Walking the Road
“Walking the Road”
Luke 24: 13-35
I think most of you know I didn’t grow up in the church. When I was growing up I did typical “kid stuff”. I played with my friends, I played sports, I went to school… normal stuff. But there was an interesting trend when I moved into junior high. It seemed I started hanging out with a different crowd, my old friends were still my friends, but I didn’t see them as often. Usually because I was busy with sports 12 months of the year while they chose different activities. By the time I hit grade 10, I was hanging out with a whole different crowd for the most part. I was still friends with everyone, but already we had started down different paths in life. We had already begun to drift apart, despite the fact we were all best friends for so many years.
There were a number of personal challenges I dealt with in high school, that I won’t go into here, that could have led me down any number of roads in life. As I look back at those years, I see that if I had chosen to give in to even one of those temptations, my life might have turned out differently. Like many teenagers there was the constant pressure to succeed; the pressure to be responsible, but also the pressure to not be responsible and try harmful things. Somehow, like many, I managed to navigate the treacherous waters of high school and make it to university.
It was a dark time in my life. When I made it to university I used to go for long walks and just wonder what had happened to make high school so tough to navigate. Why did I feel like I was losing my mind? Where did I lose all my friends? Why was I all of a sudden feeling completely alone? And yes, I did shed some tears on those late night walks. read more…
Election Reflection
Well, that’s not exactly what I envisioned happening.
This election generated some fear within me as it progressed. There were a number of possible outcomes which disturbed me. One was the NDP forming a minority government, the other was what we ended up with, the Conservative majority. What I was hoping for, as a best possible outcome would have been a Conservative minority with a strong Liberal and NDP presence to keep them accountable to all Canadians.
Instead, we saw a huge surge by the NDP in Quebec, and widespread vote-splitting on the left which gave the Conservatives their desired majority and a deflated Liberal party.
But what surprises me the most about this election is the fact Michael Ignatieff lost his own riding. This completely boggles my mind. Here we have an extremely intelligent, very well spoken and articulate leader who, in my opinion, is a fine leader and he lost in his own riding. I guess it goes to show attack ads do work, and this saddens me. As my wife said last night, “I’m not sure when ‘smart’ and ‘educated’ became a dirty word.”
I had hopes that we were above such petty campaigning, but I was wrong. As I looked over the platforms of the parties, I felt the Liberals had the overall strongest one for all Canadians. But somehow the platforms never really made it onto the national media stage. I guess the good news is they know they have 4 years to figure out how it all went wrong.
Locally, we had very good candidates and I congratulate them all on a well run, respectful campaign. We will continue to be well represented by Mark Eyking. I’m sure we all wish Cecil Clarke well as he mulls his future, and Kathy MacLeod as she returns to her work as well.
I’m not going to join the Conservative bashing this morning. They won, there’s nothing we can do about it. We may not be happy with our electoral system today, but it’s the one we’ve been using for a while now, and it’s not likely going to change any time soon.
The sun still rose this morning and Canada is still the best country in the world to live in. Let’s embrace our nation, let’s pray for all the MPs who are packing for a move to Ottawa. Let’s pray for our Prime Minister. Let’s pray that the words of Jesus ring loud and clear, “That which you do to the least of these who are my brothers and sisters, you do also to me.”
God still reigns, and let’s pray His will be done in Canada.
Breathing in the Words – Sermon, May 1, 2011
“Breathing in the Words”
Ezekiel 37:1-14; John 20:19-31
Winter is over… I hope, and we are starting to see the new growth happen around our homes and gardens. The grass begins to green, the buds are starting to sprout on the trees, flowers begin to grow and bloom, birds begin to sing. This really is a wonderful time of year as we start to see the awakening of the earth after the long sleep of winter. Of course this means the bugs are starting to come out too, but that’s a whole other story. We don’t need to go there today.
There’s just something about spring that lifts our spirits. There’s more energy in our footsteps. Our homes feel fresher now that we feel we can open the windows and let the air blow through. Children can get outside and run and play and cheer and laugh with one another. We shake off the tired sleep of winter and come to life with the sprouting of spring! read more…
What a Mess!
One sure fire way to know if a major Christian festival has taken place, and you don’t have a calendar around, is to look at your pastor’s desk. If you can find it.
The season of Lent and the Easter celebrations have come and gone, and we now bask in the glow of the risen Christ, or maybe it’s the cumulative effect of the light shining of the piles of white paper that have piled up around me as I tended to the events surrounding these days.
As I clean my desk, discovering mail that needs to be sent, mail to be opened, notes to myself, musical pieces, receipts, long lost villages, all kinds of interesting things that fell to the bottom of the pile, knowing I would get to it “when I had the chance.”
So after some time of hard labour, my desk is cleaner now. The recycle bin is ready to be emptied in time for garbage day tomorrow, and there are just a couple of small piles that need to be filed or directed to other people in the church.
As I went through these piles of papers, I mentioned I found some mail that had to be taken care of, some to be sent, some to be opened, but I was distracted from all these things because I was focusing on the work had be done just to get through the days. Had I not stopped to clean my desk, who knows when I may have found these things!
When I look at our churches, how many of us are just looking at what has to get done now(!!) and not focusing on the bigger picture. How many of us are getting lost in the clutter that builds around us? How many of us really need to do a spring cleaning of our spiritual selves in order to get back to the basics of what it means to follow Jesus Christ?
Maybe we do need to clean out our hearts and minds. Maybe we do need to start with a blank slate again. We need to connect with the reason we are doing what we are doing, and by cleaning out the clutter, maybe we can see what really needs to be done!
The church needs a new direction. It needs to find a place where it can bask in the new life offered in the resurrection of Jesus Christ!
Just throw out the junk and find him! He’s under there somewhere!
And he’s waiting for us.
The First – Easter Sermon, April 24, 2011
“The First”
Matthew 28:1-10
Over the last week, through our sharing in devotional lunches and worship, we’ve been focusing on the people around Jesus in his final days. On Monday we looked at the Pharisees and their fight to hold onto the positions of power. On Tuesday we looked at Judas and his inability to receive the love of Christ, which in turn led to his betrayal. On Wednesday we looked at Peter and his denial of Jesus. On Thursday we looked at Pontius Pilate and his decision between doing what is right and protecting his position of power within the Roman Empire. On Friday we looked at the Roman Centurion and his response to the crucified Jesus on the cross, and the praise he offers. This morning at our sunrise service we looked at John, the disciple whom Jesus loved.
There are many stories in the people who were around Jesus in his final days. Acts of greed and pride. Acts of betrayal. Acts of denial. Acts of wonder and amazement. And acts of belief.
In our reading this morning, we hear of the experiences of two more women. The two Mary’s who have come to the tomb first on this Easter morning: Mary Magdalene and Mary wife of Clopas, two of the three Mary’s who were at the cross. The third Mary, who is missing in this story, is the mother of Jesus. It’s no surprise she has not come to the tomb with the others as she would be mourning herself, letting others come to anoint the body with oils. read more…