sermon excerpts: "A Spiritual Getaway"

the Song of Songs, for all of its steamy implications and suggestion, is poetic and evocative in its lyric. This morning we heard the invitation to come away, to leave behind the cares, concerns and distractions of our world that we may more fully be who we are. We go to find the true nature of our being in relationship with another.

The lover arrives upon the scene and urges that the time is come for renewal, in the newness of springtime. The time of dreariness and gloom has passed and there is energy and life buzzing in the air. Arise and come away. Leave behind the slumber, the dormancy, the hibernation, and live the adventure of life. Be alive. Be in love.

We are awakened and called into relationship with the divine, to leave our comfort and coziness. It is easy to build a refuge and haven from all that is wrong in the world. Maybe that is why we are here today, in worship, to gather in faith so that for the span of an hour, or for a few meaningful minutes where we can leave behind the world and its problems. We are here to pray and sing, to listen to scripture, to be with friends, to look at the ceiling or the stained glass windows. Here we are to be still and know that God is God.

Whatever it is that brings us here, if it’s misplaced guilt or a sense of obligation, or if coming to church is a wonderful uplifting habit, or if we merely want to see friends, or if we’re seeking to be challenged or comforted in faith, we all have our reasons. However, we can’t stay here. Sooner or later, for those thinking of brunch, hopefully sooner, we will leave this place. We can’t hide away in our Sunday best, in our liturgy and hymnody; we do live in a world of road rage, swine flu and reality TV.

As much as we’d like to escape this world and run off with the Lord to some wonderful mystical union, there is the grim reality that there are bills that still need to be paid, an economy still on the downturn, and weather that defies prediction. We might consider the scripture lesson as a gentle invitation to leave our sanctuary and explore the world that awaits us. A world of wonder and longing, with the steadfast companionship of a deep, pervasive and abiding love that goes with us, calling us forth to new adventures.

It is a journey undertaken with excitement and joy, to go away with the Lord, to embrace the wonders of life and love in a topsy-turvy world where nothing makes sense and all that we have is each other. The Songs of Songs shows how energizing, inspiring and life-giving being in love is. That is what we are about, that is the message for this day: love life, love yourself, love God, love love.

for Aug. 30 - Song of Songs 2: 8-13

The voice of my beloved! Look, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice.

My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away."

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What feelings, questions, thoughts and prompts to personal action arise from this scripture?
What about hymn suggestions or ideas for Children's Time? Share them as Comments below or in an email, and help shape Sunday's worship service.

sermon excerpts: "This Is the Church" (1 Kings 8)

Finally after many years, the Temple was completed, Solomon cuts the ribbon and God "comes home". It was such a powerful moment that the priests could not stand to minister in that place overwhelmed by God’s great presence. It must have been quite the moment. And I wonder what it would be like if we could feel and know the divine surrounding and filling this very sanctuary so much that we could not bear it. Could that happen here? There’s no reason why not, is there? What would it be like?

In the Temple on that first day, the presence of God was known. Then the promise of God is remembered. Solomon gives thanks for God’s loyalty and providence for bringing success and victory to David and his family line. Solomon publicly proclaims and celebrates the fact that God keeps promises.

From there, the prayers of God’s people ask for continued good grace and providence, mercy and forgiveness for all who pray towards that place. While the grandest human construction cannot contain the smallest aspect of God’s being, we hope that God’s favour would rest upon what we seek to do, upon everything that centres on the Temple.

But we know, as Solomon did, that nothing can limit or bottle up God. Not a temple, or synagogue, or cathedral, or church. The power and prestige of God goes beyond religious and cultural boundaries. God’s approval and blessing is shared with anyone, even foreign visitors from distant lands with different customs and traditions. Anyone who prays toward the Temple, that respects its purpose and its spirit will find favour with God.

All of that was what Solomon announced at the opening ceremony of the first Temple in Jerusalem. The presence of God, the promise of God, the prayers of God’s people and the power and prestige of God’s activity in the world. It was a big event with grandiose gestures and eloquent words. But more than just words, defining truths: presence, promise, prayer and power.

It’s safe to say that our own churches intended to embody and embrace these same principles. For all of the riches and opulence that Solomon outfitted the Temple with, he preached and promoted not the majesty of the building but of God’s activity in the world and our relationship to the Holy One.

To change around the words of the nursery rhyme: more than doors and steeples, the church as a people need to be open. I know that doesn’t even come close to rhyming in a catchy way and lacks accompanying hand action, but that needs to be a key feature – openness.

... The initial goal was to create space and opportunity for people to come to know God, in worship, contemplation, thanksgiving and confession. That’s where we were supposed to begin. Maybe we can get there still.

sermon excerpts: "Schadenfreude"

In scripture, the Cushite messenger figured he was the bearer of good news when he tells King David that the usurper to the throne, Absalom, was dead and that the battle was won and he could return to the royal city and reclaim his rightful place on the throne. The story gets even better – the enemy Absalom was totally humiliated, caught up in a tree, defenceless and ridiculous. ... So when the Cushite messenger arrives in David’s court, he figured he was the bearer of good news. The enemy was defeated, royal order was restored and life could get back to normal.

David mourns the loss of his son, thinking that he deserved a better end, that he needn’t have died in the first place, that they might have resolved things in a more constructive fashion … all the regrets and guilt that grieving and loss bring to mind. Last week, I mentioned that we could look upon David as a symbol and figurehead for the Israelite people, answering to the accusations that the prophet Nathan made. How he, and the people, strayed from God’s commandments, acting selfishly and without care for one’s neighbour. This week, we could look upon David as the metaphor for God’s unconditional love – that in spite of all the harm and pain that Absalom caused him, David the Father, grieves his death.

In the end, the love he had for his son could not be undone by the hurt and pain inflicted through their words and actions. David wishes that he could have been killed instead of his son. Would that not be a similar sentiment to seeing Christ on the cross, the Father wishing that the son could be spared, that such a humiliating death could be transferred?

We know that as we go through life, we won’t be friends with everyone, that too often for someone to succeed, another person must fail. That is how victory and accomplishment is measured. An example from the news of this past week is the reported death of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud; one side celebrates while the other side mourns.

How does the very human experience of schadenfreude, of personal joy from another’s pain, match up to our call to divine relationship? Yet we are called to love our enemies, easier to say than to do. What does that actually mean for us? If we can’t hope and cheer for those who oppose us, we can at least begin with not wishing harm or disaster upon them. It’s a start.

for Aug. 9 - 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33

The king gave orders to Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, "Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom." And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders concerning Absalom.

So the army went out into the field against Israel; and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. The men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the slaughter there was great on that day, twenty thousand men. The battle spread over the face of all the country; and the forest claimed more victims that day than the sword.

Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. His head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on.

And ten young men, Joab's armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him, and killed him. Then the Cushite came; and the Cushite said, "Good tidings for my lord the king! For the Lord has vindicated you this day, delivering you from the power of all who rose up against you."

The king said to the Cushite, "Is it well with the young man Absalom?"

The Cushite answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up to do you harm, be like that young man."

The king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, he said, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would that I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!"

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What feelings, questions, thoughts and prompts to personal action arise from this scripture?
What about hymn suggestions or ideas for Children's Time? Share them as Comments below or in an email, and help shape Sunday's worship service.