Sermon Study Guide – St. Thomas’ Church, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador

Sermon Study Guide – St. Thomas’ Church, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador

 

(Date: 27 May 2012)              “Saying Goodbye”               Acts 2:1-21 and John 15:26-27;16:4b-15

 

1. 1.    In this week’s gospel Jesus talks to His disciples about what will happen when he leaves them…for a little while. Clearly they didn’t have a clue what Jesus was talking about (see John 16:17-19). Do you blame them? How are you at saying goodbye? Is it harder for you to be the one leaving home or the one left behind? Why do you think that is so?

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Leader’s Guide:

What are the disciples feeling in the John reading? What is their grief keeping them from understanding? How would you paraphrase the three goals of the Holy Spirit’s work (vv. 8-11)? Therefore, why is it good for Jesus to go away? If you were a disciple (which you really are, but that is another scenario…) who would you feel after hearing Jesus say verse 16? Has Jesus ever said anything to you that you could hardly bear (v. 12)? What happened? Of the various roles of the Holy Spirit described here (in 8-11), which one have you come to appreciate lately? Why?

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1. 2.    Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these who speak Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them speak in his own native language?” (Acts 2:7). Look at the manner in which the Holy Spirit comes: the sound is “like the rush of a violent wind” (v. 2); and then, “divided tongues, as of fire” (v. 3). Luke attempts to describe the event in human terms, but it is never possible to explain a divine mystery: all we can do is say what it is like. The coming of the Holy Spirit is the gift inaugurating the final stage of the salvation story (or history, chronology); this era leads up to the end of time. His arrival is in fulfilment of Christ’s promise, recorded in Acts1:8.

Acts is about mission, about speaking, proclaiming, the good news to people everywhere, in languages (and language) they can understand; Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit is the driving force behind this work, e.g. in the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch, we read “the Spirit said to Philip …” (8:29). They spoke “in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (v. 4). Divided into nations in antiquity, now all humanity is one; now God is in our midst. The Spirit is the launching pad for this mission. The list in vv. 9-11 includes Jews from the whole of the known world.

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Leader’s Guide:

Why did God wait until Pentecost, a Jewish harvest festival (Dt 16:9-10) to give the Holy Spirit? How far have these pilgrims come (vv. 9-11)? What attracts them to the disciples? How does being filled with the Spirit relate to bearing witness to Jesus? How have you seen this truth lived out in your own life? Would you respond more like those in v. 12 or v. 13? Why? Have you ever seen the gifts of tongues used this way? Another way? When have you experienced an empowering from God to witness about Christ?

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O GOD, who makes us glad with the yearly remembrance of the coming of the Holy Spirit upon your disciples in Jerusalem: Grant that we who now celebrate the Feast of Pentecost may continue yours for ever, and daily increase in your Holy Spirit, until we come to your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Holy Land Journal: DAY 3 Sabbath Rest: A Lesson in Breathing

I am suddenly fully awake at 5am with the song of birds pouring through the window into the darkness. The sound is heavenly, exhilarating, enthralling. I look east and see the first hint of dawn mirrored in the flat calm of Genneseret and make a note to capture the sunrise in digital. Leaning out of the window I look behind the hotel to the steep rise of hills hundreds of feet above and picture Jesus making his way to a “deserted place.” Were the birds his alarm clock too, I wonder? Then the words of the Psalmist come to mind: “Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn!” (Psalm 108.2) No. It is Jesus’ song that wakens the dawn and birds. It is a sublime moment. I find myself joining in creation’s acclamation: “This is the Day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118.24)

Shabbat Shalom comes with a blessing, but we are to receive and welcome it as the Light which enables our blind eyes to see. The 7^th Day is radically different than the other six; the change is not spatial but a difference in relation of time. By welcoming the Sabbath, it is as if we step into the eternal, and by doing so see things from the inside out, i.e., as they are in their end, God (Heschel).We give back the controls to God and rest, in imitation of Him, and He works (Calvin, Institutes), and sings His praises over us (Zephaniah 3.17). It seems very fitting that today we are going to Galilee in the north, called “the Holy Triangle”, Jesus’ base camp where he spent most of his 3 years, teaching in the synagogues, healing the sick and forming disciples for ministry. We arrive at the top of the Mount of Beatitude, and step out of our bus into the warmth of the still, early morning air, our eyes feasting on the spectacle of glory everywhere about us – vast escarpments of orchards of olive, date palm, orange and banana, and fields of grain that stretch to the shimmering waters of Galilee below. The sense of holiness is pervasive, enveloping us. And I remember something of Heschel’s I have read: “When God rested the 7^th Day, He released his breath (Ruah) into the creature he had made in His own image” and he/she became alive with His living spirit. Immediately I am more attentive to the words that Hans is speaking: “Blessedness, favour, receiving and walking in blessing, springs from the deep awareness of our poverty and nothingness, our total dependency upon God (Matt 5)”. I inhale these living words deeply, aware that I need to develop my God-given capacity to breathe. Soon we are walking down through fields of mustard (sermon fodder), stopping long enough to graze on some savory greens, as we listen again to the story of Jesus’ feeding of the 5000 – “mustard seed faith”.

By late morning we reach the sea shore near Tabgha where the risen Jesus treated a few of his fisherman friends to a tasty breakfast of fish, and some after breakfast reflection with Peter about the business of “sheep feeding”. Interesting they didn’t recognize him at first – just like Jesus, to show up in the “ordinary” of our work day world as a surprise. How often, I wonder, have I missed out entirely on his visits because my mind-set wouldn’t allow it? After our own scrumptious St. Peter’s fish lunch (Tilapia is now my favorite fish meal after Cod), we “launch out on to the deep”. Hans reminds us that the Lake is Jesus’ special class room to teach lessons of faith. Today Galilee is placid, but just as often it is not. The Lord will send us into turbulence to test and try us, & expose our fears, in order to build into us faith. Was that the Holy Spirit that prompted Peter to get out of the boat and do the impossible? Of course he failed; his fear got the better of him. But looked at the other way round, Peter is Jesus’ star pupil, and proud, I’ll bet, as he reaches out his hand to grab him. There is a promise of Jesus here: He will breakthe fear in my life if I risk faith. Suffering, yes, there will be lots of it! But fear? No.

 

Sermon Notes: “World conquerors” EASTER 6 & Mother’s Day 13 May 2012

“World conquerors”                      EASTER 6 & Mother’s Day                         13 May 2012

On Saturday night, before a big service (like today), I find it helpful to stand back from my sermon and reconsider my approach to the readings. In particular I try to consider what has happened in my week and day to see if there is a special illustration that might be used to introduce what I want to say in the sermon. If I can get feedback from someone, that is always helpful.

Fortunately, last night, I was able to get together with my small group of sermon advisors to think together about my sermon for this morning. It says a lot about friends when they are willing to make themselves available to their pastor at 9:15pm on a Saturday night. So I met with my sermon supporters, David and William Read, in section 101 between the 2^nd and 3^rd periods of the game at Mile One.

We were all in a state of considerable excitement at that time- not just over my thoughts for this sermon! We (that is, the Ice Caps) were up by one, and seemed to be mostly in control of our game. But the Penguins are a very dangerous team- they can turn things around quickly and then, if one is not careful, as advisor David Read observed, “Bang! It’s in the net!” Sermon illustration supervisor William agreed: “They just have to keep working hard” he said. “I think we’ll be alright.”

How accurate they were. Later in the third, the Ice Caps did cough up the puck and “Bang! It was in the net!” But we did just keep working hard and we were alright! We persevered and didn’t give up under the pressure that came- even intense pressure at the very end- and we came out the victors! We won the series and move on to play the top seeded team the Norfolk Admirals beginning this Thursday.

My advisors knew what they were talking about- victory is only won by those who still believe they can win and do not give up in their pursuit of that victory!

Saint John wrote to his readers is first century Turkey: Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (v.5)

What is a world conqueror? Not a controller but one who is not conquered by the world. One who perceives and lives in the kingdom of God.

(Gospel of the Hereafter quote)

 

The one that hangs on and doesn’t lose is the conqueror. Doesn’t give up hope- doesn’t lose heart- doesn’t forget the belief that they can persevere, endure and take it home.

In hockey, as in life, it doesn’t mean that the losers did give up. It doesn’t mean that the Penguins gave up before the final whistle! No, they battled to the end as well BUT it does mean that the Ice Caps never gave up. What is necessary to win is to never give up.

Saint John says that those persons who do not give up on the faith and hope that Jesus is the Christ already have the victory in them. It is just a matter of time before it is revealed.

The Ice Caps already had the victory in them when they showed up in the locker room last night before the game. But they had to battle out on the ice for three tough periods to reveal it to a delirious crowd, that it really was theirs.

Well- you might say- they might have lost it. Yes, they might! But we know that they would have lost it for sure if they didn’t believe they had it in them to begin with.

Jesus says to His followers over and over: Do not be afraid. Why? Because He has overcome the powers that threaten to shut them/us down. He has conquered every power that threatens to take away our lives and power to live our lives as the children of God in the kingdom of God. That is His work and He has done it.

Our job- our work- is to believe in Him and His life, His victory, already at work in us. We may have to struggle and battle hard for three full periods of life but if we do not give up the hope of victory that He has already attained for us, then one day, we will see it revealed before all of heaven. And the fans that are watching us and cheering us on- the saints and angels in heaven- one day will be delirious to celebrate our victory with them!

That is why Jesus’ commandments are so direct and simple: Abide in my love…keep my commandments…love one another!

His commandment is to abide in him…his love. We will be able to do with him what he does with His Father. And why? So that His joy may be in us and complete in us! Wow. 1 John 4:7

John 15:10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

15:11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

 

Even our places of failure are sources of God’s victory in Jesus. In the Bulletin this week you will read a wonderful tribute that Ron Nikkell, Director of Prison Fellowship International wrote for his friend Church Colson, who began Prison Fellowship after he got out of prison for his part in the Watergate scandal of the 1970’s, that brought down President Nixon and his advisors. Colson knew the depth of his own failure and yet it was there he met the grace and victory of Jesus to transform his life, and the lives of many others. Not long ago, he wrote:

The great paradox [of my life] is that every time I walk into a prison and see the faces of men or women who have been transformed by the power of the living God, I realize that the thing God has chosen to use in my life … is none of the successes, achievements, degrees, awards, honors, or cases I won before the Supreme Court. That’s not what God’s using in my life. What God is using in my life to touch the lives of literally thousands of other people is the fact that I was a convict and went to prison. That was my great defeat, the only thing in my life I didn’t succeed in. (Chuck Colson)

Memorial Hymn Sing and Mother’s Day: We remember those who have made a major impact for good on our lives. We give thanks for those people who have helped us to believe that we can also amount to something in life: those who planted in us some hope that we too might be conquerors. These are people who continue to inspire and encourage us, even though they may have been dead for many years. Their hope and faith lives on in us.

And it is Mother’s Day! We give thanks to God for the life that has been given to us through our mothers. They bore us and shared their life with us, just as God has. Our mothers are vessels of God’s life and love to us. Even if they weren’t ideal mothers, they are the means through which our perfect God has shared His life with us, and so when we honour them (and next month our fathers too) then we honour God who has used them to bring us to life and make us able to receive His victory in Christ.

Listen again to our simple faith, to the hope in us that conquers:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

The last thing I want to say something about is friendship and what Jesus says about friendship and love, uniting us to Him and the Father and one another.

 

Hockey players don’t have to be friends but it sure makes it a lot easier to play with one another and to play for a common purpose. If you are friends then you have one another’s backs, you push yourself a little more- you are willing to sacrifice more because you actually care for the other person. When the game is over you still have to face that person and spend time with that person. You still care for your teammates even when you are off the ice.

 

Jesus says we are not only his servants- working towards a common cause- we are His friends. We don’t just serve together- He actually loves us. He likes to be with us even when we aren’t in church- even when we aren’t battling for things of faith in the face of an unbelieving world. He likes to hang around with us and wants us to enjoy hanging around with Him. That is that “abiding” idea we were thinking about last week.

 

Just as the Father and the Son love to be in one another’s company, so Jesus wants to share the Father’s friendship with us. He wants us to conquer in life through the knowledge of and experience of God’s friendship. It is already ours if we trust it is. We already have Jesus’ friendship if we just abide in Him. We are already victors and conquerors and will go on to the next and final round of life, where there will be no losers, if only we just do not give up hope that this is so. The victory and friendship and love of God in Jesus Christ, is already in us.

 

And for us to see that victory revealed, even before the final revelation in heaven, all we have to do is love one another That will show us that the Spirit of God, which is the truth of God and His victory over all that threatens His eternal life in us- all we have to do is love one another.

 

5:6 This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.

 

John 15:9-17
15:9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.
15:10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
15:11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
15:12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
15:13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
15:14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.
15:15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.
15:16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.
15:17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prayers of the People                   Easter 6 & Mother’s Day              13 May 2012

 

With Jesus our Lord, we walk in the company of holy women who have gone before and who still walk with us: mothers of the faith both named and unnamed, who have raised up children of faith. Let us give thanks to God for them as we say to the Lord: We thank You for mothers of faith.                                    We thank You for mothers of faith.

 

Let us pray. (Silence)

 

Heavenly Father, Jesus said: By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. Thank You for those who have taught us how to love You and Your commandments. Thank You for Mary, Mother of the Lord, who opened her life to Your will, and our world to our Saviour. For holy women who have graced our lives, we say to You Father:           We thank You for mothers of faith.

 

Lord, we walk in the company of Deborah, who judged the Israelites with authority and strength, and we walk with Esther, who used her position as queen to ensure the welfare of her people. For holy women of the Old Covenant who have graced our lives, we say to You Lord:                                                           We thank You for mothers of faith.

 

Jesus, we walk in the company of those who met You on earth: the woman with the flow of blood, who audaciously sought her healing and release from You. We walk with Mary Magdalene, who wept at the empty tomb until You appeared to her. For holy women of the New Covenant who have graced our lives, we say to You Jesus:

We thank You for mothers of faith.

 

Holy Spirit, who was poured out on the Church at Pentecost, we walk in the company of Phoebe, who led an early church in the empire of Rome, and we walk with Perpetua of Carthage, whose witness in the third century led to her martyrdom. We walk with Julian of Norwich, who wed imagination and theology, proclaiming, “All shall be well.” For holy women of Church history who have graced our lives, we say to You, life-giving Spirit:                                                    We thank You for mothers of faith.

 

We walk in the company of our own mothers and holy women who have been mothers of the faith to us: grandmothers and aunts, teachers in school and Sunday school teachers, fellow parishioners and women who have lived courageous and inspiring lives with You Lord. For women who teach us to resist evil with boldness, to lead with wisdom, and to heal by the way we share our lives and are present to one another, abiding in You O Lord, we say:                   We thank You for mothers of faith.

 

Lord Jesus, You appointed us to go into the world and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give us whatever we ask Him in Your name. So, Father, we ask You to give us what we ask for as we pray under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, in the humility of Mary, Mother of our Lord, and in Your Son Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.

Peter and Elaine Young Holy Land Tour 2012: Day 2 The God of new beginnings & fresh vision: learning to walk in the Grace of the Call

Day 2 The God of new beginnings & fresh vision: learning to walk in the Grace of the Call

With the dawn of the 2^nd day, after a hearty kosher breakfast of cheese, pickled fish, olives, vegetables, fruit, yogurt and freshly squeezed Java orange juice – protein for pilgrims, we are off to the Mediterranean sea port of “Old Jaffa” (Joppa). Jaffa means beautiful, and this gate city that has linked Jerusalem with the nations of the world for over 4000 years is a jewel. Today, annexed to the modern city of Tel Aviv, it is one of the main entrance points for the Jews in diaspora returning from the four corners of the world to their native land.

After being dropped off in the south end of the city we make our way through old narrow winding stone alleys to a broad piazza set off by a large sculpted blue whale fountain – a token of the prophet Jonah’s foiled attempt to flee the Lord’s presence to Tarshish (a city in Spain or modern Turkey). It is the smile on the big fish that gets your attention. My first thought is that he’s savoring a fresh breakfast morsel (Jonah). My thoughts turn to Jonah confined in the belly of the great fish in the depths of the sea – the poor miserable fellow! But it is precisely there that he begins to remember the scripture verses he learned in “Bar Mitzvah School” and starts to pray, and then praise (!!) still in the fish’s belly. Then, suddenly, he is belched forth, and lands back in Jaffa where he first heard the prophetic call of God. Now the benign smile makes more sense. Yes, God, who loves to be gracious and merciful, is having a little chuckle, as he undertakes to restore his impetuous, naughty and wayward child to the path and purpose he has in mind for him. Not that being in the belly of the whale is exactly fun. The bible in some places describes him as a great monster of the deep with as many as seven heads; in other places, Leviathan, which “You (the Lord) have made to play there (in the sea)psalm 104:26. I guess it is all a matter of perspective really. And now that I think of it, the whole story of Jonah is highly comical; funniest of all Jonah himself, a bit of a “sulky”, who is very slow to get the joke and have a good laugh at himself. While I am laughing at Jonah’s story, I get this uncomfortably feeling I am laughing at myself – certain details about Jonah seem too familiar, times in my life & ministry when I chose to ignore God’s prompting. Humbled, I give praise to the God of second chances and ask him to use this little pilgrimage to prove and confirm His call upon my life.

As we move on through the old city Elaine and I are both captivated by the number and design of the doors. They are beautiful! Elaine decides then & there that “doors” will be a photographic sub-theme of our trip. Meanwhile I reflect on how nicely the architectural design of a door hides, and at the same time, hints at and beckons to the interior beauty within. I remember Jesus’ words to the disciples, “ I am the door” (John 10), and as he speaks to the Church in Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7), (I am) the Holy and True One who “has the key of David, who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”. I wonder: “Is there a door of opportunity here, a window of revelation?” We walk by the door of Simon the Tanner (Acts 9), Peter’s host while he ministered in Jaffa. Perhaps you recall the account of Peter’s open vision of heaven on the roof top, Acts 10 – a real faith stretcher and radical turning point in his apostolic ministry. Setting his religious scruples aside he is obedient to the vision and travels up the coast to Caesarea to proclaim the Gospel of Christ and the Promise of the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles. Following in the footsteps of the Saint we too arrive in Caesarea. There, Hans reminds us of what happened to Peter, right in the middle of his sermon when he is preaching about Jesus, the Cross & the Holy Spirit: God steps in and takes over. In the same way, we are to understand our ministry as preamble to what God has in mind. There is much to chew on (meditate) as we make our way inland to Tiberius of Galilee, Shabbat, and the rest of the Sabbath.

 

10 Days In Israel – Day 1 (continued) A Day of Surprise

10 Days In Israel – Day 1 (continued) A Day of Surprise

Thirteen & a half hours later we arrive in Tel Aviv with red eyes but full of excitement at the prospect of what the day holds. (It is still the first day according to the Jewish reckoning of time, each day beginning at the evening before the dawn.) As we make our way through David Ben Gurion Airport – a brand new, “state of the art” building design – we are impressed by how warm and welcoming a space it is. Hans reminds us that we are here as the Lord invited guests; that in fact, no one sets foot on Israel soil except by His expressed will. The gate at the end of the last corridor that opens to the bus depot above is beautifully decorated with large fragments of Cuneiform or similar Middle Eastern script. It stands as a kind of threshold marking the commencement of a journey through time to the rudiments of human civilization and culture and Genesis of all things in God.

Driving into the heart of the city we notice people in masks and costume disguise. Raphe our guide tells us that it is Purim – a great feast of food and drink and the giving of gifts (especially to the needy), in celebration of the God who hides himself in order to work sudden deliverance for his people who are in grave and impending danger. The biblical background to the feast is found in the Book of Esther. The Lord works secretly through the righteous Mordecai and Esther to overturn and destroy the diabolical Haman and his genocidal plot and exalt His people to a place of honor and privilege in the city of their exile (Susa). At the core of the story, is the marvel of God’s masterful timing – which makes me wonder at the “timeliness” of our arrival in Israel. Hans hastens to assure me that this detail had escaped his notice entirely when he was working out the planning details. My thoughts turn to Mordecai, God’s appointed guardian who stands watch at the gates and saves a Persian tyrant and his city from conspiracy to high treason. And I ask myself, as missiles rain down by the hundreds upon the city of Ashdod 40 miles to the south (Israel still has its share of enemies, some at least as old as Haman and the Amalekites ), what guardian role is the Lord calling the Christian Church to play today on behalf of his chosen people Israel? What righteous stand is He calling her to make, whose word exhorts: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: may they prosper that love thee” (psm 122.6)? Then my mind turns closer to home, to the gate city of St. John’s and the Garrison Church of St. Thomas’ , and I begin to pray for the gate keepers of our city – the pastors and Christian leaders, the judges and politicians – that the Lord may order and sustain them in righteousness.

 

 

 

10 Days in the Holy Land : one pilgrim’s journal. DAY ONE

10 Days in the Holy Land : one pilgrim’s journal.

Preface:Dear friends,As I begin this account of our journey to Israel (which will appear in serial form in Sunday’s bulletin over the next few weeks), I can scarcely believe it is already more than four weeks since we returned. What’s interesting is that each time I glance back, I see something new or perhaps, differently – with new eyes and new insight. It strikes me now that this 10 day experience was for Elaine and I a kind of rekindling and deepening of our love for God, a response to his invitation to “return to Him, our first love” (Revelation 2:4). Welcome to the journey.

Day 1 Architecture of Time

The day has arrived. It is only a few hours before departure to Tel Aviv. I congratulate Elaine once again on her fine sense of judgment. Because she voted to rebook our flight a day earlier we are at this moment enjoying a stress free and relaxing wait in the Maple Leaf Lounge at Billy Bishop airport in Toronto, after a good night’s sleep, while St John’s shovels itself out from under another snowy blast of winter. (We are now in total agreement that if we ever contemplate another similar trip we will figure in a day’s grace.) I ponder our good fortune and then turn my mind back to when this adventure was first conceived. Elaine is at work on her computer & notices the name of our friend, Hans Weichbrodt, in connection with an advertised Break Forth Israel Tour. Curious, she explores only to find it is fully booked and there is a waiting list. Still curious, she emails Hans, and within minutes he responds: “You must come! I will call Arlen.” A 24 hour window opens. We reckon together: The dates aren’t a problem. There are some monies remaining from my Mother’s estate. She would heartily approve, a woman who for most of her adult life prayed faithfully for the peace of Jerusalem.

My musings are interrupted by another two pilgrims who join us – a middle aged woman and her grandson. It is his bar mitzvah and Miriam is taking him to Israel to celebrate with family there. I mention that I have brought along Abraham Heschel’s The Sabbath, for a little preparatory read. She nods her approval and we chat a little about the precious treasures that are Israel’s gift to the world, the Ten Commands of the Torah, and the holiness of the Sabbath.

I reflect further, noting in particular, the timely arrival of Heschel’s little book only days before our trip. I am captivated by it. The concept of the Architecture of Time I find especially intriguing – a thought that bears some careful thinking about, – but the gist of it goes something like this. Mostly, people – ordinary people, thinkers, politicians, philosophers, builders, people generally – look, think and work in finite categories of the material world – what he calls architecture of space. The shortcoming of this approach is that at best it is a labor that is never finished, at worst, totally enslaving. The Architecture of Time on the other hand is not limited in this way, but is another kind of building of an interior and spiritual sort, rooted in a memory imbued with eternity, lived out in the daily round of jewish worship and ritual, finding its perfection in the holy rest that is God’s gift of the Sabbath Day. This helps me to clarify my focus for this pilgrimage. 17 years ago when I made a similar kind of journey to Italy it was with the expressed purpose of studying works of Christian art & architecture with camera in hand, (to capture “space” as it were.) It was then a profoundly impacting spiritual experience. But this is not what I am looking for today. Perhaps it is as simple as learning how to enter more deeply in to that holy rest of the Sabbath, the last thing that God made the 7^th day and his special gift to us. As Rabbi Hershel says: “Our Sabbaths are our great cathedrals.” Yes, and I have brought my camera. Who knows, I may find some use for it.

 

Aboding in Christ

Sermon Study Guide – St. Thomas’ Church, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador

 

(Date: 6 May 2012) “Aboding in Christ” 1 John 4:7-21 and John 15:1-8

 

1. In this week’s gospel Jesus begins to talk about abiding in him. The word ‘abide’ is connected with ‘abode’: a place of residence. Jesus wants to take up residence in his disciples, and he wants them to take up residence in him. Have you ever lived in someone other than a family member’s house? What did that feel like? How did you have to behave? Did you ever have a non-family member live with you for an extended period of time? What kinds of struggles did that involve for you? Can you imagine Jesus coming and living in your house? Why or why not? Where would you welcome him and where would you like to have him avoid? If our bodies are the temples of the holy Spirit, then our lives and bodies are where Jesus especially wants to live. Anywhere in your life off limits for Jesus? Why? What can you do about it?

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Leader’s Guide:

Have the group consider the passage about Zacchaeus the tax collector (Luke 19:1-10). Jesus said he was going to abide in his house that very day but Zacchaeus didn’t seem worried at all. Why not? Why wasn’t Jesus worried about being a guest of ‘a sinner” (v.7). How does salvation come to a house (v.9)? What role does willingness to “pay back” (v.8) play in welcoming salvation?

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2. “For anyone who does not love his brother or sister who he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen” (1 Jn 4:20). Wow! These are strong words from Jesus! Jesus is the vine- we are the branches. That was what he said in the gospel As the Body of Christ we are to give life to one another. When we separate ourselves from Jesus and the Body of Jesus then we cannot bear fruit. We don’t go anywhere without our bodies. The Spirit of God is not limited to where the Body of Christ is BUT we are told that wherever the Body of Christ is, there the Spirit of God is. We don’t know everywhere the Spirit is but we do know whenever two or three gather in Jesus name, He is in the midst of them. This is why the way we love one another is so important…essential to our life in Christ. It is a sign (fruit) of Christ abiding/aboding in us and us abiding/aboding in him.

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Leader’s Guide:

There is no proof of God outside of the fruit our lives produce for God’s kingdom:

Our passage can be summed up in three words: “God is love” (vv. 8, 16). This love originates in God; this is the kind of love we have for each other. Being lovers, we are God’s children and we love him (v. 7). If we don’t actively love, we don’t know God – because the very nature of God “is love” (v. 8). God’s greatest expression of love for us, the Church, was sending “his only Son” (v. 9) into the far-from-perfect “world”, thereby giving us a path to godly living (“atoning sacrifice”, v. 10). God took this initiative, this action restoring us to unity with him. So we have a duty to love “one another” (v. 11). It is only through Christ that we can see the Father (v. 12a). The flip side is: if we love our fellows, God (love) is “in us”: fraternal love completes (“is perfected”, v. 12) God’s. The presence of the Holy Spirit is proof that we and God are inter-related (v. 13). Part of this is witnessing and believing who Christ is (v. 14). Being thus in love has a consequence: we need not fear judgement at the end of the era; fear and “punishment” (v. 18) are incompatible: God’s “love casts out fear”. We are called to love both God and are fellows; it is impossible to love our fellows and not God, or God and not our fellows (vv. 20-21).

 

When we separate ourselves from the Body of Christ we separate ourselves from the fellowship where we KNOW Jesus is present! This is why splits in churches is so catastrophic for Christian life and witness in the world. How do you fight the inclination to separate yourself from Christ in your brothers and sisters? What can we do as a parish body to work against the temptation to stop abiding with others in Christ?

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Lord Jesus, thank You that You want to live in me. Help me to trust that You love me so that I will not be afraid to allow You deep within my heart and life. Cast out my fear with Your perfect love. Amen.

 

Sermon Study Guide – St. Thomas’ Church, Easter Sunday – “Seven Words to Live On”

Sermon Study Guide – St. Thomas’ Church, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador

 

(Date: 8 April 2012)   “Seven Words to live on”   Isaiah 53; Hebrews 10; John 18:33-19:end

 

1. 1.    Jesus knew exactly what He was getting into. He knew the prophesies of Isaiah (and all the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures) and knew what would face Him on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, when He would lie in death, trusting in His Father to raise Him. But that was the key: He trusted the Father to raise Him. He trusted that Easter would follow Good Friday and resurrection would follow death. What were the kinds of things Jesus was expecting? What might have surprised Him from the events of Good Friday?

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Leader’s Guide:

Have the group look at the Isaiah passage and “imagine” what people understood that to mean before the crucifixion. Then read the Hebrews passage and connect the dots between Isaiah and Hebrews. How would the early Christians, informed by Jesus’ death and resurrection, and His 40 days of teaching after the resurrection, read the Old Testament in the future (even before the New testament was written)? How does that help us when facing obstacles, suffering and death in our lives?

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1. 2.    Every Good Friday we think on some of or all of Jesus’ seven last words from the cross. They are found spread out through the four gospels. Jesus was strategic in what He said. He didn’t waste any energy on the cross: crucified people did not have much strength left over for idle talk. They were very concentrated on their great pain and struggle to even breathe. But Jesus said seven things that point us to reason for great hope. Read each word and write down something God might want you to hear in this word regarding your own life.

 

First Word: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

Second Word: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

Third Word: “Woman, behold your son!” “Behold your mother!” (John 19:26-27)

Fourth Word: “I thirst!” (John 19:28)

Fifth Word: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)                                

Sixth Word: “It is finished!” (John 19:30)

Seventh Word: “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.”  (Luke 23:46)

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Leader’s Guide:

 

Have the group members share how they see each word reflecting John’s statement: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (Jn 3:16,17).

 

Now have them read it again with this personalised form of the verses: For God so loved me that He gave His only begotten Son, that believing in Him I should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son to me to condemn me, but that I through Him might be saved. Does this version “feel” different? Why or why not?

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1. 3.    A lot of people feel like the object of the Canadian rock group Trooper’s old song “Three dressed up as a nine”. It speaks of people who appear to be something at a distance but when you get up close you see they aren’t really anything worth your attention at all.

You looked a whole lot better to me
From twenty feet away
You’re just a 3 dressed up as a 9
You’re only, wastin’ my time
A 3 dressed up as a 9, hey yeah …

            Because of Jesus death and resurrection for the whole world and for me and you, we may feel like phonies or worthless but the absolute truth (recorded in the Bible and invested in totally by Jesus Christ) is that each of us is seen by God as a “ten”- unique and irreplaceable. How can you counter the false feelings by the Easter truth you know about yourself, when you hear the accusations in yourself or in the world, that you are not worth much?

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The first Good Friday Collect in the Book of Common Prayer reminds us that God sees us as family and family stick up for one another, even when we are being attacked by our own thoughts of worthlessness:

 

ALMIGHTY God, we beseech thee graciously to behold this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen. (BCP p. 174)

 

Happy Easter! Happy new life, God’s beloved Ten!

 

 

 

St. Thomas’ Church Annual Congregational Meeting 2012

St. Thomas’ Church Annual Congregational Meeting 2012

On Sunday March 18^th, 57 of St. Thomas’ parishioners, clergy and staff met to discuss the progress of the church over the past year. The meeting opened with a hymn and a prayer, followed by a welcome by Rev. John-Paul Westin. The list of names of the departed faithful were read out by Rev. Peter Young and time was given for respect and remembrance. Each of the attendants was given a booklet entitled “ Reports and Parish Accounts 2011”, and treasurer Eric Albrechtsons opened the floor for any amendments of its contents. The estate of Ms. Jean E.C. Lewis generated much discussion from concerned parishioners who wanted to ensure that the monies would be used for what they were intended – to preserve the heritage of St. Thomas’ Church, perhaps in the form of a church museum. Mr. Albrechtsons affirmed that this was indeed the plan and that the estate was earmarked for that purpose. Questions arose about the replacement of Rev. Gail Coley MacDonald to which Rev. Westin replied it is going to be discussed at the Vestry Spring Retreat on April 28^th. He mentioned that the church is looking at a new direction of leadership, and rather than replacing Rev. MacDonald we would be raising up people within the church to carry out her individual duties.

Three new Vestry members were acclaimed, and Michele Roberts replaced David Read as the Rector’s Warden. The Cemetery Committee was unable to find a suitable nominee, leaving one of the two seats open. A highly spirited discussion took place surrounding the issue of the Book of Common Prayers (BCP) which has been omitted from the services until the end of the summer as a trial period. Comments from those in disagreement said the BCP was important to their spiritual life and growth, that it is part of the Anglican heritage that should be preserved, and disappointment that it was taken out of the service after being promised it would remain after the combined service was put in place. Those in favour of the move stated it is necessary to make the service accessible for those who did not grow up in the Anglican tradition and that the language of the BCP makes it difficult for them to take part in worship. It was encouraged for members to make their opinions known on paper, which is collected during the offertory each Sunday. The Worship Committee is planning to review all comments and make a final decision at the end of the summer. Comments can also be emailed in to the office.

The meeting was then adjourned, followed by Compline and a closing hymn.

Lent 4 – Sunday, March 18, 2012: MINI BIBLES AND MINI CHRISTIANS (JPW)

Sermon Study Guide – St. Thomas’ Church, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador

 

(Date: 18 Mar 2012) “The Mini Bible make Maxi Christians” Eph 2:1-10, & John 3:14-21

 

1. Many people today feel simply overwhelmed with the complexity of their lives? They wonder what the use of so many of the things that clutter up their existence is. Is that something that you ask: What’s it all for- what difference do you or anything really make? Do you find the responsibilities and pressures of your life wear on you? Do you long to have something a whole lot simpler than what you have? What sorts of things do you find burdensome for you?

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Leader’s Guide:

The Bible teaches that there is actually a very simple truth that is the core to everything. It is a core truth that can enable us to live simply and with passion even in the midst of a very complicated world and life. It is what the Gospel reading is about today and we have all heard it many times before: it is called the Bible in miniature. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 3:16 God so loved the whole world…not just Israel, not just the Church or special people. We are special but so is everybody else. With God we are all special. We know just how this works: we have children. When the first is born you love her 100% and when the second is born you don’t then divide your love 60-40%. What happens when the third comes along? How do you know you are special to God? So who gets to “not perish”? Why? Is that good news?

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2. Almost everyone who goes to church knows John 3:16 (the little Bible). It is on billboards everywhere- and rightly so. But how many know by heart John 3:17? “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Why do you think verse 16 doesn’t flow into verse 17 for many Christians?

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Leader’s Guide:

 

Jesus did not come to condemn but to save the world. Not, “You were so sinful that you needed to be saved”. That may be true but that isn’t what it says. It says, “You were so loved that you were saved.” Not change first and then be loved but be loved first, so that you can be changed by that love. The Jews have a special role and the Church has a special role but God so loved the world. The Jews are here for the gentiles- the church is here for the world. We are to be God’s messengers that God so loved the world but so often we so often seem to say- you need to change first, then you can be loved. Our message is: you are loved, and we pray that message will be received and believed so that the world can then chose to change and live in hope. What do you make of Archbishop William Temple’s saying: The church is the only organization that exists for the sake of non-members?

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3. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (3:18) So why do you think so many Christians engage in self-condemnation and judging others (especially other Christians)? Do you do it?

If we do not believed we are not condemned by God then we will condemn ourselves. The job of the Church is to get out with the good news of God’s love so that people will break the cycle of their own self-condemnation, and then their condemnation of others after themselves (because self-condemnation makes us miserable and misery does love company)! The Church was not saved to be miserable or to spread the miserable news.

 

We have been created for God’s works. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God– not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. (Eph 2:9,10)

 

Saint Paul says we have been created (and redeemed) for good works. That’s it! If we do not believe we are loved, if we do not believed we are not condemned, then we will remain in condemnation and feel as if we are unloved. Then we will not be able to do good works in Christ Jesus. We will be able to do some good things but those things will all be about us, not about the love of God we have seen and believed and received in Christ Jesus. His love frees us to live freely and show people what it looks like to live as free children of God.

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In the Book of Common Prayer, before receiving the Holy Communion of Jesus’ presence in us, we say the Prayer of Humble Access. It helps us hold John 3:16-18 together so that we stay out of condemnation of any kind. It is one of the bet Christian prayers to memorize and use over and over again:

 

WE do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, Trusting in our own righteousness, But in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy So much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, Whose property is always to have mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, So to eat the Flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, And to drink his Blood, That our sinful bodies may be made clean by his Body, And our souls washed through his most precious Blood, And that we may evermore dwell in him, And he in us. Amen. (BCP p. 83)

 

That’s the mini-Bible for you!