Could These Be the Most Important Words That We Need to Hear From God?

The River Jordan, Israel

This week we are going to hear about a baptism. It could be a story about Jesus, or a drama between Jesus and John.   Or, if you pray like the Jesuits do, you could be the one in this story. 

I invite you to read this week’s scripture passage imagining yourself as the one being baptized…in the River Jordan. 

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 MSG

The interest of the people by now was building. They were all beginning to wonder, “Could this John be the Messiah?”

 But John intervened: “I’m baptizing you here in the river.         The main character in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”

After all the people were baptized, Jesus was baptized. As he was praying, the sky opened up and the Holy Spirit, like a dove descending, came down on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life.”

The water is pretty muddy looking, isn't it?  It's raining, and about 10°C at the River Jordan in January. As you come out of the water, shivering, you begin to pray.  You hear the voice of God, the perfect parent, saying to you "You are my beloved…With you I am well pleased."

Despite what you may have done yesterday, last week or earlier today that makes you cringe, despite your difficult circumstances, God says, "You are my beloved…With you I am well pleased."  Sit with that for a moment. 

How do you feel?  Could these be the words that save you today?  Doesn't everyone need to hear these words?

Father Greg Boyle, founder of the world's largest drug and gang intervention program,The Homeboys, says that everyone is unshakably good.  

Everyone…me, you, and all the people that may have annoyed us today.  Do we see everyone the way God does?  I'm going to try to do that today. 

What Challenges are You Facing in 2025?

I hope your Advent and Christmas were as spiritually rich as mine. Every story I read contained signs, dreams, angels or stars, and characters who challenged me with their belief in these things and their trust in God. So many people who were willing to say, "Yes" to the call of God asking them to do things and who were excited by the promises given to them. 

And now we have Simeon, in the temple in Jerusalem:

Model of the Temple in 66 AD, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

Luke 2. 21-40 (MSG, excerpts)

When the eighth day arrived, the day of circumcision, the child was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived.

Then when the days stipulated by Moses for purification were complete, they took him up to Jerusalem to offer him to God as commanded in God’s Law… 

In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died.                                             

Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God:

God, you can now release your servant;
    release me in peace as you promised.
With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation;
    it’s now out in the open for everyone to see:
A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations,
    and of glory for your people Israel.

Jesus’ father and mother were speechless with surprise at these words. Simeon went on to bless them, and said to Mary his mother, 

This child marks both the failure and
    the recovery of many in Israel,
A figure misunderstood and contradicted—
    the pain of a sword-thrust through you—
But the rejection will force honesty,
    as God reveals who they really are.

When they finished everything required by God in the Law, they returned to Galilee and their own town, Nazareth.  There the child grew strong in body and wise in spirit.  And the grace of God was on him.

This passage doesn’t say how old Simeon is, but we do know that The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died.  Most people assume that Simeon is elderly.  If so, we know that he may be facing one of the biggest challenges of his life - old age and death.

When he sees the baby Jesus, he says, God, you can now release your servant; release me in peace as you promised. Do you notice the word "peace"? 

He continues with a blessing and some challenging words for Mary. 

This child marks both the failure and
    the recovery of many in Israel,
A figure misunderstood and contradicted—
    the pain of a sword-thrust through you—
But the rejection will force honesty,
    as God reveals who they really are.

Can you imagine how Mary and Joseph must have felt at Simeon's words?  Joy and great challenge both at the same time, perhaps?

What challenges are you facing in 2025?  Are you ready to say, “Yes” to them?  In peace?  Joy?  If not, that’s OK.  Know that God loves you, and you can ask Him to help you with this.

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.