HYMN # 580 Faith of Our Fathers
One: Everything that happens on earth
happens at the time God chooses.
Women: God sets the time for birth and the time for death,
Men: the time for sorrow and the time for joy.
Women: the time for tearing and the time for mending,
Men: the time for scattering and the time for gathering,
Women: the time for seeking and the time for losing,
Men: the time for keeping silence and the time for speaking.
One: Everything that happens on earth
All: happens at the time God chooses.
One: Friends in Christ,
Lent is a time to prepare and to renew our life.
We mark this holy season
All: by acknowledging our need for repentance,
and for the mercy and forgiveness
proclaimed in the gospel.
One: We are invited, in the name of Christ, to observe a holy Lent
All: by self-examination and penitence,
by prayer and fasting, by works of love,
and by reading and meditating on the Word of God.
One: Now comes the march of flint across the countryside of stone.
All: Now comes the night, deep within the valley of dark shadow
One: Now comes the shriek of violence, the ghostly echo of betrayal.
All: Now, the crackle of a coal fire and the crowing of a cock.
One: Soon, the sounds of nails, piercing and friends weeping.
Soon, only the silence of a world pressed against its mortal fate.
(pause)
This is your journey, O God. It is taken in your love.
All: This is our journey too.
Following your call,
may the sounds and sights of Lent, painful and real,
be our teacher, until the new dawn breaks. Amen
HYMN # 681 Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life
One: Before you, Jesus Christ, we admit how and where we have underestimated our influence, letting our words or silences hurt, abusing trust, betraying confidences.
Lord, have mercy;
All: Christ, have mercy.
One: We admit how and where we have made show of our religion, attracting more attention to us, and less to you.
Lord, have mercy.
All: Christ, have mercy.
One: We admit to where in our lives a vague interest has become a dangerous passion, and we are not sure what to do or whether we are still in control.
Lord, have mercy.
All: Christ, have mercy.
One: Lord Jesus Christ, if we have looked or longed for an easier gospel, a lighter cross, a less demanding saviour, then turn our eyes and avert our longing from what we want to choose to the one who has chosen us.
Forgive our unfaithfulness, and, for our better living, give us not the remedy we desire tomorrow, but the grace you offer today.
We ask this for your love’s sake.
All: Amen.
Psalm 27 (VU 754)
THE STORY STOOL: When a Stranger comes for a visit (Flat Stanley stops by)
HYMN # 365 Jesus Loves Me
SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 13: 31 – 35 & Luke 9: 28 – 36
CHOIR ANTHEM: High Upon a Mountain
SERMON:“Jerusalem, Jerusalem …”
This week I’ve been reading two books that have altered my thinking as we’ve entered into the season of Lent. The first is the most recent book is The Great Transformation by Karen Armstrong. The second is Deep Memory, Exuberant Hope by Walter Brueggemann. One is an examination of Biblical texts, the other is a book about that period of time when in human history, suddenly all over the world a new religious consciousness arose and people began to envision and see and experience the world in bold and wonderful new ways … They seem disconnected, until one steps back and realizes that we, both as a community of faith, and as a society are in a place of profound dislocation and exile … and it was in just such a time that this Great awakening and transformation first stirred in human history …
Armstrong contends in her text that all major world religions owe their existence to that period of time when the world was suddenly, and simultaneously understood in radical new ways … The unfortunate thing is that since that time some 16 Centuries ago, we have forgotten what it is that was being taught. We’ve moved from the radical experiential flavour of spirituality that the Old Testament Prophets, Confucius, The Buddha and others of that era not only proclaimed, but themselves embodied. We’ve moved from a place where we understand our place in the cosmos as deeply connected to others, to a place where we are looking out only for ourselves … This is the heart of the experience of exile and dislocation. We are living it as a congregation, we are living it as a community in decline, we are living it as a rural area that is depopulating and being transformed by forces beyond ourselves, and we are experiencing it as a culture … We are a dislocated people who are in exile from all that we’ve understood and believed and held to …
And it is in this moment, when we identify the dislocation we’re experiencing, that Brueggemann’s voice breaks through and says – “all is NOT lost …” There is not only hope … there is faith …
In Lent, our journey this year began with the words – “a Wandering Aramean is our ancestor …” It is from our story – our history – our past, that we will draw our direction for the future …
Bruggemann maintains that in a place of dislocation and exile, there are four speeches that need to be offered by to the people to guide them through the trauma and pain …
The first speech is that of sadness, anger, rage and loss. It is the point where we name the reality of the situation in which we find ourselves. The story of Abraham leaving everything he knew, every thing he was comfortable with is such an example. He names the reality of his journey – he has left his home to wander to a place that God will show him, and there he will become a great nation … His is a journey of apprehension. His is a journey of uncertainty. His is a journey of fear …
Then we move to the second speech – that of order and holiness. Like breaking bread downstairs the morning of our fire and saying in that gesture – “we are NOT alone” the speech of order and holiness is about remembering, naming and owning the priestly functions. God is with us, even in the exile. God has not abandoned nor forgotten us … Even in this …
Unfortunately, in dislocation and exile, too often people journey to this point – where they stand in the presence of the order and holiness that comes from God and journey no further. It’s safe here. God is here. Everything is alright and okay – and it’s far enough. The boat isn’t being rocked any more – there isn’t any apprehension. We can just close our eyes and know that God is with us – and that’s enough …
But that’s NOT enough … we’re only half way there …
The next speech is that of Transformation – imagining a transformation, not that is selfish and our own, but a transformation that is about justice and caring and compassion, not just for the select few – not just for the people we like and who agree with us – but for EVERYONE.
The prophets of old, stood before a people who were rebuilding from their exile and warned them about building a new temple and a new religious precinct and filling it with the same old way of doing things, where there were those who were “in” and there were those who were “out”. It is a time to regroup and reform as a people and to consciously NOT take advantage of others. Brueggemann points out that it is a time and a place to address issues of poverty, hunger and injustice. It is the time and place to look at how we deal with others and to treat them better …
A friend of mine observed this recently when she shared with me the experiences of visits she occassionally makes to a Buddhist meditation centre down her block. She said that she finds the “worship” component of the time there refreshing. The lessons and meditation are about being mindful of our place in the world, detaching ourselves from our petty concerns and connecting with the cosmos … Then when the time of meditation ends there is food and she is shocked by the way in which others push and shove to get to the food table first … The lessons brought through meditation are lost as the selfishness of our modern era returns … and the teachings of Buddha are lost as they seek to gain advantage over another …
She also had an similar experience a few weeks ago at a Jewish Temple, where she and her daughter went to worship along with one of her daughter’s best friends. The service was filled with chanting and singing, and was wonderful. In the midst of the service she glanced up to see her daughter and her best friends with their nine year old arms wrapped around each other smiling, while they were bathed in the light of the setting sun that was pouring through the stained glass windows of the balcony. As a mom she was struck by the beauty and the holiness of the scene, so she pulled out her camera to snap a picture of the two girls and a moment she described rightly as holy … only to have one of those who was worshipping, and a moment before had been ecstatically happy, snarl at her – “no pictures …” From the joy of the worship experience – to seeing and in a tangible way experiencing the holy … to anger, bitterness and hostility, all in a blink of an eye …
At the end of the day, it is how we treat each other in the small things that will determine what is at the core of our faith … If we, in this third speech are seeking to better ourselves at the expense of others, or if we want to put someone in their place – we are not living the holy … Or, if we are generous of spirit, caring of heart and kind of soul – the holy is not only within us, it is breaking through everywhere. Brueggemann points out that when the chips are down it is NOT the time for us to triumph over another, but it is a time to regroup and live those values of connectedness and holy that are so central to our spiritual lives.
It was in this context that we hear Jesus weeping over Jerusalem … The people have lost their way. They have a beautiful temple, they have an attentive God, they have everything – but they no longer hear the voices from that time of awakening who tell them to care for the widows and orphans, to welcome the alien, to put the welfare of others ahead of themselves … He weeps over Jerusalem because he’s come to see the futility of his mission and ministry. Nothing will change … the people will continue to enact their meaningless worship with hardened and embittered hearts … but he trusts in the fourth speech of dislocation – the envisioning and embodiment of New Possibility – of transformation brought by God …
The story of Hillel the rabbi who tells the young man that the WHOLE of the Torah is “that which is hurtful to another, you do not do – ever …” Jesus realized and proclaimed and died for the simplicity of that statement … That was and remains central to his teachings. The problem is that we are not living our lives open to what that means. We are not allowing that transformation to come …
And so we journey into Lent … We know the stories – but we fail to live them. We hear the word – but we fail to heed them. We experience the holy – but then we jostle and push for position …
Lent is the season when we hear the whisper – “a wandering Aramean was my ancestor …” and we hear again – for the first time, the journey of Abraham and Sarah and the struggles they experienced as they followed God through a time and place of dislocation and uncertainty.
We live in a era, that not only as a community here in Minnedosa, but as a culture – as a global society, we would do well to heed those lessons and open ourselves to the wondrous potential that God alone offers …
There is one lectionary reading we didn’t share as part of our readings this morning. It is a passage from Paul’s letter to the Church at Philippi. They are words that remind us – in this place and time of dislocation, there is only one thing in which we can stand firm. There is only one place where we can stand faithfully … Paul writes to the Church at Philippi: (Philippians 3:17-4:2)
Lent is traditionally a season and a time of repentance as we prepare for the experience of Easter.
Lent is the time of year when we are to be open to the potential of God’s place and presence in our lives.
Lent is the time of year when we MUST allow the respect, the honesty, the kindness, the care and the compassion that is our faith to not only break through in our worship, but every moment of every day …
Lent is when we are invited to live our faith courageously and to live our lives faithfully … The challenge is to set aside our old ways of doing and being, and to be open to the transformative experience that is God’s presence and holiness …
We are people in dislocation and exile – we needn’t remain there … the choice is ours …
May we chose wisely and faithfully …
May it be so – thanks be to God – let us pray …
HYMN # 327 All Praise to Thee
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE & THE LORD’S PRAYER (# 959 VU)
HYMN # 352 I Danced in the Morning (vs 1-3)
COMMISSIONING AND BENEDICTION
SUNG RESPONSE: Choir – Now Unto Him
The worship has ended….
…the work of God’s people has just begun.
Go in peace.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
A SPECIAL BOARD MEETING is called for Monday, March 5, at 7 p.m. at the Adult Learning Centre.
WORLD DAY OF PRAYER has been rescheduled for Friday, March 9, at 2 p.m.here at St. Alphonsus, and hosted by the Catholic Ladies. We reflect on the theme, “United Under God’s Tent”, that in Christ we are one body within God’s sheltering tent, covered by God’s protective cloak. This year the service was written and prepared by the women of Paraguay. Everyone welcome!
ST. PATRICK’S DAY TEA & BAKE SALE, hosted by the UCW will be held Saturday, March 17 between 2:00 – 3:30 at the Ukrainian Hall. Donations to the bake table are gratefully accepted. Please join the UCW for tea.
A FUNDRAISING CONCERT is being planned for Friday, March 23 at 7:30 at Westminster United Church in Winnipeg. Participating in the concert will be Minnedosa United Church Choir, Westworth United Church Choir, Winnipeg Male Chorus, Bison Mens Chorus, Canadian Mennonite University Mens Chorus and Winnipeg Brass (Brass Quintet). A free-will offering will be collected with proceeds being donated to the Building Fund.
REMINDER that the Fundraising Committee will host a location in the Town Wide Garage Sale during May long weekend. As you gather items to donate to this project, please price the items. Further details will be available shortly.
EMERGING SPIRIT - Emerging Spirit is more than just controversial magazine ads ... on Friday April 20th to Saturday April 21st, There will be a Living the Welcome" Training event for Congregations held at Roblin United Church. Living the Welcome offers congregations tips, tools and programmes for launching welcoming ministries in your context; ways to connect with the Wondercafe.ca media campaign, and explorations of leadership and ministry in times of change. The weekend will consist of a series of workshops for Congregational leaders who wish to explore ways to enhance, engage and lead the ministries we have. Previous workshops have been well attended and well received. The cost is $100/person (travel and accommodations not included). The workshops are open to anyone interested in exploring ways in which the Church can reach out to a changing world. If you are interested in attending on behalf of this congregation, speak to Shawn, or call the office ...
If you're not sure, check out the pamphlets at the back of the Church ...
ANNUAL REPORT BOOKLETS are still available from the Church Office. If you would like a copy, contact Elaine at 867-2674.
ROTARY CLUB USED BOOK SALE will be held (Fri & Sat) March 9 & 10 and March 16 & 17 at the former 2nd Century Furniture Building. If you wish to donate items to this sale, please contact John Neabel - 867-2972 or Neil Cameron - 867-2194 for pick up, or leave books at Heritage Coop Food Centre of the Library.
BIBLE STUDY GROUP meets Friday’s at 10:00 am in the Church office. All are welcome to participate.
CHOIR PRACTICE is Thursday at 7:30 pm here at St. Alphonsus Church. New members and anyone interested in directing would be most welcome!
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