Sunday Morning with Shelburne & Primrose United Churches

Peace be with you in this new year, 2021, and in a week where peacefulness has not been much on display in the political chaos south of our borders or throughout the world. But peace we claim, because we can, even in the midst of turmoil, whether our own, or that in the outside world. When we claim peace, when we hold to peace, we offer a ballast for all that is not peaceful, a kind of homecoming place for the spirit of Christ. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of god", which is to say, the cloak of the divine will be placed upon their shoulders. This is my last podcast, the third of a series of three personal reflections as a kind of farewell to all of you. And today, I wanted to reflect on the current state of our churches, of Christianity, and its future, and some of the things I have learned in my years ministering within those constructs. Welcome fellow sojourner, to our Sabbath reflection.

This is the second in a three part series of personal reflections as I prepare to leave my role of spiritual leadership at the pastoral charge - my audio goodbye card. Last week, I wove together some of my favourite scriptures with selected music we have been recording this last year. And today, we are going to look at some of the basic theologies within our faith, again, through my own personal experience with them. Theology is just a fancy word for the study of God. And the word God – theo -  is just a place holder for something grand and astonishing and stunning, a creativity beyond us. And I have always found the best way to study– ology meaning study of - is to have conversations. So, theology is then, a conversation with that which we do not know, but would like to be acquainted with in a more intimate way. And just as being acquainted with a moose or a great oak tree is not really possible, still the drawing close to them offers us an experience, a conversation of sorts. And I think that is the way with theology, we draw close to certain understandings in our tradition, and we have conversations with them, as we experience them in our lives. This is how we learn at a deeper level than the mere collecting of facts.

Welcome to the season of Christmastide, and to this, the first of a final thee part podcast series. I have been thinking what might be interesting to share with you before I leave, and I hope I have come up with something you will find interesting. This first podcast is a collection of my favourite scriptures, ones that are foundational to my own spiritual journey, and will have undergirded all that I have taught you. The second podcast is a reflective look at the key theological matters of import in our faith today. And the final podcast is about what you have taught me personally as a minister, and my thoughts on the future of the church. I hope that you find this collection of scriptures and music offers you some reflective, quiet time, as we say goodbye to one another over the next two weeks. Every blessing for your Christmastide journey.

Christmas Eve in our Christian calendar marks the end of the Advent season, a time of reflection and contemplation, and heralds in the season of Christmastide, twelve days when we celebrate the symbolic birth of Jesus the Christ, around whose way of love, we gather. And we have just passed through the Winter solstice, the longest night in the year where we live, and a very real reminder of the astonishing complexity of this blue orb we are privileged to call home.    So, here is our Sabbath Story, our mystical Lukean telling in scripture and song.  It is the story of a couple who slipped through the heavy net of imperial conquest to offer us a view of God as subversive, hidden, surprising, right here in our midst in a way we could not imagine. It is a story of choosing love in the midst of adversity. And that courageous choice, then, and now, always heralds the singing of angels and a joyfulness that echoes through time.

Last week, we gathered around The Magnificat, Luke’s canticle he ascribed to his heroine Mary. And today, we read the scripture that actually came before this, the scripture that is commonly called The Annunciation. This is the well-known text where the angel Gabriel arrives to talk to Mary about the child she will bear, and call, Jesus. Luke’s telling of this tale is a sweet exchange, offering us a picture of Mary as a contemplative young woman, thoughtful and careful in her responses, with a lively curiosity, and a deep faith. “Nothing is impossible with God,” Gabriel declares. To which Mary responds, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord. Let it be according to your word.” May we all desire such steadiness of gaze and humility, and thus open ourselves up to the astonishing life that lies before us.

Joy is a central theme of the Christmas season. And during Lent, as we anticipate this celebration, we consider where exactly joy comes from, where it resides, why and how we may, or may not, have it. It might help to remember that though at the centre of the story of Jesus’ birth there are singing angels and adoring animals, there are also frightened shepherds, nasty potentates hailing from Herod’s court, slaying soldiers, and fear, anxiety and uncertainty in abundance. But at the heart of the story, is Mary and it is to her we turn this week for instruction on how to claim joyfulness when, according to the facts about you, matters are looking grim. We will discover that joyfulness is not happiness, though it may coincide with that emotion. Joy is something that resides within us to which we can turn. It is both a divine gift and a divine right, and it lives independent of our outer circumstances. May we follow Mary’s lead and let joy rule in our hearts and homes as we reflect on the graces we have been given.

This is the first Sunday of Advent, the four weeks of reflection that proceed the season of Christmastime. And throughout this season of contemplation, we will be looking through the lens of the mystic tradition that sees the sacred in all things, God in all matters. You will have heard it said, that to sing is to pray twice. And as we love to sing in this season, we will let the sacred texts of our seasonal music be our scriptures these next weeks. Yes, I know we love to sing together, and that is not possible in the usual way. But I have posted for you along with this podcast, a lyric sheet. So, you can print it or read it on your technical devices and sing along with Bruce and me. So welcome to the season of Advent, with its beautiful hymns and endless possibilities. As the days grow darker in December, we need some light. And the Advent hymns will provide that for us, drawing us to a place of reflection. In our hymn today, we have clear instruction on how to find hope, peace, joy and love in our season of uncertainty, and right in the middle of our daily life.

Today is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday in the liturgical Christian calendar. This particular designation is relatively new, being instituted originally in 1925 with the hopes of refocusing the church on the kingship of the one upon whom our faith is based. In the year 2020, what is the significance of Christ the King Sunday? What does Christ being a king mean to us today, In the midst of the ever-worsening pandemic, in the midst of on-going political disruptions? The King of Love our Shepherd is, wrote Henry Williams Baker back in 1868. True 2000 years ago, true today. Love. We shall celebrate the spirit of Christ being the spirit of love. We shall celebrate our desire to be people of The Way, the original title given to the early Christians. And the way, was the way of love.  So today, on Christ the King Sunday, we take our leader down from any pedestal we may have placed him on in our doctrinal fisticuffs with other faiths and invite him to our table in a simple celebration of communion. And we sing very personal love songs, because we chose him as our teacher and our model of how to be in this world. The King of love our shepherd is.

Our podcast today gathers together an eclectic group of social activists that have followed Goethe’s imperative: “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” And they have begun where they were, with what they had to work with, boldly, prophetically, using the talents they were given to offer them up as gift to the world. And God and all the universe showed up to guide them and support them on their way. We welcome today, the prophet Isaiah, Jesus with his story of the distribution of the talents, German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Iona Community in Scotland, the Fresh Start Initiative at Kingsway Lambton United Church in Toronto , Lucille Bridges and her daughter Ruby who worked to desegregate American schools, Norman Rockwell who offered his talent to the civil rights movement, Vice President elect of the United States Kamala Harris, and John Lennon and Yoko Ono who brought us the visionary word picture song, Imagine. Each took their talent, small or large, and used it too bring peace and healing into this world. We are called to do the same.