Homily Harvest Thanksgiving 2011
“You crown the earth with your goodness, O Lord.” So writes the psalmist.
As we mark both Harvest Thanksgiving and Back to Church Sunday, perhaps the link between welcoming people to our Christian fellowship, and the traditional Harvest Festival is the idea of people coming together to give thanks to God for everything He has provided for us.
Perhaps as we have grown in material well-being as a society, we have lost our sense of thankfulness, our sense of gratitude in the never ending quest for more wealth, and technological advances.
The idea of Back to Church Sunday started in England when Anglicans in Manchester realized they were dwindling in numbers, and had lost their focus on welcoming new members to their parishes.
Now the idea has spread throughout the world, and many denominations.
We need to come together to give thanks, at the Harvest, and indeed every Sunday because it is too easy to accept God’s gifts, without properly giving thanks, and having an attitude of gratitude.
In our Gospel reading the one leper who came back whole had not only been healed of his disfiguring disease, but had understood the importance of giving thanks to Jesus, the agent of his healing.
The other nine may have been physically healed, but their lack of response to Jesus showed that they were still not whole persons.
This story would have had quite an impact on Christians, since most still saw themselves as Jews. The reason: the one who returned to say thanks was a Samaritan. And he alone received Jesus’ blessing.
Samaritans and Jews were bitter enemies. They would have no dealings with each other. Yet Jesus pronounced the Samaritan as the one of the ten healed who was truly whole, and blessed him.
This was no coincidence. Jesus wanted the Jews to understand the salvation of God, the gifts of God are for all people.
The other lepers who were healed followed the Jewish law in going immediately to show themselves to the priest, as Jesus advised them.
But for Jesus, thankfulness is an integral part of real healing, real wholeness.
Lepers were outcasts in first century Galilee. If a leper was on the windward side of a healthy person, he was told stand at least 50 yards away.
Jesus is depicted throughout the Gospels as showing only love for Lepers, not fear or contempt. They were often the focus of his healing ministry.
Unlike some of the healing stories, Jesus does not touch the ten lepers, Luke reports they are healed “as they went.”
Not only is the Samaritan leper thankful, he takes action by turning back, glorifying God, and falling on his face giving thanks.
This humility; this attitude of thankfulness, is something we need more of as Christians today.
Rather than worrying about what’s wrong with our lives, we need to give thanks for our many blessings.
That is a challenge for all of us. We get so caught up in the details of our lives that we don’t take the time to give thanks to God, or members of our families or our friends.
An attitude of gratitude helps in every aspect of our lives. Sometimes we don’t realize how much expressing thanks really means.
Gratitude to God is part of living out our faith. It’s easy to fall into being a foxhole Christian—only coming to God when things are at their worst.
God is the source of our being. Without the fruits of the harvest we could not survive.
So we need to give thanks, and often, during good times and bad, for all the gifts God has given us.
To do so should come as naturally as breathing. Somehow in our materialistic culture, this attitude of thankfulness has been replaced either the endless drive to acquire more, at the expense of others, or a denial of God’s role in creation, and God’s intention for us to live in peace and justice, loving God and loving our neighbour as ourselves.
To conclude with another psalm verse: “O come let us sing unto the Lord, let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving.”
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Sunday, 18 September 2011
It's Just Not Fair
Homily Proper 25 Yr. B 2011
It’s just not fair.
That’s what those workers who had sweated through the heat of the day in the vineyard thought when the time came when all the day labourers were given their wages.
This guy must be nuts. After all he hired us and we work hard all day, yet we get the same pay as these other guys who have only worked a couple of hours—barely worked up a sweat.
Where’s the fairness in that?
And by the standards of our modern economic system, the grumbling workers would be right.
But this parable told by Jesus goes far beyond a dispute about paying casual workers.
Parables, as Jesus used them, are stories drawn from everyday life, but they usually have a twist, which forces us to think. It may surprise or shock us.
In a few weeks we’ll be hearing Bishop Dance introduce the parable of the Prodigal Son, which will be the subject of a six week special study throughout the Diocese.
In that parable, the elder son, like the workers have toiled all day in today’s parable, says “It’s just not fair” when he learns his father has welcomed his younger son back, after the younger son has squandered his share of the inheritance.
The elder brother has laboured long and hard for his father, yet this younger brother who has wasted his father’s inheritance, is welcomed back with a party.
In both cases, Jesus is challenging us, because we can identify with both the workers who have sweated all day, only to get the same pay as the Johnny-come-latelys, and the elder brother who has been loyal to his father, while the younger brother returned home in disgrace.
But we have to get beyond “it’s just not fair” and see what Jesus is really getting at in these parables.
In today’s gospel the grumbling workers are asked: “Are you envious because I am generous?”
Think about it. They were paid exactly as promised, a day’s wage, one denarius, enough for a family to live on. They weren’t cheated or shortchanged.
What they are worried about is others getting more than they deserve.
What Jesus is getting at is that God’s generosity, God’s grace is not something we earn, it is given to us.
God gave us this planet earth with all its bounty, for those who are good, and those who are bad. Natural disasters don’t discriminate on the basis how sinful we are.
Indeed Jesus uses this parable to describe the Kingdom of heaven because he knows his followers have difficulty understanding the idea of grace, given unconditionally and without merit.
The problem we have when we hear these parables is that we resent someone else’s “enough” because they worked less for it. They were the latecomers.
But God forgives us for our resentment, our blindness, and our greed.
God forgave the people of Israel in the story from the book of Exodus today when they grumbled about their time in the wilderness. They had been rescued from captivity and tyranny in Egypt.
Instead of punishing their lack of gratitude God provided them with food—manna and meat in the desert.
When it comes down to it, today’s Gospel lays down a larger challenge for us—no matter when they were asked to come to the vineyard to work, every person deserves a living wage, as do those who work for a minimum wage today. In the kingdom of God, no one goes to bed hungry. It is only fair.
So to link this with our world today, we see too often the idea of survival of the fittest, the rich grow richer and the poor grow poorer.
Too often when cuts are made in government spending they affect most the people who are most disadvantaged.
We sometimes forget as Christians the radical generosity Jesus taught us, and instead get caught up, like the Pharisees, in a more pietistic approach to faith.
There is no easy answer to the challenge posed by this parable of the vineyard.
Jesus concludes with the enigmatic: “the first shall be last and the last shall be first.”
Reversal of fortune is a frequent theme in the Gospels. Things are not as they appear. God does not act as we expect him to act.
That’s why far from being a story about labour relations, and whether there should be hourly pay for day labourers, this Gospel opens up the larger question of God’s grace and how we respond to it as Christians.
How do we lead grace filled lives, truly loving our neighbour, truly loving God?
It’s just not fair.
That’s what those workers who had sweated through the heat of the day in the vineyard thought when the time came when all the day labourers were given their wages.
This guy must be nuts. After all he hired us and we work hard all day, yet we get the same pay as these other guys who have only worked a couple of hours—barely worked up a sweat.
Where’s the fairness in that?
And by the standards of our modern economic system, the grumbling workers would be right.
But this parable told by Jesus goes far beyond a dispute about paying casual workers.
Parables, as Jesus used them, are stories drawn from everyday life, but they usually have a twist, which forces us to think. It may surprise or shock us.
In a few weeks we’ll be hearing Bishop Dance introduce the parable of the Prodigal Son, which will be the subject of a six week special study throughout the Diocese.
In that parable, the elder son, like the workers have toiled all day in today’s parable, says “It’s just not fair” when he learns his father has welcomed his younger son back, after the younger son has squandered his share of the inheritance.
The elder brother has laboured long and hard for his father, yet this younger brother who has wasted his father’s inheritance, is welcomed back with a party.
In both cases, Jesus is challenging us, because we can identify with both the workers who have sweated all day, only to get the same pay as the Johnny-come-latelys, and the elder brother who has been loyal to his father, while the younger brother returned home in disgrace.
But we have to get beyond “it’s just not fair” and see what Jesus is really getting at in these parables.
In today’s gospel the grumbling workers are asked: “Are you envious because I am generous?”
Think about it. They were paid exactly as promised, a day’s wage, one denarius, enough for a family to live on. They weren’t cheated or shortchanged.
What they are worried about is others getting more than they deserve.
What Jesus is getting at is that God’s generosity, God’s grace is not something we earn, it is given to us.
God gave us this planet earth with all its bounty, for those who are good, and those who are bad. Natural disasters don’t discriminate on the basis how sinful we are.
Indeed Jesus uses this parable to describe the Kingdom of heaven because he knows his followers have difficulty understanding the idea of grace, given unconditionally and without merit.
The problem we have when we hear these parables is that we resent someone else’s “enough” because they worked less for it. They were the latecomers.
But God forgives us for our resentment, our blindness, and our greed.
God forgave the people of Israel in the story from the book of Exodus today when they grumbled about their time in the wilderness. They had been rescued from captivity and tyranny in Egypt.
Instead of punishing their lack of gratitude God provided them with food—manna and meat in the desert.
When it comes down to it, today’s Gospel lays down a larger challenge for us—no matter when they were asked to come to the vineyard to work, every person deserves a living wage, as do those who work for a minimum wage today. In the kingdom of God, no one goes to bed hungry. It is only fair.
So to link this with our world today, we see too often the idea of survival of the fittest, the rich grow richer and the poor grow poorer.
Too often when cuts are made in government spending they affect most the people who are most disadvantaged.
We sometimes forget as Christians the radical generosity Jesus taught us, and instead get caught up, like the Pharisees, in a more pietistic approach to faith.
There is no easy answer to the challenge posed by this parable of the vineyard.
Jesus concludes with the enigmatic: “the first shall be last and the last shall be first.”
Reversal of fortune is a frequent theme in the Gospels. Things are not as they appear. God does not act as we expect him to act.
That’s why far from being a story about labour relations, and whether there should be hourly pay for day labourers, this Gospel opens up the larger question of God’s grace and how we respond to it as Christians.
How do we lead grace filled lives, truly loving our neighbour, truly loving God?
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of King James Bible
KJV 400th Sept. 11, 2011
"The scholars who produced this masterpiece are mostly unknown and unremembered. But they forged an enduring link, literary and religious, between the English-speaking people of the world." Winston Churchill
“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” “A House divided against itself cannot stand.” “A leopard can not change its spots.” “A voice crying in the wilderness.”
These expressions and many others that are part of the English language have a common origin in the King James, or authorized version of the Bible.
This year 2011, we mark four hundred years since the landmark publication of this translation of the Bible. And while the King James translation is longer used as much it was, it remains the basis for other more contemporary translations.
And when we come to the most important times of our church year, the King James translation with its literary and poetic power, tells the story most vividly.
Since this is an anniversary, it is worth going back to that time—the 16th and 17th centuries—to look at how the translation came about, and why it turned out to be such a landmark, not only in our Christian faith as English speaking people, but in our language—the way we express ourselves.
You might have thought the earliest attempts to translate the Bible into English would have been heralded as a great step forward.
But William Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament in 1526—decades before King James, was banned. Tyndale fled England to complete his New Testament.
Thanks to Guttenberg’s invention of the printing press, copies were able to make it back to England. The Bishop of London ordered all copies seized and burned.
Tyndale lived on as an outlaw, but he was finally captured an imprisoned in Brussels, then executed by strangulation and burned at the stake by the Holy Roman Emperor.
You may wonder why Bible translation was regarded as subversive. At that time the church hierarchy of Rome, led by the Pope was facing the massive upheaval of the Reformation and the growth of Protestantism.
Translating the Bible would mean people could form their own interpretations of the Bible rather than simply accepting the interpretations of the clergy.
So translators such as Tyndale were regarded as heretical, as well as being subversive.
Tyndale had this to say to a scholar he was debating: “I defy the Pope and all his laws; if God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth a plough shall know more scripture than thou dost.“
Tyndale may have been martyred, but his translation forms the basis for 90 per cent of the New testament King James version, including phrases such as: “Ye are the salt of the earth,” and “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
The strength of Tyndale’s work came from going beyond the later Latin translations, to the original Hebrew and Greek texts. Tyndale only managed to finish 14 of 39 Old Testament books.
The next translation was by Myles Coverdale, who produced the first complete English Bible and made extensive use of Tyndale’s work in 1535. It was Coverdale’s Bible which King Henry V111 had placed in each English parish church in 1539 when he led the English church away from Rome.
That only lasted four years before Parliament declared Bible reading illegal.
But the publication of the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549 included Coverdale’s psalms and prescribed Bible readings for a whole year.
After decades more of religious ferment in 1607, 47 leading scholars of the church of England gathered at Westminster Abbey to plan the production of a more accurate translation of the Bible.
They were encouraged by King James, the first King of England and Scotland.
The work was done by six teams of translators who completed their work over three years before finalizing the text in 1610.
In 1611 King James Version of the Bible was published by the King’s Printer Robert Barker, bound for 12 shillings.
One of the goals of the King James translators was to reflect the theology of the Church of England. All the scholars were members of the Church of England, and all but one were clergy. The New Testament came from the original Greek. The Old Testament was from Hebrew text. The Apocryphal books were from Greek and Latin.
In 1662 when the Book of Common Prayer was revised , readings were added from the King James version, replacing Coverdale’s Bible translation.
Acceptance of the new King James translation was far from universal. For some time another English language European translation called the Geneva Bible was still popular.
Some scholars condemned the new version because of its rejection of word for word equivalence with the Hebrew and Greek.
By the next century, the authorized King James Version became the standard for the English speaking world, and it was until the last century the Revised Standard, then the New Revised Standard—the translation we now use, came into wide use, along with many other translations.
In many respects, the King James Version has had a tremendous impact on our faith and culture. It has contributed 257 expressions to our English language; more than Shakespeare.
The King James translation has also set the direction for other translations to follow.
It was the culmination of a critical period in the life of the church where—the Bible, which contains the stories of Creation, the Exodus, the history of the People of Israel, the life of Jesus and the birth of the Christian Church—is made accessible to ordinary people—and not just the preserve of the clergy and church establishment.
One of the challenges we face in our hectic modern lifestyle, with all its multi-media opportunities from television, radio and newspapers, to the internet and e-mail and Facebook, is taking the time to read and reflect on our sacred scriptures.
William Tyndale, Oxford and Cambridge educated, was willing to sacrifice his life to make the Bible accessible in English.
When I look at all the different Bible translations I have to make use of, I realize we are the beneficiaries of his work, and of others through these more than four centuries.
And it is fitting that Tyndale’s work is carried on by Tyndale Bible translators which is still translating the Bible into different languages as we speak.
"The scholars who produced this masterpiece are mostly unknown and unremembered. But they forged an enduring link, literary and religious, between the English-speaking people of the world." Winston Churchill
“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” “A House divided against itself cannot stand.” “A leopard can not change its spots.” “A voice crying in the wilderness.”
These expressions and many others that are part of the English language have a common origin in the King James, or authorized version of the Bible.
This year 2011, we mark four hundred years since the landmark publication of this translation of the Bible. And while the King James translation is longer used as much it was, it remains the basis for other more contemporary translations.
And when we come to the most important times of our church year, the King James translation with its literary and poetic power, tells the story most vividly.
Since this is an anniversary, it is worth going back to that time—the 16th and 17th centuries—to look at how the translation came about, and why it turned out to be such a landmark, not only in our Christian faith as English speaking people, but in our language—the way we express ourselves.
You might have thought the earliest attempts to translate the Bible into English would have been heralded as a great step forward.
But William Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament in 1526—decades before King James, was banned. Tyndale fled England to complete his New Testament.
Thanks to Guttenberg’s invention of the printing press, copies were able to make it back to England. The Bishop of London ordered all copies seized and burned.
Tyndale lived on as an outlaw, but he was finally captured an imprisoned in Brussels, then executed by strangulation and burned at the stake by the Holy Roman Emperor.
You may wonder why Bible translation was regarded as subversive. At that time the church hierarchy of Rome, led by the Pope was facing the massive upheaval of the Reformation and the growth of Protestantism.
Translating the Bible would mean people could form their own interpretations of the Bible rather than simply accepting the interpretations of the clergy.
So translators such as Tyndale were regarded as heretical, as well as being subversive.
Tyndale had this to say to a scholar he was debating: “I defy the Pope and all his laws; if God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth a plough shall know more scripture than thou dost.“
Tyndale may have been martyred, but his translation forms the basis for 90 per cent of the New testament King James version, including phrases such as: “Ye are the salt of the earth,” and “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
The strength of Tyndale’s work came from going beyond the later Latin translations, to the original Hebrew and Greek texts. Tyndale only managed to finish 14 of 39 Old Testament books.
The next translation was by Myles Coverdale, who produced the first complete English Bible and made extensive use of Tyndale’s work in 1535. It was Coverdale’s Bible which King Henry V111 had placed in each English parish church in 1539 when he led the English church away from Rome.
That only lasted four years before Parliament declared Bible reading illegal.
But the publication of the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549 included Coverdale’s psalms and prescribed Bible readings for a whole year.
After decades more of religious ferment in 1607, 47 leading scholars of the church of England gathered at Westminster Abbey to plan the production of a more accurate translation of the Bible.
They were encouraged by King James, the first King of England and Scotland.
The work was done by six teams of translators who completed their work over three years before finalizing the text in 1610.
In 1611 King James Version of the Bible was published by the King’s Printer Robert Barker, bound for 12 shillings.
One of the goals of the King James translators was to reflect the theology of the Church of England. All the scholars were members of the Church of England, and all but one were clergy. The New Testament came from the original Greek. The Old Testament was from Hebrew text. The Apocryphal books were from Greek and Latin.
In 1662 when the Book of Common Prayer was revised , readings were added from the King James version, replacing Coverdale’s Bible translation.
Acceptance of the new King James translation was far from universal. For some time another English language European translation called the Geneva Bible was still popular.
Some scholars condemned the new version because of its rejection of word for word equivalence with the Hebrew and Greek.
By the next century, the authorized King James Version became the standard for the English speaking world, and it was until the last century the Revised Standard, then the New Revised Standard—the translation we now use, came into wide use, along with many other translations.
In many respects, the King James Version has had a tremendous impact on our faith and culture. It has contributed 257 expressions to our English language; more than Shakespeare.
The King James translation has also set the direction for other translations to follow.
It was the culmination of a critical period in the life of the church where—the Bible, which contains the stories of Creation, the Exodus, the history of the People of Israel, the life of Jesus and the birth of the Christian Church—is made accessible to ordinary people—and not just the preserve of the clergy and church establishment.
One of the challenges we face in our hectic modern lifestyle, with all its multi-media opportunities from television, radio and newspapers, to the internet and e-mail and Facebook, is taking the time to read and reflect on our sacred scriptures.
William Tyndale, Oxford and Cambridge educated, was willing to sacrifice his life to make the Bible accessible in English.
When I look at all the different Bible translations I have to make use of, I realize we are the beneficiaries of his work, and of others through these more than four centuries.
And it is fitting that Tyndale’s work is carried on by Tyndale Bible translators which is still translating the Bible into different languages as we speak.
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Would You Like to Come to Church with me?
Homily Sunday Sept. 4, 2011
You may have noticed our sign outside today says: “Soul Food, Served Here.” And it isn’t referring to our popular monthly suppers.
One of the best definitions I have heard of evangelism is: “one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.”
We Anglicans have not been known for our enthusiasm for evangelism. We’ve prided our selves on our excellent traditional worship— hymns, the prayer book and newer liturgies, and a rich parish life which has made the church an important part of many communities.
In the 50’s and 60’s when many new churches were built, and in times of growth before that, we just had to open a church and people flocked to come.
It was a different time—a time when a large number of Canadians attended worship frequently. When Sunday was a day of rest, and a day to worship God—not commerce or sports or entertainment.
Now while most Canadians are nominally Christian, church attendance has plunged over the past 30 years. Yet there are many more churches of different denominations, and ethnic churches to serve those who have come to Canada from other parts of the world.
In the culture Sunday is a time for busy two income families to rest, or play, or engage in sports.
It has always been a challenge to attract and retain young people. I came back to church at the age of 24 when I was asked to join the choir of All Saints Cathedral, Edmonton, with some friends. I hadn’t been a member of a parish since leaving home for university at age 18.
When I moved to Calgary I joined another choir, and was quickly invited not only to join the parish council, but take part in fundraising for an organ restoration. By the age of 30 I was serving as people’s warden. There were others in my age group.
That just isn’t happening as much anymore. Young people –or people of any age who have drifted away--aren’t coming back to the church.
It’s certainly not just Canon Davis which has experienced this. As I’ve mentioned before, in my travels I’ve found many congregations struggling with attracting younger people, youth and children, and for that matter people of any age.
The universality of these experiences of the past 40 years is why our Diocese of Huron is embracing a program this year called Back to Church Sunday, which we will celebrate Sunday Sept. 25 along with Harvest Thanksgiving.
The idea started out in England seven years ago. It is based on a simple premise, if all of us invited a friend to church, and they accepted, we can double our congregation for one Sunday.
And once people come, there is a chance they will return. Indeed in the seven years the program has run, reports indicate more than 10 percent of those who came have returned.
Now that does sound simple. But there is some preparation.
First, we need to think of people to invite. They don’t have to be Anglicans. Just people who are not regular church attenders who might consider coming.
Next week we will provide invitation cards.
Now I’ll have to admit that like most Anglicans I haven’t been accustomed to inviting people to church. Perhaps that’s why this is a good idea.
Studies have proven that new church members come not through ads in the newspaper, or signs outside, though have to do those things, but personal invitation.
Think of who invited you to church for the first time as an adult. For me it was my first boss Ted, a hard-nosed magazine editor who sang in the choir at All Saints Cathedral.
Think of who God might be calling you to approach? A close friend? A member of a club you are in? A neighbour? A fellow golfer or gardener?
Then comes the hard part. Could you could say it out loud with me: “Would you like to come to church with me?”
There, that wasn’t so difficult.
We do have to pray for courage, not only to make the invitation, but to those we invite.
Provided the invitation is accepted your work isn’t over. One of the most difficult things for many of us is going into an unfamiliar environment.
So the Back to Church movement suggests you pick up your guest and bring them to church with you for the first time.
Then after the service invite them to join us in our Harvest Thanksgiving brunch.
Then follow up the first invitation by asking them to return the next Sunday. And give them a copy of our fall newsletter with special activities coming up.
Many of us were thrilled by having almost 150 people come for our 85th anniversary---including many who came from other parishes, and other former parishioners.
We hope, with God’s help, to swell our numbers again. If there is one thing which sums up this whole effort it is: Invite someone you know to something you love.”
It is appropriate that we are doing this at the same time as Harvest Thanksgiving. We are thankful not only for nature’s bounty, but for 85 years of mission and ministry in this place.
We recall our roots as a Sunday school mission in North Sarnia. And we pray for our Christian witness and community in 2011 and in the years to come.
You may have noticed our sign outside today says: “Soul Food, Served Here.” And it isn’t referring to our popular monthly suppers.
One of the best definitions I have heard of evangelism is: “one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.”
We Anglicans have not been known for our enthusiasm for evangelism. We’ve prided our selves on our excellent traditional worship— hymns, the prayer book and newer liturgies, and a rich parish life which has made the church an important part of many communities.
In the 50’s and 60’s when many new churches were built, and in times of growth before that, we just had to open a church and people flocked to come.
It was a different time—a time when a large number of Canadians attended worship frequently. When Sunday was a day of rest, and a day to worship God—not commerce or sports or entertainment.
Now while most Canadians are nominally Christian, church attendance has plunged over the past 30 years. Yet there are many more churches of different denominations, and ethnic churches to serve those who have come to Canada from other parts of the world.
In the culture Sunday is a time for busy two income families to rest, or play, or engage in sports.
It has always been a challenge to attract and retain young people. I came back to church at the age of 24 when I was asked to join the choir of All Saints Cathedral, Edmonton, with some friends. I hadn’t been a member of a parish since leaving home for university at age 18.
When I moved to Calgary I joined another choir, and was quickly invited not only to join the parish council, but take part in fundraising for an organ restoration. By the age of 30 I was serving as people’s warden. There were others in my age group.
That just isn’t happening as much anymore. Young people –or people of any age who have drifted away--aren’t coming back to the church.
It’s certainly not just Canon Davis which has experienced this. As I’ve mentioned before, in my travels I’ve found many congregations struggling with attracting younger people, youth and children, and for that matter people of any age.
The universality of these experiences of the past 40 years is why our Diocese of Huron is embracing a program this year called Back to Church Sunday, which we will celebrate Sunday Sept. 25 along with Harvest Thanksgiving.
The idea started out in England seven years ago. It is based on a simple premise, if all of us invited a friend to church, and they accepted, we can double our congregation for one Sunday.
And once people come, there is a chance they will return. Indeed in the seven years the program has run, reports indicate more than 10 percent of those who came have returned.
Now that does sound simple. But there is some preparation.
First, we need to think of people to invite. They don’t have to be Anglicans. Just people who are not regular church attenders who might consider coming.
Next week we will provide invitation cards.
Now I’ll have to admit that like most Anglicans I haven’t been accustomed to inviting people to church. Perhaps that’s why this is a good idea.
Studies have proven that new church members come not through ads in the newspaper, or signs outside, though have to do those things, but personal invitation.
Think of who invited you to church for the first time as an adult. For me it was my first boss Ted, a hard-nosed magazine editor who sang in the choir at All Saints Cathedral.
Think of who God might be calling you to approach? A close friend? A member of a club you are in? A neighbour? A fellow golfer or gardener?
Then comes the hard part. Could you could say it out loud with me: “Would you like to come to church with me?”
There, that wasn’t so difficult.
We do have to pray for courage, not only to make the invitation, but to those we invite.
Provided the invitation is accepted your work isn’t over. One of the most difficult things for many of us is going into an unfamiliar environment.
So the Back to Church movement suggests you pick up your guest and bring them to church with you for the first time.
Then after the service invite them to join us in our Harvest Thanksgiving brunch.
Then follow up the first invitation by asking them to return the next Sunday. And give them a copy of our fall newsletter with special activities coming up.
Many of us were thrilled by having almost 150 people come for our 85th anniversary---including many who came from other parishes, and other former parishioners.
We hope, with God’s help, to swell our numbers again. If there is one thing which sums up this whole effort it is: Invite someone you know to something you love.”
It is appropriate that we are doing this at the same time as Harvest Thanksgiving. We are thankful not only for nature’s bounty, but for 85 years of mission and ministry in this place.
We recall our roots as a Sunday school mission in North Sarnia. And we pray for our Christian witness and community in 2011 and in the years to come.
Sunday, 28 August 2011
Celebrating Servant Leadership
Homily Proper 22 Yr. A 2011
I want to tell you a story today about leadership. It starts with an eight year old boy growing up in the Montreal area. The minister at the United Church he worshipped at, John Shearman, recalls him as a hyper-active kid, the kind who could barely sit still.
His dad was an elder, and served as Sunday school superintendent. His mother was a member of the ladies group, and taught the minister’s wife the art of smocking.
The young lad grew up as part of that church family, and was part of an active youth group called “the infusers.”
The name meant all of life was to be infused with the holy spirit and the energy of the Gospel.
The young man’s father taught a Sunday night youth Bible in Hudson, Quebec.
Yesterday that young lad was remembered in a state funeral in Toronto. Jack Layton---whose father Robert was a member of Brian Mulroney’s cabinet, and whose ancestors had served in the Union Nationale provincial government in Quebec and were among the fathers of Confederation---died much too young of cancer.
But while he struggled with the disease, he demonstrated the kind of leadership, we heard about today in scripture.
Jesus says if any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
This describes a kind of servant leadership that we need more of in our world today.
Moses led his people out of Egypt, and through the wilderness, but he never saw the promised land.
St. Paul likewise travelled the Mediterranean world, suffering persecution and shipwrecks to preach the Gospel. Yet he never lived to see the church grow and prosper. It was still a tiny persecuted minority when Paul died a martyr in Rome. But he had laid the basis for its growth during his epic mission to the Mediterranean world.
In Jack Layton’s last letter to Canadians he concluded with these words I’m sure you have heard often this week but bear repeating: “Love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful, and optimistic, and we’ll change the world.”
That is spiritual message—a message of faith. Compare it to some scripture passages:
*”There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18)
* Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice and be kind to one another, tender hearted and forgiving one another” (Ephesians 4:31-32)
“Suffering produce endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” (Romans 5:3-4)
Jack was a member of Bloor Street United in Toronto, and may have not been involved in a that congregation’s life in recent years due to his political career as a national party leader, but his actions and his words are testimony to his faith.
His causes have often been unpopular—support for AIDS sufferers and the homeless and the gay community in the 80’s before those causes were embraced by mainstream society.
That has always been so for Christians who follow the teaching of the Gospel. Jesus taught us to care for the poor, the disadvantaged, the marginalized.
It’s not an easy Gospel to live out. We are talking about self-denial, taking up our cross, undergoing suffering if necessary in the pursuit of our mission in life.
It’s much easier to follow what has been termed the prosperity gospel—and believe that if we behave well, we will be rewarded by God with riches. That kind of thinking—wrong headed in my view—is prevalent in parts of the Christian church—particularly in North America.
I think that kind of thinking would be offensive to Jesus.
It comes down to leadership. We as Christians need to practice what we preach. That’s what Paul was saying when he wrote to the Romans.
“Let love be genuine, hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them….”
This past week as Canadians remembered Jack Layton, they were affirming those qualities exemplified in his leadership.
Perhaps what made the tribute reach out beyond his own party is the yearning among all of us for more civility in our political life, more caring, more servant leadership, and more concern for justice and the common good.
Our faith, our spirituality can’t be separated from the rest of life. We may not all agree, and certainly most of the time do not agree, on many political issues.
But our faith can lead us to support leadership which is unselfish, passionate and caring. We need to pray for our leaders because in this complex world it matters so much that public spirited people offer themselves for leadership.
The 24 hours news cycle has resulted in many becoming cynical about politicians, but the outpouring of love and respect after the untimely death of the leader of Her Majesty’s loyal opposition reminds us that we want to have trust in our leaders. We want to believe they care for us.
Prayer for the Nation p. 678 BAS
I want to tell you a story today about leadership. It starts with an eight year old boy growing up in the Montreal area. The minister at the United Church he worshipped at, John Shearman, recalls him as a hyper-active kid, the kind who could barely sit still.
His dad was an elder, and served as Sunday school superintendent. His mother was a member of the ladies group, and taught the minister’s wife the art of smocking.
The young lad grew up as part of that church family, and was part of an active youth group called “the infusers.”
The name meant all of life was to be infused with the holy spirit and the energy of the Gospel.
The young man’s father taught a Sunday night youth Bible in Hudson, Quebec.
Yesterday that young lad was remembered in a state funeral in Toronto. Jack Layton---whose father Robert was a member of Brian Mulroney’s cabinet, and whose ancestors had served in the Union Nationale provincial government in Quebec and were among the fathers of Confederation---died much too young of cancer.
But while he struggled with the disease, he demonstrated the kind of leadership, we heard about today in scripture.
Jesus says if any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
This describes a kind of servant leadership that we need more of in our world today.
Moses led his people out of Egypt, and through the wilderness, but he never saw the promised land.
St. Paul likewise travelled the Mediterranean world, suffering persecution and shipwrecks to preach the Gospel. Yet he never lived to see the church grow and prosper. It was still a tiny persecuted minority when Paul died a martyr in Rome. But he had laid the basis for its growth during his epic mission to the Mediterranean world.
In Jack Layton’s last letter to Canadians he concluded with these words I’m sure you have heard often this week but bear repeating: “Love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful, and optimistic, and we’ll change the world.”
That is spiritual message—a message of faith. Compare it to some scripture passages:
*”There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18)
* Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice and be kind to one another, tender hearted and forgiving one another” (Ephesians 4:31-32)
“Suffering produce endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” (Romans 5:3-4)
Jack was a member of Bloor Street United in Toronto, and may have not been involved in a that congregation’s life in recent years due to his political career as a national party leader, but his actions and his words are testimony to his faith.
His causes have often been unpopular—support for AIDS sufferers and the homeless and the gay community in the 80’s before those causes were embraced by mainstream society.
That has always been so for Christians who follow the teaching of the Gospel. Jesus taught us to care for the poor, the disadvantaged, the marginalized.
It’s not an easy Gospel to live out. We are talking about self-denial, taking up our cross, undergoing suffering if necessary in the pursuit of our mission in life.
It’s much easier to follow what has been termed the prosperity gospel—and believe that if we behave well, we will be rewarded by God with riches. That kind of thinking—wrong headed in my view—is prevalent in parts of the Christian church—particularly in North America.
I think that kind of thinking would be offensive to Jesus.
It comes down to leadership. We as Christians need to practice what we preach. That’s what Paul was saying when he wrote to the Romans.
“Let love be genuine, hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them….”
This past week as Canadians remembered Jack Layton, they were affirming those qualities exemplified in his leadership.
Perhaps what made the tribute reach out beyond his own party is the yearning among all of us for more civility in our political life, more caring, more servant leadership, and more concern for justice and the common good.
Our faith, our spirituality can’t be separated from the rest of life. We may not all agree, and certainly most of the time do not agree, on many political issues.
But our faith can lead us to support leadership which is unselfish, passionate and caring. We need to pray for our leaders because in this complex world it matters so much that public spirited people offer themselves for leadership.
The 24 hours news cycle has resulted in many becoming cynical about politicians, but the outpouring of love and respect after the untimely death of the leader of Her Majesty’s loyal opposition reminds us that we want to have trust in our leaders. We want to believe they care for us.
Prayer for the Nation p. 678 BAS
Monday, 22 August 2011
Who Do You Say That I Am?
Homily Aug. 21/11 Proper 21 Yr. A
When I was a newspaper or magazine writer there would sometimes come a time when after researching a story and interviewing many people that I’d have difficulty knowing where to start—how to capture what my readers would be interested in.
This was particularly true when I went to write about my experiences in foreign countries visiting churches and mission groups there.
Sometimes there just seemed to be so much to tell, yet so little space, and where to start?
In a way that’s how I feel approaching preaching this morning. Today’s Gospel isn’t one of the miracle stories of Jesus. It doesn’t involve healing. It isn’t a parable. It isn’t a confrontation with Roman or Jewish authorities.
Instead Jesus is talking to his disciples and, as usual, asking questions.
Who do you say that I Am? he asks.
While driving yesterday, I saw this as a sermon text on several church signs.
The task for the preacher is at once simple, and daunting.
Perhaps more books have been written on Jesus than on any other person in history. And they have all tried to answer that question.
What can I offer . After all it was only ten years ago—August 19, 2001, that I was ordained as a Deacon in the Church by the Right Reverend Barry Hollowell, the sixth Bishop of Calgary, at a service at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Toronto.
A few months later I was ordained priest at my first parish, St. Cyprian’s Didsbury.
So I don’t profess to be a theologian, or expert. But I was called to ministry after almost half a century as a lay person in the Anglican Church of Canada, having completed theological studies and the candidacy process of the church.
With that call comes the humbling task of reflecting weekly on the scriptures during this sermon time, usually through our three year lectionary.
I see part of this task as helping you to understand the Biblical context of our readings, and reflect on what they might mean for our lives.
It means asking questions, like who do you say Jesus is.
Because unlike the fundamentalist Christians, we Anglicans have always believed in interpreting scripture, through reason and tradition—the so called three legged stool.
One of the dangers of approaching our Christian faith, as well as other faiths, is to engage in a literal reading of the sacred text—the Bible, or the Quran.
Our scriptures are inspired by God, but reading them in the plain sense of the words just doesn’t work. The text is a mixture of allegory, poetry, prophecy, vision and story.
So when Jesus asks Who do you say that I am, he isn’t asking for a twelve point description of things we must believe about him---he wants us to respond with God given faith, as Peter did—You are the messiah, the Son of the Living God.
But we can’t stop there. Jesus can’t be pigeon holed. Think of all the terms used to refer to Jesus: Redeemer, Friend, Brother, Lover, Saviour, Healer, Teacher, Rabbi, Prophet, Preacher. The list could go on.
All are true. But none holds all the truth.
Naming Jesus is , like naming and defining ourselves as followers of Jesus, is a process of learning and growing, moving from doubt to belief, from call to action.
Ours is not intended to be a passive faith, a consumer faith, a faith based on unthinking formulas.
We have to see our scriptures not as the fundamentalists have—a closed book with cut and dried answers, but as a living text which helps us learn more about God, and ourselves, through the inspiration of those who created those texts so many years ago.
Who do you say that I am? It’s a question we need to always be asking about Jesus as we respond to the needs of our families, our communities, our nation and our world.
When I visited a vacation bible school at St. John in the Wilderness this week to help out with music, most of the counselors were wearing bracelets—WWJD. What would Jesus do.
That question—along with Who do you say that I am? -- is one we need to think about. Because our answers help define our lives as individual Christians, and as members of a Christian community.
You’ll notice when Jesus asks the disciples people say the son of Man is---and that’s how he referred to himself—they answer John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah—all prophets.
Then comes that little word, but. “But Who do you say that I am.”
And that’s when Peter, the brave one, at least at this point, makes his declaration.
And that question still must be asked today, as it has for generations: “But, who do you say that I am?”
When I was a newspaper or magazine writer there would sometimes come a time when after researching a story and interviewing many people that I’d have difficulty knowing where to start—how to capture what my readers would be interested in.
This was particularly true when I went to write about my experiences in foreign countries visiting churches and mission groups there.
Sometimes there just seemed to be so much to tell, yet so little space, and where to start?
In a way that’s how I feel approaching preaching this morning. Today’s Gospel isn’t one of the miracle stories of Jesus. It doesn’t involve healing. It isn’t a parable. It isn’t a confrontation with Roman or Jewish authorities.
Instead Jesus is talking to his disciples and, as usual, asking questions.
Who do you say that I Am? he asks.
While driving yesterday, I saw this as a sermon text on several church signs.
The task for the preacher is at once simple, and daunting.
Perhaps more books have been written on Jesus than on any other person in history. And they have all tried to answer that question.
What can I offer . After all it was only ten years ago—August 19, 2001, that I was ordained as a Deacon in the Church by the Right Reverend Barry Hollowell, the sixth Bishop of Calgary, at a service at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Toronto.
A few months later I was ordained priest at my first parish, St. Cyprian’s Didsbury.
So I don’t profess to be a theologian, or expert. But I was called to ministry after almost half a century as a lay person in the Anglican Church of Canada, having completed theological studies and the candidacy process of the church.
With that call comes the humbling task of reflecting weekly on the scriptures during this sermon time, usually through our three year lectionary.
I see part of this task as helping you to understand the Biblical context of our readings, and reflect on what they might mean for our lives.
It means asking questions, like who do you say Jesus is.
Because unlike the fundamentalist Christians, we Anglicans have always believed in interpreting scripture, through reason and tradition—the so called three legged stool.
One of the dangers of approaching our Christian faith, as well as other faiths, is to engage in a literal reading of the sacred text—the Bible, or the Quran.
Our scriptures are inspired by God, but reading them in the plain sense of the words just doesn’t work. The text is a mixture of allegory, poetry, prophecy, vision and story.
So when Jesus asks Who do you say that I am, he isn’t asking for a twelve point description of things we must believe about him---he wants us to respond with God given faith, as Peter did—You are the messiah, the Son of the Living God.
But we can’t stop there. Jesus can’t be pigeon holed. Think of all the terms used to refer to Jesus: Redeemer, Friend, Brother, Lover, Saviour, Healer, Teacher, Rabbi, Prophet, Preacher. The list could go on.
All are true. But none holds all the truth.
Naming Jesus is , like naming and defining ourselves as followers of Jesus, is a process of learning and growing, moving from doubt to belief, from call to action.
Ours is not intended to be a passive faith, a consumer faith, a faith based on unthinking formulas.
We have to see our scriptures not as the fundamentalists have—a closed book with cut and dried answers, but as a living text which helps us learn more about God, and ourselves, through the inspiration of those who created those texts so many years ago.
Who do you say that I am? It’s a question we need to always be asking about Jesus as we respond to the needs of our families, our communities, our nation and our world.
When I visited a vacation bible school at St. John in the Wilderness this week to help out with music, most of the counselors were wearing bracelets—WWJD. What would Jesus do.
That question—along with Who do you say that I am? -- is one we need to think about. Because our answers help define our lives as individual Christians, and as members of a Christian community.
You’ll notice when Jesus asks the disciples people say the son of Man is---and that’s how he referred to himself—they answer John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah—all prophets.
Then comes that little word, but. “But Who do you say that I am.”
And that’s when Peter, the brave one, at least at this point, makes his declaration.
And that question still must be asked today, as it has for generations: “But, who do you say that I am?”
Monday, 15 August 2011
Encountering the "other"
Homily Proper 20 Yr. A 2011
Have you ever been so weary all you want is a place to rest where no-one will disturb you, and relax?
Call it a retreat, a vacation, a respite….it fulfills a basic human need to refresh or regroup.
Throughout scripture there are references to Jesus seeking some solitude to pray, to gain strength for what must have been an exhausting life as an itinerant preacher, healer and teacher.
But there were always demands wherever he travelled, even on the outskirts of Israel, north of Palestine in the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And since we believe Jesus was a human being, he must have sometimes lost his patience. And this appears to be what has happened in this story.
The Canaanite woman comes and begs for Jesus help because her daughter is tormented by a demon.
First Jesus doesn’t answer her at all—a snub which might have been expected between a Jewish man and a Canaanite woman, because Canaanites were treated as second class citizens, reviled and hated by Jews.
The disciples urge Jesus to send the woman away.
But instead Jesus tries to explain: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
In other words, the mission of Jesus, at least for now, is for the Jews alone.
But she kneels before him: Lord help me. How often in the Gospels do we see this response of faith followed with a healing.
But in this case Jesus responds with what can be seen as an insult, a put down: Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and feed it to the dogs.”
Dogs were not held in the high esteem at that time that they are now. After all, it’s clear to Coline and I that Wally runs the rectory.
But then dogs were seen as unclean.
This passage has proved difficult for Biblical commentators and preachers over the years.
After all we preach a doctrine that says Jesus without sin.
But even in the Gospel narratives we have Jesus showing anger, frustration, despair at different times. Could he not have shared in some of the prejudices of his own time.
Isn’t there a possibility he was weary and just wanted to end this brief encounter.
Also puzzling is the end of this brief encounter, where it appears this unnamed woman gets the best of Jesus, which is rare in any Gospel encounters.
“Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
This bold, but respectful retort is amazing.
Jesus is used to tripping up the leading Jewish authorities, scribes, and Pharisees. Yet he is matched by one of society’s lowliest members, a Gentile woman, of a hated minority.
And in response, Jesus displays his willingness to change in response to the woman’s faith and courage, Jesus heals her daughter.
What does this story mean for us?
If Jesus can learn to deal with prejudices of his day, surely we can learn to treat better those who like the Canaanite woman would be “the other” in our society.
In Canada that means we have to look at how we treat Native people, and other visible minorities. How do we treat people with other religious backgrounds.
We are all children of God, and it is in how we treat our neighbours that we demonstrate our love of God.
We must be prepared to have our eyes opened to the needs and gifts of others, as Jesus was in this story.
The worst thing is to try and separate ourselves as Christians into a “holy” club, feeling we are better than others.
Jesus met the world, albeit sometimes reluctantly, when he was weary and needed a rest. His followers came from the outcasts of society---poor, women, Gentiles.
The people most hostile to his message were the leaders of Israel, the religious authorities, the wealthy.
Part of our challenge in the church is that the church has become part of the establishment in many countries. It has lost its edge. It doesn’t reach out sufficiently to “the other.”
Let us pray that following the example of Jesus we can learn from our encounters with people who are "the other" and recognize in them our common humanity.
Have you ever been so weary all you want is a place to rest where no-one will disturb you, and relax?
Call it a retreat, a vacation, a respite….it fulfills a basic human need to refresh or regroup.
Throughout scripture there are references to Jesus seeking some solitude to pray, to gain strength for what must have been an exhausting life as an itinerant preacher, healer and teacher.
But there were always demands wherever he travelled, even on the outskirts of Israel, north of Palestine in the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And since we believe Jesus was a human being, he must have sometimes lost his patience. And this appears to be what has happened in this story.
The Canaanite woman comes and begs for Jesus help because her daughter is tormented by a demon.
First Jesus doesn’t answer her at all—a snub which might have been expected between a Jewish man and a Canaanite woman, because Canaanites were treated as second class citizens, reviled and hated by Jews.
The disciples urge Jesus to send the woman away.
But instead Jesus tries to explain: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
In other words, the mission of Jesus, at least for now, is for the Jews alone.
But she kneels before him: Lord help me. How often in the Gospels do we see this response of faith followed with a healing.
But in this case Jesus responds with what can be seen as an insult, a put down: Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and feed it to the dogs.”
Dogs were not held in the high esteem at that time that they are now. After all, it’s clear to Coline and I that Wally runs the rectory.
But then dogs were seen as unclean.
This passage has proved difficult for Biblical commentators and preachers over the years.
After all we preach a doctrine that says Jesus without sin.
But even in the Gospel narratives we have Jesus showing anger, frustration, despair at different times. Could he not have shared in some of the prejudices of his own time.
Isn’t there a possibility he was weary and just wanted to end this brief encounter.
Also puzzling is the end of this brief encounter, where it appears this unnamed woman gets the best of Jesus, which is rare in any Gospel encounters.
“Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
This bold, but respectful retort is amazing.
Jesus is used to tripping up the leading Jewish authorities, scribes, and Pharisees. Yet he is matched by one of society’s lowliest members, a Gentile woman, of a hated minority.
And in response, Jesus displays his willingness to change in response to the woman’s faith and courage, Jesus heals her daughter.
What does this story mean for us?
If Jesus can learn to deal with prejudices of his day, surely we can learn to treat better those who like the Canaanite woman would be “the other” in our society.
In Canada that means we have to look at how we treat Native people, and other visible minorities. How do we treat people with other religious backgrounds.
We are all children of God, and it is in how we treat our neighbours that we demonstrate our love of God.
We must be prepared to have our eyes opened to the needs and gifts of others, as Jesus was in this story.
The worst thing is to try and separate ourselves as Christians into a “holy” club, feeling we are better than others.
Jesus met the world, albeit sometimes reluctantly, when he was weary and needed a rest. His followers came from the outcasts of society---poor, women, Gentiles.
The people most hostile to his message were the leaders of Israel, the religious authorities, the wealthy.
Part of our challenge in the church is that the church has become part of the establishment in many countries. It has lost its edge. It doesn’t reach out sufficiently to “the other.”
Let us pray that following the example of Jesus we can learn from our encounters with people who are "the other" and recognize in them our common humanity.
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