Better a bit late then not at all ...

This entry is about a week late ... it is the bulletin and sermon from last week.

This week has been a bit busy.On Thursday my three children and I went into Winnipeg for the Annual General Meeting of the Conference of Manitoba and North Western Ontario (there will be more about that here and at my other two blogs in the coming days).

I have been without access to computers since noon Thursday (suprisingly there were few withdrawal symptoms), and have been busy doing the tasks expected of us at Conference, looking after my kids at Conference, and being overwhelmed by the support and encouragement of folks at Conference who have been following the journey of Minnedosa and me, since the fire ... So, with a thanks to all of those who are regular visitors I offer my bulletin, and also the advanced warning that in a couple of days this blog will fall silent for about 90 days (or thereabouts).

Starting on Thursday I am on a Sabbatical of sorts from the duties and responsibilities of ministry here in Minnedosa. It is a leave given by the Board to give me the time and the space to rest, recover and most importantly reflect on ministry and the challenges I've encountered here lately ... (I may break my silence in June briefly following the sentencing of the three suspects in our fire - on Thursday they appeared in court, and NOW all three have plead guilty to thier part in the fire. The three will be sentenced in Minnedosa in June and following that hearing I may post an edited version of the victims' impact statement we submitted a few weeks ago ... )

But as of Thursday, this site will fall silent for a time ... but silence is good. In the First Nations Traditions I lived within for a time in Bella Coola, silence was not merely the absence of noise and talk, instead silence was a place where we can be together and simply know that God is there with us ... Wasn't it the prophets who urge us to "be still and know that I AM God ..."??

In silence we find the gift of Shalom and we find the gift of peace ...

Between now and Thursday I will post some of my reflections on the experience of Conference this past weekend in Winnipeg - and today I will offer LAST WEEK's service materials ... So, as Douglas Adams so eloquently penned: "so long and thanks for all the fish ..."

L'chaim

(and now the bulletin:)

GREETINGS / ANNOUNCEMENTS / MINUTE FOR MISSION

HYMN #217 All Creatures of Our God and King

CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: Jesus said: Love one another.
ALL: WE COME TO WORSHIP GOD WHO IS LOVE,
THAT WE MAY LEARN TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
One: Jesus said: No longer do I call you servants;
now I call you my friends.
ALL: WE COME TO BEAR FRUIT,
SHARING OUR FAITH WITH EACH OTHER
LIVING OUT THE COMMANDMENTS GIVEN BY GOD.
One: Jesus said: Love one another.
ALL: WE COME TO WORSHIP GOD WHO IS LOVE,
THAT WE MAY LEARN TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER
AS WE LIVE IN LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP.
ALL: AMEN.

PRAYER OF APPROACH:
One: Holy God, you called all life into being,
ALL: THE EARTH, THE SEA AND THE SKY ARE YOURS,
One: Your presence is all around us,
Your love is within us,
Your spirit enlivens us as we walk upon the earth.
ALL: WITH YOUR SPIRIT WE ARE CALLED TO LIVE OUR FAITH.
One: In the midst of hunger and war,
ALL: WE CELEBRATE THE GIFTS OF PLENTY AND PEACE.
One: In the midst of doubt and despair,
ALL: WE CELEBRATE THE GIFTS OF FAITH AND HOPE.
One: In the midst of fear and betrayal,
ALL: WE CELEBRATE THE GIFTS OF JOY AND COMMITMENT.
One: In the midst of hatred, fear and death,
ALL: WE CELEBRATE THE GIFTS OF LOVE AND LIFE.
WE CELEBRATE THE PRESENCE OF THE RISEN CHRIST.
AMEN

HYMN #593 Jesu, Jesu Fill Us With Your Love.

PRAYER FOR WHOLENESS:
One: God of Love, God of Resurrection,
We draw into your presence today yearning to touch you,
hoping to find for ourselves your presence in our lives …
ALL: WE CRY OUT TO YOU FROM A DARKENED WORLD
A WORLD THAT KNOWS THE FULLNESS
OF SUFFERING AND DEATH.
One: Merciful and Loving God,
in the light smothering darkness
we stumble forward longing for the light to break over us …
(pause)
One: Gather our lingering fears and our confusion …
ALL: MEET OUR DOUBTS
WITH COMPASSION AND UNDERSTANDING,
OPEN OUR EYES TO YOUR LOVE AND GRACE,
OPEN OUR EARS TO HEAR YOU CALLING TO US,
OPEN OUR SOULS TO NEW POSSIBILITIES …
HYMN #396 Jesus, Stand among Us
One: God of Grace, God of Love,
Guide us to paths of resurrection,
ALL: GOD OF HOPE, GOD OF STRENGTH,
TRANSFORM US, RENEW US.
TAKE OUR WOUNDEDNESS,
AND BRING HEALING AND NEW LIFE.
One: These things we ask in the name of the Risen One,
ALL: HOLY ONE, HEAR OUR PRAYERS,
AND IN YOUR LOVE ANSWER. AMEN.

HYMN #593 Jesu, Jesu Fill Us With Your Love

SCRIPTURE READINGS: John 15:1-17
Borrowed and adapted from the Apr/May/June 2000 issue of A-Ha:

In our reading today we hear of vines and vineyards and the fruit of love … In a US college they once did an experiment to find out the power held in a simple squash.

As the fruit grew they wrapped a band around the squash to measure the pressure the squash exerted against the band as it grew. They expected a pressure of 500 pounds …

In a month’s time the squash was growing with a pressure of 500 pounds against the strap – but it wasn’t finished – in two months it was growing 1500 pounds, then it went up to 2000 pounds and the bands were reinforced – the scientists gave up the experiment when at 5000 pounds the bands snapped. The squash plant hadn’t finished growing, and it hadn’t given up. It had sent out over 80 000 feet (80 000 feet !!) of roots to help it find the strength to grow against the forces that would hold it back.

The squash plant, and our readings remind us of the life force that can not be stopped … the life force that is the power of the resurrection in action.

Our challenge is to live that kind of force in the world – to grow in strength and faith as we live our lives …

I read about a woman who lived through the holocaust and who is still a person of faith. Somebody questioned her about how she could have faith in a God who let something like the Holocaust happen.

Her response was “It wasn’t that God let it happen, and it wasn’t that God wasn’t there, but it was that God didn’t have enough friends on earth willing to do anything about it …”

I think this fits with the idea that Jesus abides in us and we abide in him … we grow and become strong in our faith we push against the bands that hem us in, and in THAT, Jesus’ witness is clearer and our task as friends is obvious …

Psalm 98 (pg 818 Voices)

CHOIR ANTHEM:

THE STORY STOOL:

HYMN #373 As Comes the Breath of Spring

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Acts 10:44-48

The Church is deeply divided in our reading. The movement that has its origins in the teachings and witness of Jesus from Nazareth is struggling to include a wide variety of people. In this reading, it is a question of whether the Gentiles should be baptized or not … Peter stands ready to pour out the Baptismal waters and to welcome ALL in the name of Christ. But others are less sure …
Canadian writer Milton Schwartzentruber once wrote of this passage: “There are many things over which churches tear themselves apart. A church I know of is in great pain over the fact that two lesbians have asked the minister to bless their union. They would like to have the service in the sanctuary. Some in the Congregation look at the women and see two wonderful, involved, caring and loving people. Other in the congregation see two people in an unholy relationship.”
“No matter how this situation gets resolved, it appears that some people will leave the church… The minister there said to me – ‘if the NO side wins we will have to re-write the church ad in the newspaper to read SOME are welcome instead of ALL are welcome …”
Such is the very real dilemma faced by Peter … If he baptizes the Gentiles, he will lose members of the Church … but if he doesn’t baptize the Gentiles he will lose them and others …
So Peter offers up in prayer is dilemma and calls on the Spirit to guide him in his decision …

I John 5:1-6
SERMON:
The text from our Gospel reading this morning is no doubt being widely used across our country today – “love one another as I have loved you, for no greater love hath a man then to lay down his life for another …”

In today’s context the gender of the text would be changed to celebrate the life of a Captain in the Canadian military, who by all reports lived a life filled with love extended to those around here. Last night on one of the reports of Capt. Goddard’s life they noted that she once stopped in a marathon and helped another participant finish the race … such ethics of helping others regardless of the consequences or the outcome is the very essence of love.

Love is not just a warm pink fuzzy feeling … love is something much deeper then that.

In one of the commentaries I read this weekend it noted that love is the living of life to the fullest. Love is the embodiment of joy and joy is living life boldly and courageously by embracing the laughter and the tears. Joy is one of the concepts in faith and life that is important to me. I have shared with you on several occasions a piece I once wrote on Joy, that was eventually published in a now defunct magazine (I don’t think there is a connection there …)

But as I’ve moved through ministry I have valued the gift of love that is revealed through the work of the church – that is the ministry that you and I share together as the people of God. Love is the life force that lies within, and that motivates us to action.

You can’t fake love … love is faith lived out …

As I consider love, a series of encounters stands out for me with the very margins of society … In Bella Coola there were a wonderful group of people called the Troopers. They were the drinkers. They spent their time trooping around town collecting the empty bottles and cans (hence their name). Then they trooped to the store and cashed them in, and made a purchase that would keep them for the rest of the day … and tomorrow they would do the same.

When they walked past the manse I would often open the door and yell at them to bring me the 10% tithe for the church … they would respond by yelling back – “if you want ten percent you gotta come and work for your share …” then they would laugh and carry on their walk …

I had innumerable encounters with them throughout my time amongst the Nuxalkmc people. One afternoon they were sharing the bottle and they taunted me from the front step of the house – “hey, we got the wine – if you got the bread we can have communion …”

The next day Mag was baking bread, so she made a small loaf that tucked in my pocket … on my walk down the street the same taunt was offered … I responded by reaching into my coat and saying – “actually, I do have bread …” And on the front step of the house, in the glorious summer sunshine of Coastal BC, the troopers and I had communion … Many other times, we shared communion, in a wide variety of ways …

When we needed jobs done around the church – the boys were there for us.
When we had feasts and potlatches I enjoyed sitting with them as the meal was served.

But nearing the end of my time in Bella Coola I was blessed with two moments that embodied love in action … the first came one night when one of the boys came to Church. He hadn’t darkened the door of the Church in many, many months. Yet the previous week he had begun to share with me his story of abuse in residential school, and why he drank to deaden his pain … As he sat beside me during the service when one of the congregation members shared a couple of specials, I noticed fleas crawling up my alb … tiny little moving specks … that we being joined by their buddies jumping from him to me …

I had a choice – I could have been disgusted and stood up and shook off my alb and offended and embarrassed him, or I could sit and know that I could deal with the fleas later …

I sat … I was horrified and disgusted (not by him, but by the bugs – I hate bugs crawling on me …), but I trusted that in that moment, the place I needed to be was right beside him. He had screwed up his courage to FINALLY come to Church and sit … He never tried to deny his problems. I never heard him say that his choice of lifestyle was someone else’s fault. He said simply one afternoon while we sat by the river – “you don’t know the pain that I have within me …”

And so in that moment, we sat – fleas and all – and felt the presence of God all around us … Had I stood up and shook my alb free of the critters, the alienation he already felt from the Church and from God would have deepened. Instead I laid aside my feelings about the bugs and sat …

There was no laying down my life in that moment, but there was a willingness to share in the moment on terms that were not mine …

The next moment of love in action came some weeks later as we prepared to say our farewells in Bella Coola. At one of the evening services, the troopers marched in and when the offering was taken up they came forward with bread bags bulging with dimes and other change … they laid them on the table and turned to me and said – “There’s the share for the Church …” as they laughed …

They gave up a lot … it may have been a few dollars of change – but to them it was a real sacrifice. They could have bought some time away from the burdens of pain they carried – but instead, they had (they just had) to have the last word. In love and joy, they offered what they had to say thanks that the Kingdom of God had room for them too.

In those moments I learned the meaning of love. Love is the willingness to embrace life and live fully in this moment the opportunities that are presented to us.

Last week I had the opportunity to speak to the students at MCI as part of their life skills work. I shared with them some of the learnings I’ve gleaned from life around grief, loss and recovery.

One of the life lessons I shared with them was the simple truth that it may hurt terribly right now – the loss could be a death, the break up a relationship, the loss or theft of a cherished item, or even a fire in a much building – but whatever it is, it might hurt terribly in this moment, but in time the hurt will be lessened. We will eventually look back on the loss and be able to find goodness that flowed forth from that horrible moment of pain …

That is the triumph of love … being able to move forward knowing that we are all members of the family of God, and that because God loves us, because we love ourselves we will heal and recover… That is love in action.

Opening ourselves up to the fullness of life and the very presence of God in our midst … we are called to go into the world, to share the Gospel, to pour out the baptismal waters, to welcome in the strangers and the broken … to speak in the languages that are comprehensible to those whom we meet along the way …

It is not an easy journey – it is seldom comfortable. Sometimes it requires pruning and nurturing, as our reading from John reminds us … but at the end of the day, the goal – the destination – the ends we seek and the means we live, as simply love in action.

It’s easy to speak of love – but love is sometimes harder to live … we are called to be people of love … and as the kids song tells us – “they shall know we are Christians by our love, by our love …”

We need to move beyond the understanding of love as nothing more then a simple, warm, pink fuzzy feeling that puts on a smiley face and gives hugs to everyone … love sometimes challenges us to name and reject bad behaviour, and to tread a path that is uncomfortable in the name of healing … I never accepted the heavy drinking of the troopers – I understood where it came from – but instead I tried in my own way, to help them own the pain they sought to dull, and to find ways to bring healing … I don’t know if it made a difference, but I know the journey we shared had an indelible effect on me …

And sometimes that’s all there is … like a stone thrown in a pond, we don’t know where the ripples will go … we don’t know what effect there will be down the road somewhere … all we can do is trust in God to be with us through it all …

We are called to live our love … today, tomorrow and always …
May it be so – thanks be to God …

OFFERING

OFFERTORY:

PRAYER OF DEDICATION

HYMN: #175 This is the Day That God Has Made

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE & THE LORD’S PRAYER

HYMN #222 Come Let Us Sing

COMMISSIONING/BENEDICTION:

SUNG RESPONSE: HYMN #424 May the God of hope Go with Us

The worship has ended…
…the work of God’s people has just begun
Go in peace

Announcements:

Building Committee Meeting – Tuesday, May 23rd at 6:00 p.m.

Bible Study has taken a break for the summer. A BIG thanks to those who have joined in the conversation and the fellowship this past year.
See you in the fall …

Confirmation Class will be taking a break for the summer …
See you again in the fall.

The Annual Meeting of Conference of Manitoba and North Western Ontario will be held in Winnipeg from May 25th to the 28th. Sam and Hannah Ankenmann will be attending the Pre-TAC events during the meeting as representatives of our Congregation.

Pentecost Sunday (June 4th) – Congregational lunch following Worship

Graduation Service – with our 2006 Grads - June 25th

Womens’ Weekend – information about this weekend (the end of September) is available at the back of the Sanctuary, or at the Church office.

THANKS TO HEATHER BRAZEAU for all of her hard work in hosting, organizng and preparing the community Mothers’ Day Dinner last week at the MCCC. Thanks to her efforts, $2884 dollars has been donated to our Rebuilding efforts … Thanks to all those who donated and participated.