April Newsletter

Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,

Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain,

Love lives again, that with the dead has been:

Love is come again like wheat arising green.

(VU #186 Now the Green Blade Rises verse 1)

This past weekend I was out looking at our front flower beds and found bits of greenery poking through the dirt and leaves. Granted most of it was dandelions and grass that had to be pulled out but still....

Spring has sprung!

Spring brings with it the promise of new life, often very welcome after the cold and snow of winter. I know that theoretically we are supposed to look for signs of new life all the time as an act of faith (and indeed there are often signs of new life 12 months a year) spring is the time when we do it most naturally.

Where are you finding signs of life this year? Are those signs of life surprising you?

With spring comes Easter. Easter is all about surprising life, life that bursts forth where we only expect to find death.

In the grave they laid him, love by hatred slain,

thinking that he would never rise again,

laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen;

love is come again like wheat arising green.

Forth he came at Easter, like the risen grain,

he that for three days in the grave had lain,

raised from the dead, my living Lord is seen;

love is come again like spring arising green.

(VU #186 Now the Green Blade Rises verses 2 & 3)

Nobody going to a grave expects to find it open (unless there are grave-robbers in town). Many people in the depths of grief wish their loved one was still alive but don't expect to be told that they are. Easter defies our expectations. Sort of like the greenery I saw on the weekend.

Just days before there had been fresh snow on that flower bed. I suspect there is still frost in the ground under the first few inches of mud. And yet life pushes its way through.

Resurrection is not bringing the old back to life. Resurrection is new life. So it is a bit different than my dormant dandelions. But it is similar in that it shows that life wins. No matter what happens life wins. God is rather stubborn that way.

This Easter finds us with “bad” economic news on almost a daily basis – some of which touches us or people we know very directly. This Easter comes just after the Parliament has approved an expanded role for our military in the Middle East. This Easter, as with every Easter, comes at a time when families are mourning loved ones recently gone, or dealing with bad medical news, or any number of other negatives. If we want we can find signs of death and destruction all over the place. We can let that be very depressing. Or we can turn from the darkness of the tomb and look for new life.

When our hearts are wintry, grieving or in pain,

your touch can call us back to life again,

fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been;

love is come again like wheat arising green.

(VU #186 Now the Green Blade Rises verse 4)

This Easter, where will you find new life? What will make your heart burst into songs of joy?

May God be with us, opening our eyes to the reality of resurrection.

Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed!

GORD

Looking Forward to April 5, 2015 -- Easter Sunday

The Scripture Reading for this highest celebration of the Christian year is Matthew 28:1-10

The Sermon Title is Shaking Life out of Death

Early Thoughts: If Friday was a death that shook the lives of some. It turns out that Sunday started a shaking that continues to vibrate until today.

More than anything else that is what proves there is something to the story. Something happened that changed people so much they went out to change more people. Something happened to convince people that the one who they saw led away to be crucified had transcended or defeated death. Something happened to prove that God had plans that outweighed the worst the world could throw at God.

Talk about an earthquake. Talk about shaking life out of death.

I don't think we get to the meaning of Easter by debating what that "something" that happened was or how it happened.  I think we get to the meaning of Easter by accepting that something happened and asking ourselves what that means.

Easter changes the rules.  Easter changes how we understand life and death. Easter challenges us to look for life in the most unexpected places. If we take it seriously, Easter shakes the ground of our understanding. Maybe in our familiarity with the story we miss that. Maybe we need to rediscover it.

How does resurrection shake your world? What gets shaken apart? What shakes itself into shape?
--Gord

Looking Forward to April 3, 2015 -- Good Friday

The Scripture reading today is Matthew 27:27-61

The Sermon title is Death that Shakes Reality

Early Thoughts: Why do we tell this story every year?

Well in part because if we don't then the core story of Christian faith--the story we will tell on Sunday--makes absolutely no sense. How can there be resurrection with no death?

And in part we tell the story because we believe that there is something different about this execution. Because that is what it is.  An execution. But unlike many executions it is one that shakes the world. Quite literally as Matthew tells it.

Of course much of that earth-shaking power is seen in retrospect, with eyes that know "the rest of the story".  But those who were present that day did not know the rest of the story. Jesus had, as the gospels tell us, predicted that his death would not be the end but did they really believe that?

So this is a death that rocked their world.  They believed great things were about to happen. Instead this happened. Reality shakes us up sometimes.

Then there is the centurion. This death rocked his world too. He saw things totally differently.

What ripples shake us in our comfortable (metaphorically not physically) pews as we read this story again this year?
--Gord

Looking Forward to April 2, 2015 -- Maundy Thursday

This service is a potluck supper with worship intertwined through the meal, culminating with a celebration of Communion.

We will have 2 Scripture readings with a brief meditation following each.

First we will have Exodus 12:1-14 with the meditation Freedom.

Early Thoughts: Matthew Mark and Luke agree that the last supper Jesus share with his friends is the Passover meal (in John's Gospel Jesus dies on the day of Passover, about the time the Passover Lamb is being slain).  And so the life and death of Jesus become tied directly to FREEDOM (which, as Mel Gibson's William Wallace tells us, they can not take away even if they take our lives)

Passover is the meal of liberation and freedom.  Passover reminds us that God works actively to free God's people from slavery.  What does Jesus set us free from?  What enslaves us?

The other passage is Matthew 26:17-30 with the meditation Bread for the Journey.

Early Thoughts:   It is a meal at the center of our faith tradition. From the beginning Christians have broken bread together.  It is the meal which nourishes us in heart and soul and body.  Not because of the food, or not solely because of the food (in the early church it appears to have always been part of a full meal). But also because we declare our faith that when we break the bread together Christ is revealed and present in our midst. Christ present in the loaf and cup renews our soul. The Spirit moving through our gathered community revitalizes us.

And so this meal does prepare us for the next stage of the journey.

Letter from the Presbytery Chair

Brothers and sisters,

Well this was supposed to be the time I wrote a letter for Easter. But it is also the time I need to write a letter around the Comprehensive Review Task Group Report. I wonder if combining them will work.

Well I will try anyhow!

We are entering the holiest of seasons. The three days of the Easter weekend are the reason the Christian faith exists. Sometimes we focus on Friday and execution and oppression. Sometimes we focus on Sunday and Life that conquers Death. But the reality is that this is the heart of our story. In the face of death and violence and the world's “NO!” God responds with a resounding “YES!!!!!”, as yes that continues to echo and reverberate 2000 years later.

And so as we continue to walk the road that leads to Palm Parade, Cross, and Empty Tomb I hope you keep your eyes and ears open for God's YES. It is easy to see the cross, to see the ways we in the world say no. But watch for the yes. Even if it is only hoped for, or glimpsed in a brief second it is there.

A moment ago I suggested that we focus on Friday or Sunday. And in our liturgy and our theology I think we do. But in truth I am not sure we live in either spot. I actually think that as people of faith we live, more often than not, on Saturday.

Saturday is the in-between time. The time of uncertainty. The time of waiting. We profess the hope of resurrection but we wait for “proof” that it will happen. And some years the Saturday feeling is stronger than others.

I think of my time in Atikokan, when the mills were both closed and the plan was that the government would mothball the coal-fired generating plant. We were living on Saturday, knowing so much loss and wondering if there would be new life.

And in the United Church today I think we are living on Saturday. Uncertain about the future. Still mourning a past that may only really exist in our memories. Hoping there is new life yet to be found.

Which brings me to the Comprehensive Review report....

Earlier this month the Comprehensive Review Task Group released their report and recommendations. If you have not already done so you can find the following at http://www.gc42.ca/comprehensive-review-report :

-- the report, containing the 6 recommendations

-- the proposals that are going before General Council

-- 10 backgrounder documents

also some YouTube videos:

-- an invitation to engage in the report

-- an introduction to Recommendation #3: the 3-Court Model

-- an introduction to Recommendation #4: the College of Ministers

-- an introduction to Recommendation #6: the Funding Model

and some other resources:
-- an FAQ document

-- a bulletin insert

-- a PowerPoint slideshow

I ask all of you to read the report and the proposals carefully and more than once.  They recommend a church that will look very different from the United Church that was formed 90 years ago.

As many of you will already know we are planned to have a special Presbytery meeting on April 18^th to discuss this report along with the proposed changes to Manse Fund guidelines (a copy of that document was e-mailed with the minutes from the February Presbytery meeting). At our Executive meeting this morning we decided that it was important that congregations have time to look at and discuss this report before that meeting. And so we decided to change the to April 25^th. This meeting was planned to happen in Spirit River for those who wish to attend in person but that church has a major fund-raiser that day so the in-person meeting is going to happen at St. Paul's United in Grande Prairie. Because it is costly and inconvenient for all Presbyters to travel to a one-day meeting we are also making arrangements for folk to attend electronically. Details about the timing and the technical contact info for this meeting will come at a later time. Because the more connections you have to a virtual meeting mean the more possibilities for a bad connection and because it is often helpful to have more people to gather with rather than being alone in a room staring at a screen I encourage folks in close proximity to each other to gather together for the meeting.

Between now and April 25^th I urge you to take time as congregations to look at the report. Some of you may want to create a Proposal to suggest changes to the recommendations. These Proposals can then be considered by Presbytery and passed on to the Conference meeting at the end of May. To aid in these congregational discussions in encourage you to look at the videos and other resources on the GC42 web-page (see address above). I also offer these questions as ways to spark discussion:

-- as you read each recommendation ask “what problem is this trying to solve?” “does it solve it?” “does it cause new problems?”

--how do you see yourself living in the church as it is pictured?

-- What, if anything, excited you about the report?

-- What, if anything, worried you in the report?

-- Is there anything for which you need more information?

-- Did the report overall, capture your imagination and excitement, or did it make you feel sad, angry or worried?

-- How will your life and church life change if the report is accepted in large part by the commissioners at GC42?

It is easy to read the CRTG report and proposals and become very angry, or very depressed, or both. There is a lot of loss that is going to happen in the next few years within the United Church. The reality is that whatever we as a denomination do with this report a lot of loss will happen anyway as we still need to gut massive amounts from the denominational budget. We can not be the church in the same way that we have been the church since 1925.

But we are an Easter people. We are those who hold a resurrection faith. There will be death and loss but there is also the promise of new life. Jesus said “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24 English Standard Version). The structures of the United Church might die (or possibly collapse altogether) but the faith continues. Where and when will we find Easter in light of the CRTG report?

I look forward (with a bit of anxiety) to our discussion on April 25^th and all the discussions that will precede and will follow.

Yours in Christ,

Gord Waldie

I got Sarah to help me make a video:

Looking Forward to March 22, 2015 -- Sheep and Goats, Serving Christ

This Sunday we will be celebrating the Sacrament of Baptism.

The Scripture Reading this Sunday is Matthew 25:31-46.

The Sermon title is When Did We...?

Early Thoughts:  It is an honest question.  They have just been told they did something they have no recollection of doing.  "When did we do that?" they ask. 

The surprise is in the answer -- when you served the least of my family, you served me.

But I think the best part is that the people did not feed the hungry, clothe the naked, or visit the lonely in order to serve God.  They did it, I think, because that was just how they lived as people of faith.  They did it because they took seriously the commandment to live lives of love.  As one commentator points out, the questions asked by the blessed and the accursed are exactly the same.  The difference is that the blessed aren't seeking to be rewarded, where the accursed appear to be trying to figure out how they can get the reward next time.....

There is an ancient blessing: "May you see the face of Christ in everyone you meet.  And may everyone you meet see the face of Christ in you".  I think this happens when we live out the parable of the sheep and the goats.  Or maybe we live out the parable when we intentionally try to match the blessing.  It is sometimes a chicken vs. egg type of thing.

This is not about serving our friends and family.  It is not about serving those who are "like us".  It is not about building up favour debt that we can call and get repaid.  This is about love.  This is about serving to meet the needs that show up in our path just because they are there.  This, Matthew suggests, is what it means to live in Kingdom ethics. 

So the question for us is indeed "When did we...".  The challenge for us is to know whether we are asking when we met needs or asking when we failed to meet needs.  Not because we expect or hope to rewarded.  Nor to avoid some sort of punishment. Simply because the law of love has been written on our hearts and thereby has changed who we are.  Once so changed, we meet needs because we can.

May God help us to be so changed.
--Gord

Looking Forward to March 15, 2015 -- Day Labourers and Payment

The Scripture Reading this week is Matthew 20:1-16

The Sermon Title is What do You Need?

Early Thoughts: Karl Marx did not like the church.  He said this about religion:

Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. 

And yet there is something distinctly Marxist about this passage.

After all, at the end of the day everybody gets what is considered necessary for survival, even those who only work for an hour.  Doesn't that remind you of Marx's "From each according to his ability, to each according to his [sic] need".

Actually I think God's justice goes beyond Marx (and also beyond St. Paul as it happens).

One of the prevailing concerns of Scripture (some have suggested it is THE prevailing concern but I think that is a bit of an overstatement) is economic justice.  And it appears that in God's understanding of economic justice everyone gets what they need to live.  EVERYONE.  Not based on how hard you work, or who your parents happen to be, or how moral a life you live.  EVERYONE.

And this is where God goes beyond Marx and Paul.  In  2 Thessaloninans we find a principle that was later taken up by the Stalinist regime and fits well with the first half of the Marx quote above:

He who does not work neither shall he eat

But I suggest that God's view of justice is that life is life and so all should eat.  Not that Scripture encourages "freeloading" but that Scripture exhorts us to care for each other and nurture life.  Especially when many who do not have are in need because they cannot (either because of lack of opportunity or because of physical/mental/emotional health limitations) work.  God is not a Social Darwinist, God calls that all may have life (and that in abundance).

And so everyone gets what they need.

Is that fair?

No.  But then where are we promised that life is fair?

And so here is the question.  What do you need?  What do you need to live?  What does your neighbour need to live?  And how do we ensure we all get that?

And remember that in our world we have many day labourers....
--Gord

March Newsletter

I have actually sent Leanne 2 things for the Newsletter this month.  One is a revision of this blog post regarding Physician Assisted Suicide, here is the other:

We Live in a Time of Change – Is it a Curse or a Blessing?

Since early 2013 there has been a group called the Comprehensive Review Task Group working within the United Church of Canada. ON March 3^rd they released their report. It proposes radical (and remember that radical comes from the Latin radix or root) change for us as a denomination.

As I write this I have only read the teaser that was on the website, not the actual report, so I have no firm opinion on what they are proposing. I have preliminary ones but am trying to keep an open mind until I read the report twice (once for my initial emotional reaction and then a second more reasoned read-through.

If you are interested in what they had to say you can find the report (and some other documents surrounding it) here: http://www.gc42.ca/comprehensive-review-report.

It is my intent to give some more information in the April Newsletter. But also I wanted to give a heads-up that sometime after Easter I will host a gathering of interested folk from the congregation to talk about the proposed changes. Presbytery will have a meeting to talk about it on April 18^th so it might be nice if we had a discussion before then.

-Gord