Dalston-Crown Hill United Church

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is the nativity scene, sometimes called a creche. You know the type: magi, shepherds, and animals, Mary and Joseph, all gathered around a precious baby known to us as the savior of the world. In our living room, each year, we put out the little stable of childhood memory along with a newer collection of plastic and plaster figures. I look at it often and it always makes me happy. Everywhere I see them, in fact, nativity scenes touch me with something of the wonder of the Christmas story.

I know, strictly speaking, these scenes are not entirely historical. Wooden barns or stables were not a feature of the first century Judean landscape. Where might Mary have given birth to Jesus? Perhaps it was in a cave or some rudimentary lean-to, but almost certainly not a wooden outbuilding with a peaked roof. For another, the magi from the east did not arrive at the same time as the shepherds. From Matthew’s mention, these gift-bearing pilgrims came and saw the the child when he and his family were already back living in a house. Need I mention that we have no idea how many of these magi there were? (Three was the number of the gifts, not necessarily of the visitors.)

Yet, even though I have studied the story of Jesus’ birth for many years, I still love the sight of a not-entirely-accurate nativity scene. In one sense, I take these as artistic portrayals which tell a story by condensing a sequence of events into a single scene. In another, I appreciate the picture of a spontaneous community, gathered in the providence of God, to cherish their blessed glimpse into the miracle of God’s redemption. What a magical thing it must have been to lay one’s eyes upon Jesus, and especially to have seen him as a little one!

We cannot travel back in time to become eye witnesses of the incarnation. Yet, by God’s grace, we are blessed with our own glimpses of the savior. I may not have seen him in Bethlehem, but I see and know him in a variety of ways, not least through the faithfulness and love of our church-community. In many acts of service, song, and seemingly random kindness, I notice the truth of Jesus’ famous saying, “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am also.”

I thank you for the ways you have blessed me and my family throughout the year and pray in these seasons of Advent and Christmas that the wonder of Christ is a source of light and blessing to you.

Will Haughton

Scripture Readings: John 8: 30-8 and Romans 3: 19-28.

On Hallowe’en this week ghosts and goblins, witches and butterflies, skeletons and storm troopers will fill our streets and ring our doorbells. It is a very exciting day for children and even some adults as well. But October 31^st  is also an interesting and exciting day on the church calendar. It is Reformation Day. I looked in the Hallmark card shop and couldn’t find a single greeting card to celebrate this important day in the church. Unfortunately, this day is hardly noticed yet it marks a real milestone in the  Christian church.

Many denominations around the world will hold services celebrating Reformation Day. In essence Reformation Day celebrates the re-birth of the church, also known as the start of the Protestant Reformation.  The church was actually born on the day of Pentecost, but over time the church strayed away from its original purpose. It went from a God-made institution with the Ten Commandments, the Two Great Commandments and an emphasis on God’s love to a man-made institution with emphasis on man-made rituals and rules.

This was a time when the church pictured God as an angry God who was watching over us and anxiously waiting for us to make a mistake so that God could punish us with eternal suffering. The church taught people to fear God in the worst sense of the word, and the church used that fear to control the people, to get them to submit to church leaders and obey all the teachings and rules of the church. By the time of the Protestant Reformation, the church was similar to the Pharisees of Jesus’ time – very authoritarian.  The word of the pastor or the church elders was law, and no one in the congregation could question it. The Word of God and the language of worship services was Latin, a language that the people could not read or understand. Since very few people other than the wealthy and the educated could read or speak Latin, they had to trust what the minister said was the Word of God.

The Bible at that time was virtually a closed book. It was closed by the authority, for the Church felt that it was not suitable or understandable for the common man. It was closed by ignorance, for the masses could not read, and no one felt that this was a desirable skill. It was closed by the simple fact of non-possession. Hardly anybody then had a Bible, or any book, for that matter. Books were not mass produced, but copied by hand.

However, one key event that helped was the invention of the printing press. That made the publication and printing of Bibles easier. The Reformation was also helped by efforts to translate the Bible from Latin into the languages of the common people of Europe, specifically English and German. That made it possible for the more people to read the Bible and discover the truth of God’s word for themselves.

The end result was the idea that ordinary Christians could and should read the Bible for themselves in their own everyday language and draw their own conclusions from it. They did not have to accept the words of the centralized religious leaders at face value. They did not have to accept traditions and rituals in the church unless they were prescribed by the scriptures. Naturally this undermined the authority of the established church, which is why the church tried to prohibit translation of the Bible into the language of the people, and publicly burned such Bibles as they could find.

Into this situation comes a young monk, Martin Luther. Martin hated God. “I did not love, yes, indeed I hated the righteous God,” he wrote. Like countless others who doubted whether they had made themselves worthy of heaven, Luther shook with fear at the thought of how God might judge him. Until, of course, he began to understand that the gospel is not a message of fear and judgment, but of good news and great joy.

Martin Luther and other reformers understood that Biblical theology can only be done on the basis of a detailed and comprehensive study of all the relevant material, and not by blindly accepting a minister’s word as law. They struggled to accept the church’s teachings. In fact, it is largely due to Luther’s struggle to reconcile his faith with church doctrine that the Protestant Reformation was successful. Luther and other reformers such as John Knox discovered that the only sacraments that were necessary were those that were explicitly mentioned in the Scriptures: baptism and Holy Communion, not the seven sacraments previously prescribed by the church authorities.  On October 31^st, 1517, Martin Luther had had enough of the corruption and false teachings that were coming from the head of the church in Rome. He nailed his 95 theses on the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany, thereby beginning the Protestant Reformation. Many significant social and religious shifts followed Luther’s actions. The Reformation era started in 1517 and continues until around 1648.

For the first time the authority of the church and its leaders was being called into question. The Reformation was a radical movement in Europe that came about as the result of the conviction of those who, through the power of the Holy Spirit, challenged the status quo and took risks. It was a time of much chaos and unrest within both the church and society.

The Reformation was a chaotic time, but it was a time of much growth and change for the Church, and it is a significant part of our history, a time from which we can learn about the need for change and challenge. The sole aim of the reformers like Martin Luther was to invite Christians into a new vision of the possibility of a genuine relationship with God that was not governed by church officials; a new vision of the promise of forgiveness based not on what we have done, but by what Christ has done for us, and the guarantee that access to God’s grace and promise of eternal life was not mediated by man-made rules. In other words, the reformers invited Christians to freedom.

Reflected in the reading from John, chapter 8, is the struggle within the early church between Jews who accepted Jesus as Messiah and those who did not. Jesus has been teaching, and verse 30 reports, “As he was saying these things, many believed in him.” Jesus addresses these new believers beginning at verse 31. Living in Jesus’ way leads to truth, which in turn leads to freedom. The Jews are puzzled by Jesus’ teaching, and claim that because they are descendants of Abraham, they are already free. They claim they have never been slaves, forgetting, of course, the slavery in Egypt. Jesus addresses the group’s misunderstanding of freedom with the new teaching that everyone who sins is not free, but a slave to sin. Jesus teaches that slavery is not limited to an economic reality, but also an inward state of being. Even those who claim freedom through Abraham are not as free as they think.

Through Jesus, the Son, we are given a permanent place in the house of God. True freedom comes through Jesus, the Christ. True freedom comes not through one’s heritage, but as a gift from God. Truth for the Jews involved their identity in Abraham; Jesus’ truth involves identity in God. Only Jesus the Christ can free us from slavery to sin, and does so through the truth of the gospel.

Martin Luther felt that the heart of gospel truth is summed up in Romans chapter 3. All people fall short in their relationship with God, but God offers forgiveness of sins by the gift of God’s grace through faith in Christ.  In the words of Martin Luther, we are justified – put right with God – according to the Scriptures alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

It was as if Martin Luther’s whole world had flipped inside out. God, he saw, is not asking us to earn his love and acceptance in any way. God’s righteousness is something he shares with us as a gift. Acceptance before God, forgiveness, and peace with him can be received with simple faith or trust. “Here,” said Luther ecstatically, “I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates.”

Luther had joined a monastery to do good works for God. But he came to see it is not God in heaven who needs our good works. It is people on earth. Luther therefore encouraged Christians, instead of retreating to monasteries, to go out into the world. Having been loved first by God, they could go out to love and serve others. Through the Reformation, a tidal wave of social and cultural improvement was unleashed.

There are some in our current society who voice the opinion that the church and society are again in a chaotic state. Our own denomination is facing a dramatic decline in membership and churches are closing every year. Our pews for the most part are filled with “the grey hair and glasses crowd”. Our younger people, even our own children whom we raised in the faith, are too busy to attend church or are saying that organized religion holds no interest for them and their children. The last General Council and the remits that were voted on in 2018 were the catalyst for reformation and change in this great denomination of ours.

The work of reformation is never finished. The church has always adapted to reflect changes in society while remaining true to the scriptures. As we approach the 100^th Anniversary of the United Church of Canada we cannot help but recognize and celebrate the changes that have occurred since 1925 and that inauguration service at Mutual Arena in Toronto. As we move into the future more changes will take place.

God’s grace is all around us. If we look for it and listen for it, when we least expect it a voice will say, “You are loved, you are affirmed, you are set free”. Are we ready to allow the reforming, restoring power of the Holy Spirit to work through us?

Pat Edmonds
Licensed Lay Worship Leader

This is the reflection of Pat Edmonds of August 25th 2024 as delivered by Audrey Cando at a joint service of Forest Home and Dalston-Crown Hill United Churches. The scripture reading that day was: Phillipians 2: 1-13.

Perhaps this sermon title sounds a bit familiar. Several years ago Robert J. Ringer wrote a book, “Looking Out For Number One”. It was the best-selling book in America for 46 weeks, almost an entire year. Although I’m not very knowledgeable about music I seem to recall a popular song a while ago with the same title. In fact, after I had written this and was driving around last week it came on my car radio. I listened carefully to the words – something like – “the only way to the top, is looking out for number one”. It must have topped the charts for quite some time to be on a station that plays mostly hit parade tunes from past decades.  I wonder whether a book or song with my title would make the top ten anywhere!

“Looking out for number one” reflects the hedonistic culture in which we live. Few words in our vocabulary are used more than self and its combinations – self-fulfillment, self-expression, self-actualization, self-help, self-awareness, a woman’s magazine entitled SELF and the current craze – taking “selfies”! We are living in a narcissistic society: a culture in which we are preoccupied with ourselves and many of us have fallen in line with this way of life.

In today’s passage Paul writes to the church at Philippi. He had heard about a possible division within the church at Philippi. These Christians were having problems looking out for others.  They weren’t having relationship problems because they were weak. No! The Philippian Church was a strong church, a very strong church. Why you may ask would a strong church have relationship problems? Well, the more strength a church has, the more attention it must give to love. Why? – because a strong church has more people serving. Where more people are working, more differences are bound to arise. In fact I might go so far as to suggest that if any church has NO differences, NO disagreements, a careful look is needed to ascertain if all the decision-making is being done by one or two individuals – not a healthy situation either! People in strong churches must give more attention to love and unity, not less.

Paul’s starting point for all believers in that fellowship at Philippi is to be of one mind. He stresses this point twice, at the beginning of the passage and again at the end. How many organizations or groups or families can we think of where there is truly only one mind? Is that true in your family? Your workplace? Or even your church? What then could Paul possibly mean in saying we should be of the same mind?

In most families the “one mind” would be “stay together, love one another, get along as much as possible, learn to forgive and overlook mistakes, be a family” In your workplace, you may have a mission statement that summarizes the goals of your organization. Perhaps it says, “Everyone pull together,” “be a team”, and so forth.

Over the years I have known of several large corporations who have as their motto, ”The customer is always right – even when he’s wrong!” My husband told me of talking with the manager of a large retail outlet about a customer service problem he had experienced. The manager was apologizing to Gary for the poor behavior of his employee. He assured Gary that she had not acted according to company policy. To make his point, he invited Gary back to his employee staff room. There hanging from the ceiling was a tire. He told this story about the tire. A couple of years ago a customer had returned this tire to complain about its performance. He insisted he had purchased the tire at this store and wanted his money back. The employees and manager tried to convince him it was not their product, but to no avail. The customer kept insisting! Finally in desperation the manager authorized a refund and the customer went merrily on his way. Why was the tire hung from the ceiling? – to remind all the employees that the “customer is always right” because this chain of retail stores DOESN’T EVEN SELL TIRES!  Of any brand or size! I cannot help but wonder how many of our churches would go this far to show their belief and adherence to their mission statement.

All churches have mission statements.  My home church has its posted in big letters and fancy printing in the narthex. At a church where I often preach the members begin each service by saying their mission statement. Your church mission statement tells what you believe God is calling your church to be in that particular time and place. We all know that, although we have the same mission statement, we won’t always get along, but we should love each other enough to work together for the good of the gospel.

Look at verse 5 – “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” Paul is actually the original author of WWJD! What Would Jesus Do! If we have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus, we certainly need to ask ourselves prior to every decision, “What would Jesus do?”

To be of like mind does not mean we must all agree on everything all the time – we are not programmed robots. Our diversity is what makes us strong. Different ideas, gifts, and abilities within the church are needed. However, what we need is unity of PURPOSE, not sameness of ideas. If our focus is the same, our decisions and actions will reflect this.

What the authors of the book and popular song failed to acknowledge was that NO human being is “Number One.” GOD IS. As Christians we need to focus on the “eternal triangle of Christianity.” – that is, GOD first, OTHERS second and SELF last – the very opposite of the popular song. Paul addresses this issue in verse 4. Instead of the popular notion of “everyone for himself”, Paul stresses “everyone for everyone”. Rather than seek their own interests Paul tells the church members at Philippi to put the interests of OTHERS first. Instead of “looking out for number one’, look out for the other guy. In other words, live your life under the premise that “You are better than me.”

This involves serious humility – something we are not always good at – but an essential ingredient which needs to be present if we are to work together as the church, The Body of Christ. Paul says to set the goals of the church above your “selfish ambition or conceit.” Jesus knows that, for us to accomplish all that God intends for us to do, we MUST work together. We must put others ahead of ourselves.

Verses 6-11 in this passage, although not familiar to us, would be very well-known to the Philippians for they are thought to be the words of a traditional hymn of the time. This hymn speaks of the humility of Jesus, who though he was the Son of God, humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death on the cross. Rather than living as “number one”, Jesus lived his life on earth as a servant. He willingly took on the role of servant – washing the feet of his disciples, putting the needs of crowds of people ahead of his own need for rest.

“Therefore God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name” and at his name every knee should bend. To Jesus who humbled himself before others, all now pay homage.

We are asked to humble ourselves; to think of others ahead of ourselves; to be of the same mind; to consider WHAT WOULD JESUS DO in all our decision-making and actions. Believing and trusting in God, and looking out for number two is “the ONLY WAY to the top”. Thanks be to God!

Pat Edmonds, August 25, 2024

This is the reflection of Pat Edmonds of August 18th 2024 as delivered at a joint service of Forest Home and Dalston-Crown Hill United Churches.  The scripture reading that day was:  Phillipians 4:5-9.

“In my home congregation we hold an annual celebration for the nonagenarians of our community, those who are 90 years young or more.

A few years ago 90 seemed very old to me, but now as I am past 80 myself and work and worship along side those in their 80’s and 90’s my perspective has changed. Age is only a number. It does nothing to define a person. According to a well-known bumper sticker “Age is not important unless you’re a cheese!”

As Edna McCann says in her Heritage Book  “Youth is not a time of life – it is a state of mind. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years; people grow old by deserting their ideals. Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul and turns the growing spirit back to dust.”

Joking about our age comes easily. We tell each other that aging begins when we bend down to tie up our shoelaces and wonder what else we can do while we’re down there. Comedian Red Skelton used to tell his friends that he had a terrific morning ritual. “You know how I get up? I open my eyes. If I don’t see flowers or smell candles I must be alive. So I get up.” It is less a laughing matter when neither body nor mind will respond as quickly or accurately as we expect or want.

Body and mind may feel some slippage, but Spirit remains. God gives us our bodies and minds on loan to be turned in at the end of our days- it seems sometimes on the installment plan! First our eyes go, then our ears and so

on and so on, BUT  our spirits are a permanent gift. It was the spirit she had  in mind when one person said “Growing old is no more than a bad habit that a busy person has no time for”.

The spirit matures with passing years. It provides power to relate when more elementary physical and mental ties begin to weaken. Romance, wisdom, insight, are all gifts of the spirit. These are gifts to be burnished and enjoyed by those who are aging. There is joy in simplicity. Marital ties, family links, and spiritual bonds grow golden with time. It has been said that as we age, we become more of who we were meant to be.

With aging often comes that phase of life we refer to as retirement – a phase I entered myself 25 years ago. The wife of a recently retired fellow described retirement as “twice as much husband and half as much salary.” I think my spouse might have said “ half as much wife and half as much money” for he asked not long after I retired “How did you ever have time to work?” Of course, they were both jesting with these remarks, but they do indicate two areas of genuine concern for retired couples, how to spend more time and considerably less money.

The Bible offers little direct help. Those people in its pages knew nothing of retirement, a 19^th century concept determined by a life expectancy quite different from that in Biblical times, and indeed different also from the expectancy of the 20th century. The Christian understanding of life, however, offers some help and guidance.

The apostle Paul lived a long life for his day. In prison and under house arrest, he had time to reflect on the final stage of life. He did not retire, but offered some suggestions about the aging process in his letters, especially the letter to his special friends in Phillipi. He writes, “Finally, whatsoever things are true, honourable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable excellent …if there is anything worthy of praise, let these things occupy your mind and the peace of God will stand guard over your hearts.” Here is one of the secrets for successful aging: Maintaining a positive attitude.

Another secret is found in the story of Sarah who laughed when told that she would bear a son in her old age. God laughed with her and the child was named Isaac, which means laughter. Her laughter arises from the eruption of new possibilities. When all seems sealed, finished, totaled, God still offers life and laughter. I don’t know if it’s recorded in the Bible that Jesus ever laughed, but He certainly fixed it so we could!

The third secret is contained in the letter of a ninety-two year old Vancouver Island woman, “I am hoping to live to be a hundred, if I can be useful in any way to anyone and to our Lord.” She did live to be a hundred and kept that third element of healthy aging until the end – being of service to others!

Viktor Frankl, a noted psychiatrist, approaching his own retirement, sums up the attitude of a person of faith.

1. Give the world the gift you do best.
2. Take from the world the gifts it offers through encounters, experience and personal relationships.
3. Relieve suffering that has come to others by a fate they did not create.

Retirement offers new opportunities for living our faith. Reflect carefully on just what gifts you do have to offer. Many retired people have found a new lease on life through volunteering for something as simple as delivering Meals on Wheels, becoming a hospital volunteer, mentoring a troubled young person, selling daffodils for the local Cancer Society phoning shut-ins or joining the pet therapy program.

Retirement also allows us to receive the world’s gifts in a manner impossible in our more time-bound lives. Travel is a prized privilege of retirement. It is a possibility not only for those who have been able to save substantially. For while world travel is stimulating, leisure time can also allow fresh exploration close to home. Most of us have commented on how we only see the local “sights” when escorting visitors. Retirement gives us time to “smell the roses” and spend more time with friends and family.

However, the retirement years can be soured by a critical spirit that denies good to new ideas and new inventions, that puts down younger people, that constantly dwells on the frustrations of aging, that always looks backwards.   OR like Paul we can combat these tendencies by associating with vigorous young people and drawing on their youthful enthusiasm in exchange for our vast wisdom and experience. Paul assured his readers of God’s gift in return, “the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Like Paul and Sarah, many have lived into old age in triumph. Judith Viorst in a book aptly titled “Necessary Losses” writes, “It is easier to grow old if we are neither bored nor boring”. She echoes Carl Sandburg’s advice in his own old age, “It is good for a man of many years to die with a boy’s heart.” Here is the New Testament attitude to life: the spirit of adventure, of wonder, of reverence, of a fresh and curious mind, of laughter and of an enthusiasm for each day granted.

Growing old while being favored by God is truly something to which we can all aspire. Favored by God doesn’t mean we will lead a life free of trouble and pain and disappointment. It means that throughout all of our lives, God has been and will be with us. Just that. Those who grow old gracefully have about them a calmness that takes one day at a time, with each day filled with the awareness that they are not alone. They may not be able to move arms and legs as easily as they would wish, but there is a smile on their faces or in their eyes because their spirits are God’s forever.

We all grow old by the grace of God. We have no control over our years. Accidents and disease are part of living. Why they strike one person and not another is not ours to know. Growing old gracefully, however is possible for all of us, whether we live for two more weeks or twenty more years. Because God’s grace is a free gift, if we reach out and take the gift, open it, and enjoy it, that grace will be evident in our lives.

“This is a day which the Lord hath made
As every day will be
Today, tomorrow, yesterday
Until eternity.
The past is gone
Tomorrow still to come,
We have just today to use
As we choose.”

Choose to work for the Lord every day of your life. The pay may not always be much but the retirement plan is out of this world!”

Pat Edmonds
Licensed Lay Worship Leader

Dear Dalston-Crown Hill United Church friends,

I hope you are well and that 2022 has been a good year for you. No doubt we have all faced challenges in our own ways, but I hope we have experienced God’s grace even in the midst of our difficult times.

As we approach another Christmas season, many of us look forward to good times, familiar traditions, tasty treats and maybe a gift to warms our hearts. In our house, this latter hope is an extra cause for excitement. Lately, I’ve been asked, “May I open a present now?” This raises a broader question I often wondered about as a boy, “Why can’t it be Christmas all year ‘round?”

Of course, it cannot be Christmas twelve months of the year. For one thing, it would be economically impossible—imagine our credit card statements if that were so! I’m sure we would also get Christmas-fatigue pretty quickly.  Even more, there is no heightened emotional state we can sustain for too long. If Christmas were all the time, Christmas would no longer be Christmas.

My favourite part of the nativity story is the response of the shepherds. They were watching over their flocks that first Christmas night without any expectation. They were not looking at their watches wondering, “When will the angel appear?” That night started out just like any other. Then, after the angel appeared suddenly to announce the good news of the Messiah’s birth, and after the host of heaven filled the sky to sing God’s praise, the shepherds had faith to leave what they were doing, go into Bethlehem, and look for the child. Then, after they had seen the baby Jesus and spoken to his parents, “the shepherds returned [to their flocks], glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen” (Luke 2:20). Having had an amazing revelation of God’s saving work, they worshipped, gave testimony, and then went on with their (often difficult) lives.

Our calling as God’s people is to hear and receive the good news of Immanuel—God-with-us—and carry on with our everyday lives, albeit with renewed thankfulness and delight. Christmas and its seasonal pleasures cannot take up more than a few weeks every year, but that is just enough to fill our hearts with joy at any time! I pray a blessed holiday season and a happy 2023 for you and your families.

Yours,

Will Haughton

Reflection of Pat Edmonds “Against All Odds” as presented at a joint service held at Forest Home United Church on August 28th, 2022.  Scripture Reading:  Hebrews 11:29 -12:2. Pat Edmonds is a Licensed Lay Worship Leader in Shining Waters Region.  You can also find a Zoom recording of the service on our Facebook page.

I’m sure that you sometimes spend time watching live coverage of sports events on television – whether the recent homerun derby, the Tour de France, the Raptors, Blue Jays or last week’s tennis matches. I find it to be an overwhelming, uplifting experience and often wonder how I would feel as a parent of one of these athletes as they give their all, often extending beyond normal human limits. Through modern technology we can all see these athletes doing their best. We can all be spectators or part of the “cloud of witnesses” who see first-hand their accomplishments after countless years of training, disappointments, sacrifice and endurance.  In that cloud of witnesses are many who have trained, supported, and loved these athletes through all their trials, disappointments and triumphs.

In this week’s reading from Hebrews we hear of the “cloud of witnesses”, not to sporting events, but to our lives as Christians.  I began to think of the cloud of Christian witnesses who have helped shape my faith journey and cheered me on. First, my parents who communicated their faith in God to me. Then the Sunday School teachers who captured my interest with wonderful stories from the Bible. My CGIT leaders, both of them called Jean, who first encouraged me to participate in worship by reading scriptures for the Annual Christmas Vesper Service.  Somehow they gave a very shy 11 or 12 year old the confidence to stand at the pulpit and read in front of a congregation. Little did they realize then what they had started! Then I think of all the people, women in particular, I have worked and worshipped with in United Church Women – UCW members from all across Canada. I thank God for all these Christian witnesses who have helped shape me into the person I am today. I know all of you have met and journeyed with a cloud of witnesses too – people who have traveled your faith journey alongside you. I invite you to take a moment to think of one person who is in your cloud of witnesses, someone who gave you encouragement, comfort or assistance and watched you grow in the faith.

The book of Hebrews continues the recitation of stories of the faithful which began last week. In these messages from Hebrews 11, we meet great people of faith who overcame impossible odds. Their stories are captured for us, not on the World’s Most Amazing Videos or Tick Talk but in the Bible. Those who are listed are not listed for never having failure in their lives; for they did. They are listed, instead for having faith in their lives. In verses 29-34 we see sharp contrasts between those who put their faith in God – the Israelites and Rahab; and those who do not – the Egyptians and the people of Jericho. Today’s text reminds us that “by faith” God’s people not only ventured into the unknown, but they also did some amazing things against the odds. The inclusion of Rahab suggests that people who live by faith are not always who we think they may be. Rahab is both a foreigner and a prostitute, yet by her faith she risked her own life to save the lives of others. Some of the great and revered names are listed. After listing several examples, the author asks, “Need I go on?” Then those whose faith was proved through suffering, persecution, torture and even death are also included. There isn’t enough time to speak of everyone, such as all the prophets, and even martyrs of the present age. The point is that there are countless examples of people who have persevered in faith against all odds. They are the ones who become mentors for us today – who seek justice, act kindly, endure hardship, even death, because their faith in God looks toward a world made new. These people gave their all, simply because they knew God was with them. And they didn’t even have the benefit of knowing the Messiah! How much more, then, should we who have met Christ “hang in there and not lose hope.

The community for which Hebrews was originally written is believed to have faced serious persecution. Concerned that people would turn away from Christian faith, the writer encourages the people of God to hold fast, recalling the faithful who have gone before – the “cloud of witnesses”. They persevered against odds to the very end, and encourage us to do the same. In this passage the Christian life is not compared to a sprint, but to a marathon. In a sprint you run as fast as you can for a short distance, and speed is the critical factor.  But in a marathon, stamina or endurance is the critical factor. Finishing the race is critically important for all who would call themselves followers of Christ.

In the 1986 New York City Marathon, over 19,000 runners entered the race. What is memorable, however, is not who won, but who finished last. His name was Bob Wieland. He finished dead last – 19,413^th. Bob completed the New York Marathon in 4 days, 2 hours, 47 minutes and 17 seconds. It was unquestionably the slowest marathon in history – ever. So what is it that made Bob’s marathon so special? Bob ran with his arms!  17 years earlier while in Vietnam, Bob’s legs were blown off. He sits on a 15 pound saddle and covers his fists with pads. He uses his arms to catapult himself one arm-length at a time. He can travel a mile in an hour. That is real endurance in the face of adversity.

Like Bob those who are still running the race, that’s us, are to set aside anything that holds us back, including “ sin that clings so closely.” Some ancient manuscripts translate these words in 12:1 as “sin that distracts.” Both versions invite us to reflect on what distracts us from the forward movement in our own faith journeys. The writer’s use of “we” and “us” signals that this race is not a solo run, just as many sporting events are not. Relay races or team sports require every person to be skilled and to give their all.  The community of the faithful journeys together – not in competition, but in a spirit of collaboration and encouragement. These words encourage a community that is struggling to persevere, not through examples of those who received the promise, but because of those who persevered in faith against the odds. These verses were written to encourage a group of Christians who, faced with increasing opposition, were in danger of losing their faith. They are reminded that faith can motivate people to do great things and to overcome fear and discouragement.

The culmination of the list of the faithful (and the conclusion of today’s passage) is the admonition to keep focused on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of our faith. Jesus didn’t give up. He understood that, even when things did not seem pleasant or even bearable, God would sustain him.

As the metaphor of the race in the passage from Hebrews implies, choosing faithfulness is neither easy nor passive. It can be demanding and often requires change and growth. The way of faith prepares us for the coming of God’s dominion, but it also breaks down well-worn molds of expectations in our lives as we seek to become the people God calls us to be. Whenever one attempts to tamper with the status quo, division, discord and resistance are unavoidable. As disciples of Christ we must discern what God is calling us to do and just because divisions may happen, it doesn’t change our call. Sweeping changes come about in our lives, in the world and, yes, even in our local church and our denomination. For several years as members of a congregation and Shining Waters Region we have been asked to reorganize some of our thinking and the ways we do church. The status quo is being challenged, divisions may occur and families may even be split. But this is a necessary part of our lives as Christians and members of the United Church of Canada.  In Luke 12 Jesus describes the costs of discipleship in terms of the divisions it may cause. Even families may be divided by different understandings of what it means to be faithful. These conflicts can arise as believers reorder priorities, reshape behaviours, and rethink goals.

 As Christians we are not unlike athletes. The Christian life requires a well-disciplined spirit and body. Bodies not given sufficient training go soft. So do spirits, wills and feelings. Paul was a spiritual athlete and expected his friends in the early church to follow his example. When athletes are interviewed either before or after a competition, they often speak of FOCUS. If a winner, they contribute their success to the fact that they were totally focused on the task at hand. If not, they often say they lost their focus or for a split second focused on the wrong thing. We too, as a Christian family need to be sure we have the right focus and do not waiver from it. Our focus can be readily found in the scriptures: love our neighbours as ourselves and serve God in all we do. We are to take our place in the “cloud of witnesses”, to be the mentors, along with those of the past, for the current and future generations. Are we ready to run the race against all odds, persevere in faith despite the challenges in our everyday lives, and finish the journey we have begun? The prize is not a medal, gold, silver or bronze, but something even more precious – eternal life. Thanks be to God.

Will Haughton’s Reflection on September 20, 2020

Scripture Reading:  John 16:16-22

In 2011, renowned Cornell University psychologist, Daryl Bem, published the results of an experiment in a scholarly article entitled “Feeling the Future” in which he demonstrated something referred to as “pre-cognition”. Participants had before them two curtains. Behind one was a pornographic image. Behind the other was a blank wall. In Bem’s study, 53% of people, when asked, predicted the location of the image correctly. Rationalizing, he saw this as pointing to a heightened level of human evolution stemming from our reproductive impulse—our future selves can communicate with us about important, upcoming opportunities. At least in some way, it was argued, humans can now see the future.

If all this is sounding like the domain of scientists and experts, don’t worry. I’m no scientist, but I did see a similar experiment being conducted by Bill Murray’s character, Doctor Peter Venkman, with a deck of cards at the beginning of Ghostbusters—one of my favourite movies! Shortly afterwards, Dean Jaeger, a college administrator at Columbia University, expelled Venkman, Ray Stantz and Egon Spengler, from campus. As the old saying goes, “when God closes a door, he opens a window.” This was exactly the impetus the trio needed to start a ghost-catching business and eventually save New York City from the evil demi-god, Gozer.

In case you can’t yet tell, I don’t believe we can see the future. Of course, sometimes we can make an educated guess about what is to come. A baseball hitter, facing a full count, with no outs and the bases loaded, might know to look for a fastball over the plate. When parents tell their children to wear rubber boots to school on a wet day, they might expect some resistance.

There have been many successful guesses made in history. Anticipating a devaluation of British currency relative to the Euro, in 1992, Hedge Fund owner George Soros made a billion dollars on a single trade by short-selling Pounds Sterling. Educated guesses, however, are not the same thing as seeing the future. If we could see the future, really, no one would ever lose money in the stock market, marry the wrong person, buy a lemon of a car or learn that their cancer is incurable—the correct, preventative action would always be taken in due course.

As people of faith, however, we might be inclined to believe that even if our brains have not truly evolved to connect with the future, maybe God sometimes give us helpful clues along the way. Our prayers for guidance often ask for some indication of what the future may hold, so that we may avoid pitfalls, make wise decisions and, simply, follow where God is leading. Likely, we have come to believe that it is a sign of faithfulness to commit big decisions to prayer and to ask God for direction.

The disciples often wanted to know from Jesus, their teacher, what the future had in store—for themselves, for their nation and for Jesus himself. In John 16, Jesus was in the midst of giving the disciples his parting words, so to speak, at the Last Supper. “In a little while,” he said, “you will not see me. Then, after another little while, you will see me.” The disciples asked, naturally, “how long will these ‘little whiles’ be?” Jesus didn’t answer directly, but said, “You will grieve and then you’re grief will turn to joy.” He continued to answer by giving an analogy of a woman in labour and delivery—it’s horrible and then afterwards, when a birth is successful, there is joy. He gave them not a timeline but rather a promise of what their experience would hold. While not using the particular words here, John-the-gospel-narrator described Jesus pointing his followers to the distinction in Greek thought between chronos—measurable, scheduled time—and Kairos—the right time. Say, for example, we’ve been looking for a job for six months, with no results—that’s chronos, time that marches on. When the right opportunity comes along—that’s Kairos. Kairos is God’s timing. God will act decisively and perfectly when the time is ripe—no later, no earlier. When it happens, we will know it.

To this day, God invites us to live in trust and hope that God’s plan for the world will unfold at precisely the right moments. We are sometimes given signs to look for—“you will grieve and then your grief will turn to joy”, for example—but never, in my experience, a precise timetable. God does not give it to us as human beings to see the future. Much as that might seem like it could be helpful in certain instances, I’m not sure it would give us a life that would even be recognizable as human. After all, it would be helpful to know the future when putting money in the stock market. I, for one, would love to know for certain what I could buy low today and sell high tomorrow. If that kind of knowledge were available, however, who would sell to me now, or buy from me down the road? If we could see the future, no one would need to venture out or take a risk. No one would need to work hard or strive at something. There would be no such thing as trust. There might not be any pain but there wouldn’t be any joy, either. We wouldn’t need God because we would be gods. In truth, there would be no God, no real people—no existence. Instead, in God’s infinite wisdom, we have been created and given minds that require us to learn and grow, make decisions, press on, love one another and have faith. All of these things find fulfillment and meaning, especially, in the midst of the struggles and adversity which provide the backdrop for our lives.

Startled by the shocking results of what seemed to be a methodologically sound study in their field, two of Daryl Bem’s fellow psychologists set out to re-enact his research into the possibility of our seeing the future as human beings. In this case, they enlarged the sample size, reproducing the experiment with 3,000 participants. They found, not surprisingly, that there was no evidence for such parapsychological abilities. Fortunately, it is not true that we know nothing at all of the future. We know that although there will likely be good times and bad ahead, joy will carry the day because Jesus is risen and God is with us. 

Will Haughton’s Reflection on September 13, 2020

Scripture Reading:  Matthew 13:31-35

Last week I mentioned that during this pandemic I’ve gotten into the habit of listening to podcasts—a kind of pre-recorded talk-radio you can listen to whenever you like over the internet. One of the programs I’ve heard lately was an interview conducted by the CBC with an American, Lutheran minister called Nadia Bolz-Weber, from 2013. Bolz-Weber is known for having served a congregation called House for All Sinners and Saints between 2008 and 2018 as well as for having written some popular religious books, wearing lots of tattoos and using relatively salty language. In the CBC interview, she described her mid-life call to ministry. Having grown up in a repressively religious household, she rebelled and eventually fell into alcoholism and drug addiction. As part of her later recovery, she was drawn to the Lutheran expression of Christianity. At the time, she was working as a stand-up comic. She noted that among stand-up comics, there is a prevalence of mental illness and addiction. Sadly, one of her fellow comics fell victim to such challenges and committed suicide. Known among her co-workers as, by then, the only person of faith among them, she was asked to conduct the funeral. While leading this service, held in a downtown comedy club, and looking out at the crowd of attendees whom she knew to be struggling with many issues and simply to find their places in the world, she felt called to minister to such folks who often don’t have their lives together. So, she helped plant a church for such people who certainly did not already have a church.

 This thought raises the question of what, or whom, the Christian church is for. As church members or participants, and perhaps long-term ones at that, we’re likely to think and act as though the church is for us. We might not say it in so many words, but we’re often living in hope that the music, worship, activities and sense of community will be to our satisfaction and liking. After all, we’re the ones paying the bills and doing the work.

I rather think, however, that God has called us together for a different purpose. The church of God consists of us—we who are already of it a part—but it is for others: for the world, for our communities, for particular people around us who need God’s love.

The Christian Church believes itself to hold the same faith as Abraham and to be part of the fulfilment of promises God made to him: “your descendants will be numerous as the sand on the seashore and through you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Abraham and his descendants, biologically and spiritually, have, in other words, been blessed to be a blessing.

Perhaps we sometimes shy away from this vision because it seems too grandiose for us. It’s not that we’re self-centred so much as that we lack confidence. We find it hard to believe that God could do much through us, insignificant as we are through the world’s eyes. The amazing news is that God has been doing amazing things through the unlikeliest of people in every generation.

Jesus himself was a humble Galilean with a background in carpentry, or perhaps the construction trades more generally, who died the most inglorious of deaths. Who were his twelve disciples? They were mostly fisherman on the Sea of Galilee. Who were the first to proclaim the good news of his resurrection? They were some women whom no men of their era would believe.  Yet, despite these shockingly obscure beginnings, here we are today—almost 2,000 years later.

Emily read to me a book, earlier in the summer, about some named Salva Dut. Born in 1974, in Sudan, he was 11 years old when the Second Sudanese Civil War reached his region. With the devastation of war all around, Salva survived as a displaced person for another 11 years, enduring hellish conditions which took the lives of millions of his compatriots. In 1996, he was sponsored as a refugee by an Anglican church from Rochester, New York, who brought him to live with a family there. Eventually, Salva attended a local community college. There, he took a course in well-drilling. Since 2003, Salva and his organization have dug more than 450 wells in the parched nation of South Sudan, including for communities of previously conflicted tribes.

A well-known preacher tells the story of a Sunday school class which was reciting a famous verse of the Bible, in front of the congregation, during the annual awards Sunday. One-by-one, the students were asked, what can separate us from the love of God? Each, in turn, would answer by giving the long list of things written by Paul in the Letter to the Romans, chapter 8, verse 39: “There is nothing in all creation, not life nor death, not angles nor demons, height nor depth…” At the end of the row stood a child with down syndrome, whom everyone in the congregation knew well enough to know would not be able to meet this challenge of memory and public speaking ability. Anxiety began to fill the sanctuary. However, in her turn, she was asked, “what can separate us from the love of God?” She answered, loudly and proudly, capturing the true meaning of the verse: “Nothing!” 

Jesus taught often in parables such as this: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed. It is the smallest of all seeds yet it becomes the largest of shrubs and even a tree, so that the birds come and live in its branches.” We sometimes question whether God is at work in the world. Yet, have we paused to consider the wonder that is all around us?

God is in the business of doing amazing things to redeem and transform the world in the unlikeliest of ways and, especially, through the unlikeliest of people. Rather than lacking in confidence as a community of God’s people, we can be thankful for the humble station where God has placed us. When God does the unexpected through us, no one will think it is because we are so special—it will be obvious that God is it work and God will be glorified. When God is given glory, we know the Kingdom of Heaven is in our midst. 

Will Haughton’s Reflection on September 6, 2020

Scripture Reading:  1 Corinthians 15: 1-10

Over the last few months, I’ve become somewhat of a listener to podcasts. I don’t know where this term comes from, but it’s like a pre-recorded radio program that you listen to over the internet. The main benefit of a podcast is that you can listen to it whenever you like—unlike a live radio program which plays according to a set, broadcast schedule.

I’m sure you won’t be surprised to hear that many of the podcasts I’ve listened to are about golf. In one of these, I heard an interesting interview with the great English golfer, Lee Westwood. Westwood has had a very long and successful career, now in its twilight, which hasn’t been typical for a player of his calibre. Unlike most top British and European pros, he never moved to America (Florida) or played very many tournaments on the U.S. PGA Tour. The reason I mention all of this is that at one point the interviewer asked Westwood if he had any regrets. To my surprise, he replied that he doesn’t have any—not because everything in his life has turned out swimmingly, but because he doesn’t believe in regrets.

His answer really got me to wondering, is it possible to live without having regrets and, if so, how? I suppose one possibility would be to never make a mistake, but this seems like it would be difficult to achieve. We could perhaps venture to live very cautious lives and never take unnecessary risks, but then we might easily look back and wish we’d taken a chance at some point. Conversely, we could choose to live with reckless abandon only to find out we had perhaps taken too many unnecessary risks along the way.

Regardless of our approach to life, it seems probable that we will reach a point of real difficulty and wonder about the different twists and turns that led us there. Could we not have seen this coming and avoided it with a different decision here or an alternative course of action there? Even if we have learned to live with our circumstances or rationalize, there is likely at least a little regret there for many of us. No matter what course our lives have taken, however, there is good news: whatever is going on today or whatever from the past may haunt us, God offers the possibilities of healing, wholeness and a new beginning.

The Apostle Paul, or Saint Paul, was an interesting example of a person who found renewal and left his regrets behind. Paul of Tarsus was a diaspora-Jew, born in the territory of modern Turkey, who received training as a tent-maker and as a Pharisee. His religious teacher was the great Rabbi Gamaliel of Jerusalem and he went on to become one of the most zealous Pharisees of his generation. His zeal for strict adherence to the Law of Moses was such that he became a fierce, violent persecutor of the earliest Christians. Yet, after an unexpected encounter with the risen Jesus, Paul became one of them and eventually an important leader in their movement.

In our reading today, from his First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul appears to hint at regret—not about his Jewish upbringing or faith but about his violent persecution of those who believed Jesus to be the Messiah. “I am the least of all the apostles,” he wrote, “not worthy even to be called ‘an apostle’ because I persecuted the church of God.” He referred to himself in 15:8 as, according to most of our English translations, “untimely born.” Literally, he is describing himself as an abortion—what could be a shocking statement of self-loathing.

Yet, amazingly, these strong words do not signal regret for Paul. He goes on to say, “by the grace of God, I am what I am.” It is precisely because of what could be regrettable from his past, for Paul, that God’s work through him was seen as all the more generous, remarkable and effective. Imagine how amazing it would have seemed in those days for the biggest persecutor of the early Christians to become the most powerful proponent of their faith? This reversal would have been an amazing source of encouragement for them, as it remains for us. It is not a coincidence that this bit of autobiographical reflection comes in the midst of Paul’s most sustained discussion on the resurrection of Jesus. It is the God who raised Jesus from the dead, he shows, who offers all manner of new beginnings in our lives.

There is an often relayed story which was first told by someone called Jackie Pullinger, who ran a street outreach ministry among the marginalized of Hong Kong. A 72 year old woman, named Alfreda, had been a heroin addict and had worked in the prostitution industry, for most of her life. As a senior citizen, she was forced to inject drugs into her back because her arms and legs were too deteriorated. By then too old to be a “working girl”, her job was to sit outside the brothel and poke the sewer with a stick to keep it flowing. One day, she went to live in one of the outreach ministry’s houses. She was a completely broken person and, at first, difficult to work with. However, she eventually gave herself to God and began a process of remarkable healing and transformation. She later met a 75 year old man named Little Wa. The two fell in love and got married. Ms. Pullinger relayed that their wedding day was a grand occasion. Alfreda walked down the aisle in a white dress, symbolizing a fresh start given by the healing grace of God.

In my own time as a minister, I have witnessed many examples of change and renewal brought about by God’s grace, if not quite as dramatic as that. Often times, God’s work in our lives will bring about gradual change, in fits and starts. Even though the creative power of God is present, transformation generally involves hard work on our parts as well. The wonder of all this, however, is not just that God brings about a new thing in our lives, but that God redeems our brokenness and displays remarkable grace in who we become, warts and all.

A visitor to India once had occasion to visit a shop where beautiful rugs were being woven. The rugs were hanging from the ceiling. The apprentices were on the back side, pushing the threads through to the front according to the pattern. Inevitably, mistakes were made. On the front side was the master weaver. Rather than undoing all the misplaced threads and trying to begin over again, the master would incorporate the mistakes of the students into the design and weave something unique and even more beautiful.

God is like the master weaver in our lives. By the grace of God, all has been woven into a beautiful design of what we become. We can leave behind our regrets, not by force of will but by recognizing it is the grace of God who has made us what we are today and, tomorrow, will be. 

Will Haughton’s Reflection on August 30, 2020

Scripture Reading:  Esther 4:1-4, 9-14

It’s good to be back with you after a few weeks away. I enjoyed a nice holiday, although of course it was a bit different this year than it had been in the past. This time, we stayed much closer to home and didn’t make the type of sight-seeing day-trips we normally would or visit nearly as much with family and friends.

Perhaps the biggest difference from my traditional experience was the lack of church-attendance. In previous years, I’ve always enjoyed visiting different churches while on vacation—hearing a new voice, soaking in the atmosphere and simply sitting with my family for a service. During this holiday, however, I neither attended a service nor watched one online. It was one of, if not the, longest stretches I’ve ever gone without “going to church” in my life. Considering the circumstances, I didn’t feel badly about not doing so, but I did feel uncomfortable with how easy it was to just lie around on a Sunday morning or do something with my children other than taking them to church. I wanted to resist the sense that we were becoming secularized people, living without the habits or identity of the Christian life, but wasn’t quite sure how.

For we who are believers today, a relatable period in the biblical story may be that of the exile. In 597 BC, the Babylonian Empire conquered ancient Israel. The leading classes of Jewish society were then deported and taken into captivity—a common military tactic of the ancient world. Captives could often lead a normal life in exile but they were too far away to stir up revolution among their compatriots. Almost 60 years later, in 539 BC, the Persians conquered the Babylonians and allowed the Jews to go home, however many remained where they were, having put down roots and established themselves in new places.

The story of the Book of Esther took place in the Persian period, during the reign of the successor to the king who had first allowed the Jews to return home. The story’s heroes are two Jews, Esther and Mordecai, who lived in the city of Susa, at the western edge of modern Iran. It’s a complicated story with, admittedly, many distasteful elements. In short, Esther was a young woman who had been raised by her uncle, Mordecai. She was taken into the harem of the king and eventually chosen as queen. A villainous chief bureaucrat named Haman, who was also a personal enemy of Mordecai, convinced the king to order a genocide against the Jews throughout the empire. The king, not realizing the queen was a Jew, and otherwise not being an especially moral human being, agreed very casually to Haman’s plan. Mordecai convinced Esther to reveal her heritage to the king in order to save their people. “Perhaps,” he said, “you have come into the royal court for a time such as this?” Esther then used her position to great advantage. She exposed Haman’s evil plot. He was put to death for his treachery and Mordecai was appointed to the top government post in his place.

Esther is relatively unique among books of the Bible for not mentioning God—only The Song of Songs shares this characteristic. It is considered to offer a secular view, rather than a religious or theological one, of what it means to be Jewish. Some years ago, a United Church minister wrote a famous book with a controversial title: With or Without God. I don’t think it’s a very good book, but its appearance raises an interesting question, like Esther, about what it means to be a person of faith in secular times: how much does God have to do with it? My own experience of recent weeks is a reminder of how easy it can be for our own Christianity to become more of a cultural background than an ongoing practice of faithfulness.

For most of their history, the Jewish people have lived as a visible and often persecuted minority in different parts of the world. There is much that we followers of Jesus can learn from them about living-in-community and being persistent. The book of Esther reminds us, in particular, how important it is to claim our identity and trust that God as at work—even though we’re not always sure how. When the survival of the Jews in the Persian Empire was threatened, Mordecai encouraged Esther in these two ways: “Tell the king about your heritage,” he said, and “Perhaps it is for such a time as this that you came into the royal court.” Although God is not mentioned explicitly, there is a confident hope of God’s providence implied in these words. One way or another, Mordecai was certain, God’s will would be done.

At this time of year, the freshening of the air reminds me of going back to school when I was younger. Mostly, I enjoyed this annual experience, with the possible exception of my first year at university. I was looking forward to it, of course, but once I got there I disliked it right away. I didn’t fit in with the crowd socially, didn’t enjoy my studies and didn’t do very well academically. The biggest bright spot was making friends with my roommate in residence, Dave. We were paired randomly by student housing, but hit it off right away. We eventually stayed as roommates for the rest of our time in Kingston, stood up at each other’s weddings and we remain good friends to this day. In a challenging season of life, God sent me the right person at the right time. I am thankful to say that God has done this kind of thing for me many other times as well.

We don’t often know how God is at work in a particular situation. This is certainly true in these difficult times. However, as our ancestors in faith have handed down to us, and hopefully as many of us have experienced personally at different points, we can be sure that God is at work. To live in light of such a confident hope, and especially in community with others who share it, is the essence of faithfulness.