hearts as we offer them in the
name of Jesus, who prays with us as we say… Our Father…
Hymn: 169 MV When Hands Reach Out Beyond Divides
Blessing:
Go forth and walk each day in
communion with God and surrounded by the saints who have gone before us.
No matter where you go or what
you do remember that you belong to God and God’s light shines through you.
Know that when love reigns,
the world will change.
Be the love that the world needs.
Go with the assurance that the
God of love goes with you. Amen.
***********************
Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples have occupied and cared for the land which many call Canada. In our worship together this day, in this area, we gather on the traditional land of the Wabanaki peoples, predominantly the lands of the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy. As a community of faith, we seek to rebuild right relations with these people, to learn from them and to live on this land, their land with respect and gratitude for its creation and Creator.
We light the Christ candle to remind us that his presence is always in our midst, a beacon of grace for our lives.
The light of Christ helps us
to see our world with new understandings and helps us to remember that even
when we may feel challenged by life’s burdens and cares, we are never alone.
Call to Worship: (Inspired
by Psalm 34, from Worship Ways United Church of Christ)
Look to the Holy One and be
radiant! Bless God at all times.
We praise God who is with us. We honor God who sustains, redeems, and delivers.
Look to the Holy One and be radiant! Boast in the Holy One.
We seek the Holy One who hears our cries with grace, mercy, and compassion.
Look to the Holy One and be radiant! Magnify God with me.
O taste and see, hear and proclaim, touch and know that God is good. Bless the
Holy One!
Opening Prayer:
Loving God, we come to this
time of worship seeking healing and wholeness for our living.
Open our eyes to risk seeing
you.
Open our ears to risk hearing
your call for our lives.
Open our imaginations that we
might embrace the future you are inviting us to create.
Show us the way that we might
shed all that is holding us back from following your invitation to live in a
new way. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Hymn: 223
Vu Eternal, Unchanging, We Sing
Prayer of Confession
Holy God, our souls cry out to
you for mercy.
Jesus, Son of David, have
mercy on us.
Forgive us for the times we
have failed to see your hand at work in our world and have failed to call out
in praise of your generous love in our lives.
Jesus, Son of David, have
mercy on us.
Forgive us for the times we
have prevented others from following you or have blocked people from hearing
your word of hope.
Jesus, Son of David, have
mercy on us.
Forgive us for the times that
we have failed to see your presence or hear your cries in the faces and voices
that call out for our help.
Jesus, Son of David, have
mercy on us.
Hear us, O God, and help us to
follow in your ways of love and service.
Jesus, Son of David, have
mercy on us. Amen.
Words of Affirmation
When Bartimaeus cried out to
Jesus, the crowd tried to silence him.
But he cried all the louder,
and Jesus heard him.
Jesus listens to our cries of
anger, suffering or confusion
calling us to throw off our
brokenness and to rise to new life.
Go, he says, your faith has
made you well.
We rise anew to walk in
Christ’s way. Amen.
Readings and Reflection AUDIO version click here:
The Risk
of Seeing
Over the years there have been
documentaries and movies produced that share experiences of people who are
blind from birth and then later in life, receive sight. Annie Dillard, in her
book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, quotes at length from a book called Space
and Sight by Marius von Senden in which he tells of the first people in the
world to undergo successful cataract surgery. All of them, blind from birth,
describe seeing for the first time. One girl was so stunned by the radiance of
the world that she kept her eyes shut for two weeks. When she finally opened
them, she could not distinguish objects, but gazed at everything around her,
saying over and over again, “Oh God! How beautiful!”
But the experience is also
troubling too. Judging distances and depth perception is difficult. In the
movie At First Sight, a 30-year-old woman who had surgery to reverse her
blindness describes her experience of receiving her sight as something like an
electric shock. “They gave me a plate full of food. It was the first meal I
saw. I thought it would be easy to eat because I could see what I was doing.
But I would aim my fork for a piece of tomato and miss it. I had to close my
eyes to eat my first meal. I went into the street to go home and looked at the
pavement and it was moving. The lampposts and trees were moving and I just
wanted to shout stop.”
The world turns out to be much
bigger and more complex than they had thought. To many, it all feels so
uncontrollable that they lapse into depression. Others become self-conscious
about their appearance after seeing themselves in the mirror for the first
time. Many want to revert to their quieter, smaller and safer lives. As it
turns out, being able to see also comes with its own set of risks.
I see. When we use that
expression, we are not generally referring to the ability to see with our eyes.
We mean something more like I understand. I get it. Kind of like we come to a
new realization- much like a little light bulb going off in our heads.
Something new is revealed. We gain a new perspective. We are transformed in our
thinking and sent forth in a new direction.
It is this kind of seeing that
happens in our scriptures this morning. As we will discover, this kind of
seeing also comes with its own share of risks.
Today we come to the
conclusion of Job’s story. Although some like to think that the meaning of the
book of Job is to answer the question about why bad things happen to good
people, it really doesn’t provide us with any one conclusive answer, or at
least not the answer we might be searching for. For many, this final chapter of
Job is unsettling. It feels like a quick fix as Job’s life is restored. Yet,
such a happy ending can’t make the other 41 chapters of hurt disappear. To me,
the best part about this ending is that after all his questioning, Job finally
is humbled and satisfied as he comes to a new understanding about God. He sees
the world in a much bigger way and his experience of God has been deepened as a
result of all that he has been through. In the vastness of God’s world, Job now
acknowledges that there is so much more than he could ever grasp or control.
With deep humility born out of his continued conversation with God, Job now sees
clearly. God does not follow human expectations or provide conclusive answers
to all his questions. What transforms Job through this whole experience is his
ability now to see God’s presence with him even in the midst of his adversity.
Taking that risk in cluing in to this new way of seeing life opens Job to new
possibilities. Let’s listen to how the story concludes:
Job 42: 1-6, 10-17
42 Then Job answered
the Lord:
2 “I
know that you can do all things
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me that I did not know.
4 ‘Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you declare to me.’
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
6 therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
10 And
the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his
friends, and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11 Then
there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him
before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and
comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him;
and each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring. 12 The Lord blessed
the latter days of Job more than his beginning, and he had fourteen thousand
sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. 13 He
also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He
named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15 In
all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their
father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. 16 After
this Job lived one hundred and forty years and saw his children and his
children’s children, four generations. 17 And Job
died, old and full of days.
In our gospel reading, we are
introduced to Bartimaeus, a blind beggar. As we prepare to hear his story, we
might imagine what life for him would have been like. Each day, perhaps guided
by a friend, he would have been led to the side of the road as people made
their way to Jerusalem. There he would spread out his cloak to collect money
from the passersby, kind of like the way a street musician today might open
their guitar case to catch the coins that get tossed their way. This cloak
would have been his most important piece of property that he owned. It was
where he kept what little food he had. It was his shelter from the cold and the
heat. It was his comfort and livelihood. So, let’s imagine him sitting in his
familiar section on the roadside straining to the hear the voices and footsteps
as people make their way to Jerusalem for the Passover. We might wonder if he
had heard about Jesus and his teaching and healing powers. Is there a buzz in
the crowd this day? Does he hear Jesus’ name being spoken about? Could this be
his lucky day?
Mark 10: 46-52
46 They
came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving
Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the
roadside. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many
sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of
David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stood still and said,
“Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get
up, he is calling you.” 50 So throwing off his cloak, he
sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 Then Jesus said to him,
“What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My
teacher, let me see again.” 52 Jesus said to him,
“Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and
followed him on the way.
The whole thing was a big
risk, wasn’t it? Yelling and clamouring for Jesus’ attention. Yet what did he
have to lose? Hearing that Jesus was that close, Bartimaeus was eager to meet
him. He didn’t care that the others were embarrassed as he cried out “Son of
David have mercy on me.” Although he couldn’t see with his eyes, he saw with
his heart. No amount of the crowds attempts at shushing him would deter him
from trying to get Jesus’ attention. He knew that this crowd saw him as nothing
more than a fixture. They saw him there so long that they no longer paid
attention to him. In fact, noticing him would require them to do something and
they weren’t prepared to take that on. They were embarrassed by his presence.
Yet, Bartimaeus was determined. It was
his chance of a lifetime and he wasn’t going to miss it.
Jesus heard him. He asks the
crowd to call him over. So, before Jesus said or did anything else, Bartimaeus throws
off that single most important possession, his cloak, and springs to his feet
making his way toward Jesus. That’s when Jesus asks him, “What do you want me
to do for you?” While that might seem to be a silly or rhetorical question to
ask a blind beggar, it is nonetheless an important one. Jesus doesn’t presume
to know another’s needs. He asks first. He consults. He listens for Bartimaeus
to express his own need. “I want to see again”, he says. And let’s not forget.
Jesus’ question is exactly the same question we heard him ask James and John
last week. Remember their answer- we want to sit on your left and on your right
when you come into your kingdom. They didn’t get it, remember. They couldn’t
see that following Jesus was not about status and position. It was about
service.
Bartimaeus, however, gets it.
He sees who Jesus is. He has already done a very risky thing in casting his
cloak aside. He is prepared to let go of all that he has depended upon. He is
ready for the new way of seeing the world that Jesus is beckoning him toward. He
is prepared to open himself to its challenges. So, when Jesus tells him to go
for his faith has made him well, Bartimaeus, it seems, doesn’t simply go back
to his familiar space at the side of the road. The story doesn’t even tell us whether
or not he went back to retrieve his comfortable cloak, the symbol of his status
and livelihood, that he threw into the air earlier. No, what we are told is
that immediately he regained his sight and followed Jesus on the way. In fact,
the next step of that way in Mark’s gospel is the triumphal entry of Jesus into
Jerusalem, a way that led directly to the cross. Again, a way that Jesus had
earlier outlined to the disciples, not once, but three times and a way that
despite their physical sight, they were unable to see. The irony, of course, is
that now Bartimaeus, the once blind man, is the only one who can now see just
where Jesus is headed. And he chooses to be all in.
I think what both Bartimaeus
and Job point out to us is that once we really take the risk of seeing that
bigger picture of what believing in God and following Jesus is all about, any
return to our former and limited understandings is not possible.
It’s much like a little story
the late Rev. Dr. Lois Wilson, our former United Church moderator, told in one
of her books Like a Mighty River when as she wrote, her eyes were opened
as she travelled through Korea.
Many countries today are
lovely for the unseeing tourist who looks at life through the glass of a tour
bus or from the balcony of a luxury hotel arranged through a reputable travel
agent who offers predictability and comfort, hot baths and souvenirs for
friends.
Many countries are sheer
horror for the seeing visitor who brings a different vision to our times, who
works with the poor, who is committed to a new heaven and a new earth, who
faces unpredictability and suffering, and betrayal of friends. South Korea is a
lovely country especially for the tourist who looks at life through the glass
of an air-conditioned bus. Whether you are able to read the signs depends on
the vision you bring.”
As we learned from those
accounts earlier when people born blind were given surgeries that enabled them
to see for the first time, taking the risk of seeing is difficult. Just as these
folks found themselves bumping their shins on furniture that seemed to appear
out of nowhere, so too, in truly seeing, in truly understanding where we are
being led to see in new ways, we will discover obstacles that we may never have
encountered before. We may have to shift our way of thinking. Not everything
will be smooth sailing. There will also be things along the way that we will
prefer or wish that we can’t see- like horrific scenes of death and destruction
in Israel and Palestine that haunt our nightly news reports or the stories of
abuse in residential schools and the discovery of all those gravesites. Following the way of Jesus opens us to a whole
new way of seeing the world. And once our eyes are opened, we can’t return to burying
our heads in the sand. The blind spots are removed. We soon realize that we
can’t just walk past the pain and the suffering around us. We can’t avoid
issues like the climate crisis, domestic violence, homelessness, hunger, racial
injustice, inequality and countless scenes of brokenness in our community and
our world. Like Job, we will need help by turning to God in prayer and by
seeking direction as we work for new possibilities in our world. Like
Bartimaeus, we will need to let go of those cloaks of comfort and security that
prevent us from embarking on the new journeys where Jesus is calling us. Think
about it for a minute. How would you respond as an individual or how would we
respond as a church community if Jesus were to walk in here today and ask us-
What do you want me to do for you? Where might we need help in seeing, really
seeing, this world and our place in it, as God envisions it? Where might we
need to take the risk of tossing aside former ways of seeing in order to engage
that big picture kind of vision like what was opened to Job after his time of
struggle? Who are we not seeing? What voices are we not hearing?
Engaging in such questions is
the ongoing challenge of our faith journeys. When we risk seeking answers, our
lives and the lives of others are transformed. Like Job, we are assured of
God’s presence in the struggles. Like Bartimaeus, we are guided by Christ as we
embark on the journey. Amen.
Generosity begins as a
decision from the heart. It reflects care and concern for the needs of the
world as well as trust for the abundance and plenty of God’s creation. So, we
offer the gifts we have been given as a sign and act of faithfulness.
*********************
Your Generosity Matters/ Our
Gifts are Presented
Empowering families to grow more, sustain
their land, and secure their futures
Participants of the Dora
Alicia Sorto School Farm and agroecology project, accompanied by ADES staff
Antonio Pacheco, Digna Martínez, and Blanca Hernández, and UCC staff Christie
Neufeldt.
Credit: Christie Neufeldt
In a part of El Salvador where
the climate is harsh and mining projects have impacted the environment, the
Association of Economic and Social Development Santa Marta (ADES) is making a
remarkable difference. Partnered with Mission and Service, ADES has launched a
transformative agroecology project, bringing hope to rural farmers.
This initiative is centred at
the Dora Alicia Sorto School Farm. Here, rural families—primarily led by
women—learn sustainable farming practices that recycle nutrients into the soil,
protect biodiversity, and reduce production costs.
Thanks to your generous gifts,
this project can equip farmers with training, technical expertise, and native
seeds, all while promoting environmental stewardship and gender equality. In a
region affected by increasing droughts and disrupted agricultural patterns,
these new methods help farmers adapt and thrive.
Your support has the power to
extend to communities facing severe challenges. By contributing to this
project, you are not just providing food; you are also empowering families to
grow more, sustain their land, and secure their futures.
Thank you for supporting
projects like this through Mission
and Service. Your gift ensures that others can look forward to a future
where their tables are full.
Hymn: 187 MV We Give our Thanks to God
Prayers of Thanksgiving and
Intercession:
O God, as we come to you in
prayer, we know that you are a God who listens to our pleas and longings. As we
praise you and thank you for the many gifts that are all around us- gifts of
family and friends, of beauty in nature, of food and shelter, we, like Job, are
humbled before you.
Yet, we also come with many
questions that confound us. Why do some people suffer? When will injustice end?
Can climate change be stopped? When will wars cease? Why is there hunger in our
own community? Is there hope for tomorrow? Why are so many people pushed to the
sidelines? Why are so many voices hushed?
Just as you heard the
questions and longings of Job and of Bartimaeus we know that you hear our
questions too. You sent us Jesus who continues to reach out to us, asking us
yet another question: what do you want me to do for you? Most of all, O God, we
simply want your presence to be made known and to be felt in all corners of the
world- for any who wait in frantic hope in hospitals, in refugee camps, in bomb
shelters, in safe houses, in soup kitchen line ups. For any whose needs are too
great for words, whose struggles with the day-to-day challenges overwhelm, may
there be an assurance that you are in the struggles with them.
Help us to see the world as
you see it, to look beyond our blind spots, to see with the eyes of love, to
risk letting go of the cloaks that we cling to, our habits, our grudges and our
hurts that we might embrace the new life to which you are calling us. Keep us
persistent in our prayers and give us the courage to ask plainly what we need
from you. Show us how to reach out to the needs of this world that present
themselves before us- friends needing a listening ear or a gesture of support
and encouragement, loved ones who are overwhelmed by changes in their health or
mobility, the many agencies in our community and beyond who need our generosity
so that their work of care and advocacy to the vulnerable might continue.
Most of all, God, help us to
follow your lead, knowing and believing that you hold the key to new and
everlasting life. Together, in the name of Jesus, who notices and loves each
and every one of us, we pray… Our Father…
Hymn: 371 VU Open My Eyes, That I May See
Blessing: (Written
by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, July 2024)
Beloved, go now in the
blessing of Christ’s mercy.
May God grant you persistence
to cry out for help,
an open heart to notice the
cries of others,
and the courage to listen and lend a loving
hand to neighbors known and unknown. Amen.
***************************
Since time immemorial,
Indigenous peoples have occupied and cared for the land which many call Canada.
In our worship together this day, in this area, we gather on the traditional
land of the Wabanaki peoples, predominantly the lands of the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet,
Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy. As a community of faith, we seek to rebuild
right relations with these people, to learn from them and to live on this land,
their land with respect and gratitude for its creation and Creator.
We light the Christ candle to
remind us that his presence is always in our midst, a beacon of grace for our
lives.
Call to Worship:
Jesus reminds us to reach out
to those in need-
to care for one another in
love, to seek justice and resist evil.
We have heard the call of
Christ.
We have gathered to make that
call come alive in our midst.
Jesus shows us that we are
children of God-
the greatest among us are
those who are willing servants of others.
We have seen the example of
Christ.
We have gathered here to serve
one another in faith, hope and love.
Opening Prayer:
Source of all things,
how can we approach glory so
vast that all space and time is surrounded by you?
We cannot comprehend the
marvels and mysteries of earth.
You are an awesome God!
All creation speaks of your
care for us.
As we worship you today, show
us how to serve you and your purposes by caring for this world you have created
and for all who need the gifts we can offer.
Open us now that we might
listen for your direction. Amen.
Hymn: 229 VU God of the Sparrow
Prayer of Confession: (Adapted
from The Abingdon Worship Annual 2009)
We pray for forgiveness this
day.
For choosing power over service, forgive us.
For seeking glory rather than humility, forgive us.
For pushing ourselves to the front,
when our presence is needed on the sidelines, forgive us.
Help us know where we are needed
and how best to serve you and your people.
Guide us to your side,
that we might be your hands
of healing and compassion
for a world in need.
In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Words of Affirmation: (Thom
Shuman, Lectionary Liturgies)
The One who poured the
foundations of creation fills us with grace and hope.
The One who numbered the
clouds, tips over rain barrels of living water into our parched souls.
The One who writes anthems for
the early morning stars, fills us with songs of joy.
The One who provides food for
all living things, feeds us with mercies which come fresh and new each
day.
Thanks be to God, we are
forgiven. Amen.
Readings and Reflection: For an AUDIO version of this, click here:
Sometimes,
We Just Don’t Get It!
A few years ago, a documentary
movie about the iconic Mr. Rogers was released. For many children of a certain
era, Mr. Rogers was their hero. The movie, starring Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers,
gave us some delightful insights into how the program was produced and some of
its more memorable moments. One such moment told by his wife Joanne was when a
little boy came up to Fred at an event in Boston while he was doing a meet and
greet. Characteristically, Mr. Rogers knelt down so he could speak face
to face with the young man. The boy looked completely and utterly
bewildered and he looked at his television idol and asked, “Mr. Rogers, how did
you get out?” Mister Rogers smiled and began to explain to the
young boy about the concept of television and how he wasn’t literally in the
box while the boy watched every week. The young boy listened intently,
nodding with a look of intense concentration saying, “uh-huh, ok, yeah,
hmmmmm.” When Fred finished his elaborate explanation, the young boy just
looked back at him and said with 100% sincerity, “But, Mr. Rogers, how will you
get back in?”
Sometimes, it doesn’t matter
how carefully or frequently someone explains something to us, we just don’t get
it. I can certainly attest to that having suffered through Grade 12 calculus! Sometimes,
no matter how much we try to get our head around certain things in life, the
answers are not always forthcoming. Or, sometimes, too, the answers may not be
the ones we desire. They might challenge us too much or they might simply feel
unsatisfactory or inconclusive. As a result, we might find ourselves resisting
the information we are hearing. We might even deny that it has any value or
significance for us.
That’s much like what I see
happening in our scriptures today. A few weeks ago, we read a little overview
of Job’s story. You might remember how it goes. Job experiences great loss- his
family, his livestock and his health. For some 37 chapters, Job, in the company
of his so-called friends, struggles with what felt like God’s absence, God’s
distance and God’s silence. Together, through a series of dialogues, Job and
his friends grapple with the question Why. They just can’t make any sense of it
all. No matter what angle they take in trying to figure it out, they just don’t
get it. Finally, though, God breaks the silence by turning the tables on Job
and asking questions of him. That’s where we pick up the story this morning.
Job 38: 1-7,34-41
Then
the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
2 “Who
is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up your loins like a man;
I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
4 “Where
were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone
7 when the morning stars sang together
and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?
34 “Can
you lift up your voice to the clouds,
so that a flood of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go
and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts
or given understanding to the mind?
37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens
38 when the dust runs into a mass
and the clods cling together?
39 “Can
you hunt the prey for the lion
or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in their covert?
41 Who provides for the raven its prey,
when its young ones cry to God
and wander about for lack of food?
This sounds to me like God is
more than a little exasperated with Job- not for asking questions I don’t think
but more so for not being able to get the bigger perspective of God’s world
that is beyond Job’s understanding. While Job might have desired an explanation
that said for every thing that happened to him there must be a cause, God points
out to him that sometimes things are simply unknowable, beyond what Job’s mind
can fathom. In essence this is God saying reminding Job -“I am God and you are
not.” Kind of like a bit of a reality check for Job to call him to contend with
the limits of his understanding, that making sense of the world and getting
deeply satisfying answers to all of life’s questions is an ongoing conversation
with which humans are called to wrestle. No one sermon or explanation will ever
be conclusive for us. For Job, for us, it is a call to humbleness and trust in
the midst of the randomness of suffering. Yet, as commentator Debie Thomas
adds, “still we ask questions because we live in the context of a universe
securely held, ordered, protected and cherished by God. In knowing this much,
we find rest.” While this may not be the answer Job expected or wanted, it will
be enough to keep the dialogue between him and God ongoing and evolving.
In essence, it’s not all about
us! And sometimes, that’s a hard pill to swallow!
That is exactly what James and
John, and the other disciples for that matter, struggled with as well. Three
times now in Mark’s gospel, Jesus had explained in very clear words what was
ahead for him- how he was going to be arrested, suffer and be put to death and
then raised. Yet, each time, the disciples just don’t get it. The first time it
was Peter who rebuked the very thought of this. No way, he said, not going to
happen. You are the Messiah. You are going on to bigger things like the
restoration of Israel. The second time no sooner had the same words come out of
Jesus’ mouth when he turns around only to find the disciples arguing over who
is the greatest. In today’s reading, just after his final prediction of his
passion, they do it again. If this were depicted as a cartoon, we can almost
imagine by now a little cartoon bubble over Jesus’ head with one word-(SIGH!)
Mark 10:35-45
35 James
and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher,
we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And
he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” 37 And
they said to him, “Appoint us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your
left, in your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them,
“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to
drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized
with?” 39 They replied, “We are able.” Then
Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism
with which I am baptized you will be baptized, 40 but
to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to appoint, but it is for
those for whom it has been prepared.”
41 When
the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. 42 So
Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the gentiles those
whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are
tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so among you;
instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and
whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For
the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom
for many.”
They just don’t seem to get
it, do they? Much like the little boy talking to Mr. Rogers about how he got in
and out of the box, these disciples, despite the very best explanations given
to them, are not putting it together. Or we might wonder, maybe they are
putting it together, but are in denial. Maybe like Job in his dialogue with
God, the answers and explanations the disciples are getting are not the answers
they want to hear. Jesus is pushing them out of their comfort zones. So… in
response they return to a conversation that is more in keeping with what they
are used to—things like seating arrangements in Jesus’ coming kingdom. Who will
have special status? Who will have the most power? Who will be at the top when
it comes to cabinet appointments?
They are still caught up in
old world thinking as they assume that the new reign that Jesus is ushering in
will be set up just like the reigns of kings they were used to. Jesus, once
again, takes James and John and the others aside, and says to them it doesn’t
work that way! The new world I am talking about is completely turned upside
down. I like how Barbara Brown Taylor in her book Bread of Angels describes it:
The number ones are not at the
head of the table having their pictures taken. They are the quiet ones slipping
in and out among the guests refilling wine glasses and laying down clean
silverware for the next course. The great ones are not the dignitaries to the left
and right of the ruler; they are the slaves who are stirring pots in the kitchen,
testing the temperature of the soup so that it is neither too hot nor too cold
for the honoured guests. These ae the people whose efforts go almost completely
unnoticed.
Poor James and John. Although
they think they get what Jesus is all about they really are missing his vision
of where his mission is going to end up. They have no idea of what they are
asking when they seek after the choice seats. Little do they realize that those
seats will be full of splinters and it will not be James and John at Jesus’
left and right but two unnamed bandits.
In this new world Jesus
describes, the end of the line is the best place to be. The lowliest job is the
one to covet. Those who serve are the great ones. They will not be in it for
the rewards but for the blessing and satisfaction they receive in helping
others. We can relate to that, can’t we - so often when we do something for
another, when we volunteer or help out in some way, how we often say, that we
got more out of it in terms of satisfaction than the recipient of our efforts.
I think that is what Jesus is talking about.
Such a contrast to the world
we live in, isn’t it? A world that craves status without integrity and
privileges and rewards without commitment. James and John are still stuck in
that old way of playing the game by getting ahead of another and trying to
become part of Jesus’ inner circle, even if it means pushing others aside in
order to do so.
One of my favourite ways of
illustrating this is with that party game we have all played. You know it.
Musical chairs. You know how it works. You line up one less chair than there
are players and then everyone parades around the chairs until the music stops.
Then there is this frantic grabbing after seats. The one without a seat is out
of the game.
Yet, I recall a time when a
professor offered his students the opportunity to play this game with different
rules. This time everyone would be able to sit on a chair even if it meant
sitting on the lap of another. This time as the music stopped, the grabbing for
chairs stopped too. The participants offered their chair to others and the
spirit of the game changed. It became more desirable to be seated last on
someone else’s knee because then you didn’t have the weight of everyone else on
you.
James and John and the other
disciples, it seemed, preferred the first way of playing- the one that meant
the first seats were the chosen seats. They had a hard time getting their heads
around this other way of playing that Jesus was talking about- one where
service was valued most, where everyone co-operated and worked together to
build community and where there was less emphasis on winners and losers and
personal glory. In this new arrangement, power was found through service to
others.
While James and John answered
a bold “yes, we are able” when Jesus asked them if they were able to “drink the
cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with,” Jesus
knew that they still didn’t have a clue where his journey was leading.
Yet, before we get too
critical of these early followers, David Lose asks, “Are we any different? When
we are under attack, afraid or anxious, don’t we also move toward
self-protection? Don’t we also give into our fears of scarcity? Don’t we also
sometimes think of our friends as our rivals?” It is true, isn’t it, how easily
despite all our words that say, yes we are able, we still struggle to really
get what is being asked of us when it comes to being servants. We find
ourselves retreating to the ways of world that hard wire us to look out for
ourselves and our own interests rather than reaching out in service. Like James
and John, despite the fact that we have heard Jesus calling us to embrace an upside-down
way of life by serving, by expending ourselves in love and sacrifice and
generosity to others, sometimes we just don’t get it. Our insecurities and
our fragile egos fail to see that bigger picture. And like the disciples it is
easy to grasp after those perks, those seemingly more comfortable seats in the
front row.
Tearing down that old framework
in our minds and putting up new ones is not easy. Kind of like playing musical
chairs in reverse we might say. Not grabbing after the seats but letting others
have yours. Not seeking after the promises of Jesus’ power to make it work for
ourselves but striving to serve others more. Not lording it over others but stooping
with basin and towel in hand to wash another’s feet, or to lend a listening ear,
or to take a prayer shawl to someone in need or to set your alarm to go off
early to volunteer at the school breakfast program or to take a bowl of soup to
an ailing neighbour or to drive them to an appointment.
It is true. Sometimes, we just
don’t get it. We get stuck in our self absorption. But when we look beyond our
own wants to the needs of others and reach out in service, sharing in Jesus’
cup and baptism, we do get it. We become immersed in something bigger than
ourselves, a world of reversals where the last are first and the first are
last, where greatness is all about hungering and thirsting for justice,
offering forgiveness and respecting the dignity of every human being. Embraced with
this new vision, this new way of seeing the world and our humble place within
it, we are promised more depth, more joy and more understanding than we might
ever imagine. Thanks be to God.
Your Generosity Matters/Our
Offerings are Received
We bring our offerings as a
testament to our commitment to serve others, not seeking the highest places but
embracing the path of sacrificial love. In bringing our offerings forward, may
we be reminded that true greatness always comes through serving.
Your generosity offers hope
and a sense of community.
Credit: Lightbox |
Lightstock.com
With your generous support,
many Canadian seniors who might otherwise face empty plates this season are able
to enjoy nutritious meals and maintain their dignity throughout the year.
The Food Security for Elders
program relies on your support to provide grocery cards to Indigenous Elders in
the Morley First Nation and Lethbridge, AB area, where access to healthy food
is limited. Without your support, these seniors face the harsh reality of
choosing between essential needs and nourishing meals. They need your help to
ensure their tables are filled with the food they deserve.
In a time of rising grocery prices
and economic challenges, your kindness ensures that our most vulnerable
neighbours are not left to struggle with food insecurity. Your gifts help
transform their experience from one of worry and scarcity to one of comfort and
nourishment. With your support, Elders can enjoy healthier meals and maintain
their well-being.
Your generosity through Mission
and Service gives more than just food; it offers hope and a sense of
community. As we continue through our seasons of gratitude, we extend our
heartfelt thanks to you for making such a significant impact. Thank you.
Hymn: 187
MV We Give Our Thanks to God
Prayers of Thanksgiving and
Intercession
Creator God, as we look around
at this awesome world you have shared with us, we cannot begin to comprehend or
absorb its many marvels. It was you who set the earth on its foundations and
filled it with such a rich variety of plants, animals and human beings. As we,
like Job, seek answers for our many questions about life’s purpose and meaning,
we thank you for your great patience with us. We thank you for those moments
that grant us clarity and inspiration. We thank you for the different model of
greatness made known to us through the life and teachings of Jesus. As he lived
as one of us, he embraced all the struggles and sufferings that go with being
human. As he adopted the role of a servant, caring for people with no special
privilege or status, kneeling to wash feet and offering compassion to the many
who were pushed aside in their communities, he has taught us much about what
serving others is all about.
We thank you for the many who
serve others in our world today, in volunteer and paid positions throughout our
community and beyond. Through gifts of healing and compassion, of listening and
advocating for justice, through practical assistance with everyday tasks and
chores and in so many ways, we are witnesses to your ministry among us and your
power to change human lives. We give thanks for all who have answered the call
to serve in our province as they offer their names for election. We give thanks
for the freedom that we have to vote. May those elected be gifted with
integrity as they serve and work for the concerns of the people.
We pray for our world,
especially for the many people and places where peace with justice feels like a
far-off dream. We lift before you the many who are in need of your healing
presence this day, all whose lives are filled with suffering and
disappointment, all who long for some indication that they are loved, all who
are experiencing loss or loneliness, pain or sorrow. Show us ways, even if they
feel very small or subtle to us, that we might reach out to make a difference.
Most of all God, may we never
forget that we are all part of your Body, we are all your children, called to
live and humbly serve one another as your people. Inspired by the example of
Jesus, we pray in his name… saying… Our Father…
Hymn: 560 VU O Master Let Me Walk with Thee
Blessing:
Let your greatness always be
found in your faithfulness,
your honour always be found in
your service
and your place always be found
among God’s people.
Go into this new week taking
with you the blessing of our magnificent God,
the humility and love of Jesus
Christ and the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
*****************
Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples have occupied and cared for the land which many call Canada. In out worship together this day, in this area, we gather on the traditional land of the Wabanaki peoples, predominantly the lands of the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy. As a community of faith, we seek to rebuild right relations with these people, to learn from them and to live on this land, their land with respect and gratitude for its creation and Creator.
The light of Christ welcomes us to this time of worship as we offer God our praise and thanksgiving.
Call to Worship:
The beauty of the autumn leaves, the joy of the harvest and the many blessings of our lives,
call us to gather for worship, to celebrate and to give thanks to our Creator.
In times of plenty and in drought, God is with us.
In times of sorrow and suffering, God is with us.
When our minds are full of worries, distractions and needs, God is with us.
In every act of love and kindness and in each new revelation, God is with us.
Come, let us gather in community as we offer God our praise and thanksgiving.
Opening Prayer;
Loving Creator God, how rich and beautiful is your world!
Thanksgiving fills our hearts as we return to worship.
A sense of blessing is ours as we gather with one another in community.
Knowing and celebrating your constant presence with us in both our good days
and our days of anxiety and fear, is reason to trust in you always.
We offer you our gratitude this day for all that you mean in our lives. Amen.
Hymn: 520 VU We Plough the Fields and Scatter https://youtu.be/7wEZRcHKYBo?si=EujsaJ0iG5cTtZwO
Prayer of Confession:
Loving God, we confess that we forget to give you thanks,
acting as though what we have is our own achievement.
Sometimes we are so blinded by our difficulties
that we can see no reason to give you thanks.
We dwell on what we are lacking rather than what we already have.
Forgive us, God.
Help us to look around- at the birds of the air, the flowers in the fields, the potatoes and grain being gathered in,
the plenty that is all around us, and the stewards who harvest it
and prepare it for our use.
Bless us with spirits of gratitude and generosity
to trust you enough that we will stop worrying
and share freely with others in confidence
that your grace will never run out,
through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Words of Affirmation (written by Aaron Palmer, in the Gathering, Pentecost 2, 2024)
We know that God is the creator of all the cosmos,
including the stunning and beautiful world in which we live.
We are blessed to be part of God’s magnificent creation.
Each of us is a beloved child of God, who, by grace, inherited life abundant.
As God’s forgiven, beloved children, let us shape a society filled with gratitude and generosity. Amen.
Readings and Reflection: For AUDIO Version, click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jEqD3Mim7G7PjoNwufdGyrv6wwpc5DhU/view?usp=drivesdk
Service continues below…
Worry is a part of life. We all do it from time to time. And there are any number of things that cause us to worry- personal or family health issues, aging and concerns about where we will live or who will look after us, finances, relationships, personal security in our homes, on our phones and internet, global worries in the face of climate crisis, health care, the economy, wars, … you name it and we can find a reason to worry. And when we are not worrying about something or other, we can even worry that we don’t have anything to worry about! How many times in your life have you been told not to worry? It was Mark Twain who once said rather humorously, “Most of my disasters never happened to me.” Interesting, too, that the root word for worry is “to strangle.” That’s what worry does to us, isn’t it? It strangles our thoughts and emotions. It sidetracks us. And, if it is excessive, it keeps us from finding any joy in life. It can place us at risk for all sorts of health issues- like heart disease, digestive issues and even as been shown to decrease our immunity. In addition, it often prevents us from reaching goals and sometimes even from thinking clearly.
So, where can we turn for help with all our worries and anxieties? Our readings for this Thanksgiving Sunday I think can give us a few hints. While worry may seem like a strange theme for thanksgiving, I think that in hearing these scriptures, we just might find ourselves making some connections between worry and gratitude.
The first reading comes from the prophet Joel. The Hebrew people have just returned to Jerusalem after exile in Babylon. They had been excited to be home, but then a drought and terrible invasion of locusts leaves them almost destitute. It seems hard to thank and praise God when things are going so badly and they have many worries about how they will feed themselves. As I read it this week, I thought of the many ecological disasters we have witnessed this year- like the wildfires in Jasper, the recent hurricanes in the southern USA. In this passage, the prophet reminds the people that God had saved them in the past, and that God is with them now. Times of abundance will return. So, the people rejoice and give thanks as though what is to come is already here.
Joel 2:21-27
21 Don’t fear, fertile land;
rejoice and be glad,
for the Lord is about to do great things!
22 Don’t be afraid, animals of the field,
for the meadows of the wilderness will turn green;
the tree will bear its fruit;
the fig tree and grapevine will give their full yield.
23 Children of Zion,
rejoice and be glad in the Lord your God,
because he will give you the early rain as a sign of righteousness;
he will pour down abundant rain for you,
the early and the late rain, as before.
24 The threshing floors will be full of grain;
the vats will overflow with new wine and fresh oil.
25 I will repay you for the years
that the cutting locust,
the swarming locust, the hopping locust, and the devouring locust have eaten—
my great army, which I sent against you.
26 You will eat abundantly and be satisfied,
and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has done wonders for you;
and my people will never again be put to shame.
27 You will know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I am the Lord your God—no other exists;
never again will my people be put to shame.
What I hear in these words is a promise of God’s deliverance and restoration even in the midst of great discouragement and disaster. For the people, hearing this promise would be challenging as they surveyed their barren fields. It would require them to do exactly what we are called to do when worries and anxieties overwhelm us- opening ourselves to that bigger picture- remembering how God has helped us in times past and restoring our trust in this same God who will carry us even now.
It would be hard work in holding onto this new mindset when everything within them would be saying… yes, God, I know you have provided for us in the past… but look at this… it is worse than before or it is more than we can handle in the face of all that we have already been through. How can we be filled with joy and be grateful now?
Earlier this week, I sent you out a little video by Brother David Steindl-Rast on gratefulness. Here is the way he insists this can be achieved:
If you're grateful, you're not fearful. And if you're not fearful, you're not violent.
If you are grateful, you act out of a sense of enough and not a sense of scarcity, and you are willing to share.
If you are grateful, you are enjoying the differences between people and are respectful to everybody.
And that changes the power pyramid under which we live.
What he is calling for is a shift in the lens we use as we look around our lives and our world. Jesus does much the same thing as people of his day are worried about ordinary problems of life like we have. While he does not promise us that things will always go smoothly in our lives or that we will never have any worries, he does remind us to reframe those worries by situating them in the larger picture of God’s provision for us. In a rather light-hearted way, Jesus reminds us to relax, to take a deep breath and to not be so worried- God will take care of us.
Matthew 6:25-33
25 “Therefore, I say to you, don’t worry about your life, what you’ll eat or what you’ll drink, or about your body, what you’ll wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds in the sky. They don’t sow seed or harvest grain or gather crops into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than they are? 27 Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Notice how the lilies in the field grow. They don’t wear themselves out with work, and they don’t spin cloth. 29 But I say to you that even Solomon in all of his splendor wasn’t dressed like one of these. 30 If God dresses grass in the field so beautifully, even though it’s alive today and tomorrow it’s thrown into the furnace, won’t God do much more for you, you people of weak faith? 31 Therefore, don’t worry and say, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ 32 Gentiles long for all these things. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 Instead, desire first and foremost God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
What I see Jesus doing in this passage is calling us out beyond ourselves to that big picture of the birds of the air and the flowers in the fields. Pay attention he says. Notice God’s care. Look for the God moments, as we say here at Faith Memorial. Point them out to one another. Or as Mr. Rogers was fond of saying in the midst of disasters and tragedies. Pay attention to the people who are helping and reaching out. This is God providing us with a way when it feels like there is no way. Look at these things and be grateful. I suspect this is Jesus calling us to shift our thinking from how much we have to be thankful for to the One we are thankful to.
As we learn to reframe even those times of hardship and heightened worries about our life and world into this new perspective of gratitude, we are provided with what John Henry Jowett describes as a “vaccine, an antitoxin and an antiseptic that prevents a disgruntled attitude, that destroys the poison of fault finding and grumbling while offering soothing for our troubles.”
This doesn’t mean that our situation will just melt away or that we just need to put our worries out of our minds all together to the point of denying that they exist. We still need to respond to needs and concerns for food, clothing and shelter in our communities by working together with agencies like our food bank. In the moments when our worries are heightened, we need to pause for a moment, look up at the sky at those birds and out into the fields if only to remind ourselves that we are dependent on God. We also need to find ways to link up with someone who has gone through a similar experience to what we might be facing or someone who can offer us that listening ear we need to help us reframe those worries. Sometimes, it can be as simple as seeing our own struggles in light of God’s provision and care for us in times past.
Diana Butler Bass in her blog this week shared a recent article from medical research she found in the Washington Post. It stated that people who had heart episodes and who practiced gratitude had better outcomes than those who weren’t practicing gratitude. By practicing gratitude on a regular basis, we become not only more grateful people but we also build up a resilience that enables us to meet health challenges more easily. It seems that gratitude blocks more toxic emotions like envy, resentment, regret and depression. It even changes the way the brain functions. It strengthens empathy, courage and compassion and gives us greater capacity to connect with others in community.
While Jesus didn’t have all that medical research available to him, we can be pretty confident he knew the spiritual benefits of gratitude in the midst of our many worries. Knowing we have someone to thank is perhaps the biggest antidote to so much of our anxiety. It keeps things in perspective by reminding us we are not self made nor are we self sufficient. Neither are we the centre of the universe. God is. Surely knowing and believing that is enough to calm our worries and to celebrate with thanksgiving. We are God’s people. The work of God’s hands. God’s beloved! Take a step outside this weekend. Be sure to marvel at the geese in the sky, the colour in the trees, the flower that survived the first hard frost, the current in the river, the vastness of God’s creation. And remember that a grateful heart is the best medicine in the world to suppress our worries. To God be the Glory! Amen and Amen.
Your Generosity Matters/ Our Gifts are Received
God uses what we offer today—our trust, our finances, the life-giving truths the Spirit has spoken to us—to bless us and others in our community and in the wider world through Mission and Service. So, we offer our lives and our gifts to bless others in Jesus’ name.
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One of the programs your Mission and Service gifts support is Food for the North.
Credit: Cheryl Jourdain/The United Church of Canada