sermon excerpts: "Journey On"

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The Christmas story is of journey, from Nazareth to Bethlehem, from shepherd fields to a manger. There are wise men travelling, and another escape into the safety of Egypt. Jesus’ entire ministry was on the move. The missions of the apostles trace back and forth over the known Mediterranean world. So it is not a shock that our own lives are filled with transition, that the only thing we can count on is change.

With this change upon us, our time together is concluding, and we might agree that it has been too short, but at least we had this time at all. For a while, we journeyed together and we are changed for the encounter: the manse in Glencoe was sold, we’ve incorporated audio-visuals to supplement the worship service, broadened and enhanced work in the community through the ministerial association and Faith Fair events.

We welcomed university students from South Korea, confirmed some of our own, and watched the children, youth, as well as our parents and grandparents, even ourselves grow just a bit older – sometimes quite dramatically, sometimes not. We’ve commemorated funerals, weddings, baptisms and the special occasion of just an ordinary Sunday.

We have not solved the problems of too few people doing too many things to keep the churches going. We have not been able to break out of a financial practice of belt-tightening just to keep pace with costs. We have not satisfactorily addressed the issues and tensions of being congregations in relationship with one another. We have not claimed a bright and shining new vision for the rural regional network of southwestern Middlesex County.

But we have demonstrated enough foresight to strategize and try to plan. We’ve declared a willingness to see what might be possible. We’ve decided that things cannot continue the way they have been, that we don’t want to be circling the drain. We’ve expressed a desire for our church and faith to be life-giving and vital for its members and not just another series of tasks, meetings and grudging obligations.

It is in the chaos amid unknown futures, that God’s work happens best. In Genesis, the Creator fashioned the world from the chaos of swirling seas. The healing pool of Bethsaida was only effective when things were churning and agitated. The scripture from Hebrews speaks of suffering as a necessary evil of our existence, but promises deliverance by the divine one born to a human family.

...When the calendar flips to 2011, some may be hard pressed to see a bright future for the church. Some may remember that every journey has its peaks and valleys and that sometimes we need to move back for a time before we can move forward again. While the work of any particular minister may be a 9-day wonder, the work of a faith community is a generational enterprise.

No matter how we might measure the official length of our time together – an estimated 1278 days; 30 672 hours; 1.8 million minutes – I would hazard to say there has been depth and quality to what we have done here. Whatever seeds have been planted will need time and perspective before we might know the full story of what has happened here.

Until then, we pause this day to remember, honour and celebrate the time that we’ve shared with as partners in ministry in this place, we look ahead to the respective journeys that our lives will take and trust that our paths will cross again. It is into God’s keeping that we travel on, in faith, hope, peace, joy and love.