You are currently browsing the monthly archive for February 2010.
Sermon
Luke 13:31-35
Unwillingness overtakes us in so many forms, whether its the cat or the fox unwilling to be deterred from their prey or the unwillingness to give of oneself to others. Today, the people of Jerusalem are unwilling. They are unwilling to be see God present before them, to see God casting out demons and performing cures in their midst. And their unwillingness will lead God to the completion of God’s work on the third day, On the cross.
And it is for this unwillingness that Jesus laments. Jesus laments over Jerusalem and he sees see where their unwillingness will lead them. It won’t be long until the people of the holy city are getting ready to lay down their coats and palm branches on the highway. They will shout “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”, the blessing shouted for David and Solomon and for every king of Israel. As Jesus rides in on a donkey, being expected as King, the people want a conqueror. They want the Romans ousted and they want to be powerful as they once were. But the shouts of “Blessed is He” will soon turn to shouts of “crucify him”.
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Luke 4:1-13
Super Sunday. That’s is what today is being called by the sports broadcasters. We are right in the middle of the Winter Olympic games, the biggest party in Canada, and today there is hockey, curling, skiing, speed skating and many chances at medals for Team Canada. Super Sunday is the biggest party that this country may see for a long time.
And what is the church doing to celebrate? As Canadians were competing for Gold Medals we were putting ashes on each other’s foreheads with the words “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return”. Today, as the the Canadian Men’s Hockey team prepares to play a very important hockey game, we are going out into the wilderness with Jesus.
The Church has a habit of playing party pooper, of bringing us back down to reality at inopportune moments. Ashes over medals, wilderness over wild parties. Often showing up at this place, worshipping this God means being a little out of step with the rest of the world, its means seeing things a little differently than everyone else.
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Last week my top five was fairly serious, so this week, we will go with a less serious one.
Top Five not serious Reasons to come to Church
5. There isn’t much on TV Sunday mornings, except lots of church services. Why not see one live?
4. Sitting down and standing up is good exercise. Plus those hymnbooks can add extra weight!
3. Its a great cure for insomnia. Staying awake during most is amazingly hard…
2. You get to sing your favourite hymns of the 1800s. And 1700s, 1600s, 1500s etc…
1. You get free coffee. If nothing else, there is free coffee after the service, as long as you are will to listen to the pastor’s bad jokes.
40 Days in the Wilderness, 40 Days mucking around in the dirt, in the sand, in the dust. Ash Wednesday and we are tossed into Lent, hitting the ground in a pile of smoke and dust. Lent is a journey, a journey through the wilderness, a journey towards to the waters of Baptism, a journey of discovering identity, a journey of reflection. In Lent, we move from place to place, from event to even as we prepare for the cross. And by the Ashes of this day, we are reminded that this journey is fleeting, this journey of Lent, this journey of life. And by the Ashes of this day we die again. We die as dust and ash. As followers of Christ we die often. We die in Baptism, and from then on we die daily to sin, and we are setting out on a wilderness journey toward death on a cross. Tonight, Ashes are placed on our forehead and we are reminded that we are dust, and we will return to dust.
Ashes are usually reminders of loss, reminders of finitude. Ashes are all the remain of our bodies long after we are dead. Ashes are often all that remain after a building burns down, or after a campfire. They make everything dirty, they carry with them a certain smell.
But today Ashes carry with them possibility. As we confess our sins, and as we are marked with Ashes, we also are reminded of our baptisms. We are told again of rebirth. Ashes are a symbol of death, but for us backwards Christians, death means New Life.
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Luke 9:28-36, [37-43a]
Rocky, was 42. Rocky was single. Rocky had no job, barely enough money for rent and his life felt empty. His had marriage had just ended, he had lost his job and now he was alone. Growing up his parents, and therefore the family, had been semi-regular church goers, but Rocky didn’t really have any need to for faith until now. Now he had all kinds of questions. Now Rocky wanted to find out what the answers were. So he began attending the local Anglican church and eventually the priest asked if he wanted to be baptized. On the Sunday of the Baptism, everyone was so excited, Rockey was on a high. The service went perfectly and there was big party after service. But within a few weeks, the excitement of the baptism had gone and Rocky was left feeling empty again. So he tried the local Roman Catholic Church. And the same story, Rocky agreed to be baptized, he felt high for a few weeks and then the crash. After about a year Rocky had been also baptized Methodist, United, Reformed and two different kinds of Lutheran, he had been saved at the altar in the Pentecostal Church, the Baptist Church, the Alliance Church and a community church. And each time Rocky would love the high of the moment, but when real life hit again, he moved on seeking the next mountain top. But now there were no more mountain tops left in town.
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I am starting a new segment. Every Wednesday I hope to post a top five list, sometimes serious, sometimes not.
This week is a gut reaction to pastors at last week’s study conference asking why young people don’t come to church. So… here are my top five reasons why young people (at least the ones I know) DO come to church.
1. Their parents brought them from age 0-18, and brought them to worship.
2. Their parents and families were involved in the life of the church… Many church leaders point to families being so busy. Its not about being too busy, its about making church a priority, about church leaders providing space in the congregation for that to be worthwhile.
3. They had friends at church because their friend’s parents brought their friends to church.
4. They were involved in organizations beyond the congregation: camp, bible school, student movements, youth gatherings, mission trips, and others.
5. Their church community cared about them, this maybe included the pastor, but way more importantly, the older folks at church cared that the young folks were there, they helped the young folks get involved and take leadership.
Our Ash Wednesday Service will be February 17th at 7PM. We will also have Wednesday Evening Lenten Services at 7PM, throughout the season of Lent.
Confirmation and Adult Study will continue also during Lent.
Have your say!