2nd Sunday in Advent – “Consolation” as part of the “Journey to Wholeness” services for the bereaved. by the Reverend Mary Lewis, Associate Rector
Each of us has come to this service today with our individual needs as we approach this Christmas season.
For some of us, it’s a difficult time, making it impossible to experience the joy and festivities the season brings. Some of us have recently experienced a loss,
and this loss will be even more deeply felt at this time of year. Others will be re-experiencing a loss from a time in the past, which feels very fresh even today. We may not always feel this way, but this is how we feel now.
The consolation which I hope that you will find in this parish community today is
that you are not the only one feeling this way this year...you are not alone.
And so we have come here this morning to this service of Holy Communion to remember together those who have died, and to pray for courage and strength to meet the days ahead, in the knowledge that God loves each one of us unconditionally, and that we are upheld by the love we feel for one another in this parish community.
As we remember those who have died, we thank God for the memories of happy times that bring us comfort and encouragement. We thank God for families, friends and the church community that has nurtured us.
Symbols play an important role in our Anglican tradition. Already in this service
we have lit candles in memory of loved ones. We have taken the light from the Paschal Candle, the candle which represents the light of Christ. The Paschal Candle is lit on Easter Day to affirm our belief that Jesus, having died on the cross on Good Friday, was raised to new life by God the Father after three days.
By Christ’s resurrection, we have new hope, because Christ overcame the darkness of death. As we are together here in the church right now, the light and warmth of these candles lighten the darkness around us, and remind us of this hope.
Richard Gillard has written these words in a song called “The Servant Song”, in which he describes how Christians are to show love towards one another in difficult times:
“I will hold the Christ light for you
In the nighttime of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.”
In addition to remembering our loved ones, we all need courage and strength to face the celebration of Christmas, don’t we? It seems so easy for some to enjoy good cheer; and we can give in to envy, self-pity and discouragement when we are not feeling that way too.
And so, we can ask God to help us to live with our sorrows rather than bury them; to live in the present rather than regretting the past, or dreaming of the future. We can pray that we may have the compassion to see and offer comfort to others who are feeling sad.
We can thank God for love in our lives, and pray for all those we love; those we see every day, and those far away, and for all who love us. We can pray for strength to build bonds of love and friendship in our families and communities.
And we thank God for the gift of love to all of us, as revealed to us in Jesus.
In the First Letter of Peter, Chapter 5, beginning at the 7th verse Peter writes:
Cast all your cares on God,
because God cares for you.
If we can remember that God cares for us, then it makes it easier to overcome these difficult times. Although we are grieving, we can still have a sure confidence in God’s loving care. We can cast all our sorrow on God, and thereby know the consolation of God’s love.
Again in this Letter, Peter offers us a real reason for hope. He says:
Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is so good,
and by raising Jesus from death,
he has given us new life and a hope that lives on.
God has something stored up for you in heaven,
where it will never decay or be ruined or disappear.
You have faith in God,
whose power will protect you until the last day.
You see, the essential Gospel promise is that we are never separated from the love of God. And so we also pray for courage and faith so that we may have the strength to meet the days ahead in the comfort of a holy and certain hope,
and in the joyful expectation of eternal life with those we love. And you and I embody hope by our mutual love and support.
And now I want to offer you a gentle thought. You see, it is important for us to remember that beyond this particular place of grief, you and I are called to relationships and tasks in Christ’s world. We are called to show our love to others; and we can do this in concrete ways by ministering to the sick, the hungry and the homeless.
And so I invite you to think about what you can do for others this Christmas season.
For example, you can bring mittens, scarves or hats for the Mitten Tree; you can bring non-perishable food items for St. Peter’s Cupboard; you can call up someone who is ill and who has not been in church for a while to tell that you miss them, and ask if there is anything you can do for them; you can save the stamps from your incoming Christmas cards and bring them to the church to be given to Leprosy Canada for the support of those living with leprosy in countries far away; you can give away your Canadian Tire money so that toys can be bought for underprivileged children in Toronto this Christmas; you can write to the Mayor of Toronto, and to your local politicians to express your deep concern for the homeless in our neighbourhoods and ask them to build more affordable housing for those in need.
In this Advent season, as we prepare for Christmas, let us ask God to give us grace to turn the darkness of despair into a resurrection hope.
Having acknowledged and given expression to our thoughts and feelings at this service today, we can look for comfort in the message of Christmas time
which is peace, joy, and hope for all.
(The Reverend Mary Lewis+ is Associate Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
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1st Sunday of Advent 2005– A homily preached at the Advent Carol Service by the Rector, the Reverend Hollis Hiscock
In May 2005, I mentioned to the Reverend Gerald Butterworth, one of 3 hymn writers in our parish, that we did not have a great selection of Advent hymns. He said he would see what he could do. Within several weeks he had produced an Advent hymn.
‘Wake up .. be ready .. be prepared.’
These opening words of Gerry hymn echo a message that has been communicated to God’s people annually for thousands of years.
John the Baptist - stood at the edge of the Jordan river and shouted – PREPARE YE THE WAY OF THE LORD.
Today, we stand on the edge of Advent, and shout ‘PREPARE YOURSELF TO RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST IN YOUR HEART IN A NEW WAY THIS CHRISTMAS.’
We prepare ourselves in a way similar to Jesus, when he went into the temple and drove out ‘the buyers and the sellers’, so that God’s house could become a place to care for people through prayer, worship and ministry.
ADVENT calls us to WAKE UP and examine ourselves .. in private with God.
We need to identify the ‘buyers and sellers’ that are clogging up our lives. It could be hatred, anger, prejudice, jealousy, loss, etc ( name some others).
Once identified, we need to drive them out, and get ready .. prepare ourselves so that God can fill our lives, as the angels proclaimed at the first Christmas, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace goodwill to all people’.
Our Sundays in Advent are arranged to help us in that process.
ADVENT 4 – Murray McAdam will be here to encourage us to care for others through justice, compassion and love.
ADVENT 3 – we will be assured that the ‘the spirit of the Lord’ is with us today, and what that means in being people of peace.
Next Sunday – we will proclaim a message of HOPE to all people, but especially to those who are grieving the loss of loved ones.
We begin today - with the trumpet call to WAKE UP (TRUMPET). We are getting READY for the coming of the Saviour by going back into sacred scriptures, and tracing how God PREPARED people for this history changing birth.
Sometime between today and Christmas, I hope each of us will be prepared to sing from the heart the chorus of Gerry’s hymn ..
I’m ready, I open my heart to my God,
I’m ready to publish his name all abroad!
I’m ready to seek him in joy and despair;
Yes, ready, I’ll follow my King anywhere.
To help us WAKE UP .. BE READY .. BE PREPARED, we have provided a prayer which I would encourage you to use daily from now until Christmas.
ADVENT PRAYER FOR 2005
Lord Jesus,
Master of both the Light and the darkness,
send your holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.
We who have so much to do,
seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.
We who have so much to do,
seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.
We who are anxious over many things,
Look forward to your coming among us.
We who are blessed in so many ways,
Long for the complete joy of your kingdom.
We whose hearts are heavy,
seek the joy of your presence.
We are your people,
walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.
To you we say, “Come, Lord Jesus!” Amen
(Please use this prayer daily in your private devotions.)
(The Reverend Hollis Hiscock is Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
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26th Sunday after Pentecost – “Little Apocalypse”. by the Reverend Mary Lewis, Associate Rector
The Gospel reading is Matthew 24:23-31.
I n the Nicene Creed which we have just said together, we have confessed that we believe that “he (Jesus Christ our Lord) will come again in glory to judge both the quick and the dead: Whose kingdom shall have no end.”
Our reading from the Gospel of Matthew this morning is known as the “Little Apocalypse”.”Apocalyptic” passages in scripture are characterized by a focus on last times, which often entails cosmic transformation and always involves the judgment of the dead.
When we look at the troubles in the world today, we shouldn’t think that they prove Jesus is coming soon. We don’t know when he will come back. But that’s not the point. The point is that we should be prepared for Jesus to return any time.
How are we to do this? Matthew tells us clearly in Chapter 26: We are to serve Jesus by taking care of the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned.
As we do this, we do it as if we are doing it to Christ himself, and we will be judged at the end of time as having loved and served the Lord our God faithfully.
And so I ask you to think this week about what you do for those you know are in need; and to take action to care for them and to show the love of Jesus Christ in all that you do.
(The Reverend Mary Lewis+ is Associate Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
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The Gospel (Matthew 22:34-46) today contains the TWO GREAT COMMANDMENTS.
They are the basic doctrine or foundation of the Christian Church.
They are, as it were, a 15 second summary of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
As such, they are to be constantly kept in front of us as a reminder of who we follow and what we do.
In the days of the Old Testament, the 10 commandments were written on a small scroll, rolled up and tied to the forehead, so that other people could see the scroll and be reminded to follow the commandments.
That custom was never adopted by the early Christians, nor do we do it today. Maybe we should revive the practice, or come up with a more creative way to remind ourselves who we worship and how we are to treat each other.
We do have some reminders of the 2 Great Commandments.
When you came into Church this morning, you passed a quick summary of the Two Great Commandment. I know because I penned the words for the plaque. It was given to St. John’s York Mills when we celebrated the 175 th anniversary of our first Church building, constructed in 1816. You can see a sketch of that building in the Garnsworthy Room at the coffee hour after the service.
Mayor Mel Lastman, North York asked if I would suggest the wording for the plaque. I recommended WORSHIP TO GOD; SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY. The Mayor’s staff warned that the word GOD may not get pass the approval committee. I replied, ‘Well, that is what we do as a Church’. The wording was approved by the committee. It is located at the front entrance so that every person entering or leaving this Church are reminded of the TWO GREAT COMMANDMENTS.
Now that you are in the Church, once again you are provided with a summary of the TWO GREAT COMMANDMENTS. When you enter or sit in your pew, you are reminded of why you are here. Over the Shepherd window - ENTER INTO HIS COURTS WITH PRAISE. I am not sure when this was painted on the east wall, but my guess would be over 50 years ago. My only regret is that the language could have been more specific. Maybe in the 1940’s everyone knew who was ‘HIS’. Not so today. In the 21 st century we would spell it out and write ENTER GOD’S COURTS WITH PRAISE.
For nearly 6 decades people entering this sanctuary were reminded of the ‘first’ of the TWO GREAT COMMANDMENTS.
This week we have added the ‘second’ of the TWO GREAT COMMANDMENTS. Painted on the west wall, are the words to remind of our mission to our neighbours and each other – GO IN PEACE TO LOVE AND SERVE THE LORD.
We come here to worship our God, and then we go into God’s world in peace, to love and serve God’s people everywhere.
Now I would like to make a further suggestion regarding the TWO GREAT COMMANDMENTS. I recommend that, in every room in this building, there would be a copy of the TWO GREAT COMMANDMENTS on the wall to remind us of our WORSHIP TO GOD and our SERVE TO PEOPLE.
Then in meetings and events, when our language is unchristian, when our behaviour towards each other is unchristian and maybe when our thoughts are unchristian that the TWO GREAT COMMANDMENTS will be there to bring us back to our Christian beliefs and practices. I have placed a couple of examples around the building. Maybe somebody could take this on as a project or to do the financing.. Talk to me after the service.
I am ending this sermon on a humorous note. It is from a book called HEAVENLY HUMOUR. A CHURCH GARDEN compares the Church or parish to a garden and suggests what we should sow and do to have a great Church or parish. Yet another expression of the TWO GREAT COMMANDMENTS
A CHURCH GARDEN
Three rows of SQUASH
Four rows of TURNIPS
Five rows of LETTUCE
‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. The second is like it: you shall love your neighbour as yourself.’
(The Reverend Hollis Hiscock is Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
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This morning, here at St. John’s, we are marking National Thanksgiving, a day when Canadians give thanks to God for Canada, our very own land flowing with milk and honey.
Traditionally, many families eat a cooked turkey for their Thanksgiving dinner. The one part of the turkey that is extra special for me is the wishbone--the forked bone found in the breast of a bird. This is because, when I was growing up here in Toronto, we would set the wishbone aside and we would let it dry out for the few days. Then two of us would pull it. Each of us would make a wish.
Many of you will have done this, too, so you know what happens. It breaks, but never right down the middle. The one who gets the bigger piece hopes the wish will come true. The way we did it at home was we had to make our wish to ourselves, secretly, because if we told the other person what we wanted that meant it might not come true. This tradition was fun and still is a lot of fun to keep.
Make a wish. We all like to do this, whether or not we tell anyone what our wish is. Probably you have a lot of wishes. Perhaps you want a plasma TV, and you look at your bank account and sigh, “I wish I had enough money for a plasma TV.” Or, if you get sick, and this keeps you from doing what you want to do, you say, “I wish I were well--right now!” There’s almost no end to the list of our wishes and wants, is there?
Some of what we want will probably happen. And some wishes may be impossible dreams and not happen. St. Paul writes: "Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do”. [1 Thessalonians 5:16]
Keep giving thanks all of the time? In every circumstance? For all things? Most of us would want to change Paul’s words--to qualify what he says. Perhaps we wish Paul to say: “In some circumstances” or “in some things.” That would be more acceptable to us--more suitable for our own set of realities. But, in every circumstance? Paul certainly doesn’t qualify the circumstances. He means “all”.
Think for a moment about the story of the 10 lepers which we heard read by Bruce just now. When one of them discovered that he was healed, he came back, shouting praises to God. He bowed down at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. Jesus asked him: “Weren’t 10 men healed? Where are the other nine?” And Jesus blessed him saying: “You may get up and go. Your faith has made you well.”
You see, God blesses those who realize that their faith in God is important. God will give you joys which are beyond your understanding if only you give thanks to God in Jesus Christ.
And so I invite you today to make time to count your blessings; to praise God for this wonderful country of ours; to give thanks to God in all circumstances of your lives, even the ones you are not naturally thankful for; and particularly, to thank God when you realize the blessings you have received in Jesus Christ, our Saviour. In this way, this Thanksgiving will be extra special for you, I am sure.
(The Reverend Mary Lewis+ is Associate Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
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At our Church we celebrate Harvest Thanksgiving on the Sunday before the National Thanksgiving, because most people are in the city. The National Thanksgiving holiday is a long weekend, when people tend head to their country and other places for the last time before, what the hymn writer describes as ‘ere the winter storms begin’.
Today, we give thanks for the harvest in our own lives. In this sermon, I will take you through a Harvest Thanksgiving exercise to help you celebrate the Harvest.
I recently went to my doctor for my annual check-up. He went over a checklist to ensure that my ‘check up’ was thorough and complete.
When I take my car to my garage, the mechanic hands me a check list indicating what was inspected, what is working properly and what needs to be repaired.
Actually, my doctor did the same procedure as my mechanic. He told me what parts of my body he checked, what parts are working well, and suggested some parts that need to be repaired.
The checklist is an important instrument to ascertain where we are in any aspect of our lives. Today I want to give you a checklist, so you can evaluate the HARVEST OF YOUR LIFE.
Basically, we human beings have a HARVEST of TIME, a HARVEST of TALENTS (how we employ our skills and abilities), and a HARVEST of OPPORTUNITY (how we use our time and talents in our work, our recreation, our service to others, our worship to God).
The HARVEST CHECKLIST is found in our Bible readings today. Simply stated, they are …
Let me apply it to my own life. You can follow my example as it applies to your own life.
HARVEST OF TIME - so far I have lived on this earth for nearly 65 years. When I apply the checklist, I need to ask myself...
HARVEST OF TALENTS – I need to identify my skills and abilities, and then apply the CHECHLIST. Ask yourself.
HARVEST of OPPORTUNITY - how I employ my time and talents in my work, my recreation, my relationships with others, my service to others (especially those in need), my worship to God. In all these situations, am I (are you) … ask ourselves.
How did you do?
What are you doing well?
What do you need to repair?
Let us take it all - our HARVEST of TIME, TALENTS and OPPORTUNITIES and presented it all to God in THANKSGIVING.
I invite you to do it by singing verse 3 of that great thanksgiving hymn 197.
All praise and thanks to God
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(The Reverend Hollis Hiscock is Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
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Hallelujah!
Praise the Lord, O my soul,
while I live will I praise the Lord,
(Psalm 146: 1)
Three days after the death of Jesus, on the day of the resurrection, while on the road to Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, Cleopas and his friend were discussing all that had happened in Jerusalem. Jesus came near, but they did not recognize him. Jesus wondered why they were so sad. They told him all that had happened and how hard it was to understand. Jesus said:
O foolish ones and so slow of heart! Don’t you believe in all that the prophets taught. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to have entered into his glory (Luke 24:25).
As they walked their hearts began to burn within them as Jesus opened up the scriptures to them. As they came near the village they invited Jesus to spend the evening with them. When they sat down to supper they finally recognized him in the breaking of the bread. While eating he said to them:
All things must be fulfilled which were written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms (Luke 24:44), showing them that all scripture bears witness to Jesus. The Psalms themselves look forward to the coming of Jesus, his work and teaching, his suffering and his glory. The hopes of the psalms are only fully realized with the coming of the Messiah as prophet, priest, and king.
The list of the Lord’s nature and deeds, which we said together in Psalm 146, a few minutes ago, apply perfectly to Jesus, our Lord:
Who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all therein,
Who keeps his promise forever,
Who helps the wronged,
Who feeds the hungry,
Who frees the prisoner,
Who raises up the fallen,
Who cares for the strangers,
the fatherless, and the widow (vv 5-9).
We see a beautiful example of this in today’s gospel, the story of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17). Her only son has died and is being carried out of the city for burial. When the Lord saw her weeping he had compassion, for “the Lord cares for the widow.” Then the Lord came and stood by the open coffin and said,”Young man arise” He who was dead sat up and began to speak, for “the Lord raises up the fallen,” and he was delivered to his mother.
Many parts of scripture have both a literal and a spiritual meaning. A clear example is in the gospels where we find two types of poor people.
Matthew speaks to the spiritually poor:
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3).
while Luke speaks to those who are literally poor:
Blessed are you who are poor,
For yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who are hungry,
For you shall be filled (Luke 6:20-21).
Similarly, those verses of today’s psalm dealing with prisoners, the blind and the hungry are interpreted by many commentators in a spiritual sense. It is important, though, not to lose sight of the fact that these same verses are also meant to be taken literally, for the Lord does feed the hungry and does free the prisoner. Of course we at St John’s agree, for we have an active ministry with both the hungry, supporting the food banks at Flemingdon Park and St Peter’s Cupboard, and with prisoners, at the Don Jail.
Freeing prisoners is a recurrent theme throughout scripture. We find it first in the law of Moses. In the year of the Jubilee, described in Leviticus 25, the trumpet shall sound and everyone is to be set free to return to their homes and families. We find it in the prophet Isaiah:
The spirit of the Lord is upon me...
to proclaim freedom to all captives,
and to set free all prisoners. (Is 61: 1) We find it in the psalms, as we heard today. Since Jesus fulfills the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms, we also find it in Jesus’
teaching. In Luke 4, Jesus also says that the Spirit has anointed him and sent him to proclaim freedom to prisoners. How different all this is from the punitive approach to prisoners and social problems taken by many! How often do we hear cries like , “Lock them up and throw away the key!” or hear calls for stiffer and stiffer sentences, for instance for crimes involving guns, or hear demands to make a crime out of social problems such as prostitution or squeegee kids. This approach is certainly contrary to the spirit of today’s psalm for:
Blessed is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, and whose hope is in the Lord his God (v 4).
Lest you are fearful, I can assure you that the vast majority of prisoners are not particularly dangerous. They are usually poor and often homeless They may have a mental illness, or an addiction, or be weak but they are not, except for the very few, dangerous and should not, in my view, be in prison cut off from society, family and friends.
Today’s psalm, and all the last five psalms (Psalms 146- 150), are praise psalms each beginning and closing with the words, “Hallelujah!, Praise the Lord!” These psalms are filled with musical imagery for the first language of God is music. They praise God for all his marvelous deeds, such as those we heard about in the psalm. They praise God for revealing himself to us through the creation. They praise God for speaking to us through the word. They praise God for feeding us this morning with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of his son and our savior Jesus Christ. It is this food which nourishes us and gives us the strength to advance God’s mighty deeds in this world and the coming of his kingdom.
Let every thing that hath breath
praise the Lord! Hallelujah!
(Psalm 150:6)
(Bruce Williams is a Deacon at St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
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The idea for this sermon was born as Helen and I drove from Toronto, Ontario to Fredericton, New Brunswick. The drive started at 5:30 in the morning, and we parked in our friends’ driveway at 8:45 PM. One can think about many things during a 15 hour drive.
Labour Day weekend is perhaps the busiest week for travellers. Parents moving their children in and out of apartments as they get ready for another university year; families transporting their belongings to and from cottages as summer activities draw to a close; and people planning their winter vacations to avoid the inevitable Canadian deep freeze.
It reminded me of a hymn written by a former Canadian Bishop, Derwyn Jones. We will sing it later. The title, ‘Man is now a race of travellers’ probably should be changed to ‘We are now a race of travellers’ to better reflect our inclusive society. Read verses 1 and 2 of Hymn 222.
We are now a race of travellers, ranging wide o’er earth’s whole face;
Every state is now our village, every town our market place.
Not on earth alone we travel,
But invade the farthest skies;
Circling earth and tracking planets
Through the brightest heaven we fly.
I was planning to speak about people as travellers in the physical sense.
Then people as emotional travellers and intellectual travellers. That plan changed with 2 events occurring in different parts of God’s world.
The Toronto Star newspaper brought the two together on their front page on September 1, 2005.
CHAOS - describing the events in New Orleans and other cities devastated by Katrina.
TRAGEDY - describing an event which killed approximately 1000 people on a bridge in Baghdad, when a bomb rumour triggered panic among Shiite pilgrims.
Then the Star’s editors added the word - HOPE - to describe the contribution of Terry Fox.
CHAOS - TRAGEDY - HOPE. These are intertwined in the events happening in the United States and Iraq.
The images of both are riveting and upsetting. The thousands of sandals piled on the Baghdad bridge left behind by people running for their lives. The convoy of buses snaking along a highway transporting people from the Superdome in New Orleans to the Astrodome and other temporary shelters in Texas. You can add your own picture.
Yet where’re the quest shall take us
We are ever in God’s sight,
For he loves the very sparrow
And the astronaut in flight.
The sparrow is almost worthless, says Jesus in the Gospel. You can buy 5 for a penny. Yet, not one sparrow is forgotten by God. People are worth much more than sparrows.
The people this week who jumped into the Tigris River to escape a tragedy were not forgotten by God. The people who huddled in the Superdome without food, water or sanitary conditions were not forgotten by God. The people who worked endless hours to rescue people from rooftops, to offer words of encouragement or to bring food and medical supplies were not forgotten by God. The people may feel insignificant like the sparrow, but they are not forgotten by God.
And, we as God’s people should not forget them. This begs the question - what can we do?
Firstly, we can pray for all the people involved. Include a simple prayer, like, ‘God, look after the people affected by the tragedies in the United States and Iraq’.
Secondly, we can help by making a financial contribution through the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund or agencies like the Red Cross. The narthex bulletin board contains the information you need re making a donation to the Primate’s Fund.
Thirdly, we can focus on God as our travelling companion. The Gospel reading today reaffirms God’s presence - Jesus told His followers, ‘for where 2 or 3 are gathered in my name, I am there among them’. Derwyn Jones said the same when he wrote (read verse 4).
Grant, O Lord, that all our journeys
Make us offer praise that’s due;
For we would not dare to travel
Were the world not made by you.
(The Reverend Hollis Hiscock is Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
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There are three parts to the story of Moses which we have heard read this morning: the first is The Miracle; the second is The Declaration; and the third is The Challenge.
Let me open up The Miracle for us first.
What is so amazing is that the bush is being burned, but not consumed!
It is a symbol of the presence of God, whose grace cannot be contained, and which is never used up or limited.
God is identified as I AM WHO I AM--that is, a God unlike any other; the familiar God of the Hebrews’ ancestors--Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. By speaking, God says to Moses that God is always present; and all things that exist belong to God.
The second part is The Declaration.
Our God is a God who cares about the sufferings of human beings, whom God created. God says: “I have observed the misery of my people....; I have heard their cry....I have come down to deliver them.” -In this part we learn that God cares about justice, and about protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves.
And the third part is The Challenge.
God says to Moses: “So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” Now, Pharaoh was the most powerful ruler in the world at that time. The work which the Israelites did was a vital part of Egypt’s economy. To let them go would threaten the daily life of every citizen of that country. There was no way that Pharaoh would let this happen. Of course, Moses knew that Pharaoh’s anger would be directed at him, and so he was afraid.
No one had been a witness to the sign of the burning bush--Moses had seen it all by himself; at the time he saw the burning bush, Moses was commissioned by God--the faithful God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--I AM WHO I AM--to lead God’s people out of bondage in Egypt.
The key to Moses’ acceptance of his commission is that God tells him that he will not be alone, and that Moses does not need to fear Pharaoh. Moses simply could not say no!
How often do you and I face difficult situations with fear and trembling?
When we do that, we have left God out of the picture. If we do, we will be left with only our fear and panic, and miss what God has for us. God has promised to be with us--just as God promised to be with Moses--and God will not take that promise back. You and I need to rely on God’s power and presence when we face difficult situations.
We can confess our fear and our weakness to God; and God will hear our prayer,
and send us grace to help us.
Moses went through a very difficult and frightening situation, but, by his obedience, God was able to use Moses to release the people to enter into their own land.
We, too, can be used by God to do God’s will. Very often, however, this means we need to be both brave and faithful. And most of us don’t feel that way most of the time, do we?
In a little while, at this morning’s service, we have the laying-on-of-hands for healing. Perhaps this is the opportunity for each of us to ask God to heal us of our fears so that God’s will can be done in us.
I have a favourite hymn in the new Anglican hymn book Common Praise which was written by John L. Bell and is titled “We Cannot Measure How You Heal”
which I want to read to you now, as we prepare to confess our sins of God, and to receive the laying-on-of-hands and the Holy Communion:
We cannot measure how you heal
or answer every sufferer’s prayer,
yet we believe your grace responds
where faith and doubt unite to care.
Your hands, though bloodied on the cross,
survive to hold and heal and warn,
to carry all through death to life
and cradle children yet unborn.
The pain that will not go away,
the guilt that clings from things long past,
the fear of what the future holds,
are present as if meant to last.
But present too is love which tends
the hurt we never hope to find,
the private agonies inside,
the memories that haunt the mind.
So some have come who need your help
and some have come to make amends,
as hands which shaped and saved the world
are present in the touch of friends.
Lord, let your Spirit meet us here
to mend the body, mind and soul,
to disentangle peace from pain
and make your broken people whole.
Amen.
(The Reverend Mary Lewis+ is Associate Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
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This morning's story of Moses in the bulrushes is given to highlight God's protection of Israel and God's ability to defeat the whims of Pharaoh, who, in Egypt, was considered a god.
Our heroes from the story are:
1 & 2) Shiff-rath and Poo-a (midwives),
3) Yokh-a-bed (Moses mother-- her name appears later in Exodus and in Numbers) and
4) Mir-i-am (Moses's sister)
5) and Pharaoh's daughter--
five very courageous women in their time.
Shiff-rath and Poo-a are two midwives, who risk their own lives to save those of the Hebrew children in Pharaoh's slave camps. Yokh-a-bed, the wife of a Levite,
took action to save her child, - by carefully lining a reed basket with pitch and tar,
and placing it amongst the reeds by the bank of the river Nile.
Yokh-a-bed's daughter, Mir-i-am, stood some distance away and watched to see what would happen to her baby brother in the water; and then took action when she saw that Pharaoh's daughter, who noticed the basket among the reeds, and sent her slave girl to investigate. When she opened it, and found a crying baby inside, and Pharaoh's daughter took pity on him.
Miriam spoke up and said: “Shall I go and fetch you one of the Hebrew women
to act as a wet-nurse for the child?”
The result, as we heard, was the Moses's own mother was able to take care of her own child, and be paid for looking after him, too, in Pharaoh's rich household!
***
How does this story apply to our lives?
Well, in each of our lives we all must face times to "let go and let God".
This can mean different things for different people who are facing different situations in their lives: life-transitions; illness; confronting loved ones; death.
We often hear that we just need to trust God; but there is an element of working with God, as well.
God's grace comes first, i.e. filling our hearts with
1) the right direction to take
2) the right thing to say
3) the right attitude to adopt
like God did with the midwives.
But there is always the part that requires something of us.
We could blindly let go and trust that God will just do it for us; but that requires no personal transformation.
We still have the element of responsibility to work with God to ensure that good will come out of the situation.
Let us return to our story for a moment.
Moses's mother--Yokh-a-bed--took the time to line the basket so that it would float; and, in this way, she increased the hope for a positive outcome.
The responsibility we have when we pray is to be willing to help God with the answer to that prayer.
God doesn't want us to just sit back and pray. Our faith has to be active. We have to move.
Pharaoh's daughter--the daughter of the man who oppressed the Hebrews--saved the man (Moses) who would eventually free them.
Our God, the same God who worked with the 5 courageous women in today's story, is still alive and at work in any heart which is open.
***
This summer I re-read a very helpful book titled "When Bad Things Happen To Good People" by Harold Kushner. The book was written back in 1981, but it is one which has helped me a lot over the years. From it, I want to share with you the following prayer by Jack Riemer which fits well with what I want to leave you with today:
We cannot merely pray to you, O God, to end war;
for we know that you have made the world in a way
that people must find their own path to peace
within themselves and with their neighbours.
We cannot merely pray to you , O God, to end starvation;
for you have already given us the resources
with which to feed the entire world
if we would only use them wisely.
We cannot merely pray to you, O God,
to root out prejudice,
for you have already given us eyes
with which to see the good in all people
if we would only use them rightly.
We cannot merely pray to you, O God, to end despair,
for you have already given us the power
to clear away slums and to give hope
if we would only use our power justly.
We cannot merely pray to you, O God, to end disease,
for you have already given us great minds with which
to search out cures and healing.
If we would only use them constructively.
Therefore we pray to you instead, O God,
for strength, determination, and willpower,
to do instead of just to pray,
to become instead of merely to wish.
(The Reverend Mary Lewis+ is Associate Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
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I was heading to a wedding rehearsal when I heard about the crash of Air France flight 358 at Toronto Pearson Airport.
Two days later a newspaper headline would call the event - THE MIRACLE RESCUE. The word - MIRACLE - would be used frequently to describe what happened.
I kept asking myself, ‘was this really a miracle?.
Whenever I am confronted with such questions, my mind will not be at peace until I do some research.
First, I consulted my favourite dictionary. Two definitions leaped out.
From the Oxford dictionary, my research lead me to some great thinkers of history. Here is a sample.
In the 4 th century, St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, wrote in his book CITY OF GOD, ‘why, they ask, do not those miracles, which you preach of as past events, happen nowadays?
Bernard Berenson, an American authority on art, would answer Augustine’s question in the 20 th century, when he wrote in the New York Times, ‘Miracles happen to those who believe’.
Now, some thinkers look at miracles from a humorous perspective. Thomas Paine, the 18 th century American writer, who fought for the abolition of slavery, wrote in his publication - THE AGE OF REASON - ‘the story of the whale swallowing Jonah, though a whale is large enough to do it, borders greatly on the MARVELLOUS; but it would have approached nearer to the idea of a MIRACLE if JONAH HAD SWALLOWED THE WHALE.
The great theologian Thomas Aquinas brought the ‘miracle issue’ together in the 13 th century when he wrote ‘ those things are properly called miracles which are done by divine agency beyond the order commonly observed in nature’.
For example - If you miss a plane and the plane crashes, that is not a miracle … unless God intervened in the natural course of events causing you to miss the flight. A miracle is a supernaturally (divinely) caused event - an event (ordinarily) different from what would have occurred in the normal ("natural") course of events.
After checking the definition in my dictionary, and consulting with ‘thinkers in history’, I turned to the Bible.
The Bible records over 80 miracles. Nearly 40 attributed to Jesus; others to people like Moses and Isaiah in the Old Testament, and others to Peter, Paul and the apostles in the New Testament.
For our readings today, I selected three - Moses producing water from a rock in the Sinai desert; Peter curing a lame man near the Temple in Jerusalem, and Jesus feeding 4000 people who had come to hear him preach.
Each of these fulfills the dictionary definition of a miracle - that is - each is ‘a remarkable occurrence’ - tapping a rocky mountain and having water flow out in a desert, and, each is ‘an extraordinary event attributed to some supernatural agency’ (GOD) - Peter said to the lame man ‘in the name of Jesus Christ, stand up and walk’.
Miracles happened because they believed, but also they saw miracles in what was happening in their daily lives. Miracles happen today, but we often call them coincidences, or flukes, or ‘happy accident’.
With this in mind, I posed myself this question, ‘What is an modern day example of each of the miracles we heard about in our readings today?.
Moses struck the rock and water flowed. Modern technology allows workers to scan the dry desert surface to find places where wells can be dug to provide water for people to live and crops to grow.
Peter prays to Jesus and the lame man get up and walks. Through prayer and modern medicine, people’s lives are restored and extended. There are examples of these sitting in this Church today.
Jesus uses 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish to feed 4000 people. Last year, following the example of Jesus, we combined our money to provide over 6,300 meals to people in need in Toronto. Through the money we give to the PWRDF through FAITHWORKS, this week our National Church was able to send another emergency grant to Niger to help provide food for the people in that country where crops are devastated by drought and swarms of locusts. So far, the Anglican Church of Canada has sent $20,000.00. This amount is substantial when combined with donations from other Churches and charities around the world.
Well, that is my journey with miracles this week. I know for me it is not the end, but more like a continuation. I encourage you to look around within your life, and within events around society and the world to identify and celebrate the miracles happening around and for each of us.
MIRACLES HAPPEN .. WE JUST NEED TO SEE THEM .
(The Reverend Hollis Hiscock is Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
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In our worship today, this sermon is sandwiched between 2 hymns, which tell us about Jesus.
The hymn before the sermon was - FAIREST LORD JESUS. Last week, on a farm in northern Ontario, we stood outside and watched, unencumbered by artificial lighting, the ‘twinkling starry host’ of the night sky. The next day we experienced the extreme heat generated by the scorching midday sun, and the following night we were enthralled by the soothing brightness of the full moon. I felt like that 17 th century hymn writer, who pointed to the meadows, the woodlands, the sunshine and the moonlight, and concluded that God’s creation is fair and fairer.
The writer lets us soak in that image, and when we have captured that photograph in our minds, knowing that we have reached the limits of our imagination, he takes us one step further. He says that Jesus Christ is greater than meadows, woodlands, moon and sun, because Jesus is the one who makes ‘the troubled heart to sing’ because God is present with and in our everyday lives.
The Gospel for today (Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52) if the filling for our sermon sandwich.
Jesus is attempting to describe the ‘kingdom of heaven’ to his disciples. They seem to be slow catching on. Jesus uses 5 short comparisons to teach the concept.
He uses the word LIKE. That word is overworked today in our society. Listen to almost any conversation and LIKE appears, and appears and appears again as children, teenagers and adults attempt to explain something. They say, ‘well, you know, it’s like ……..’.
I think Jesus is trying to explain ‘the kingdom of heaven’ or ‘the kingdom of God’ or the new community which eventually became the Christian Church by comparing it to common everyday things. From there, we catch a vision of who and what we are to be. We are LIKE ….
The MUSTARD SEED grows into the greatest of trees so that birds can feel safe in its branches. The Christian community has to be a safe place for people to be. Our screening program helps in achieving that safe environment for all, especially children and vulnerable adults.
The YEAST permeates and turns the flour into bread, but it must be mixed together to have that effect. Christians must mix with and permeate society to turn it into God’s community, based on the 2 great commandments.
‘The Kingdom of heaven’ is like a HIDDEN TREASURE or FINE PEARLS, which once discovered is more valuable than all the possessions owned by the individual. In fact, the finder is willing to sell everything in order to have that HIDDEN TREASURE or FINE PEARLS. The same, says Jesus, is true of God’s kingdom. Once we find it, we are willing to give up all that we have to possess it. The same message is captured in verse 4 of - FAIREST LORD JESUS –
‘All fairest beauty
heavenly and earthly,
wondrously, Jesus, is found in thee;
none can be nearer, fairer or dearer,
than thou, my Saviour, art in me.’
‘God’s kingdom’ is like a NET, which when thrown into the sea, catches fish of every kind. Then the fisher separates the catch - keeping the good and throwing out the bad. The Church community contains the good and the bad, said Jesus. They coexist. At the end of the age, God judges. Judging people is not our role. Leave that job to God’
Finally, the Kingdom of God is like a sermon, which, once you have heard, you want to do more.
Here are several suggestions:
I began by saying that this is a sandwich sermon. FAIREST LORD JESUS is the bottom slice;
The ‘GOSPEL’ is the filling for the sandwich;
And now the top - our next hymn - FROM THE SLAVE PENS OF THE DELTA - 170.
At the end of today’s gospel, Jesus said basically, NOW THAT YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD’S KINGDOM IS LIKE, YOU ARE LIKE ‘THE MASTER OF A HOUSEHOLD WHO BRINGS OUT OF HIS TREASURE WHAT IS NEW AND WHAT IS OLD’.
This 20 th century hymn, written by our friend Herbert O’Driscoll, brings together the message of the old and the new of our faith in God. Let us sing.
(The Reverend Hollis Hiscock is Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
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THE FEEDING OF THE 4,000 by the Reverend Mary Lewis, Associate Rector
8th Sunday after Pentecost at our 10:00 a.m. Service 2005
The Feeding of the 4,000 is the second of two feeding stories we find in the Gospel of Mark.
A large crowd had gathered around Jesus (they had followed him out into the wilderness), and there they were, with nothing to eat. Jesus had compassion on them, and said to the disciples, “They have been with me three days, and they don¹t have food. They live -a long way away. If I send them away hungry, they might faint on the way home.”
The disciples said to Jesus: “It is like a desert here. Where can we find enough food to feed the crowd?” In this way, they outlined the problem which they were facing to Jesus. Jesus asked: “How much food so you have?” And the disciples answered: “Seven small loaves of bread.”
Jesus told the crowd to sit down. Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to the disciples, who passed it around. The actions of taking, blessing, breaking and giving prefigure the Last Supper; and we will hear them again within the Prayer of Consecration in our service of Holy Communion today when, on Page 82 in the Book of Common Prayer, it says: “who, in the same night that he [Jesus] was betrayed, took Bread; and, when he had given thanks, he brake it; and gave it to his discples...”
The people who had gathered in the desert ate all they wanted, and they were satisfied, because a miracle had happened; from the seven loaves which were offered, there was enough for everyone, and there were seven large baskets left over. The supply of food for the crowd had been more than they needed; Jesus had provided for them abundantly.
What does this miracle have to say to us today?
One of the features of the story that-came to me last night was that at least someone, or perhaps several of the people in that crowd, had had to give up loaves ( a total of seven) which they had brought along with them. They had had enough faith in Jesus to trust him with the only food they had, so that this wonderful miracle could take place.
This week, at the G-8 Summit at Gleneagles, Scotland, the eight member nations made a decision to give $25 billion to African countries to begin to help them to “make poverty history”. These G-8 countries (and Canada is one of them) are now prepared to turn from the cynicism which would say “what difference will this make, anyway?” towards an attempt to bring nourishment to a continent of very needy people.
I celebrate this act of international compassion and justice today, because it gives each one of us an example of how we can act with generosity and courage to help those in need in our own city and country.
And so I invite you to pray with me at this service of Holy Communion that God will touch each of our hearts to offer the few loaves which we can give to others so that God may work to transform what we have given into relief of hunger, and may miraculously turn our contributions into “more than we can ask or imagine.”-Amen.
(The Reverend Mary Lewis+ is Associate Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
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Today is the first Sunday morning flower service ever held in this parish. I hope it becomes a tradition.
For the past number of years, we conducted a flower service in the Churchyard on a Wednesday evening in June. It became obvious last year that we needed to make a change. So this year, we decided to conduct our flower service during our regular Sunday morning worship.
In preparation for today, we invited people to bring flowers or plants to Church to be placed in the Churchyard following the service. I noticed that some people, who could not be here this morning, have already placed their flowers at the graveside of their loved one.
WHY A FLOWER SERVICE?
There are many reasons, but I want to mention three.
Firstly, to remember.
Secondly, to help those who are grieving.
Thirdly, to show how we care for our sacred burial place.
In the summer of 1963, as a candidate for ordination in our Church, I was sent to a small community in northern Newfoundland. The Churchwarden said to me, ‘we have a problem’. I braced myself for the worst. He explained that the old cemetery, only a few metres from their beloved Church building, was an eyesore because of people’s neglect.’
I suggested that we conduct a flower service. We would schedule it for a Sunday morning and ask people to clean up the old cemetery and plant flowers. Three Sundays later, we stood in the transformed cemetery and remembered those who were buried in their sacred place.
I recalled that incident last Thursday evening, when, for the first time, I attended the Aids Vigil in Cawthra Park in downtown Toronto. There is a memorial wall in the park, a sacred place, listing the names of those who have died from aids. There are over 2600 names written there. On Thursday night, another 25 names were attended. We were invited to light a candle to remember those who died, and as a symbol of hope. People were encouraged to ‘speak aloud’ the names of friends and relatives who had died from aids. To sit in the candlelight darkness and to hear these names being called out was a truly a heart wrenching and emotional experience.
During the moment of silence, I watched my candle flickering, As I tried to prevent the wind from extinguishing the flame, I thought about the epistle, which was read this morning at the 8 AM service. Peter wrote to the Christians in the first century, and through the Bible to us today, ‘ have compassion for one another, be merciful’.
June Callwood, noted Canadian author and activist, spoke at the vigil. She said the annual vigil is a time to remember those who have died from aids. She said, ‘ if we forget those who have died, then we too are dead.’ She said that she cannot fully understand life, but she knows we have to support and help each other.
This morning’s flower service is being held for us to remember those who have died, and to help and support each other in dealing with our grief and loss. This is an essential part of our Christian community.
WHY FLOWERS?
Flowers have always been a powerful symbol for people. They remind us of where we came from, where we are, and where we are going.
The POINSETTIA symbolizes the birth and death of Jesus. The star of the leaf represents the star that stood over the manger of the Christ Child. Its red flower symbolizes the blood shed by Christ on the cross on Good Friday for us..
The LILY is the flower of Easter, because it symbolizes our new life through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I selected the SEDUM plant to bring to the flower service.
It reminds me of where I came from - part of the creation of God.
It reminds me of where I am – here today - living my life as part of God’s community. Later in the fall, a bright SEDUM flower will appear - a reminder to me to always be hopeful.
As the winter appears the SEDUM will die, but it is not the end. The SEDUM plant is a perennial. Every year it will be resurrected and bloom again.
It reminds me that live, experienced in different forms, never end. Life on this earth is transformed into eternal life.
That is the reason for the flowers.
WHY THIS SERVICE?
The HEALING SERVICE is an opportunity for us to be blessed by God and anointed with soothing oil to help us grow and be restored to wholeness of body, mind and spirit.
The HOLY COMMUNION connects us to the community of eternal life, where the souls of our loved ones are with Jesus in that sacred place he prepared for them.
The message of the Flower Service can be brought together in the prayer for the ‘communion of saints’ in the Book of Common Prayer page 56 - let us pray together.
FLOWER SERVICE.
I append this to my sermon for the use of other parishes or for individual to use as they visit the graves of loved one.
Following the singing of the hymn ‘praise my soul the King of Heaven’, we processed to the Churchyard as the Church bell tolled.
People were asked to proceed to the area where their loved ones were interred. When the bell stopped ringing, we all prayed together.
All: Father of all, we pray to you for those we love but see no longer. Grant them your peace; let light perpetual shine upon them; and in your loving wisdom and almighty power, work in them the good purpose of your perfect will, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Then the priest blessed the congregation.
Blessing: The God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight; And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be with you now and forever. Amen.
People were asked to return for refreshments.
(The Reverend Hollis Hiscock is Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
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CONFLICT & GUIDANCE of the HOLY SPIRIT by the Reverend Mary Lewis, Associate Rector
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost at our 10:00 a.m. Service 2005
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said:
"I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother...
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me" (10:34-37).
Isn't it just like Life that the passage from the Gospel of Matthew which I am to work with on this Father's Day is so challenging?! It points directly at the truth that, when we choose to follow Jesus, our decision can have a divisive impact on our closest associations.
I certainly have experienced this first hand in my own life, particularly since I said "yes" to ordained ministry in the Church nine years ago. Some of my family members have been wonderfully supportive;
others think I am a fool. Some of my friends, who have known me for many years, can¹t understand why I have made this commitment; others can see that it as a good thing.
And I remember one of my divinity colleagues at Trinity telling me that her husband, to whom she had been married for more than 20 years, feared that her love for him would be diminished as her love for Jesus began to grow.
These are real issues that can arise in the lives of all those who take up their cross and follow Christ.
However, if we look closely at the passage, we can see that the divisive power of the gospel can be
the starting point for healthier and more enduring family relationships. Here's what I mean...
If you and I see someone we love acting destructively, and if we confront them about their behaviour,
the reaction we get from that person may be hostile and angry. That's why we often decide not to speak
even though their behaviour is contrary to everything Christ teaches us, isn't it? We remain silent because we want to keep the peace; or because somebody else advises us to "just let it be".
But the peace our silence buys is not a genuine peace. It's more like a volcano! The landscape looks the same as before, but there are rumblings underneath, and we are frightened for the day when all of these things come to a head and our shaky world cracks up.
Jesus calls you and me to a responsible relationship with one another. Jesus refuses to offer us a cheap peace that corrodes affection and genuine care for one another. Jesus teaches us it's not true that we must keep quiet to keep the family together.
Of course there are mistakes and failures and personality quirks that we will overlook in one another;
that¹s part of living a life of grace. But, as people of faith in Jesus, we are to hold each other accountable
when our behaviour is contrary to the purposes of God. Think of the number of families, offices, social organizations, political parties, neighbourhoods, and churches that are in a state of constant covert tension because no one dares to risk the peace of the status quo even though that peace is depleting people's energies and corroding everyone's commitment.
>
Everybody tiptoes around the problem that no one will mention: the drug dependency, the abuse, the cheating, the injustice, the self-promotion at the expense of the community.
And so, let's look at the Gospel principle that guides a Christ-like confrontation.
You and I are not to make our judgment with arrogance or self-righteousness. We are to make it understanding the pain of judgment, the pain of taking up the cross. We do it because we are willing to lose our lives for the sake of Christ.
If you and I embody these spiritual principles, then the word that divides parent and child, in-law and in-law, can clear the way for the family values that matter most: integrity, justice, mutual respect, and
a love that has the courage to face the truth about how each one of us lives.
You and I know that sometimes we need to avoid conflict; sometimes we need to create it; and sometimes we need to resolve it. That's why we must pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit
each and every day.
Amen.
(The Reverend Mary Lewis+ is Associate Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
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OLD MAN IN THE MOUNTAIN – shows how God’s creation is an ever changing creation, and nature produces the most unusual artistic delights to inspire and teach us.
DUCK – baby duck in the midst of a huge body of water. It reminds us that some times we feel lonely in this world. Yet we are never alone because God is always with us – never far from our side.
BEE – As the bee flies from flower to flower to pollinate, it reminds us that God provides us with all that we need for life and growth in all parts of our being.
BEES ON THE HEADSTONE – the bees, driven from their home by some intruder, swarmed the skies following the queen bee, until she landed on a headstone in the Churchyard. Then all the bees gathered around her. In the same way we gather around God to worship, work and be with our God.
PLANT – a plant grow up through asphalt to show that there is always hope, and that, with God’s presence, we can thrive in the most unusual places.
SHIP – a small sailboat head out to sea, lost in the vastness of the ocean. The ship is not alone, it is tied to pilot boat. God is our pilot. The hymn writer proclaims ‘Jesus Saviour pilot me, over life’s tempestuous sea’. God guides us always.
RAINBOW – it is a sign of God’s promise that the earth would never again be destroyed after the flood (story of Noah). Every time we see a rainbow, we should remember God’s promise… and god always keeps promises.
Following the presentation, the Youth Choir sang …
“Keep me shining, Lord,
Keep me shining, Lord
In all I say and do;
That the world may see
Christ lives in me,
And learn to love Him too”
(The Reverend Hollis Hiscock is Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
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LAZARUS and the RICH MAN by the Reverend Mary Lewis,
Second Sunday after Pentecost at our 8:00 a.m. Book of Common Prayer service 2005
The Gospel: Luke 16:19-31--Lazarus and the Rich Man
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
This story of Lazarus and the rich man is read every year on the First Sunday after Trinity, and so I am sure you are very familiar with it. But I want to draw your attention to a few details of the story which may open it up a bit for you today.
In this parable, Jesus gives a name [Lazarus] to one of the characters; this is the only time that Jesus did this. Biblical scholars do not think that the Lazarus here is the same man who Jesus raised from the dead at Bethany.
At the beginning of the story, we are faced with a sharp contrast--rich man, poor man.
The signs of the rich man's lavish wealth--his well-stocked wardrobe and his sumptuous diet.
Lazarus, on the other hand, is depicted in gross terms. He lies outside the gate, and would have liked to have eaten the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. You see, bread was used to wipe grease from one's hands during a meal, and then was thrown under the table. The dogs, which presumably ate these scraps of bread, then licked his sores. This lets us know that Lazarus is not only poor, but also diseased and unclean; and so, he is an outcast from society.
Did you notice from the story that the rich man never sees Lazarus?
One of the prime dangers of being well off is that it causes "blindness". The rich man knew of Lazarus' miserable situation, but never did anything about it. He just couldn't relate to what the beggar at his gate was going through; and so he was not compassionate toward him and did not try to ease his suffering.
As you know, when we are well off, our perspective can be limited. We can shut out those things which are distasteful to us so that the good times we are having don't get spoiled.
In the story, Lazarus dies of starvation and disease. We know that he is prized in the sight of God because he is carried by angels to Abraham's bosom--the place of highest bliss--while the rich man dies and is buried, and ends up tormented in Hades.
After the rich man seeks relief and is denied it, he asked Abraham to send Lazarus back to warn his five brothers, in case they may meet a similar fate. This request is turned down on the ground that they already have Moses and the prophets. For the brothers, repentance and a complete reversal of their way of life and their regard for the poor at their gate is required.
Perhaps it's hard for us to identify with either the rich man or Lazarus, but I think that we can most easily relate to the five brothers.
You and I still have an opportunity to learn from the Scriptures and to see the disadvantaged, homeless and isolated in our world teeming with riches.
We all know Lazarus. He or she is our neighbour. Some of us may be rich, well dressed and well fed, and walk passed without even noticing; others of us may not be so rich, nor so finely clothed and fed, but compared with the Lazaruses is our midst, we're well off. Lazarus would be glad to change places with us, and we would be horrified to switch, even for a day.
And so, if you were Lazarus and could warn your family, what would you tell
them?
1) Don't be so focused on the world; focus on God.
2) Repent and believe. There really is life after death.
3) Be sure to share what you have with those around you.
So, what are the lessons in this story for us today?
There is life after death. How we live has eternal consequences. We need to listen to God. We need to share with others. Our priorities need re-evaluation. We must live with eternity in mind, not just for today.
We live in a wealthy nation and surround ourselves with all kinds of stuff. Let's not neglect the basic eternal spiritual issues while pursuing our careers, money, and more material possessions.
Think about what you have done to help those in need since you heard this story read last year; and now consider what you will do in the year ahead to help those in need once you have seen them.
Amen.
(The Reverend Mary Lewis+ is Associate Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
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At University, our instructor warned us that the most difficult day to preach would be TRINITY SUNDAY.
Olivia issued a similar warning when she commented that ‘The triune nature of God has proven to be one of the most difficult tenets of the Christian faith’.
Simply stated – TRINITY means ONE God expressed in THREE ways (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).
If we could leave it there, it would be relatively simple. But people demanded more in-depth explanations, and that is where it become very complex and confusing.
The limitations of the English language is partially at fault since one word can have several meanings.
For example - last week while driving south on Yonge Street, I saw a sign in a restaurant window. It advertised ‘FREE POOL WITH LUNCH’. My first reaction - a POOL would be great in our back garden for the summer, and to get it FREE would be a wonderful gift for the parish. All for the price of a LUNCH. Not a bad deal. Of course, the restaurant owner’s definition of the word POOL was totally different from my interpretation.
The same thing happened to the Queen. Before her arrival at a plant, famous for its cookies, candies and other dietary goodies, the workers were given strict instructions to speak only in response to her Majesty’s questions. She approached a man who was mixing together white and dark chocolate. Curious, she asked the worker, ‘What do you make?’. He replied, ‘Six dollars per hour’. Here again, the word MAKE had an entirely different meaning for the Queen and the candy worker.
Now to go back to the TRINITY.
The early Christians knew there was only ONE God, so following Jesus’ example, they called God FATHER. They knew that God created all things, including people. The Genesis reading today gives one story (Genesis 1:1-2:4a).
They also knew that JESUS CHRIST was GOD, and that Jesus lived, taught the Gospel, died, rose from the dead, was reunited with the Godhead and promised to send another PERSON or expression of GOD. (Partly explained in the second reading today - 2 Corinthians 13:11-13).
The early Christians also knew that the HOLY SPIRIT was God. Last Sunday, Pentecost, we relived the day when God the HOLY SPIRIT came as a powerful wind and fire, and totally transformed them, and gave them a mission to do. It is outlined in today’s Gospel (Matthew 28:16-20).
If this sounds confusing to you, you are probably feeling the same frustrations as the early Christians. Maybe that is why they were content to have a very simple creed, namely, ‘JESUS IS LORD’.
But by the 4 th century, the Christians were trying to explain the TRINITY in human terms, and they produced a myriad of creeds. The Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed were adopted then by the Church, and we still use them today.
Another was the Creed of St. Athanasius. It tried to explain the TRINITY - One God and three Persons.
Here is an example - Now the Catholic Faith is that we worship One God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is One …. So the Father is God, the Son God, and the Holy Spirit God; and yet not three Gods but one God. So the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord; and yet not three Lords but one Lord …. In this Trinity the whole three Persons are coeternal together and coequal. So that in all things, the Trinity in Unity and the Unity in Trinity is to be worshipped.
(You can read the rest in the Book of Common Prayer on page 695 or on the Internet.)
By this time, the TRINITY is probably as clear to you as the waters of Lake Ontario. So I want to take you back to Olivia’s summary.
She wrote that even though the TRINITY is difficult to understand, we are still blessed, especially ‘in contemplating all the wonders of nature to know God as Creator; in contemplating the life, death and resurrection of Jesus to know God as Redeemer; and in contemplating our experience of God’s indwelling presence to know God as Holy Spirit’, and to know that God is with us at all times, in every situation and under all circumstances forever.
I want to end with this story. Carol, the Chair of our Stewardship Committee, brought this story back from a Stewardship conference she attended this month. The speaker said that Stewardship is like the Trinity. Each individual is ONE person, and each person has been given the gifts of TIME, TALENT, TREASURE from God. So each of us is 3 in 1. One PERSON and three aspects of Christian Stewardship – TIME, TALENT, TREASURE . And God expects each one of us to put to use our TIME, TALENT and TREASURE for God and God’s work in this world.
That is the TRINITY in ACTION.(The Reverend Hollis Hiscock is Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
E-mail me with your comments.
(The Reverend Mary Lewis+ is Associate Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
E-mail me with your comments.
This
Sunday includes three commemorations. I call today – VE day
or VM day or VA day.
VE day = victory in Europe, remembering the end of the Second World War
on this day 60 years ago.
VM day = victory for mothers on Mother’s Day.
VA day = victory for Jesus as He ascended into heaven.
In this sermon I want to bring all three together through the eyes of ‘mothers’.
The first --VE day = victory in Europe, remembering the end of the Second World War.
In 1939, as a mother stood on the dock in a small seaport on the south coast of Newfoundland, another mother stood on a quiet cul-de-sac in the city of Vancouver. Both wipe away their tears as they watched their teenagers being transported away from the save confines of their home communities to fight for peace and freedom in a far distant country. That scene would be repeated in over a million Canadian homes during the second world war.
Six years later, while most mothers would run to their sons and daughters to embrace them and welcome them back safely from war, approximately 45,000 mothers would wear black as they mourned for their children who died in conflict.
Geoffrey Studdert-Kennedy was a chaplain in the first world war. He wrote poetry to express his thoughts and the feeling of others.
His line in a poem, titled WASTE would express the thoughts of the 45,000 mothers whose sons and daughters never returned. After writing that war was a waste of brain, health, beauty and wealth, he concluded that WAR WAS A WASTE OF ‘YOUTH’S MOST PRECIOUS YEARS’.
For the million mothers who waited to embrace their sons and daughters returning safely from war. Kennedy wrote the MARCHING SONG as the soldiers were returning home.
‘I can hear the steady tramping of a thousand thousand feet, Making music in the city and the crowded village street, I can see a million mothers with their hands outstretched to greet, For the army’s marching home.’
The second is VM day = victory for mothers around the world.
Mother’s day reaches back into history when 300 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the Greeks celebrated spring time festivals honouring mothers.
Mothering Sunday, the 4th Sunday in Lent, began in the English Church in the 17th century. Families were excused from their Lenten fasting, so they came together to party with a big meal and to honour their mothers. Traditionally mothers were given flowers and cake.
Mother’s Day, as we know it, was established in the early 20th century. Ann Jarvis campaigned to set aside a day to commemorate the death of her mother in 1905. Commercialism soon took over, and in 1923, Ann Jarvis was arrested for campaigning against the commercialization of Mother’s Day, the day she founded..
An interesting side note states that Ann Jarvis had no children of her own, but every year she would receive hundreds of cards from all over the world. She exemplified ‘mother like’ attributes in her daily living.
In 1992, I said in my Mother’s Day sermon - ‘a mother is one who cares for, protects, acts kindly towards and recognizes herself as demonstrating mother like qualities towards other people’.
That is the why we offer flowers to all females today.
The third is VA day = victory for Jesus as He ascended into heaven.
The scene is serene and simple. Jesus and his followers are standing on the hillside near Bethany. He walks around to each person, speaks to them and before ‘ascending into heaven’ He blesses them.
He spends a longer time with one of his followers - Mary His mother. She is there, probably crying and not wanting to say good-bye. I would like to think that He tells her that He is going to prepare a special place for her in heaven, and that Ascension is changing the words, which He spoke on the cross, from ‘it is finished’ to ‘it is completed’.
After that Mary was prepared to let Jesus go to ‘His God and our God’. God’s will and Jesus’ work were done.
I want to end by saying together hymn 494 v3. As we say it, think of all the other ‘mother like’ females (including yourself and the Church of Jesus Christ), and how the words reflect and echo in your own life.
(The Reverend Hollis Hiscock is Rector of St. John’s York Mills Parish, Toronto, Canada.)
E-mail me with your comments.
The Chapel at St. John’s York Mills is a memorial chapel, dedicated to those who served and died in many wars. A number of those will be remembered next Sunday when we celebrate VE day. May 8th, 2005 will be the 60th anniversary of the allies victory in Europe during the second world war.
The Chapel at St. John’s York Mills is the GUARDS chapel outside England. Every year the GUARDS gather here on the first Sunday in May to remember ‘Black Sunday’ - the day when their chapel in England was bombed during the second world war.
The Chapel at St. John’s York Mills is a Chapel of Peace. The message of PEACE is needle pointed in 37 languages. In front of the altar is a design showing the doves of peace from around the universe all flying towards the central dove - symbolizing Jesus as the prince of peace.
The Chapel at St. John’s York Mills has 11 stain glassed windows. Eight are dedicated to soldiers, who bring messages for the human race to follow.
I want to describe three of the stain glassed windows.
ONE WINDOW TELLS THE STORY OF MARTIN OF TOURS also called MARTIN THE MERCIFUL.
Martin, a Christian in the 4th century, joined the Roman army at 15 years of age. Similar to the Guards units here today, Martin’s job was to guard the Roman emperor. One winter’s day, while riding towards town, he saw near the gate, a thinly clad man, shivering from the cold and begging for money.
Martin had no extra clothing but he remembered what Jesus had said, ‘whoever has 2 coats must share with the person who has none’. He took his woollen cloak and cut it into 2 pieces and gave it to the beggar, and wrapped himself in the other half.
The next night, Martin had a dream. He saw Jesus wrapped in his clothing, and Martin remembered that Jesus said, ‘whenever you show kindness to someone in need, you show kindness to God.’
For us, as individuals and as a Church, caring for those less fortunate than ourselves is part of our Christian responsibility.
ANOTHER WINDOW TELLS THE STORY OF ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON.
George too was a Christian. Born in the latter part of the 3rd century, he joined the Roman army at 17 years of age and became renowned for his bravery.
A dragon was terrorizing a certain town, and a young princess was being offered to the dragon. When George heard about this he rode into town, killed the dragon and rescued the princess. In return, George asked the town’s people to be baptized as Christians, and requested the king to take good care of the God’s Churches and feed the poor.
This story illustrates what Jesus said in today’s Gospel, ‘I will not leave you orphaned, I am coming to you’.
When the events of life terrorize us like ‘dragons’ - whatever they may be - physical, emotional, psychological, mental or spiritual – we need to remember that we are never alone or ‘orphaned’ but that God’s love is stronger than any evil ‘dragon’.
THE 3RD WINDOW DEALS WITH THE HOLY GRAIL.
The best selling novel, ‘The Da Vinci Code’ by Dan Brown takes the reader on a gripping search for the Holy Grail. We could have save him a great deal of time and effort, and referred him to our chapel.
There, in a stain glassed window, stands the mighty figure of a crusading knight. Above his head is the Holy Grail. The Grail was the cup out of which Jesus drank the wine at the last supper. Flowing from the cup is ‘the blood of Christ’ surrounding our young soldier. The cross is etched in the cup as a reminder to us that our God is the God of love, and God’s love for us was so strong that Jesus/God died on a cross, so that we might have life and have it more abundantly.
With that love comes a challenge for us today. Jesus said, in today’s gospel, ‘if you love me, you will keep my commandments’. Simply put, the commandments of Jesus is to love God with all that we have and to love our neighbour as we love ourselves.
You may want to visit the chapel and reflect upon the messages brought to us by the soldiers of the windows.
To bring this sermon to a ‘soldier’s ending’, I invite you to stand and sing the first verse of the hymn - ‘Onward Christian Soldiers - 178.
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(Rev. Hollis Hiscock).
The Gospel (John 14:1-6) today is one of my favourites. Why?. It is filled with words of comfort for all circumstances encountered on our human journey. It is not just restricted to life on this planet. It takes us into that realm which we call, ‘life after death’ or ‘eternal life’.
I read it often at funerals and memorial services. I repeat it even more often to myself as I encounter fearful and stressful situations in my professional or personal life.
I try to visualize the setting where Jesus spoke these words. My imagination tells me it was something like this…
Jesus and His disciples have gathered in a cave on the far side of the Mount of Olives, away from the crowds and the attention of the civil authorities. It is the week before His death on the cross. Jesus tells His followers that He is going to die, but reassures them that He will return to life in 3 days.
My guess is that they heard the first sentence but blocked out the second. Jesus looks into the sad and tear filled eyes of those sitting before Him, observes their reaction to His news and decides that they need to hear some words of comfort, some words of encouragement, some words of hope and some words to gladden the heart.
I titled today’s message as a ‘sermon of comfort’. We live stressful and fearful lives. Our society is overflowing with uncertainties, not just in the wider community, but also within our parish and Church communities. This Gospel provides us with signposts to help us in all situations along the highway of life.
The first signpost reads -- LET NOT YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED. TRUST IN GOD.
Our friend Ruth practiced this in her life. She rephrase the signpost and reduce it to 5 words - ‘the Lord goes with me’. She repeated this often as she encountered family and personal crises. I was not there when she died, but my guess would be that one of her last thoughts on this earth, as she begin to slip from human life to human death to eternal life was - THE LORD GOES WITH ME.
The second signpost reads -- IN GOD’S HOUSE ARE MANY ROOMS, I GO TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU.
We heard about our friend Stephen (Acts of the Apostles 6:1- 7:60 for Stephen’s full story) in the first lesson read earlier.
Stephen, one of the first deacon, preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ so passionately that he was arrested and brought to trial. He upset the Council members to such an extent that they ‘became furious and ground their teeth at him in anger’.
In the midst of that violent blood thirsty crowd, what does Stephen do? He looks up towards heaven and saw God’s glory and Jesus standing at the right hand of God’.
Maybe at that moment Stephen remembered Jesus’ promise - IN GOD’S HOUSE ARE MANY ROOMS, I GO TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU.
He shouted to this maddening crowd - LOOK, I SEE HEAVEN OPENED AND THE SON OF MAN STANDING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD.
As the barrage of deathly stones, hurled by his enemies, hit Stephen over and over, and as he slipped from human life to human death to eternal life, he knew that he would soon be in the room in God’s house which Jesus had prepared for him.
Stephen also knew Jesus’ third promise was a reality.
The third signpost reads -- I WILL COME BACK AND TAKE YOU, TO BE WITH ME, THAT YOU MAY BE WHERE I AM.
When I was about 4 years of age, we lived in a 2 storey house. One evening I fell asleep on the downstairs sofa. When I woke the next morning, I was upstairs in my own bed, fully dressed. When I asked my father what had happened, he said, ‘You fell asleep downstairs so I picked you up and carried you upstairs to your own bed in your own room’.
This may be a totally erroneous image, but it is my understanding of how God fulfills the promise contained in that third signpost. At the moment of our death, God/Jesus picks up our soul and brings it to the special room in God’s house which God has prepared for each believer. My hope is that when each of us slips from human life to human death to eternal life we will feel the everlasting loving arms of Jesus picking up our soul and bringing us to that place where God/Jesus abides for ever.
The Gospel passage today provides signposts for the journey. Here they are once again.
The first signpost reads – LET NOT YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED. TRUST IN GOD.
The second signpost reads -- IN GOD’S HOUSE ARE MANY ROOMS, I GO TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU.
The third signpost reads -- I WILL COME BACK AND TAKE YOU, TO BE WITH ME, THAT YOU MAY BE WHERE I AM.
THE WORD OF THE LORD.
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(Rev. Hollis Hiscock).