A Prayer for Robin

So, there's a story within this story.  I stumbled upon this old prayer I wrote back in 2018 for my friend Robin when I was doing grief support last week.  Grief is hard, especially for one's first Christmas, and finding ways to support people at this time of year is a passion of mine.  I had forgotten all about Robin's prayer but gave it to the grieving person, then thought about Mary's prayer of exultation when she found out she was pregnant with Jesus.  She was living in similar times, , political tumult and poverty. So I read this for my Advent 4 service last Sunday.  There is a footnote to this:  Robin, who asked for a prayer then let me know she took it with her to Mount Everest.  It was left there with other prayers from around the world.  When I read it last Sunday, one of the visitors in church was a mountain climber and told us that the belief is that prayers left on Mount Everest are shared around the world by Mount Everest's winds which take them around the world.  That coincidence gave me serious goosebumps! The photo here is Robin's group on Mount Everest in 2018.  Not one word has been changed, and yet so much of what is mentioned is still the same even now.

A Prayer for Robin 

Oh Holy Mystery, Great Creator, be with me and my family as we live through these troubled times.  The world seems bent on self-destruction with greed and politics causing war and violence.  Diseases and viruses cause us fear of the unknown.  Tensions arise between Ukrainians and Russians, Jews and Muslims and Christians, terrorists and civilians.  Children and innocents are victims of conflicts that date back centuries, and even famous and beloved movie stars find life too tragic to endure.

Here in Canada there are no bombs dropping or epidemics of Ebola but we still deal with the pressures of daily living, the underlying assumptions that we are not good enough or that we are not doing enough or famous enough or helping others enough or safe enough or smart enough or brave enough.  There are times when we feel that we must be in control of the whole universe and times when we feel that the whole universe is out of control.  Cancers, car accidents, racist acts, conflicts with family or neighbors all add stress and fear to our lives.

Help us remember to search for your loving presence in our days.  Help us to look for signs of hope.  Help us to remember the times when we have seen a rainbow or butterfly, had that phone call from a friend or cuddled a kitten at just the right time.

Help us to remember the inspiring moments when others have touched our hearts with their sensitive art or stirring words.  Help us to remember the thin places we have experienced through nature, music, architecture, art, poetry or drama that have helped us see humanity in all its glorious potential.  Help us to remember that we are not alone in times of trial.  Help us to have the courage to ask for the help that we need when dealing with the demons and dragons of our lives.  Help us to see hope for the human race when we hear of ice bucket challenges that raise money to heal others they don’t even know.  Help us remember the acts of courage of people who want to show us what is happening around our world.  Help us remember the bravery of volunteers who deliver aid in the midst of tragedy. 

Help us too to remember to act with compassion and forgiveness.  Help us remember that time is the greatest gift we can give another, and the most precious tools we can use to help are our own ears.  Help us to be inspired by the one who braved oppression, spoke out against religious intolerance, challenged racist and sexist stereotypes, and did not let cruelty and torture stop his message of your compassionate and sympathetic love.  May he continue to inspire and encourage us as we live each day as a gift you give us.  May we remember Him as we break bread with our family and friends, and may we remember that we truly are never alone in this world of your creating.  In life, in death, in life beyond death, you are with us, thanks be to you.  Amen. 

P.S. the song we picked weeks ago to follow the sermon, which I forgot all about? "Go Tell it on the Mountain" - more goosebumps! May these words bless you and keep you and give you hope wherever you are this holiday season and bless you for 2024.

Canada has signed a peace treaty!

Did you know that the longest standing war Canada has ever been in, ended just last year? Guess how many years this war lasted!  Less than 5 years?  Less than 10? 20?  Guess which country we’ve been at war with?  Russia?  China? The United States?  Or what it was over, oil?  Furs?  Drugs?  Gold? 

The war started in 1978, though some think it had its roots in an arrangement in 1973, so that makes it a 44 year war, although it didn’t get heated until 1984.  The Canadian Armed Forces were involved, both army, navy and air.  The dispute got on national news, tv and radio alike.  Both countries were planning to take their cause to the Hague if they couldn’t work it out.The conflict has involved diplomats, land surveyors, oil speculators, warships and helicopters.  It has taken up years of negotiations.  And lots of people from both countries have written articles, done geological surveys and otherwise contributed to the hostilities.

Now some of you are probably thinking this is about softwood lumber or milk, which is very close, and that’s great outside the box thinking, but it’s not that.  It is a straightforward border dispute over territory that both countries are claiming.  And you maybe thinking that this is with the United States of America, which is quite understandable as it’s our longest border and only country we share a border with.  And there still are a few spots of our boundaries with the U. S. that are still disputed, and of course Canada has lots of unceded territory too.

But this war is indeed over territory, one of the main reasons countries go to war.  An huge amount of land, a whole 1.5 square kilometres, which if the maps are accurate, are the equivalent of from the river valley up to the Burger Bar, from the Athabasca United Church to the Lollipops Thrift Store.  Not very big, but big enough to trigger war.  And the country we were at war with?  Of all nations, Denmark!  You see, there’s an island smack dab in the middle of the ocean border between Greenland and Nunavut.  It’s called Hans Island. And when the original treaty was made between Canada and Denmark over fishing rights between Nunavut and Greenland, it was accidentally left out.  And that’s when the war started.

Now war is ugly and has irresistible forces meeting immovable objects and conflict is challenging.  Although, and maybe you already know where this is going, sometimes conflict can actually be dealt with in healthy ways that build relationships and understanding. In fact, one of the signposts of a healthy congregation is that it knows how to handle conflict respectfully.  That we make sure the conflict is about ideas, not personalities, that we communicate kindly and respectfully, and that we remind ourselves of what is in the best interests of the community of faith, and what is God calling us to.

When ideas rub up against each other, we can get into all kinds of trouble.  We can tie ourselves in knots.  We can demonize the others.  We can choose to go to war against our neighbors, believing that we are superior to them, that our cause is superior, that our ideas are the best, that we are right, even that we are always right.  But we follow a loving God.  One that sees us do all kinds of things that are hurtful to both ourselves and each other.  Even when we disappoint our God, still our God will speak peace to us.  Surely God will bring peace and justice together so that there will be harmony in our world.  And the question is in front of us, do we want to be a part of that harmony, of that movement to bring peace into the world and justice to all?  That’s what our scriptures say God is up to.

One thing that jumped out of the Gospel this morning, other than the fact that there was no Mary heading to Bethlehem or angels or other Christmassy images, is that John came announcing the arrival, the call to get ready.  But he was also humble.  He knew he wasn’t perfect; he knew he didn’t have all the answers, he knew that he would not be the head of the revival efforts.  He would get the ball rolling, but he was not going to join in any conflict with Jesus over who was the best or who baptized the most or who had the most followers.  He had God’s message on his mind, the message that change was possible, hope and peace could come to even the most troubled of lives in the most challenged of countries, was his mission and his purpose.  He respected his role in God’s story, and he respected the role of Jesus in God’s story.  The story of change and growth for the peace of the world.  This was not about fighting Jesus over who was in charge.  He showed deep respect to Jesus.

We saw that respect in our war with Denmark.  Many of you might not know about Hans Island, but you may have heard of it as the Great Whisky War.  You see, this was fought with humor and respect.  The Canadian Navy sailed by Hans Island, stopping to put up a Canadian Flag and leave a bottle of Canadian Whisky.  The Danish fleet some six months later came by, pulled up the Canadian Flag, enjoyed the whisky and dropped a bottle of schnapps and their flag on the island.  This went back and forth for a number of years, until last year when Denmark and Canada decided to show the world that it is indeed possible to end a war without a shot.  They hoped to provide an example and antidote to the kind of mentality that led to soldiers dying in Ukraine and in Gaza. The treaty still needs to be ratified, but that process started in October of 2023.  With probably a good laugh and a shared toast to peace on earth. We now have a second country we share a land border with, and this one has no walls, no border patrols and no customs office.  It is a reminder that peace is not just something we can dream about, but something we can actually make a reality.  And isn’t that a wonderful way to celebrate Advent? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Island

Time for Hope?

Winter can be tough.  We know the cold and the snow is coming.  Which is why it feels so odd in November on a crisp yet sunny day to go outside and hear a flock of birds chirping like nobody’s business.  They sound like they are having a good chat about all the things in life they are going through.  Not something we expect at this time of year.  The noise can be surprising.  Don’t they know that they should be heading south?  Don’t they know what weather is coming their way?  Don’t they know that blizzards are just around the corner?  And yet these perky, chirpy birds flock to the frozen berries that other birds overlook and have a picnic on the frozen Mountain Ash bushes or whatever they find.  They are the epitome of optimists.  I could use a little of their spunk and cheer.         

Unlike some humans, they thrive even when times are challenging.  Unlike birds, we have the ability to imagine, and all too often we imagine that the world is so disastrous that God must be angry at us for some reason.  It’s easy to be discouraged and depressed.  It’s easy to feel like the world is coming to an end and even the sun will stop shining, the moon will cloud over and even the stars will fall out of the sky in a cosmic disaster of untold proportions. 

When we feel like we are surrounded by disasters, when we feel like God hates us, when we feel like we are careening from one disaster to the next, it’s easy to shut down.  It’s easy to over medicate on shopping, decorations, Christmas snacks, phone games, VLTs or mindless pursuits.  One interview on CBC’s The Current this Thursday said that for many people, 2023 is the year where we are languishing rather than thriving.  Languishing is when we feel blah and lackluster but not fully depressed, and when we feel like we don’t have a purpose in life.  We go through the motions with little motivation to try anything new.

Hope seems like a ridiculous pipe dream, something that other people can have but it’s too much work and energy for us.  And so we spiral down into negativity and cynicism.  We give up on life, and we give up on the future.  But that is not what these scriptures are about.  The Psalm finishes with a plea, ‘rest your hand gently upon us.’  And the Gospel has Mark telling of Jesus striding in like some Marvel superhero or Jedi warrior coming in with their superpowers to save the day.  God will come like a magical wizard and make everything right.  Except for one thing.  This was written 2000 years ago and the community, and Mark and even Jesus expected it to happen very soon.  We are still waiting.  What do we do when it still hasn’t happened?

We are to stay alert and ready.  We are to stay smart and aware.  We are to watch for the signs.

One sign that is troubling is the lack of snow after the hottest year on record.  We had dreadful levels of forest fire smoke this summer and without snow, the forest will be even more vulnerable next year.  We struggle to lower our emissions.  We struggle to let go of plastic straws and plastic bags even though they break down into smaller and smaller pieces and we end up with microplastics impacting our environment.  Forbes Magazine wrote a few years ago that there was “an estimated 270,000 tons of plastic floating through the world’s seas.  Plastic trash is found in the guts of more than 90% of the world’s sea birds (ref), in the stomachs of more than half of the world’s sea turtles (ref), and … even … whales.”  These are troubling signs too.

We are called to see the signs around us but as Christians we are not to give up hope.  One of the signposts of thriving congregations is optimism.  One church described it this way, “We trust that God is the author of our future and trust that God is good, we celebrate successes along the way and persevere through tough times.”  Trusting God is a form of deep spirituality, one of the three United Church mission goals.  Trusting God takes practice and patience and prayer.  One minister in the states wrote that she was giving up complaining for Advent.  Not completely, as complaining has its place from time to time, but daily habitual grumping and negativity.  Cynicism is part of languishing, it assumes that the world is never going to have anything positive come, and can be a defense against action.  It’s far easier to say, “that will never work” than to roll up our sleeves and do something.

Cynicism leaves us in an apathetic and negative space.  It allows us to be passive and complacent and helpless.  It gives us permission to be stuck.  It does not lead to solutions, only more problems.

Christians choose to look for the return of Jesus.  It’s not easy, and it takes courage and character.  It recognizes that we live in uncomfortable times.  It recognizes that we don’t have all the answers.  And it recognizes that we are called to be alert for signs and remember to dream of what a God-filled world can be like.  It is like being birds that don’t fly south for the winter but choose to hang around in a cold and snowy climate waiting for spring.  Like the sparrows who stay long after humming birds and geese have taken off, who survive blizzards and -40 wind chills. They sing and chirp and fly, brightening our days.  We can be like them by choosing to dream and hope and be alert to hope.  Let us pray:  God help us to be like the sparrows and choose hope.  Help us to look for signs of your presence, your arrival.  Help us choose optimism as an action plan and a character strength.  Help us to dream of your call to care for the earth and help us remember that you are with us, we are not alone.  Amen.

Haven’t I seen you somewhere?

Ever have one of those moments when you see someone that you think you know from somewhere but you’re not quite sure how you know them?  And you say something like “Excuse me, you look familiar” in hopes that you can figure it out.

It doesn’t take much for me to struggle with faces and remembering who people are.  I was surprised to learn that there’s a condition called face blindness where some people have such a poor memory for faces that they don’t even recognize themselves in the mirror.  I’m not that bad, but when a young man snuck up on me at a concert last March, it took me a whole 3 seconds to recognize him as my own son!  It causes awkwardness when people remember me better than I remember them..  It’s one of those skills people take for granted but it doesn’t come easily, any more than making eye contact is for many neurodivergent people.

So the sheep and the goats in Matthew’s parable didn’t recognize the King when he showed up unexpectedly to sort things out.  Not surprisingly, they were confused and bewildered when the King thanked them or scolded them for his treatment.  They all had face blindness when it came to the ruler of all!

They were surprised to be judged in such a way.  Regardless of whether they were sheep or goats, the shock was great for everyone.  They didn’t expect to be herded into groups, they didn’t expect to be called to account for their behavior, and they certainly didn’t expect the rewards or the punishment they were given. 

Judgement is not a topic we feel comfortable talking about in the United Church.  We preach a more loving God who forgives everything and loves everyone.  And when we define God as infinite love, that’s an easy conclusion to make.  Who can resist infinite love?  But the gospel of Matthew is sprinkled throughout with stories like this.  Stories of bringing down the powerful people who bullied Matthew’s community.

Stories of God making things right, like the words from Ezekiel: “I am stepping in and making things right between the plump sheep and the skinny sheep. Because you forced your way with shoulder and rump and butted at all the weaker animals with your horns till you scattered them all over the hills, I’ll come in and save my dear flock, no longer let them be pushed around. I’ll step in and set things right between one sheep and another.”

We all know what it’s like to be butted by a stronger person.  It leaves us feeling vulnerable, anxious and frustrated.  We struggle to figure out how to respond.  Should we butt back?  Should we run away?  Sometimes we turn around and butt someone else instead.  We may not intend to become the one who butts others, but it happens.  Some of us don’t even realize that we are butting people.  God is not impressed.

At a workshop on Tuesday for clergy in Norther Spirit Region, there was a guest speaker who talked about his community’s project to reduce butting.  It was called “Voices Against Bullying” and it was started after a 14-year-old boy was killed on the grounds of his high school.  Research and resources were developed to help families, teachers and children learn about ways to reduce bullying in schools.  They consulted specialists and made presentations.  They found a simple way to teach kids about bullying using the picture of a seesaw.  Sometimes people seek power over others, what we call bullying behavior.  Sometimes people seek power under others, what we could call victim behavior.  We can also call it win lose and lose win.  What we really want, and what God wants, is power with, or win win, a balanced seesaw.  God calls us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves which means to not let someone bully us, nor let ourselves bully others.  When we are in an uncomfortable situation, we can ask ourselves about who is getting the power and who needs the power. That can help us get to a win win or balance.  Easier said than done. 

For those who feel powerless, and we probably all feel that from time to time, it is a great comfort to know that God will come and sort out those bullying sheep, those arrogant goats.  But as one wise theologian said, as soon as we sort people into those bullies and us victims, we are causing problems too.  He said that we shouldn’t assume we are the innocent heroes and they are the bad guys as it keeps us feeling self-righteous and smug and does nothing to rebalance the see saw.  It is a form of bullying in itself.  We strive to have power over the other people and their hurtful behavior, and we refuse to see that they might be hurting too.  We pretend that they are bad goats, not good sheep and can feel complacent or satisfied that God will get them.

The reality is more complicated, of course.  We are all human, and for the most part have all known what it is like to have little power and lots of power.  But as Christians, our role model is Jesus, whom we call divine Prime Minister, Ultimate President, King of kings, who is guiding both sheep and goats alike.  And we remember that Jesus, the king of kings, became a servant and asked us to be servants to each other.  In as much as you have been full of empathy for your neighbor, in as much as you have chosen power with instead of power over or power under, in as much as you have strived to understand others and treated them with respect, you have done this to Jesus.  What a powerful call and powerful message!  May we grow in wisdom, understanding, compassion and healthy servanthood, may we recognize the face of Jesus in everyone we meet.  Amen.

Message: Taking Risks

$450,000 dollars!  What would you do if Danielle Smith walked in and handed you $450,000? Or you happened to be in the audience of an Oprah Show and she said, “you get money and you get money and you get money, everybody gets money!”

And the dollar bills start falling from the ceiling and everyone goes nuts!  Wow! Look at it all!  Woo hoo!  Money!

Now you may be saying, hold on a moment, the people in today’s parable didn’t get almost half a million dollars, they got a measly talent.  Why are you blowing this out of proportion? After all, we know what this parable is about.  It’s about wise investing and not just our money but our skills and aptitudes, right?

Well, yes and no.  It’s easy to overlook this particular parable because we’ve heard it so many times.  Same old same old.  But we forget that parables were told by Jesus to shock his listeners.  The stories were like a defibrillator to their souls, to surprise them and help them think of the world in a new light.  Jesus didn’t intend this story to be boring or predictable!

So let’s put it into a bit of context.  First of all, remember that he is talking about a master and his servants in the Roman empire.  Chances are they are not servants, they are slaves.  They don’t have the right to go on strike or switch jobs without permission.  They do what they are told and they don’t need resumes because they have the job for life.  No retirement plan either unless they have a compassionate master.  But they get two square meals a day and a roof over their heads if they are working hard.  And it’s all about pleasing the master because if you don’t, you could be out on your ear and homeless at the snap of a finger without a severance package, a recommendation or anything other than the clothes on your back.

The master decides to leave his slaves in charge as he goes on a long journey.  He hands them some money.  A talent, which in the Greek is talanton which meant weight, probably the equivalent of a ton of gold or as one commentator said, 15 year’s wages for an average citizen.  That’s what the third slave gets, 15 years wages! 

So at $15/hour, 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, over 15 years, a talent is about 450 thousand dollars!  The other two slaves must have been even more astonished.  The first got two and a quarter million dollars, the second got almost a million.  No wonder they invested that money in some kind of interest-bearing project.

The third slave got considerably less, probably because the master knew he wouldn’t be able to wrap his mind around such a huge sum of money.  But still, almost half a million dollars without any instructions is a pretty impressive windfall for anyone.

How many of you would throw half a million dollars into a clay pot and dig a hole in the back yard and bury it there for safe keeping?  Or would you throw it in a checking account?  I think most people would figure out some way to earn interest, it’s a bit of a no brainer.  Back in the time of Jesus, burying a few coins was not unusual, it was similar to putting money into a mattress.  Back then there were no bank machines on every corner and no credit cards.

So, the third slave buried his money to keep it safe.  Then when the master came back, the slave came up with a million excuses as to why he did nothing with the money.  He didn’t want to take a risk with the money.  He didn’t trust the master’s judgement, he didn’t want to disappoint him, and he didn’t want to take a chance.    And he tried to shift the blame to his master.  It’s your fault I don’t take risks.  It’s your fault I want to make sure to please you. 

Except this cautious approach didn’t please the master.  The excuses didn’t land well especially since the other two slaves did invest their windfall.  The third slave could have simply asked the first two for advice on where to invest.  Instead, he chose the easy way, the simple way, the way that didn’t take him out of his comfort zone.  He chose not to risk.

One of the six hallmarks of a thriving church is the willingness to take risks.  In fact one minister described their thriving church as one that had a high risk appetite. He said “we're comfortable with failure and excited to try different things to get different results.”  Sounds like they take this parable to heart!

Taking risks might be as simple as sharing our events on Facebook even though we get push back.  Taking risks might be wearing a rainbow pin.  Taking risks might be challenging people to not gossip about others.  Taking risks might be coming to our Trans day of remembrance potluck tomorrow evening where we will commemorate people who risk their lives just by leaving their homes to shop for groceries.  Taking risks might be trying a new mission idea to help our community become safer for others. Taking risks might be handing out sandwiches to our neighbors.

As Jesus said, a life with zero risk is a terrible way to live because it means that fear drives every choice we make.  And as Paul wrote, we are children of honesty, called to live lives of openness, trustworthiness and compassion.  We are called to live with courage and with encouragement and with risk taking because God has trusted us with abundance and sees us as talented and beloved.  May we see ourselves as God sees us, capable of risk and courage as we live into God’s vision of what the world could be like if we loved and worked as Jesus did.  Let us be grateful risk takers for God’s vision! Amen.

Waiting with light

The hardest part of being a Christian is waiting for Jesus.  It’s not an easy topic as we can get mired in the hoopla and hysteria about the ‘second coming’ that has generated a bunch of silly ideas.  The bumper stickers that say “in case of the rapture this car will be driverless” or cartoons describing the way to scare fundamentalist Christians is to get a bunch of human-shaped helium balloons released in the air!  In this scripture, Jesus doesn’t talk about people learning how to defy gravity but about people being prepared. The wise virgins were ready with reserves while the silly ones ran out of what they had and didn’t think to get more until it was too late.

Of course, we want to see ourselves as wise and not silly.  We want to have reserves for when the Bridegroom arrives and the party starts.  And we recognize that the party has been waiting for a very long time.  The party where the Prince of Peace lives among us and the Community of Heaven is fully realized.

How do we keep prepared when it feels like the wait for justice and peace has been going on for as long as humanity has existed?  How do we find the energy and light to keep hoping and praying for peace for all who live on this big, beautiful planet? How do we find resiliency when times are hard, when people are divisive, when empathy seems to be at a new low, when politics are based more on conspiracy than facts, when leaders and scientists don’t speak with consensus or from self-interest rather than from what is best for us all, when global warming is dire, but war takes up more energy than peace?

How do we keep our lamps lit?  How do we wait wisely?

Joshua did it by setting an example of commitment to God.  “As for me and mine, we will serve God” he said, and he reminded people how they were rescued from slavery.  Most of them were the children and grandchildren of slaves, but they remembered their parents and grandparents telling them what slavery had been like and how hard it had been to wander in the wilderness until they accepted the fact that they were fully reliant on God for their survival.  That acceptance was not easy, and the book of Exodus is full of stories of Moses trying to get them to rely on God instead of looking back to the days of slavery where everything was decided for them.  They were told where to work, where to live, when to eat and when to sleep by their overlords. 

In the wilderness, every day was a choice, and every place they stayed had hidden temptations.  Let’s build a golden calf, let’s complain because we’re thirsty, let’s complain because we’re hungry, let’s complain because we got bitten by snakes and so on.  Every time they complained, Moses reminded them who they were, the children of Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Leah and Rebecca.  Then Moses reminded them of what they had escaped.  The mindless slavery and petty abuse, the whips, the microaggressions, the racism and the times where they lived in fear that their babies would be killed on the whims of a power-hungry Pharaoh King. 

Joshua did the same to the people.  And in this scripture, he was about to lead the people into a new land where they would build homes, plant crops and live more stable lives than before.  But he warned them not to forget their past.  He warned them that following God had to be more than lip service.  It had to be a total commitment to living in a covenant relationship with God.  It wouldn’t be easy either.  “Our God is a jealous God” he said, a God that wanted more than a promise made one day and forgotten the next.

The parable of the 10 bridesmaids is also about commitment beyond lip service.  It’s not about just accepting Jesus into our hearts and we all live happily ever after.  The five silly bridesmaids knew the bridegroom, and even called him Lord.  That was not enough to get into the party. 

We don’t know why the silly ones were not more prepared.  Maybe they focused on getting their dresses just right and their hair just so.  Maybe they didn’t want to think about the future.  Maybe they were too busy having a good gossip fest or maybe they were tired and apathetic.  For whatever reason, they ran out of oil for their lamps. They failed in their duty to be light bearers for the bridegroom.

God wants more than lip service.  God wants to invite us to join in a wedding party like no other.  That’s hard to do when we feel caught up by the many gods competing for our attention.  It means remembering that God rescues us again and again from the slavery of addiction, anxiety, pessimism, worry and fear.  God feeds us again and again with our daily bread when we trust that God is with us even when we wander in the wilderness. 

Interestingly, the commitment the bridegroom needed from the bridesmaids, and that commitment Joshua asked from his followers is a big signpost of thriving United Churches in Canada.  Congregations that are thriving consistently talk about the importance of being committed to God.  They practice being positive about the future and trusting that God is leading them.  They are prepared to light the way for others to find the healing that they have experienced in their communities of faith, and they are intentional in choosing God at the core of all they do.

May we find the courage and conviction to turn away from the many false gods that clamor for our allegiance, to the true God who invites us with love.  May we put oil in our lamps as we wait for the bridegroom who will bring us into the great wedding banquet that never ends.  Amen.

Lest We Forget

Did you know that a scandal broke on the United Church of Canada that was so divisive that it had some wondering whether or not it would survive?  The year was 1939!

In the short ten years after union, the United Church talked about many things bold and daring. They talked about the shortage of jobs for newly ordained and commissioned clergy, how there were not enough students going to school, and how congregations struggled during the great depression to meet the needs of many desperate people.  The church also debated the importance of Jesus as a peace-maker. The 1936 general council voted on being committed to peace, declaring “it’s determined opposition to war”[1] which sounded good and noble. But then Hitler rose to power. War was declared by Britain and Canada in September of 1939. A month later, 68 United Church ministers signed “A Witness Against the War”, thinking that with the previous declaration, it would be an acceptable witness to the importance of peace.

Instead, it sparked outrage, with newspaper articles across the country condemning them.  They were accused of everything from treason to naivety.  They were seen as unchristian, cowardly, and being in league with Hitler himself.  The backlash was so intense that 4 ministers were fired, including Rev. Robert Edis Fairbairn, the organizer of the petition.  Other ministers kept their pulpits, and one fellow in Toronto found his congregation growing because of his unpopular stand.  Still other clergy, like the one pictured above, the Reverend William Alfred Seaman, signed up to be a chaplain in the Canadian Armed Forces.  Padre Seaman left his congregation in Nova Scotia and arrived in France just after D-Day in 1944.  As a chaplain, he helped stretcher bearers and did first aid on the battle front.  On July 14 while rushing to retrieve wounded soldiers in Normandy, he was hit by an exploding mortar shell. He died of an infection a week later, on his tenth wedding anniversary.  [2]

Rev Seaman didn’t wear fancy outfits, he didn’t go parading around in public showing off how holy he was.  Nor did Rev. Fairbairn his fellow clergy colleague.  They were doing their best to model what they thought God was calling them to.  They put their faith into action.  Some folks might have thought their sacrifices were controversial, or unnecessary or part of their duty as Canadian preachers.  But these leaders witnessed to the best of their abilities to who they thought Jesus was.   And they knew, in a way that I hope none of us here will ever know, the cost of putting their convictions to the test and living up to the gospel. 

Jesus would have approved. He didn’t have respect for hypocrites whose faith didn’t cost them anything.  He didn’t care for religious scholars more interested in appearances than in God.  He disrespected spiritual leaders who were more interested in who they knew, or how much influence they had or what special privileges they got for knowing the right people.  He learned this from prophets like Micah.

Micah had the same disrespect for people who use their authority to make the lives of less powerful people miserable.  Micah spoke out against injustices done against innocent people.  And yet, while Micah pulled no punches, we have to be more careful and intentional in our words.  Micah was Jewish, we are not.  Micah was able to separate his faith community from the political leaders who claimed they were acting in the best interests of the faith community.  This is not easy in our day.

There have been times when the United Church has been accused of antisemitism by Jewish organizations.  Whenever our church has asked questions about conditions of people in Gaza, we had to be careful. We hosted visits to the Holy Land that included trips to Palestine or Gaza.  Our support of fair-trade initiatives means that many households have bottles of Zatoun Olive Oil from Gaza farmers.  We have Christian and Muslim partners in Gaza who have worked for mutual peace for a long time, as well as Christian and Jewish partners in Israel doing the same.  Somehow, we must not choose sides for one political group or another but choose the side of those who don’t have a voice, the peaceful farmers, the pregnant moms, the kidnapped concert goers, and the many children of both faiths who have died because of this war. If Ireland could end the dreadful warfare nicknamed 'The Troubles', if South Africa could end Apartheid, if the United States could end racial segregation of everything from busses and toilets to restaurants and schools, surely it is time to end the violence in the Middle East.

What can we do to help?  We can go to https://united-church.ca/social-action/act-now/humanitarian-crisis-middle-east It will take you to information on United Church partners in Gaza and Israel, where you can make a donation, matched by the Canadian Government, that will send aid to victims of the war.  There are also prayers to read and a form to write a letter to your member of parliament about how you feel about what’s happening.  If you have a phone, call your MP or call the United Church at  1-800-465-3771 to donate..  Remind your friends and neighbors that neither antisemitism or islamophobia, both of which are on the rise this month in Canada, are a healthy response to what is happening in the Middle East.  Two wrongs don’t make a right.

On Remembrance Day, may we be willing to say that violence is not the best solution, and that both sides need to come together to stop this ancient vendetta.  Jesus was Jewish and taught us to love all our neighbors whether they practice our faith or not.  He would want us to act according to our consciences as both Reverends. Fairbairn and Seaman did even though one protested the war and the other died in the war.  May we find their courage to work for peace in our troubled times. Amen.

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[1] P 52 The United Church of Canada A History by Don Schweitzer

[2] Chaplain among those Lost in Normandy 75 Years Ago | The United Church of Canada (united-church.ca) accessed November 2, 2023