Trust Changes Everything

How would your life experience change if you trusted God more and accepted your circumstances instead of resisting them?

Luke 1 msg

During the rule of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest assigned service in the regiment of Abijah. His name was Zachariah. His wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron. Her name was Elizabeth. Together they lived honorably before God, careful in keeping to the ways of the commandments and enjoying a clear conscience before God. But they were childless because Elizabeth could never conceive, and now they were quite old.

It so happened that as Zachariah was carrying out his priestly duties before God, working the shift assigned to his regiment, it came his one turn in life to enter the sanctuary of God and burn incense. The congregation was gathered and praying outside the Temple at the hour of the incense offering. 

Unannounced, an angel of God appeared just to the right of the altar of incense. Zachariah was paralyzed in fear.

But the angel reassured him, “Don’t fear, Zachariah. Your prayer has been heard. Elizabeth, your wife, will bear a son by you. You are to name him John. You’re going to leap like a gazelle for joy, and not only you—many will delight in his birth. He’ll achieve great stature with God…

He will turn many sons and daughters of Israel back to their God. He will herald God’s arrival in the style and strength of Elijah, soften the hearts of parents to children, and kindle devout understanding among hardened skeptics—he’ll get the people ready for God.”

Zachariah said to the angel, “Do you expect me to believe this? I’m an old man and my wife is an old woman.”

But the angel said, “I am Gabriel, the sentinel of God, sent especially to bring you this glad news. But because you won’t believe me, you’ll be unable to say a word until the day of your son’s birth. Every word I’ve spoken to you will come true on time—God’s time.”

Meanwhile, the congregation waiting for Zachariah was getting restless, wondering what was keeping him so long in the sanctuary. When he came out and couldn’t speak, they knew he had seen a vision. He continued speechless and had to use sign language with the people.

When the course of his priestly assignment was completed,  he went back home. It wasn’t long before his wife, Elizabeth, conceived. She went off by herself for five months, relishing her pregnancy. “So, this is how God acts to remedy my unfortunate condition!” she said.

Consider Zachariah's experience. Can you imagine being Zachariah?? There’s a lot of stress for poor Zachariah in this story!  As I read this story imagining myself as Zachariah, here's what happens:

I know that this is my one chance…to enter the sanctuary and burn incense. The whole congregation is gathered outside, ready and praying.  

Suddenly, in a flash of blinding light, an angel appears, just to the right of the incense.  I am paralyzed with fear.  (According to Luke, Zachariah was too.)  

The angel says, "Don't fear. " (Of course he does. Don't they always?)  Hearing this doesn’t change my fear level one bit.

The angel then goes on to tell me that my barren wife, now quite old, will bear me a son. As I hear this, my fear begins to dispel as I realize that this "angel" is either totally misinformed, or a figment of my imagination.

Maybe I’m imagining things. My fear rises again. When I voice my incredulity I'm struck dumb by the angel. 

Peace is the last thing I'm feeling, and yet on Sunday we celebrate Advent II - Peace.  I invite you to reread the Story imagining that you, as Zachariah, trust Gabriel, trust that he is who he says he is, and trust that God will do what Gabriel says he will.  Trust changes everything.

I hope to see you on Sunday.  CVC will be having a Potluck lunch after worship.  It will be held downstairs in the Dogwood Room, behind the stage.  Please come whether you can bring something or not - there is always lots of food!

My Advent Wish for You

During the pandemic, people put up their Christmas decorations early, and left the lights up longer. The world seemed so dark. We longed for the light to dispel the darkness. 

There was something more than the longing for light, though. Perhaps it was a longing for hope? 

"Cultural rituals are important to people because they're stable and positive and normalizing. And rituals are things that outlive our mortality, they outlive the sickness and death of COVID-19." Steven Taylor, UBC psychiatry professor. 

The pandemic may have faded, but now we are facing wars across the world, as world superpowers, enemies of the west, flex their muscles, and invade neighbours. Democracy seems threatened on every front, real and imaginary. Our beloved neighbours to the south are fearful of each other and seemingly beginning to threaten normalcy here. 

The world still seems very dark, in so many ways, and yet, as Christians, we celebrate, with bated breath, the coming of the Christ child. At the same time, we wait in everlasting hope for him to come again. 

Within that waiting for the light…the Christ light…in the dark, the Holy Spirit will wait with us, I'm convinced of it.  For even in the darkness, in the waiting, He is never far away from those who cry out for him…even as he cries out for us. 

What is my wish for you this Advent?  That you hear his cry, that you accept his call, and feel the height and depth and breadth of his love for you. May your faith be strengthened and the darkness dispelled with light.  Even in the waiting.

Isaiah 

The people who walked in darkness

    have seen a great light;

those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,

    on them has light shone. (9:2)

Luke

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

 to give knowledge of salvation to his people

    in the forgiveness of their sins,

 because of the tender mercy of our God,

whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

  to guide our feet into the way of peace. (1:76 - 79)

On Sunday, we are blessed to have the Reverends Paul Beckingham and Donna Dinsmore begin the hopeful Christian Story again. We will also be Gathering at the Lord's Table…a triple header!  I hope you can join us. 

Image by freepik

What If Our God Had Simply Saved Us From Exile? Would That Not Have Been Enough?

The Crossing of the Red Sea By Nicolas Poussin, 1634, wikimedia  

If our God had simply saved us from exile, that would have been enough, the Jewish scriptures say.  But Jesus did so much more - he moved into the neighbourhood!  Consider these words from John:

John 1

The Word was first, the Word present to God, God present to the Word. The Word was God, in readiness for God from day one. Everything was created through him; nothing—not one thing!— came into being without him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out.

The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.” We all live off his generous abundance, gift after gift after gift. We got the basics from Moses, and then this exuberant giving and receiving, This endless knowing and understanding— all this came through Jesus, the Messiah. No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse. This one-of-a-kind God-Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day. 

What words stand out for you?  What does this mean to you personally?  To the community? 

There is so much more to the story than being saved from exile, right?  I hope you can join us this Sunday as Rev. Donna helps us to remember the WHOLE story on this last Sunday of the Christian year.  It will be good to remember together.

What's Your Cambie Village Church Love Story?

My experience of Cambie Village Church ("CVC") is that we help each other walk the mile and bear the load.  

Last Sunday in worship, as we were enthusiastically singing, I Will Lay My Burdens Down, I heard the leading voice change.  I looked over and I saw Rev. Donna reach out her hand to hold Kitty’s hand.  They were both smiling.  A stream of light was coming in the window behind Kitty and I could see a current of love flowing between them.  I realized that Donna’s voice had briefly failed, and Kitty had taken her place to lead the song.  

We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19

What’s your CVC love story?

The CVC love story often involves singing. Music, like any art, invites us to participate in the story, and together, week after week, we sing the Stories of Jesus. 

"Don't be afraid, my love is stronger," we hear Jesus say. "Here I am, Lord", we cry out in response to God's call. 

As Rev. Donna says, "There's more of us involved in singing than speaking. Deeper breathing, more involvement in one's entire body.

"It's personal music making.  One's body is the instrument.  

Everything depends on one's body--pitch, tone quality, rhythm, blend, volume…"

And as the tune flows, so flows the love of the Trinity.  

She reminds us also that Augustine says, "The one who sings, prays twice."  

This Sunday we're gonna sing so God can use us, - just as we sing in one of our favorite hymns. I hope to see you there!

How Would You Have Felt If You Were There?

The Garden Tomb, Jerusalem

As we return to the synagogue in Luke 13 to hear Jesus teaching, it is easy for me to imagine my place here as a member of the congregation. It is easy to imagine, but doing so makes me feel distinctly UN-easy. 

Luke 13. 10-17

Jesus was teaching in one of the meeting places on the Sabbath. There was a woman present, so twisted and bent over with arthritis that she couldn’t even look up. She had been afflicted with this for eighteen years. When Jesus saw her, he called her over. “Woman, you’re free!” He laid hands on her and suddenly she was standing straight and tall, giving glory to God.

The meeting-place president, furious because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the congregation, “Six days have been defined as work days. Come on one of the six if you want to be healed, but not on the seventh, the Sabbath.”

But Jesus shot back, “You frauds! Each Sabbath every one of you regularly unties your cow or donkey from its stall, leads it out for water, and thinks nothing of it. So why isn’t it all right for me to untie this daughter of Abraham and lead her from the stall where Satan has had her tied these eighteen years?”

When he put it that way, his critics were left looking quite silly and red-faced. The congregation was delighted and cheered him on.

I'm listening carefully…watching everyone's reaction to everything that is said. Even as I rejoice for the woman who has been healed, the synagogue leader scolds her and us. I feel her shame and ours. Ouch. 

Now Jesus 'shoots back', "You frauds!".  I'm uncomfortable with his anger, at the challenge of authority and at the conflict around me.  People around me are delighted and cheering as Jesus' critics are embarrassed. 

It's all too much for me. I close my eyes and pray for peace. 

You might join me in reading this passage again before Sunday, asking yourself, "How would I have felt if I were there?"

I hope to see you on Sunday when we will celebrate Peace Sunday. 

We continue to pray for our sister Carmen and her family as they mourn the loss of their beloved father, husband, and brother-in-law, Patrick. 

How Can Someone Be Born When They Are Old?

Qasr el Yahud, where Jesus was baptized, Jordan River, Israel

Good question, Nicodemus!

Growing up in the United Church, being "born again" was not a phrase I ever heard.  I still remember the first time I ever heard it, when a stranger approached me at a work meeting and asked, "Are you born again?"  I must have looked puzzled, because she then pointed at the cross I was wearing and asked again, "Are you born again"?

In our scripture reading this week, we hear Nicodemus, ask Jesus, "How can someone be born when they are old?":

John 3:1-9; 16-18 (NIV)

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.  He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.  Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.  You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 

 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

I have since learned that Evangelist Christians use this phrase, "born again" to describe themselves, and I like the way Matthew Fox describes it:

“to be Resurrection for another I need to be Resurrection for myself. That means I cannot dwell in [despair] or death and anger and oppression and submission and resentment and pain forever. I need to wake up, get up, rise up, put on life even when days are dark, and my soul is down and shadows surround me everywhere … I have to listen to the voice that says: Be Resurrection… Be Born again. And again. And again. Rise up and be counted. Rise up and imbibe the good news deeply – that death does not conquer, that life, not death, has the last word …”

Rev. Paul Beckingham, a great evangelist, will reflect on this rebirth and gather us at the Lord's Table on Sunday. I hope you're able to join us for Worship.

Why Do You Come to Church?

 

This week we focus on Frank, the synagogue leader, and his response to Jesus’ visit to his synagogue.  

Luke 13. 10-17 (NIVUK)

On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.  When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, ‘Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.’ Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, ‘There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.’

The Lord answered him, ‘You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water?  Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?’

When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

From Rev. Donna:

Frank’s focus was on the law whose interpretation was clear and plain to him.

Keeping the Sabbath holy meant that no work should be done. 

No work.

I was raised with that interpretation as well, with some additions.

No TV.  

No playing games. 

The Sabbath was to be different.  This is God’s will.

Let’s consider Ruth Haley Barton’s words as we prepare for worship this week.

What is your response to her focus?

For many of us, though, knowledge of God’s will is a subject fraught with doubt and difficulty. Is it really possible to know the will of God? we wonder. How do I know whether I have “discerned” God’s will or if it is just a good way to justify what I want? How do I make sense of those times when I thought I understood the will of God but it ended up being a mess? 

For the Christian person, the choices we make are always about love and which choice enables us to keep following God into love. There may be other factors to consider, but the deepest question for us as Christian people is, What does love call for in this situation? What would love do? 

From Susan:

When I read this story again this week, I imagined that I am Frank.  I know my Torah, and the Torah clearly says that there are six days for work, and that on the Sabbath we should not do any work.  I am indignant that Jesus should disobey the law, and in my anger, I can't stop myself from pointing out his error. 

When Jesus calls me a hypocrite, he reminds me that there is more to this commandment than simply the prohibition of work.  Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. (Deut 5.15)

Sabbath is the day we celebrate our liberation. Jesus freed Rhoda from her captivity that day.  Wow. 

Although I am humiliated at being corrected by Jesus, I have learned something today.  Isn't learning one of the reasons we come to synagogue?

Why do you come to church? 

Last week's circle conversation was rich. We are learning to notice and to find words for experiences and feelings we have during worship. Was it scary?  Not at all…we talked about everything from an Eagles Concert to the Camino Trail and being called by the Lord of Sea and Sky.  We also, of course, talked more about Rhoda and Frank.  We are learning that there is more than one way to read any single scripture passage…there is no single right answer.  Our lives inform how we interpret things, and God’s Word is truly alive.

Donna is inviting us back this week for more conversation. I hope to see you there after worship.

Susan

PS.  We continue to keep Patrick, Monisa, Carmen and Jeremy in our prayers, since Elisa announced the sudden and grave illness of her brother-in-law, Patrick.  Ruth Haley Barton’s words (above) ring ever more true to me now.