WINDOW DEDICATION
[holding lamp]
Jesus told his followers that they are lights of the world -
like shining cities on hilltops and room-illuminating lamps. He seems to be saying that we are supposed to
noticed in the world.
For two millennia, we have done this by sharing Jesus' good news
message of God's compassion and forgiving grace through word and action.
The early Christian Church grew by overcoming differences and
living out a practical gospel that helped feed people's spiritual hunger.
This gospel moved out of Jesus' homeland and beyond his own
faith and cultural tradition so that, now, modern followers of Jesus can be
found on every arc of this globe.
More than 100 years ago, migrants from Europe brought the Jesus
story to this part of the world, including those immersed in the Methodist and
Presbyterian traditions. Under these
banners - and eventually as the United Church of Canada - congregations
nurtured hearts and souls in the Millet area and surrounding Pigeon Lake.
Today, with gratitude, we honour the faithful servants of St.
James UC in Mulhurst, Millet UC, and MaMeO UC. They were lights of Jesus'
gospel in the world for many decades and stewardess our faith through eras of
great change in Alberta. From a time
before electricity to information sharing at the speed of light, these three
churches shone in the communities south of Leduc and Beaumont.
If you have been part of the Millet, MaMeO or St. James United
Churches please stand or wave your hands.
In their own times, each of those congregations transitioned
into new ways of being part of God's wider mission. MaMeO, Mulhurst and Millet each decided that
the church and its people (along with wider communities) could be best served
by sharing the remaining abundance of their congregations to enhance the
ministry of sister and brother churches in the region.
Last year, St. David's UC, was one of several grateful
recipients of legacy gifts from the Pigeon Lake - Millet churches. These gifts are already adding to our
ministry through the regular work of the congregation, the wider work of the
UCC's World Development and Mission and Service Funds, our Building-Ministry
Fund and our Memorial Committee.
The St. David's Memorial Committee has created this special
window - through which the light of God's universe will shine in colour and
beauty - as a lasting reminder of the fine ministries of the United Churches in
the Pigeon Lake and Millet areas.
Let us dedicate this stained glass window in prayer:
Gracious God, our lives are awed by the beauty of your
creation. As we look across open fields,
along shorelines, and enjoy the teaming activity of boreal forests, we see your
creative touch.
In this window - created by talented human hands - we see powerful
symbols of your creation interact with church symbols of your power of life
over death. We seek to be reminded (as
the apostle Paul wrote) that we are never separated from your love.
We dedicate this window to be part of your everlasting story in this
place. Amen.
(prayer)
The world is not the same
today as it was when guardians of the
Christian story first settled in this part of North America that has had
many names over the eons of time - now
most commonly called 'Alberta'.
It is a sad (but true) part
of this history, that the christian migrant settlers (mostly from Europe) came
to this land with an attitude of manifest destiny - the belief that it was
destined that european culture and religion should replace whatever
spirituality and culture had already developed in these areas - that God had
endowed them with the divine purpose of dominating this "new" land (new:
from a european perspective).
//
In and beyond churches, our
society is finally coming to terms what this dogma meant to the indigenous
people of Turtle Mountain (an ancient
description of North America) in their ability to develop and evolve their own
societies in atmospheres of peace and respect - within the context that humans
were developing more efficient and faster ways to travel between continents.
//
Ancient human migration
over the land bridge from Asia and European imperialistic expansionist has
changed this part of the globe.
In and beyond the church,
enlightened people (not so burdened by manifest destiny) are allowing
themselves to see that we are part of a much more complicated and diverse
world, where we (in the language of our church) feel called to 'live with
respect in creation'.
//
//
The north american founders
of the christian faith changed this part of God's creation, including impacting
the people who were already living together in this land - some change is
beneficial, some detrimental. But the
undeniable fact is that...
All change leads to some
level of loss. And loss is challenging
to cope with.
//
With no judgment one way or
the other, we can only profess that our world today is that much more different that the one our forebearers knew when
they built the first Presbyterian and Methodist churches on these lands.
//
I belive that it is the
obligation of well-intentioned people of
faith to be trying (continually) to make sense of our place and purpose in
the world.
This involves both an
honest and critical evaluation of history and an imaginative and realistic
vision of what we hope future historians will say about our time.
//
To me, it makes no sense to
act as if the world hasn't changed or that, even if it has, we can live in a
bubble of attitudes and practices of the past.
To me, it makes more sense
to understand the wisdom from our history and traditions, in light of our
ability to shine in the world of 2016
and beyond.
//
And so, this is the lens through which I invite
us into
the scripture passages from 1st Timothy and Luke which we heard read today.
//
//
//
The New Testament letter of
First Timothy, although presented as the work of the the Apostle Paul, is more
likely a late first century teaching for the early church (in the traditions
from those who carried on after Paul's mid-century death in a Roman prison).
This letter, along with
Second Timothy and Titus, speak to how the church was evolving into the
realities of the world - six or seven decades after the days when Jesus walked
the earth.
As a group, these three
letters are collectively known as The
Pastoral Epistles because they sought to help church leaders shepherd
people into a new time.
//
The section we heard today
draws on the remembered story of Paul's humble experience of going through a
personal transformation with respect to how he viewed the movement that emerged
from Jesus' influential ministry.
Paul's first perspective
was that these Followers of The Way
were a threat to what he viewed as an authentic life of faith.
We first meet Paul (in the
narrative of the book of Acts) as an encouraging witness to the stoning
execution of the early church leader, Stephen.
Paul channeled his zealous
attitude into becoming an official agent of the Jerusalem Temple travelling to
outlying synagogues with the intent of arresting any 'christians' he found
there.
He grew a reputation as an
effective and efficient opponent of the church.
But...
...along the way, something
happened (within the heart and mind of Paul) that transitioned him from a persecutor to a proclaimer of Jesus' gospel.
//
//
What we heard in 1st
Timothy was the story that was remembered in the early church about how this
transformation impacted Paul.
Think about it - his role
as a persecutor/prosecutor of the church was founded on a believed-certainty that those who
opposed 'the faith' deserved harsh judgment.
When (according to the Acts
account of what happened) Paul was convinced to look at the christians
differently, he may have expected a similar treatment.
No doubt, there was some
reasonable scepticism as to Paul's sincerity, but he found that he was welcomed
with compassion and the sharing of the collective wisdom of the community.
Paul was a recipient of a
graciousness that he wasn't willing to offer to others himself.
And this changed him.
It humbled him.
//
Paul looked back on his
first actions against the followers of Jesus and described himself as ignorant
and unworthy - he called himself the
foremost of sinners.
But he couldn't escape the
fact that these self-deprecating characteristics did not exclude him from holy
grace, holy patience, holy mercy and holy love.
Paul would share this story
with groups of believers as a way of saying:
if God loves and strengthens a person with a record like mine, God's
grace surely has no limits.
To put it another way:
Paul's experience with the lived-out holy love by followers of Jesus' Way
showed him what God's patient mercy was all about.
//
//
The parable stories that
Jesus tells (in Luke 15) also express a believe in divine patience and mercy,
but it takes it to another level.
Paul found himself accepted
when he had a change in heart. When he
came into the early christian community, he found that he had a place.
In the two stories Jesus
told, mercy is not simply patient - willing to wait for that which is lost to
find its way home. Mercy is
proactive. It is determined to find that which is lacking acceptance and
compassion. Finding the lost is done by exposing the world to the light of
God's grace by being out in the world; by visiting the dark and lonely places.
//
Therein lies the dual paths
of the compassionate church:
Welcoming In and
Reaching Out
//
//
These ministries (to have
any value or purpose) must be lived out within the context
of our society today.
150 years ago, within the
context of manifest destiny, seeking the lost required no understanding of any
other perspective than our own. The goal
was to create a society that looks like us.
When we looked into the face of others, we only wanted to see
ourselves. Others were welcome: on the
condition that they adopt our perspective only.
For me, in our day, when I
think about that approach, I keep asking myself: where was the grace?
To those who still think
this way, I ask: where is the grace?
//
I believe that the
community of the church is not (and never should be) static. The early christians called their movement
"The Way". We do well to reclaim
the attitude that faith is about
movement - a journey. Faith is about
appreciating the changes in perspective that comes from being on the move - on The Way.
Each time we welcome in, we
are changed by the addition of new experiences expanding the totality of the
community.
When we reach out and shine
the love of God into a place where there may be a longing - a hunger and thirst
for spirit - the story of those warmed by that light become part the story of
who we were... the old story is replaced with a more complete tale that makes
no distinction between 'us' and 'them'.
//
//
Like Paul, the view we have
of ourselves can be distorted. We can be
distracted by an imperfect image of our best potential. We can learn (from voices within us or
without us) that we are not worthy.
A lesson from our bible
readings today is... we are unconditionally embraced by divine compassion:
'Amazing Grace' to quote hymn writer John Newton.
//
We are more than the sum of
our shortcomings, more than our regreted choices, more than our
self-deprecating sense of unworthiness.
We are 'art of god' -
handiwork of a compassionate creator.
And we are worthy of the
gracious compassion of God that envelopes our whole being.
Becoming aware and
accepting of this divine compassion can stir us to live out a hope for better
lives and a better world... where all know their worth and none are forced to
exist on the edges of a society that is too often prone to ignore the lonely
and lost.
As I said earlier after we
celebrated baptism together:
Let
us Welcome In and Reach Out with the Spirit's love and guidance.
//
//
Let us pray:
Great Creator, as we live in your
loving presence, may we be aware of your grace and guidance. Amen.
#266VU "Amazing Grace"
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