for Jan. 4, 2009 - Luke 14.12-24

We're back, but are going off-lectionary for January. For your consideration this week, the parable of the feast ...

He said also to the one who had invited him, ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’

One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, ‘Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!’

Then Jesus said to him, ‘Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, “Come; for everything is ready now.” But they all alike began to make excuses.

The first said to him, “I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my apologies.” Another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my apologies.” Another said, “I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.” So the slave returned and reported this to his master.

Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.”

And the slave said, “Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.”

Then the master said to the slave, “Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.” ’

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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.

Happy New Year

I'll be away for a week of holidays (December 29 to January 5) - the Rev. Richard Golden is available for any emergency pastoral situations.

Continued wishes for a merry Christmas (8 more days, you know!) and a happy new year.
~Kenji

sermon excerpts: "A Bouncing Baby Boy" (Luke 2: 22-40)

Jesus, even as a newborn, was fulfilling destiny and bringing hope. As he grew in the tradition of his faith, he was presented at the Temple with an offering. Following in the steps of Abraham, he is circumcised and blessed. Just like any other Jewish boy.

A pious and faithful man named Simeon just happens to be there and is incredibly moved. He speaks words of wonder and we find out that he has lived to see the fulfillment of his lifelong wish – to witness the consolation of Israel, Christ the Lord. How many other people at the temple that day simply went about their business not knowing that their Saviour was there? How could they know that the one that all the ancient prophecies spoke of was squirming over there, alongside two turtledoves?

But it is a time of mixed messages. While proclaiming praise and glory, such that people would remember Isaiah’s promises, there is assurance that great things are ahead for Jesus. But then Simeon further says to Mary, “by the way, great and terrible things will happen and it will feel like your soul’s been stabbed.”

While Jesus the Messiah would deliver God’s people to a new, more profound relationship with the divine, ushering the kingdom of heaven, he would also divide nations and families, causing conflict and turmoil. This is a lot of expectation to place on a baby. Yet there is something that rings true in this double-sided message.

It is true that our own actions work to unite and divide, to bring solace and pain – a mixed blessing that is our own existence. I’m guessing this might not be unique to me, but shortly after our kids were born came the thought, not quite a regret: what have we done? Is this a world that I want to raise my children in? What pain and heartache and loss will they suffer in life? What kind of life will be left for them given the state of the environment, freshwater and air quality, and market-driven food supply? I was feeling all the panicked doubts of a new parent.

But that is not what we focus on if we are to maintain our sanity – instead it is the promise and potential that each of us, children or not, have to offer. Going back a couple thousand years, the hopes and fears of all the years are wrapped up in the form of a bouncing baby boy.

A colleague of mine mused thoughtfully about some thoughts he had during one particular baptism. What if this child is the one who finds a cure for cancer? What if! What if we treated all of our children like that? All people like that?

What if we saw each other as bearers of great and wonderful news? What if we saw one another with the eyes of Simeon and Anna, to speak truth about what is needed, and to allow for other viewpoints? What if? Then we wouldn’t need Christmas to remind us that Christ is already here. Until then, we hope and dream, struggle and strain, live and love. Merry Christmas.

sermon excerpts: "Scared by an Angel"

It isn’t like that God is asking Mary's consent to agree to this venture. ... I emphatically believe that we all have free will, but it appears that Mary has little choice in this matter. So much of it was out of her hands already, her betrothal to Joseph who was of King David’s line, her own family relationships connecting to her cousin Elizabeth and Zechariah, a priest at the Temple in Jerusalem who were expecting their first child, to be John the Baptist.

It was a perfect opportunity of factors coming together. Who was she to stop it? It must have been a little bit terrifying.

Why is it that messages from God more often than not include the assurance, “do not be afraid?” I remember in Grade 7 my teacher trying to teach the point that the reason why people say “don’t panic” is because there is something worth panicking about. So God tells us to not be afraid, even though something very scary is happening.

For all of the cherubic, peaceful happy, glowing presentations of trumpets and light, the idea of an angel visiting is a bit unnerving. Never mind sitting on your own, minding your own business, when a glorious presence of power suddenly fills the room and overwhelms you, it is the notion of being presented with God’s own personal message that is a daunting and unnerving experience.

And I wonder, what if Mary said, “No. Not me. Somebody else can incubate the Saviour. I’d like to live an ordinary life and just fit in.” Would Gabriel accept that? Even though it reads like everything is in place and ready to go. Thankfully, we don’t have to wonder what if? Until we turn that critical lens upon ourselves. And how often is it that we get in the way of God’s work?

We are like Mary, given news that we are to give birth (figuratively) to a new expression of faith. We are facing the news that will change the way the world looks at faith. Mind you, the angel Gabriel didn’t arrive with news that we shouldn’t be afraid. The news comes to us in the grim financial reality of our times. When the expenses of our church outstrip its income by several hundred dollars every month, the message is clear. And frightening.

Where, then, is the accompanying promise of glory and success? As we have come to know, things are not as they seem. Our message seems to carry more doom and gloom than any promise of birth and new legacy. Our job is to craft our response, to chart our course of action, to make the preparations for the new arrival that is the United Church of Canada in southwest Middlesex in 2009.

Our inspiration comes from Mary, barely begun puberty, but called to develop and nurture the life within herself. Maybe she didn’t know any better, or maybe she knew better than to resist God’s plan. From this extraordinarily ordinary young woman, we find a response of faith and trust that inspires scripture and song.

Let her life be as an angel’s visit: a message of hope amid fear, of risk amid chaos, and life, light and love in our world.