SERMONS: Lo How a Rose; Heaven & Nature Sing; The Babe; Two Turtledoves

Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming (Isaiah 61:10 - 62:3) J G White

This little piece of the big text we call Isaiah is filled with images of hope for the people. We have ‘the garments of salvation’ and a groom and bride all dressed up. (I will see this very thing today, when I conduct a wedding here.) We have ‘a garden’ causing shoots to grow up. We have a bright, ‘burning torch.’ And we have the renaming of the people as a sign of new life and hope. 

In the first part, some prophet is rejoicing in God. In the second, God’s voice is heard, giving various promises. There is so much happening here: a preacher’s head spins! For this reflective moment, let's just look at the earth bringing up shoots and a garden growing. 

Regularly in the pages of Isaiah we come across such images - speaking of a new era for the people and the planet. With the birth of the Messiah, a few centuries later, the promises seem sure. 

An Advent carol we sing starts off, Lo, how a rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung, of Jesse’s lineage coming, as those of old have sung.  Jesus as a rose, blooming in a cold world. He is a descendant of Jesse and his son, King David. So beautiful and filled with life is Jesus Messiah. 

Around the front of our sandstone building, I planted a few bulbs, back in the fall, in a few select places. Won’t it be a fun surprise, in the spring, to see things peeking out, and later discover what grows and what colours bloom? As I get to the end of one year, and the start of the new, I wonder what new things might happen. What things we have been planning will come to fruition. What new steps we wondered about will be taken. Where will the Spirit lead?

Well, that’s our first of four Bible texts, and the first mini- sermon. A few more to come. 

Heaven and Nature Sing (Psalm 148) J G White

The sun and the moon have been lovely over Christmastime. The moon grew full, and many sunsets on cloudy evenings were vibrant pink and orange. I tried a bit more birding yesterday, and saw beautiful winged creatures such as more white-winged crossbills, and otters playing in a slushy Lake. I saw more landscapes than birds - the flats and rolling hills of West Brook, the gurgling of Halfway River, the snow-sparkling red spruce and yellow birch trees.

Every Sunday of each year has a Psalm to recite or sing - or sometimes other Bible poetry. When we turn to Psalm 148, we are getting to the finale of the whole collection, and they are all about praising God. The English words ‘Praise the Lord!’ can also be translated, simply, as ‘Hallelujah!’ 

Like Psalm 98, which inspired the carol ‘Joy to the World,’ Psalm 148 lists many critters and claims they are praising God. After the angels, the sun and moon and stars, and clouds. Sea creatures and waters, and all the dramatic weather above the sea. Mountains and all the timber upon them, and the animals therein, domestic and otherwise. (Even the turtles?) And humans, of every rank and status, age and experience. 

There are many Christmas legends about animals and plants that suddenly flourish when Jesus arrives. I have heard tales and songs about the first poinsettia, the first nightingale song, and the first Christmas tree, of course. You may know the story of the animals in barns, every Chrismtas Eve, bowing down, because of the Christ child. We love these legends. They continue the human experience of not being alone in knowing the Creator, and bowing, and rejoicing!

All this opens our eyes to wonder at our place in the world, a world that also enjoys God. Perhaps you have your own, personal legend about some creature or special place that seems to be sacred and holy, that seems to shout, ‘Hallelujah!’ That cabin in the woods, that waterfall along the stream, that northern cardinal that flies in. Join them in giving thanks for all God’s blessings. 

The Babe, the Son of Mary (Galatians 4:4-7) J G White

OK, my first two homilies were a bit too long. Next, from this small bit of a New Testament letter, some short comments.

‘The babe, the son of Mary’ is celebrated again. He is just like us, and yet not the same at all. Jesus is both. The tradition of two candles on an ‘altar’ can represent these two natures of Christ: human and divine. 

These three little sentences from Galatians 4 say a lot about children and parents. Like many of our relationships, that of Jesus to Mary and Joseph is not simple or normal. But He still belongs. He is still loved. He is still one of them, and one of us. 

All the Bible writers keep getting at this one fact: the arrival of Jesus Messiah changes things in our lives. The author here claims that other people get to be counted as children of Creator, and heirs of all the blessings that we’d expect the Son of God to get. We have millions of people to share an inheritance with!

I wonder now, after all the Christmas gifts I got - chocolates, sweets and cookies, a Bible, two party games, twelve days of cheese, a windshield wiper - what do I inherit with Jesus my brother? What do I value most?

Two Turtledoves (Luke 2:22-40) J G White

I get a kick out of singing ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas,’ and I love the twelve posters an artist friend prepared for me, years ago. I think it is mere coincidence that day two has two turtle doves, which was the simple offering those new parents brought to the Jerusalem Temple a couple thousand years ago. Apparently they couldn’t afford the usual lamb, as a worship gift in honour of their first-born son. 

Our Bible stories are filled with some ordinary, down to earth people. Nothing super special about Joseph, about Mary, or about these old folks at the Temple they met, that day. Old Simeon and Old Anna were very devout Jews, but it seems they too lived very simple lives. 

The stories of infant Jesus end soon, with Matthew’s tales of Magi visiting the toddler, and then of the holy family fleeing danger and becoming refugees in Egypt. This ‘new born King’ takes a very humble approach, from the very beginning. All these centuries later, we are still learning our lessons from this.

SERMON: Magnificent Magnification

10:30 am, 4th Sunday of Advent, Dec 24, 2023 ~  FBCA

(Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38, 46-55) J G White

 We are on the very edge of Christmas now, and we spend the morning with Mary. First, when she is told about her pregnancy by the angel Gabriel. Second, when she rejoices some weeks later, while visiting her relative, Elizabeth. What Mary said got recorded by Luke as a poem, like the lyrics of a song. It has been put to music ever since. Our old-fashioned English versions have Mary sing: “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” Here, we read an English translation from the 1960s. Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord. Rejoice, rejoice, my spirit, in God my saviour… 

From the old Latin title, Mary’s song gets called the Magnificat. What on earth could it possibly mean to ‘magnify God?’ As we read other translations, we get the feel: tell out my soul, enlarge, glorify, declare, or, as Peterson put it, I’m bursting with good news! 

Mary - thanks to Luke writing it down - gives a magnificent magnification of God, as she starts her visit with elderly, and also pregnant, Elizabeth. My soul magnifies the Lord. What can this mean for us?

I brought a little tool with me today: a Magnifying Glass. I don’t actually use it much, at all, but we know what it is for. Getting a better look at things - usually words - by making them appear larger. ‘Magnifying’ them: that is the literal meaning of magnificat. 

Our retelling of the Jesus story, with the beginnings, at this time of year, helps us ‘magnify’ Christ in our own lives. Some believers, somewhere back in history, picked this time of year to celebrate the birth of the Messiah, and we rehearse the stories and their meaning every single year. 

This is like what Mary did, that day, early in her pregnancy. She declared what this God is like who had promised an Anointed King, who had promised to save the people. You notice she talks about herself and what’s going to happen not much at all. She gets all historic - or maybe its personal. She sings about all the kinds of things God has always been doing. Helping poor people and honouring them. Tearing down the empires of the prosperous and powerful folk. Her magnificent poem looks closely at the character of God, as she and her people understood the Lord. Her words magnify; so can ours. We communicate the details of faith, our faith. It’s quite personal. 

Another tool I could have brought in today is a Telescope. In my case, I got rid of my childhood telescope years ago; now, I have Binoculars. I use these quite regularly. (Oh look! I can actually see who is here.) Six days ago I joined a few people for a couple hours of bird watching around Amherst, for the annual Christmas Bird Count. I was so happy to see seventeen white-winged crossbills up near Blair Lake. 

We might think that binoculars are quite different - maybe opposite? - from a magnifying glass. But they both make things bigger, larger, magnified, in our eyes. Bins, or a scope, help things far away appear nearer. 

Why was Mary so spiritually glad about her pregnancy? Well, at long last, the main human helper of the people would come from God to them. I think that’s what those ancient Jews were hoping. She almost said more than she knew and realized: their God was going to be seen a lot closer, closer than ever before. God as a person, a human, a creature within creation. The fancy Church word is incarnation. It means in the flesh, in a body. God gets physical. Not that this had never happened before. But the point was being made in a bigger way. Look. See! God is nearer than we realized. God with us: Emmanuel. Just like Isaiah of old had said. Imagine that!

So you and I magnify God when we do our part to connect with Jesus. I hope your Christmastime does that in you.

(Three point sermon.) A third magnifier I brought is a Loupe. Often used by jewellers, but also by scientists: out in the field, looking closely at the tiny details of plants and fungi and insects and rocks. It is a small little hand lens, and yes, I do use it mostly on lichens that grow on trees and rocks, and on the details of plants. 

Getting into the real details of where meaning in life comes from, and where goodness in life arises, these are important. Again, this is what Mary sings in her poem, the Magnificat. God is like this. God is connecting with me in these ways. God did this, and that, and something else in the past - so we are really expecting this and better again! Things are all going where they are destined to go. Praise God!

I use a tiny magnifier in my hand to get at the wee details my eye cannot see, but I know they are there. We use the tiny details of our lives, and of the scripture story, to rejoice in the abundant life Jesus brings us. Then, with a broader vision, even seeing things far away and on the giant scale, we know the big picture. This thing that happened to us - we see it is part of a huge story that is bigger than us. That huge mess we hear of elsewhere in the world - with the eyes of Faith we discover that history and God’s purposes are even bigger than the terror and trouble at one place and time. 

When the story of God is magnified, the whole picture, and the tiniest personal events, start to fit together. At the centre, connected to it all, is the Christ, this one about to be born again in a little ancient village in the hills somewhere. 

Has it started to fit together? For you? 

Mary had her song of praise, magnifying God. What are some of the lines of the poem your soul sings? 

Keep singing it: this Christmas, and all year long. The world needs your magnificent song. 

SERMON: I Am First

10:30 am, 3rd Sunday of Advent, Dec 17, 2023 ~  FBCA

(Is 61:1-4, 8-11; Jn 1:1-9) J G White

Have you ever wished you could talk to someone famous? Meet them, or even just chat on the phone? A great world leader? A famous musician? An amazing author? I have met some famous Christian authors: Brian MacLaren, Dom Crossan, John Spong. And I once shook PM Brian Mulroney’s hand. But who are the top people I want to meet? Hmmm...

Remember last Sunday morning, being second? I’d say it is OK to be ‘second’ when we are friends with the One who is ‘First.’ Jesus, born in Bethlehem. How is He first?

This morning we heard how John’s Gospel begins. Last Sunday Mark started the Jesus story with John the Baptizer and Jesus of Nazareth going public when they were both adults. The week before that, as we lit up our decorations, we heard Matthew begin the whole story with the genealogy of Jesus, His ancestral mothers and fathers. Today, John the gospel writer - not the same man as John the Baptist - starts at the very beginning, a very good place to start. 

It is not by chance that John chapter one starts like Genesis chapter one: in the beginning. John the gospel writer starts with the Creator of creation. And Christ, who is the Word, the Life, the Light, is One with that Creator. (You’ve heard that when everything started, there was baseball?  In the big inning.)

I wish I could show you a picture right now, a photo of me and Marlene Knowles at a little restaurant in Edmonton. ‘The Burger’s Priest’ it is called, and it is filled with little touches from churches, including hymn boards. They serve a ‘Vatican burger.’ Marlene and I had our photo taken in front of a wall in the diner that has a Bible paragraph of Greek text and the English translation. Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and without him not one thing came into being…

Jesus, the Cosmic Christ, there at creation. The Father, the Son, the Spirit, all there making a universe! And you know, like I do, how mind-boggling this universe is. 

A celestial sight last week was the Geminid meteor shower. I did not spend a lot of time staring up into the sky, but I did see about the best shooting start I have ever seen. And that was just something in the sky quite nearby - in our atmosphere. Look at all the true stars beyond. And consider the billions of galaxies of stars we are told are out there. The new James Webb telescope is peering deeper and clearer into the universe, and looking far back in time. 

Have you been in awe, lately, over what is out there, how small we are, how much we now know about space, how beautiful it is, and how much we don’t understand?! 

This month, Advent, I have been taking in some webinars about the Cosmic Christ. I find it very hard stuff to understand! Suffice it to say that Christ is about all of time and space. He is the Alpha and Omega, as the Bible says, the A to Z. On Christmas Eve we will hear from Hebrews chapter 1: in these last days [God] has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 

At Christmastime we celebrate the fact that with Jesus the Christ we have personal access to the Creator of the cosmos. One modern thinker who recently died would speak of God as ‘Reality with a personality.’ (Michael Dowd)

John starts his Gospel, reminding us that it is the CREATOR we meet in a human body, in time and space, limited. Of course, that lifetime is long over, those 33 years in a small part of the Middle East. Now unlimited, the Holy Spirit connects the human God with us all. 

On Friday evening here, Rachel MacLean beautifully sang that Amy Grant song about Mary, the mother, seeking the help of the Spirit during her pregnancy. 

Breath of heaven, hold me together

Be forever near me, breath of heaven

Breath of heaven, lighten my darkness

Pour over me your holiness for you are holy / Breath of heaven

Perhaps the last question about the way we relate to God and the cosmos is to wonder, are they for us, or against us? Good or bad or indifferent? It is said that Albert Einstein posed this question: “Is the Universe friendly?” 

Our Christian answer is ‘yes.’ Our Christmas answer is ‘yes.’ Romans chapter 8 declares, with a rhetorical question: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (8:31) 

People need this good news. For many people today, it is not very believable: that the world and its greatest Power is actually good and is for them not against them. So many folks are beaten down, hurt and hurting, violated, have lost their way, or are troubled. The sadnesses and struggles of the whole year can pile up now, in December, in the face of all the happiness that is supposed to happen. 

Christmastime does not have to be wonderful and joyful. Sometimes it is hard. But the Christ of Christmas is still good, thru the pain and problems. I want Christ of the cosmos to be close at hand. 

Look at our new carol. I live into the hope that this is true. Words, mostly from Cynthia:

Our very first gifts were wrapped in light

The very first light was sent with love

The very first love was shining bright

Those words take me back, not just to Bethlehem, but to creation, the very beginning, with Christ. 

John said, poetically, What has come into being in [Christ] was life, and that life was the light of all people. The One who is First, the Light, is touchable, reachable, relatable. Shining in us. And beautifully good.

Jesus started his preaching, at about age thirty, saying: “Make a turn around, the Kingdom of the Heavens is at hand!” If you need to refocus and find Christ, the One who is First, may you do it. And as you bless someone else with some little bit of the goodness of God, all the better. May the great goodness of the universe, of all creation, come to a point in Jesus, this season, and in our New Year!

SERMON: I Am Second

10:30 am, 2nd Sunday of Advent, Dec 10, 2023 ~  FBCA

(Is 40:1-11; Mk 1:1-8) J G White

When her daughters were small, a woman painted a ceramic nativity set, complete with the holy family, sheep, shepherd, donkey, camel and magi, and an angel. It was nicely painted and antiqued. 

Years later, she gave it to her older daughter, at her wedding shower. But by then, the little Baby Jesus did not quite match the rest. You see, just a few years before, the woman had met a friend with a similar nativity, but that lady had lost the Baby Jesus - the smallest figurine. So the mother gave away the Baby from her hand-painted set. Now hers was missing the Baby Jesus. Sharon had to get a new one, and paint it. Did not match, exactly. 

Yes, it was Sharon White, who gave away her hand-painted Baby Jesus, just because someone else needed one. That’s the way she does things!

Today we read the start of another of these Bible books called the Gospels. Mark. We heard the first words of the story: The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And Mark has no Baby Jesus. He starts with grown up John the Baptizer and grown up Jesus of Nazareth. No birth stories at all. 

What a character, John is, eh? This cousin of Jesus (maybe a second cousin?), son of an old Jewish priest who works in the Temple, but John heads out like a wild man to the shores of the Jordan River to exercise his ministry. He draws a crowd, and baptizes people in the river, but do you hear what he preached? 

‘I’m not it. I’m not number one. Me? I’m not the one you’re looking for. He’s going to arrive soon. I’m not worthy; not worthy to touch Him. I’m doing this for you, but what He’ll do for you: Wow!’

‘I am second’ is John’s attitude. He’s getting people ready for Number One.

Do you know about the ‘I am second” campaign? It started about fifteen years ago. It has a series of short interviews with celebrities, each one confessing they are Christians. All saying, ‘I’m not number one: Jesus is my number one. He’s First; I am second.’ From musician Michael W Smith,  to author Anne Rice, to NHL player Mike Fisher, they all testify to how life is better when Christ takes preeminence. TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford:

Kathie Lee Gifford - YOUnique (youtube.com)

I have been working in the entertainment field since I was ten years old. To be a young woman in that business is brutal, because of the rejection, and its nonstop: boom, boom, boom.  

I got riiipped one time on an audition for Charlie's Angels. And I'm sitting there, and the casting agent goes, "Let me tell you right now why you're not 'right' for Charlie's Angels.'

And I go, "Oh, ok."

"We're just looking for a 'pretty' girl." And then she said, "and a this, and a that," it was like getting beat: hit em to the left, hit em to the right. 

And as I was walking out the door, I leaned back in and I went, "When you're casting a cartoon... let me know!" And I left laughing. God made me that way. At the end of her monologue, her testimony to Jesus, Kathie Lee Gifford says, “I am second.”

There is a gift in being ‘second,’ not first, not having to be number one. John the Baptizer knew this. He had a very important role, yes, but he was not the Messiah, a Saviour. He pointed the way, prepared the way, which is what the Jewish people, & others, needed. 

The start of the Good News, the Gospel, for many people today, is preparation. Someone - or many people - prepare the way for Christ to meet a person. Quite often that is your role, and mine. It is not up to me or you to convert a person, to trans-form someone, to fix them. But it is up to us to discover how we shepherd others along. Your task is unique in this, as is mine.

As is the overall task of First Baptist. Even we don’t have to be first. I have a colleague, he is the lead minister of First Baptist Edmonton. He also is the lead shepherd of a church that worships with deep tradition, with broad-minded teachings, and seeks to include a wide variety of people from their city. Ryan is only half joking when he sometimes calls his church Last Baptist Church. For some, its their last chance to stay Baptist and still fit in, find a home. 

Part of our role, at First or Last Baptist Amherst, is to build a spiritual community that feels like home to a wide range of thinking people, a wide range of personalities, a wide range of creative folk who still want to be Christian. We get to be a wide variety as we hold onto Christ Jesus, from many points around a circle, and discover the freedom He brings us. 

We don’t have to be number one. My way of doing things, or your way of explaining things, does not have to be number one. Your life is not all about you; it is part of a greater picture. One important thread in a gigantic tapestry; one musical phrase in a dramatic symphony. 

Often, when we are trying to be number one, ‘looking out for number one,’ this means Jesus is missing. At least, on the back burner. We actually flourish best when we are well-attached to the Vine - to use Bible imagery. I am the best me with Christ in me. When I fail at this, I remember these poetic words from the Second letter to Timothy. 

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

if we endure, we will also reign with him;

if we deny him, he will also deny us;

if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

he cannot deny himself.

So, it is OK to be still waiting and searching for Jesus, for more of Christ. Noticing that Jesus is missing is a good starting place. To be looking for the One who seems far from us is a good search. Like the person who gave up on God and decided not to believe, but keeps writing letters to God, or sending up prayers, ‘in case you are there.’ We’re on the right track! & we’ll find those who help point the way.

This is what I want a congregation to include: to be a group that welcomes the searchers, those on a spiritual quest. First Baptist - or Last Baptist, whatever we are - a family of seekers and finders.

To celebrate Advent - the arriving of Christ into the world - is to celebrate the fact that things are not complete, not finished. This is not as good as it gets. It gets better! There is more! So we keep waiting, we keep watch for Christ Jesus in our day and age. 

SERMONS: Greening of the Church messages

WREATHS & EVERGREENS       

People who know their Bible stories may turn to Jeremiah chapter eighteen to find the potter and the clay, but he was not the only prophet to be inspired by this practical artistry. Isaiah sixty-four speaks also of people as clay and God as potter. There is a remoulding that can be done in everyone’s life. 

To show regret, to confess sin, and to seek forgiveness happens a lot in the scriptures. As we set the big wreaths and evergreens alight now, we hear that ‘we all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.’ Evergreen leaves and branches - especially those in the circle of a wreath - are a sign of things that endure. And in God’s Kindom, peace and goodness, beauty and bounty are promised as the things that last. The failings of our own lives get swept away, even forgotten, in the grace of God. We get remoulded.

TREES                                  

We light up the Christmas trees - we have four of them now - with the reading of a part of the family tree of Jesus of Nazareth. This is how Matthew the gospel-writer starts the whole story. With ‘who’s your father,’ and mother, going back centuries. 

Perhaps you will have decorations on a Christmas tree that make it like a family tree: ornaments that were from mother and father and grandmother and grandfather and aunt and uncle and cousin, and so on. Maybe some ornaments even have pictures of people - or pets! My tree at home will have some of these. 

These church trees have simple ornaments and lights. Though, this littlest tree is different. It seemed to want to be colourful. There must be a story here. Can you imagine a story, about this little tree? It belongs here, and yet it is unique. Just like you. Like me.

GIFTS

When you read the whole First Letter to the Corinthians, all ten pages, you will find it wonderful that they get praised here at the start of Paul’s letter. That early Church has plenty of troubles to be sorted out, but they are still enriched by Christ Jesus, and not lacking any spiritual gifts. Paul gives thanks for these people, who are patiently waiting for more of Jesus, and will eventually be perfected. 

Far from perfect, we here today also have many gifts to offer. Our financial sharing is one part. Our tangible gifts all through December, in lots of places, are other gifts. The time we give to get good things done, to serve at a tea or luncheon, to pack food boxes, to sing in a singing group - all are generous acts. The gifts, wrapped in colourful paper or slipped into a card, are bits of joy given to others. And the quality time we spend with people - our own presence - becomes a present. 

Now, the ushers prepare to receive the offering gifts.

POINSETTIAS

The poinsettia is a great plant, and deeply planted now in our Christmas culture. It has been associated with Christmas since the 16th century, in Mexico. It is not too hard to keep alive, even for years, as a houseplant. Its blood-red colour has a natural affinity for the blood of Jesus in our Faith story. And like the life-giving sacrifice of Jesus, the poinsettias have a certain beauty. 

 Star-like, the poinsettia shouts Christmas to us. Perhaps all the decor of the season will point us towards some real hope. Like the Genesis words ‘let the light of Your countenance shine upon us,’ the phrase of Psalm 80 gives a hopeful blessing. ‘Smile Your blessing smile: That will be our salvation.’ 

Perhaps that is all anyone needs, any one of us. To know the smile of God, shining upon us. To sense that God has come back.

As you walk by any poinsettia, you know it was not grown in some greenhouse somewhere just for you. But there it is, smiling up at you, with vibrant red, or white, or pink bracts. You receive the gift of that beautiful sight, almost smiling at you. So, also receive the smile of God upon you, in the many ways you might glimpse that. Let this be our prayer: Smile your blessing Smile: That will be our salvation.

SERMON: Our Final Armour

10:30 am, Sunday, Nov 19, 2023 ~  FBCA

(1 Thess 5:1-11; Mtt 25:14-30) J G White

There was a beautiful scene here, in this very room, on Friday evening. After the lighting up of our downtown, hundreds, and I mean hundreds, of people flocked into these pews. People of all ages. A school band played Christmas songs, a school choir sang, and many of us sang along, whether we really knew the words or not to Jingle Bells and O Come, All Ye Faithful. 

My mind and heart truly wondered about these hundreds of people in here, most of whom were unknown to me. How many would say they are some of ye faithful? Surely most were not practicing Christians, even though they sang Christ the Saviour is born.

As I looked out upon these acquaintances and strangers, I wondered, on this happy occasion, what the rest of life is like for everyone. Like we, ye faithful, who have come today, there are feelings of fear and anger at the world. Moments of confusion and deep concern about life. Times of personal trouble. 

Ours is a time when people want protection. As I was reading 1 Thess. 5 this past week, I picked up on this phrase: put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. Yesterday, I re-noticed that Sharon and I have these three words in wrought iron in our living room: Faith, Love, Hope. Like the longer list of spiritual armour in the book of Ephesians, here we have these two images of protection: a breastplate of faith and love, and a helmet of hope. Our loving God makes available these basic elements of protection to us. We have them, to offer our neighbours, in this age of anxiety.

Faith is a sense of being sure, a confidence in the promises we have been given. How do we ‘put on the breastplate of faith?’ And how do we offer this armour to others who need it?

It is cool that this little chapter begins, saying to the original readers of this letter: you don’t need to be taught about these things; you already know this stuff about the finale of history. You know The End will be surprising, at an unexpected moment. To have confidence in Jesus is to be confident in the mysterious timing of everything being made good, at last. And to be confident that there is a will and a power to make good things happen along the way. 

More than one thousand years ago, a Church teacher said, we must always be on the lookout for Christ’s twofold coming, the one when he comes day after day to stir our consciences, and the other when we shall have to give an account for everything we have done. He comes to us now in order that his future coming may find us prepared. (Paschasius Radbertus, 9th century)

We believers need not be surprised at how terrible things get on earth, and how hidden the wonderful blessings are along the way. We have been told this all our lives, by the Spirit and the word of God. This is part of the protection given to us: confidence in the good purposes of God. We put this on by looking for how Jesus views the world; by noticing how the Spirit is present amid suffering in trouble.

Love is also what our armour is made of, so as we are protected by knowing we are beloved ones of God, we are stronger and more courageous in helping others. In our Faith we have been trained to rely upon the Divine Source of love, not rely upon ourselves alone. We are each a beautiful vehicle for compassion and care, and in that we can have the Love of God flow through us to others, a Love so grand and great we could never produce it, or hold it inside, if we wanted to! 

So it is a gift found among us. What did the Baptist Choir sing today? 

They who love the Lord have found a gift so rare.

They who love the Lord know joy beyond compare.

And their hearts are lighter, spirits brighter

knowing God is always there.

Help us to be like them, Lord, help us to be like them.

We learn love in our connections. We learn to be like those who pay such beautiful attention to us when we are with them. We get inspired by those who no longer need to seek their own attention. As it says here in this chapter again, encourage one another. We put on the breastplate of faith and love by being together in Christ.

The other bit of armour available to us in these troubling times is the helmet of hope, hope of salvation. Oh how deep is the world’s need for hope in these hopeless days. In response, we can dwell upon our sense of destiny. Destined not for destruction, but for life and goodness, thanks to Jesus. We teach this as the destiny of all things: a new heavens and earth - this is the Biblical image. 

When the bad news is too bad, and far too plentiful, be sure to feed on some good news. Take in a balanced diet for your heart and mind and soul. As Fred Rogers, Mr. Rogers, was famous for saying, when disaster strikes, look for the helpers. You can always find people who are helping.

And from them we learn to make a difference. Like the servants who put their Master’s riches to work, in Jesus’ parable. We could hide away and watch for God to rescue the world. But far better it is to learn our little bit to do in the cause of peace and joy and healing and freedom. Even joining a recent prayer vigil for peace in Ukraine, or ceasefire in Gaza, is joining a gigantic work of God today.

In these days, these Last Days, as believers have called them for two thousand years, let us put on the final armour we need to wear. Faith and Love and Hope. 

SERMON: Fortune Favours the Prepared Mind

10:30 am, Sunday, Nov 12, 2023 ~  FBCA

(1 Thess 4:13-18; Mtt 25:1-13) J G White

Greg Turner is a wise and gentle man. A friend of mine, back in Digby, he is a fellow hiker with me, and a citizen-scientist. He helps plan many of the monthly hikes in the Digby area, and gets out there studying the plants and lichens and birds and trees. If there was to be a hike on a day like yesterday, with three degrees, and the possibility of showers or snow pellets, Greg would say, “There is no such thing as bad weather; only bad clothing.” Or, he’d say, “Fortune favours the prepared mind.”

Louis Pasteur famously said, in French, something like that. Fortune favours the prepared mind. ‘Be prepared’ is the simple Scout motto. Jesus said things like, “Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial,”  and, today, “keep awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” 

We have come into that annual season of preparation. Preparing for what? Well, a few different things, really. Preparing for Christmas! Preparing for winter driving (I have not yet put on my snow tires). Preparing for the deer or the cow to get cut up and vacuum-sealed for the freezer. 

Prepared for the End of the World; Jesus’ return. That’s what the Advent Season in our worship is about, and we shift in November into scriptures that look to the second advent, the second coming of Christ into our universe. 

What does it mean for us to prepare for this long-awaited, unexpected event that is so mysterious? Back in the day when a letter was written to Thessalonian Christians, it was the early years of the Church. Many were expecting Jesus to return rather soon - within their lifetimes. When some of the older people started dying off, they got worried. What did this mean? What happens to them? Jesus has not come back yet, to finish bringing the Kingdom to earth? 

‘Don’t worry,’ the author wrote them. ‘They will get included in the great resurrection & the finale of all things.’ 

Here we are, about two thousand years later, still awaiting The Return. Does it matter much for us to be ‘at the ready?’ What does ‘being prepared’ mean for us Christians here and now? 

We wonder this, when we use our scriptures. When we hear Jesus’ parables again, like that of the five wise and the five foolish bridesmaids. 

The most recent wedding we had here was quite a big occasion. About two hundred people in attendance; about eight people at the front with the Bride and Groom. Eight top-notch, professional musicians offering amazing sounds for the service, with their own sound-tech. A reception of delicious food here, on site, before the actual banquet later, at a different venue. 

Our imaginations go to what we know when we hear Jesus’ wedding story from a different time and culture. Despite the differences and the details that may not quite make sense to us, Christ’s story makes a point: when you have a part in the wedding and the party, be prepared, keep on top of your lovely job, or you will just get left out. 

Professor Matt Skinner caught my ear in a podcast when he asked, about the parable of the bridesmaids: Who suffers when these helpers fail? Then, about us: ‘Who suffers when the Church is foolish, and wastes its time, and wastes its resources on things which are not about mercy?’

Maybe being ready, watching, waiting, keeping alert in spirit, is not just about us and our own salvation. Perhaps it is about being ready to do our job, our work for the Kindom of Christ Jesus. When we have this sense that Jesus is with us, but also far away not yet back with us, it is quite important for us to do our part. When the Spirit of Jesus moves & some good thing is ready to happen in our neighbourhood, shall we be prepared? 

First Baptist hopes to call a Minister of Families and Outreach in the near future. Will we be prepared? Prepared to help this person do good work? Good ministry with younger people, and with disadvantaged people? Shall a group of us be equipped to get on board and do some good with this leader, and not leave it all up to him or her?

The Springhill Prison chaplains are ready to take volunteers to lead Sunday afternoon services there. Shall we prepare to go with the Spirit of God into the Chapel there, and spend quality time with the guys on the inside?

The leadership team at First Baptist is getting ready for us all to explore what it means to be inclusive, welcoming and affirming to LGBTQS+ people of our community. Shall most of us take part in getting more prepared for diversity in our families and our community and our Church? To discover more about how Christ seeks to bless all people, and make them a blessing?

And so on. Fortune favours the prepared mind. 

Keep alert, for you know neither the day nor the hour. 

Remember the story of Esther? (Queen Esther in the Bible, not Esther Cox of the Great Amherst Mystery!) She had the opportunity to take a big risk and maybe save some lives. And what did her uncle say to her? “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” 

Our wakefulness and our preparation for Christ is in our activity. We learn to do by doing with God, and one another. Perhaps we have this building in this location for such a time as this. Perhaps we have the people in our lives - all our contacts - for such a time as this. Perhaps we have the promises of Jesus deep in our hearts for such a time as this.

SERMON: What Do These Stones Mean to You?

10:30 am, Sunday, Nov 5, 2023 ~  FBCA (Joshua 3:14 - 4:7) J G White

What do these stones mean to you? 

Let’s take a short walk upon several stepping stones today.

Seven weeks ago, a new, granite stone was unveiled near here. The Afghanistan War Memorial. Below the Armoury mural on the Town Hall, you can just see this memorial stone in the photo on our bulletin cover today. 

Stones like this, and the monument just over here in Victoria Square, mean a great deal to so many people. People who will gather in six days to remember, and keep a moment of silence. We see such stones in most towns and villages. Lest we forget.

For thousands of years of human history, people have set up stones as places of remembering. Even when I walked my pilgrimage to Amherst, last summer, one of my travelling companions set a stone by a stream, near Truro, as a marker and memory for the two of us, who walked with God along that stretch of road.

The prescribed Hebrew Bible text for this Sunday did not include any of Joshua chapter four, but I wanted us to read of this moment when twelve stones from the Jordan River were gathered and set apart as a memorial to this moment when God brought the Israelites, finally, into the Promised Land. As they had crossed great waters to escape Egypt, forty years before, now, they crossed the Jordan at full flood stage - and gave the credit to Yahweh God. 

And what will happen, in years ahead, was explained. When your children ask, in time to come, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the LORD. (J 4:6-7)

There are many stones - or other markers - that the next generations may ask us about: what do these mean? This past week I was at three funerals, and in the midst of these I spent a full hour in the big cemetery in Advocate. I walked among those stones. I found the markers of two couples I once knew so well, years ago, and had a part in helping bury one there. We know what gravestones mean, but we may need someone to tell us about the individuals buried there. ‘What did these people mean to you?’ Well, Clarence and Vera were delightful Christian people. So hospitable; both were good cooks. And when Clad passed around a plate of their cookies, he’d always say, “Take two. One will make you sick.”

I am quite interested to get a copy of a new book by Steve Sakfte, The Dead Die Twice: Abandoned Cemeteries of Nova Scotia. After a while, no one is left alive to remember a buried person. The stone may remain a lot longer than living memory or ‘perpetual care.’

Our merciful Creator has made us in such a way that sticks and stones and all work for us, they help us remember, keep us in touch with real events and real people of the past. The text of scripture, stones in the landscape, and songs that keep being sung all unite people, across the ages. 

A stone set up in the landscape is a long-term version of the string tied around your finger to remind you to do something. Is there not a freedom for the mind and heart when a monument is in place? You don’t need to work at remembering, or dwell on something all the time, when there are helpful reminders, stones or songs or whatever. 

History is actually important. It is not just a human thing to be interested in the past. Our timeless God is interested in the past, and helps us stay connected with it, and with our future. In Faith, we tell the story of the Hebrews brought to a Promised Land, laying twelve stones for the twelve tribes. And we tell the Revelation story of the New Jerusalem with twelve foundations under the wall of the City, on which are the names of the twelve apostles.

In between, we mark our own stories. 

This summer, I happened to be exploring the NB shore not far from here, and came upon a stone cairn at a little cove, Slacks Cove. So, I wandered right over to see what was memorialized there. Baptist history, believe it or not!  1763

Thirteen Baptists from Swansea Mass. landed by Slack’s Cove, April 21, 1763. Middle Sackville and Main Street Baptist Church Sackville N.B. were the first Baptist witness in Canada. Founded on the Rock Christ Jesus.  Dedicated June 1973.  And the names of those Baptist settlers are listed. 

Forty-six years later, the Baptist congregation in this town was organized. We have this brick from the house of the Freeman family, where the first Baptist gatherings took place, in West Amherst. Another stone, of sorts, to make people ask, ‘What does this mean… to you? 

Well, what does it mean? To you? This particular congregation has had most of its people come and go over our 214 year history. Our fellowship does go back to those long-gone folks who met in a long-gone home, west of here. Do we consider that a wonderful act of the Living God: to inspire a handful of Christians of the Baptist flavour to band together in this town? Was there some freedom, some hope, some good purpose for this, in the name of Christ? 

Today, we are surrounded by the local-quarried stone of this 1895 building, our third here on this downtown lot. What do these stones mean to you? What do we say to younger people about this meeting house? And to newcomers to our area? Our sense of purpose and togetherness must still come from the Spirit of God. 

We have an identity and a role within the community, from God, and expressive of we who are this body. Our favourite introit says it. Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live… all are welcome in this place. It is the welcome of the Gospel we learn to share. In the open arms of Christ upon the Cross we see our inspiration. The house built here is actually we the people. 

Thus, we claim the words of Ephesians 2. So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone; in him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together in Spirit into a dwelling place for God.

What do these stones mean to you? To me, they mean Christ Jesus is the Cornerstone, and we are built into a people of blessing. So, from us there is goodness and grace shining out to our neighbourhoods.

SERMON: The Living Dead

10:30 am, Sunday, Oct 29, 2023 ~  FBCA

(Deut 34:1-12; Heb 11:29 – 12:2) J G White

From my years living in Windsor, NS, I remember Garwin. He was an acquaintance in town; the only person named Garwin I’ve ever met. Perhaps his parents has been Baptists; I ended up conducting his funeral when he died. One of my most distinct memories of him was one day I didn’t actually meet him. I was walking in the very small local shopping mall, and saw Garwin down the hall, at a distance. I didn’t greet him. Didn’t talk with him. Didn’t think much of it.

Until a bit later that day. It dawned on me... “Wait! I had Garwin’s funeral last year! Oops. I guess that wasn’t him.”

Have you ever met up with... a dead person? Now, I have never had a paranormal experience, and I’m not the sort of person likely to have that kind of thing happen. But I have talked with many others who have glimpsed the supernatural.

This is the time of year for ‘the dead.’ Tonight is the eve of the eve of All Saints Day – remembering the faithful who have died. So it seems fitting to have the scripture story come up of Moses dying, at the edge of that Promised Land he had led the people to, through many long years.

How do we connect with the dead? And do we communicate with them?

What happens right away is partly what happened to Moses. He gets buried. The people mourn him in various ways. He is eulogized; right here we have a bit of an obituary. Was 120 years old, and his strength and eyesight had not weakened! No other prophet like him. He knew God face-to-face. Unequalled in his miraculous signs and mighty deeds.

His influence lived on and on. Of course; Moses was a giant in Hebrew history. In similar ways, we remember our loved ones and friends who are dead, who loved and influenced us. We tell their stories. We quote them. And, sometimes, we think we feel their influence... is it them?

We want the living dead. To know not just that the dead live on in eternity, but that eternity touches this life.

In some ways, I feel that Protestant Christianity trained me not to believe in talking with dead people, the saints who are already with Jesus. Witchcraft, the occult, mediums and psychics were all decried as evil, wrong, dangerous, ungodly. Look back to the Hebrew story in 1 Samuel 28 of the witch of Endor, called upon by King Saul to bring up from the dead Samuel to get some helpful advice. Dead Samuel was not pleased! Such magic and necromancy was forbidden in Judaism, even by Saul, who then broke his own rule.

Catholicism, and some other Christian traditions, have had much more communication with dead people built into their devotion. The naming of saints seems to be for this purpose, in part: pray to St. Christopher, or St. Jude, or the Blessed Virgin Mary. I was taught to pray to the Triune God only, and in the Christian Service Brigade memorized 1 Timothy 2:5, There is one mediator between God and man, the Man, Jesus Christ.

I don’t think I learned what that ancient statement of Christian beliefs says, the Apostle’s Creed:  I believe in the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body. It’s right here in our 50-yar-old Baptist Hymnary. The communion of saints, which equals the fellowship of Xians. This includes the believers dead and gone before us, with us!

I think there are many people who hope for a lot of things from dead people. I don’t mean they want to ‘see dead people,’ though some claim that happens. But you might say that your memory of loved ones inspires and influences you. Perhaps they look over us and look out for us. I hear a lot of that language at the time of deaths and funerals. Some people hope that the deceased will communicate with us – there will be signals or even detailed messages given. I think of folks who believe in ‘diming’ for instance. They keep finding coins, dimes, and every time they believe it is from their deceased loved one; a comforting signal from beyond the grave.

It is basic to Christianity that we believe in communication with someone who died: Jesus the Christ, Son of humanity and Son of God. He’s closely in touch with us, from beyond the grave. But others? Well, perhaps!

This is why I chose that we read from Hebrews 11 and 12 today. Chapter eleven is a litany of Bible heroes, long dead, with highlights of their lives. Next we are told: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. As runners in the race of life, we are cheered on by these dead heroes of the past. We look to Jesus all the way, but we are not alone, we are surrounded by the cloud of witnesses. So, we keep going, beyond those who went before, and this is also all about Jesus.

Do you have some great heroes of Faith? People you knew who now cheer you on, one way or another? Perhaps someone who prayed for you, and their prayers are still getting answered in your life, today! Or the lessons of their life still teach you.

Maybe you know a touch from farther in the past, from someone you never knew, but whose books or stories you have read. Whose music moves you. Whose footsteps you follow.

All of this can be from the Spirit of Jesus, and from that great cloud of witnesses who each have shown, in their lives, the life of God. And you: who shall you touch in the future, even once you are dead and gone? This may be for God to know and them to find out. 

This is the Family of God. It is eternal, not bound in time. It is holy and it is down-to-earth. This is the Church Christ builds, and the gates of evil cannot stand against it.

We will sing some of the hymn, For All the Saints, which is basically saying: ‘Hallelujah to God for all the dead.’ Christ blesses us with their influence, today. There is another ‘saint’ hymn in our Baptist book; I don’t know if you know it yet. It says:             For the saints of God began just like me,

     And I mean to be one too. (Lesbia Scott, b. 1898)

SERMON: Joy & Anxiety

10:30 am, Sunday, Oct 15, 2023 ~ FBCA (Ex 32:1-14; Philippians 4:1-9) J G White

Once upon a time there was a crisis… overseas. A war broke out in Syria. Millions of refugees fled, and thousands started to flee to Canada. A little country Church stepped out and sponsored a family of eight to come to their nearby town. A couple years later, the town Church had the opportunity to bring more of the same family to their town, six more people. Many in the congregation were ready for their Church to be the sponsor, raise the money, do the work. But at the last minute, what we here would call the Board of Management, balked at the idea. The Board of six people declared they would all resign if the Church dared take the financial risk – they needed to raise $40 or $50,000.

Anxiety won the day, and that church did not act as the sponsoring body. The nearby, little country church did. Under the leadership of one person from the town Church, ~$77,000 was raised. Praise God.

Joy & Anxiety… or, Joy and Freedom from Anxiety. Perhaps this is one of the greatest needs of our age, and a great longing. Is it just my own age and stage? This seems to me to be an age of anxiety. Churches are in anxious survival mode. Parents are anxious about so many threats to their children. Everyone gets anxious about pandemics and politics.

In our OT story today we can see the element of community anxiety, and a poor response. ‘Where is our leader and His invisible God? You, his brother, make us a god we can see.’ The rest is history.

On the personal level, broken relationships are common to us all, and a common source of stress. On a trip the other day, I was near Fredericton, and had a passing thought for my cousin who lives there. Sadly, he has just about become an enemy to his own parents, and others in the family. We almost dare not try to make contact with him, not knowing what to expect.

And I have experienced other awkwardness. The relative who served time in prison for crimes at her work, and that turn of events fragmented her relationships with brother and sisters. The person who will have nothing to do with her sister, my wife, yet in a time of illness needs all the support she can get. The Christian couple who joined my church in Digby with great enthusiasm, but after a couple years was infuriated with my theology and teaching, and left the congregation when it all came to a head, and they found themselves alone in their particular attitudes.

Our fourth and final week with the Bible book called Philippians has their friend and leader, Paul, write this to the congregation: I urge Euodia and Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. You also… help these women… The anxiety of relationships is real, be it in community, in family, or in a church. The answer to this stress can be a matter of encouragement by others, of receiving the help of others who care for them, and of Christians remembering the common Friend and Leader they have: Jesus.

In our Faith, we turn our anxieties to prayers, as best we can. This might be a life-long learning process for us. See what Paul said? Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Thankful prayers for help. What’s ‘supplication?’ Really asking for something. What’s ‘thanksgiving?’ The attitude of gratitude. It is one thing to have a sense that God knows our every need before we even say it or pray it. But to help us in anxious moments, it is good for us actually to make a request, name it, and put it alongside some things for which we are grateful. (Many of the Psalms do this.)

And the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds, said Paul. Something above and beyond our natural hearts and minds is available. We are not alone in our anxieties, and our coping skills. There is God, a God of peace.

Some of our greatest emotional stresses come from deep and damaging things that we’ve experienced. The healing journey can be a huge journey, in the midst of traumas. It takes many blessings, and much work, to pick away at the things that trouble us. These things I point out today from Philippians chapter four are but pieces of a beautiful puzzle of healing and help and hope. So, as I tell this next story, remember that there is surely a lot more to this than one helpful moment of counselling and prayer by a pastor. This is surely but a highlight in one person’s longer journey.

Years ago, Richard Foster was working at a family counselling centre. He experienced some power with healing prayer when he met with a man who had lived in constant fear and bitterness for twenty-eight years. He would wake up at night screaming and in a cold sweat. He lived in constant depression… he had not laughed in many years.

He told Richard Foster what had happened those many years before that had caused such a deep sadness to hang over him. He was in Italy during the Second World War and was in charge of a mission of thirty-eight men. They became trapped by enemy gunfire. …He had prayed desperately that God would get them out of that mess. It was not to be. He had to send his men out two by two and watch them get killed. Finally, in the early hours of the morning he was able to escape with six men—four seriously wounded. He had only a flesh wound. He said that the experience turned him into an atheist.

Foster said, ‘Don’t you know that Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God who lives in the eternal now, can enter that old painful memory and heal it so that it will no longer control you?’ After talking, the man agreed to have Foster pray for him – having faith for him.

He invited the Lord Jesus to go back those twenty-eight years and walk through that day with this good man… (Prayer, 1992, pp.218-219)

To make a longer story short, the next week the fellow came to counsellor Foster with a new brightness, and said he had been sleeping, sleeping through the night, for the first time in years. It was a breakthrough. Sometimes, in the long journey out of anxieties and trauma, there are breakthroughs, thank God.

The next bit of holy counsel today is about building good habits of the mind. For years I have been appreciating this verse: Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. We know it can be easy, so tempting, to dwell upon whatever is alarming, whatever is shocking, whatever displeases us, whatever we didn’t want, anything that’s a failure and anything we disapprove of. Our social media, our news and our entertainment fill our view with terrible, horrible stuff. We know what happens when we piece together a quilt of all this negative stuff.

All the troubles of the world – and of ourselves – have got to be balanced by training ourselves to dwell upon the beautiful and the good. Take note of such things! Hold on to those good pieces and see them stitched together by the Spirit of God into a beautiful comforter. This is part of our training in the School of Jesus.

Unlike the disciples of two thousand years ago, we spend time with our Master differently. So much of Jesus’ influence upon us is from our Text, and from the servants of Christ we have known. We learn, and remember, and put into practice, the practical lessons we learned from others. Paul had written, Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. We could say the same about Moses. Did you notice today how Moses prayed for his people to be shown mercy, when they had forsaken the path of their newfound faith? Moses asked for mercy, and got it for them. Sometimes we need someone to bless us; sometimes it is our work to find mercy for others who are in trouble.

The God of peace will be with you. The word ‘peace’ is like the word ‘love,’ it has a few big meanings. The latest world conflict – in Israel and Palestine – has us all alarmed and probably anxious. The ‘peace’ we wish for there is on a different scale than the peace of individual souls with God, or between family members or neighbours or co-workers. To pray for the peace of Israel, and Palestine, and their neighbours, is, at least, to point in the right direction. Even when we see not much over there pointing in that direction.

The world needs a God big enough to hold these warring peoples in strong hands. A Spirit good enough to battle the evil of the powers that seem to be in control. A Deity human enough to reach in and touch and bless the fleeing people, the struggling millions who are suffering and terrified.

The God of peace will be with you?

The peace of God will guard your hearts and minds?

This is the One we proclaim. Our hearts and minds are stirred up, for good reasons. Even as we lament and cry out to God, we can find ourselves given strength and serenity. We find in Christ the power and the wisdom to make a difference, brining our own bit of peace to this anxious world. As Paul said, I pray for you: may God fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

SERMON: Jesus & CHRISTianity

Joy & CHRISTianity

10:30 am, Sunday, Oct 8, 2023 ~  FBCA

(Ex 20:1-20; Philippians 3:4b-14) J G White

Joy and Christianity. Really, I call this ‘Joy & Christ,’ yet I wanted it to go with ‘Joy & Mortality, Joy & Humility, Joy & .’ In the face of his opponents, and from a prison cell somewhere, the Apostle Paul had great joy in Jesus, and in sharing Christ with others. 

The surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord becomes important to us in the ways we experience and meet Jesus. There are so many ways that people know Christ. In this holy letter, Paul wrote of Christ’s resurrected life and His death. Paul wanted to know all this in his own life he was living. We also, in our deep pains and the big questions of life, the beautiful blessings and gracious gifts, meet up with God in Christ.

One might think right away that knowing Jesus is about our spiritual practices, and this certainly is one category. Worship together, praying alone, reading the Bible, meditation, and so forth are activities where we can truly sense we are meeting with the Spirit of Jesus. 

One strong experience I remember was some years ago, at a worship service. There was no large crowd in the Chapel; I was in the pews with a few others. We got singing a simple worship song, by John Bell, with repetitive words, and quite a few verses. We sang it every week at that service. We were singing words of Jesus, to ourselves:  Lo, I am with you to the end of the word…

Lo, I am with you when you leave self behind…

Lo, I am with you in the struggle for peace…

…and so on. A beautiful little song. I had sung it many times before. But this one evening, while singing, I felt a different praying flowing through me. In a state of great peace, I found myself ‘praying’ for many people and places I knew, all over the place. It was a moment of gentle euphoria. It was like a steady stream of blessing flowing through me to others who were near or far away.

Perhaps you could testify to your own prayer and worship experiences like this. The joy of knowing Christ has its moments like this. These special, quality times together, in our relationship. The beautiful, amazing experiences… and, the Holy Presence in the face of pain and danger. 

Yet, spiritual practices are not the only way we ‘experience God,’ of course. So we need to be clear with those around us, that we know there is so much, so many ways we walk with Christ daily. And ‘walk’ is a good word for this. There is an American Christian training centre called the Centre for Action and Contemplation. This reminds us that our daily doings are where we know Christ. 

Remember Jesus’ message recorded in Matthew 25, the story of the King separating the good sheep and the bad goats? Why were the sheep welcomed into such blessing? When had they seen and helped and spent time with the King?  37‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these [siblings] of mine, you did it to me.’

Have you spent time with Christ the King when you were with someone in need? There is a sacred space, a very special time, when we are with people in trouble, in pain, in sadness or anger, in grief. It is in these day-to-day activities at home or at work or wherever that God shows up. 

I remember friends who got to know a woman down the hall in their large apartment building. The woman was not real happy, and she was not taking very good care of herself. So they started making a bit more supper each day, and always took a plate of food down to her. Something very practical for the good of someone’s body - and spirit. I know I saw the living Christ in that neighbour relationship. 

I think I need to read Henri Nouwen’s book, Adam: Beloved of God. This book was written by Nouwen after the death of his handicapped friend Adam Arnett. A Catholic Priest, Nouwen was world renowned as a university professor and an author of Christian books. But he finished his career by leaving the academy and moving to a L’Arche community near Toronto, to be part of that fellowship of caring, with abled and disabled people living together. 

Adam was twenty-five when Henri Nouwen became his caregiver. Adam had epilepsy, he could not move much on his own, he never spoke. Caring for him revealed so much about needs, about communication beyond words, and about God. When he was about 35, Adam died. Nouwen wrote: “From the moment I saw Adam’s body lying in his casket, I was struck by the mystery of this man’s life and death…Adam’s death touched me deeply because for me he was the one who more than any book or professor led me to the person of Jesus.”

We get to meet, what we can call the Spirit of Jesus, in living life with others, amid our needs, our hurts, and our hallelujahs!

Others of us get into the student mode of being a believer. We are book people, and keep reading and studying, going to seminars and listening to podcasts. Some folks get close to Jesus this way. 

Some of you know the name of scholar Dominic Crossan - I know you’ve even used his books in study groups here, years ago. He is a Bible scholar, known from the group called the Jesus Seminar that got some publicity a couple decades ago. I got to hear Professor Crossan give lectures for a week in Truro, one year, in person. And I remember his saying how, at the core of his experience of Jesus Christ was his study, his scholarship, his continual journey of learning.

So it is for some Christians. I suppose all this is like the so-called love languages. We could say: some people are in love with Jesus, and what means the most to them are the blessings showered upon them by Christ. Someone else connects with the Son of God most by study of the Word of God. For the next Christian, being with Jesus is all about the mystical prayer experiences of meditation or worship or singing. And for another believer, Jesus is most real in the doing of good things, cooperating with the Spirit, obediently. And so on. 

Think about it: where does your greatest Joy in Jesus arise? Another organization, Renovare, teaches about six spiritual traditions in Christianity. I think they illustrate the variety of ways people are different in how they connect with Christ most of all. We have the Evangelical Tradition that is all about sharing truth and the Holy Bible. The Charismatic Tradition that is about being filled with the Holy Spirit and aware of the Presence and touch of God. There is the Compassionate Tradition, all about doing loving actions and helping out in this world. Also, the Contemplative Tradition, which focuses upon prayer and meditation and such activities. And the Holiness Tradition, about finding God’s will and the ways to obey.

Our Old Testament text today, the Ten Commandments, is a great core statement that guides holiness, our obedience to God, for instance. It is good to find a balance for ourselves among all these traditions, while we each have our special strengths. You may be a doer. Or a thinker. Or a pray-er. Or a communicator. Each of us a part of the Body of Christ, with our own special purposes and talents. We find our greatest joys in Christ and Xianity in different parts of life. And we respect the amazing and different ways others around us are finding their way to Joy in Jesus. We’re not all going to be alike. 

The Hayward lecturer at Acadia University this past week was Dr. Willie Jennings, of Yale Divinity School. Talking about people in their 20s and 30s today, he claimed they come to Jesus differently than previous generations. Then, about training leaders for churches, Dr. Jennings said: At the heart of it for all of us is we have to rethink, and think very slowly and carefully, about what Christian formation is. What are we forming people towards? We have got to rework that.

What is a Christian to look like, that doesn't look like Billy Graham? There are many [divinity] schools that, when they think of the idea of Christian, they think of Billy Graham. That is a horrible mistake… We have to rethink exactly what the Christian life looks like. This is the hard work… 

Today, I feel I have few answers about anything, but I am so thankful to God that Christians are born again to take so many paths. We show the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ the Lord in many beautiful ways. 

Let us keep on. Run the race with Jesus, for Jesus, to Jesus. With our own unique strides, our own pace, our own good posture, our own close teammates, we follow the example of the Apostle: 13…but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. This week, may you find some real Joy in Christ.

SERMON: Joy & Humility

10:30 am, World Communion Sunday, Oct 1, 2023 ~  FBCA

(Philippians 2:1-13; Mtt 21:23-32) J G White

O Lord, it's hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way.

So sang Mac Davis in 1980, and the truth of the irony shines out. When you believe yourself to be perfect, even in just a few ways, it is hard to be humble with other people. 

Perhaps we don’t think of humility and deep joyfulness as two things that go together, but I think they should. Paul’s letter we read from, Philippians, is his letter of joy, and on the second page we have this ancient hymn to Christ Jesus, describing His humble journey. 

6 …though he existed in the form of God,

    did not regard equality with God

    as something to be grasped,

7 but emptied himself,

    taking the form of a slave,

    assuming human likeness.

Jesus humbly went on to the painful events we remember at the Communion Table today, and that Christians around the world participate in, on this World Communion Sunday. His life’s blood shed, His body broken.

Real humbleness is to be satisfied with your place and your purpose. So we have to know it, and not strive for something else. It often includes letting others be who they are. We think someone is better than we are? We learn not to be envious or jealous. We learn not to be angry and think ill of them. We learn not to feel like we are just nothing. 

And if we think someone is less than we are, we learn from Christ not to value them less, not to think of ourselves too highly, and how to receive help from that person. 

True humility is not beating ourselves up or putting ourselves down. We are created beautiful by God, and made new in Christ for good things. To be joyfully humble: respect yourself and others.

I’ve just come home from the activities of the Canadian Association for Baptist Freedoms. This is a group of Bapitsts who Christ has used to teach me some respect and humility. This little group of people and congregations is spreading across Canada now, after the first forty years was mostly fellowship in NS and NB and PEI. First Baptist has been part of the CABF since its beginning; one of the first Presidents was Jack Matthews. I appreciate this group of Baptists because of the freedom and, dare I say, humility that’s here. 

Why would I say this? For one thing, there can and should be a humility about being free thinkers. I know, here in Philippians 2:2 it says, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. You might think this means we must all be copycats. Yet it is possible to agree to be free thinkers, to share the purpose of being diverse, to have in mind being respectful of many opinions. This is what I have found in the CABF group. And what I find here at First Baptist. 

I’ve got it. OK, I’ve got it. You really like Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live… You don’t even want to skip it for a month. All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place. When this is true and real, it takes a lot of humility. Humbleness to respect and include someone different. 

One person loves to hear, ‘My soul doth magnify, doth magnify the Lord,’ and someone else wants to sing, ‘I saw the light, I saw the light, no more darkness, no more night.’ 

One person trusts Jesus deeply for an eternal dwelling place, thanks to His sacrifice that personally cleanses them from wrong and evil. Another person has let go of concerns about the afterlife, and seeks Jesus’ Way for how to make a difference in this life. 

And so on. All these can be welcome if there is a humbleness that is willing to let others be themselves, and let go of thinking ‘I know it all, me & Jesus have it all figured out, they must be wrong.’ 

I learned from these Baptist Christians to know and love other types of Christians. To respect them. To be humble in their midst. As a child and a teenager I was quite churched: I went to everything at the Middleton Baptist Church: Sunday service, Sunday School, Youth Group, Youth Choir, Men’s Fellowship, Youth Handbell Choir, and the boys’ Christian Service Brigade. But never once did I get to set foot in the local Nazarene Church, or United Church, or Catholic, or Anglican, or United Pentecostal. Only after I grew up and left home did I start to visit these and learn how they worshipped, and thought, & taught, & did God’s work together. You know, you appreciate your own tradition once you see what else is out there. 

We humble ourselves, and look for the Christ who meets us in the Roman Catholics, and in the Lutherans, and in the Wesleyans.

So I rejoice, today, to be in a Baptist congregation that cooperates with the others. A Baptist Church that respects the others so much that we will welcome you as a new member from them, without requiring you be re-baptized in water as an adult. A Baptist Church that shares with others how they do things with God. For instance, we are rather ‘liturgical’ or ‘mainstream Church’ in our Sunday morning style. Responsive readings, unison prayers, two or more scripture passages, liturgical robes. I think this goes back a century. A brief history of First Baptist tells us about the leadership of our Pastor, Dr. C. W. Rose, just over one hundred years ago. 

One noticeable factor during Dr. Rose’s pastorate was the appearance of more and more ritual and ceremony in the Church, such as the growing of the choir members, and other innovations. Some have said that much of this was due to the solemnity and ceremony which surrounded all Canadians during the war years.

(J. M. MacSwain, A History of the Amherst Baptist Church, 1959, p.51)

No matter our style, the heart of our gatherings is the Spirit of Jesus. The great sacrifice of Christ Jesus is in the worship of thousands upon thousands of Churches today, Oct 1, this World Communion Sunday. The bread and the wine come in many varieties in the Churches. So what? We all are remembering this: And being found in appearance as a human, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. (P 2:7-8) 

From our Master we are learning humbleness, from our heart out to our hands. We hear it in His teachings, over and over. Such as His story of the sons working in the vineyard: when we said we wouldn’t help out, we learn to do the humble thing and join in after all. 

We may love a lot of what it is to be a practicing Christian, to be a Baptist, and to belong with First Baptist. Jesus who died and who lives takes us on a humble path, to esteem others highly and learn life from those who are different. We learn to make sacrifices and submit. We learn to be part of a Body that has so many working parts. 

And now, we look again to Jesus’ broken body. We get in touch again with that life-blood that becomes life-giving. We bow, and discover there are millions who are bowing with us before Christ, and so are lifted up by God.

SERMON: Joy & Mortality

10:30 am, Sun, Sept 24, 2023 ~  FBCA

(Exodus 16:2-15; Philippians 1:20-30) J G White

The joy of the Lord is my strength, said Ezra & Nehemiah (8:10). We’ve dipped into a NT Bible letter of joy today, hitting the first of four chapters in Philippians, Paul’s joyful letter. Read through, and notice how often the worlds ‘joy’ and ‘rejoice’ appear. Yet do you know the author’s situation when he wrote this? Paul was facing opposition against this new Christian movement, and opposition to him from within it! He wrote this letter from prison, somewhere in the Roman empire. It also sounds like he could face execution there - it was uncertain what was about to happen.

And his letter is joy-filled. Joy, in the face of life and death. Joy, in the face of serious persecution. 

For us, persecution and pressure is about how we do life, our lives. It is not just about how we do our religious stuff. It is about having victory in terms of having a good attitude, doing our work well, being good citizens of earth when we shop and travel, being a good friend to others in our community, doing well as members of our immediate and extended family, and so on. 

I keep thinking of being a well-rounded square. Remember, Jesus was a well-rounded square? When still a pre-teen, it was said he grew in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and people. That’s (1) his thoughts and emotions, (2) his physical self, (3) his spirituality, and (4) his social life. A well-rounded square. 

So, are there barriers, or even enemies, of your emotional health? You may have daily challenges to handle, or traumas from your past. Are there any enemies of your physical well-being? There could be bad habits, hard circumstances, or diseases and injuries you face.  How about dangers to your faith and God-relationship? I am not one to talk in terms of ‘spiritual warfare,’ but many people find this best describes the battles they have to be faithful and hopeful. Or are there challenges in your human relationships? This world is so ‘peopley’ and it is not easy to get along.

And there is a certain mortality to all of these: they will end here, one day. We have a sure hope in a new beginning, but there will be an end for this life of your brain, your body, your religion and your relationships. And how things turn out will not be as we first wanted. Will not be without tears. Will not be without scars. 

Our Sunday Old Testament journey took us today to the needs of the Israelites in the early months of their time in the wilderness, headed for a Promised Land. They are very unhappy. This new-found freedom from slavery is no paradise, it has a bit of hardship. Not much food, for instance. They end up receiving this mysterious bread from heaven, ‘manna,’ each morning. And they get a flock of fresh poultry fly in to feed them evening by evening. As the months go on, this menu becomes tiresome - but at least they survive on this food!

Then, as the years - and decades - go by, these people all die off; their children and grandchildren get to the Promised Land. Faithful leader Moses does not even enter the Land; he died within view of it.

Many centuries later, a Christian declared that so many Old Testament people died in the faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. (Heb 11:13)

I wonder what promises we believers of today are seeing and greeting from afar, hoping but not yet experiencing. We die before some good and great things get here. It happened to those who went before us. If we grow into some Christian maturity, like the apostle Paul, we get to be joyfully at peace, on the edge of life and death, while things are incomplete in this life. 

I hope you have all known people like this. Inspiring, giving, overflowing into your life. 

I remember Roberta, a senior lady who was a very positive member of her Baptist Church in the countryside of Kings County. I remember Roberta as a person, at the end of her life, in hospital, being visited by young divinity students. She did more for them than they for her, as she told them what wonderful ministers they would be. She encouraged. It did not matter if she was going to make it or not. Her visitors mattered more to her. 

I think of famed author and artist Joni Earickson Tada, who became a quadriplegic at age seventeen, not a chosen path, yet she has gone on to inspire millions by her life, her art, her writing and speaking. Another great author, Thomas R. Kelly comes to mind. A scholar, a missionary, a Quaker mystic, Kelley suffered a period of personal grief when his research for a PhD at Harvard University would not be accepted. Yet, out of that great disappointment, Kelly had a spiritual awakening. In a book, A Testament of Devotion, he wrote: if you slip and stumble and forget God for an hour, and assert your old proud self, and rely upon your own clever wisdom, don’t spend too much time in anguished regrets and self-accusations but begin again, just where you are.

Some of the biggest problems can be released by Christ, or transformed, or healed, or made good use of. Read the whole first chapter of Philippians and notice what really does not impact the heart of great preacher and pastor, Paul:

What does it matter if Paul is in prison?

What does it matter if some of the other Christian preachers are motivated by rivalry or envy or ambition?

What does it matter if Paul lives or dies? 

These didn’t matter, to Paul. He was happy to see Jesus pointed to in all these circumstances. So may it be, in our lives now. So be inspired by people like Apostle Paul, ready and faithful despite every problem. Thanks be to God that we can be at peace, be joyful, be satisfied, even when everything is falling down around us.

I won’t quote it all here, but you likely have heard Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘If.’

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

On it goes. Kipling concluded, If you can do such things, Yours is the Earth, and everything that’s in it. I’d say this all comes with believing and suffering with Christ, as Paul said. If you can do this, yours is eternity, and everything that’s in it. 

In the midst of our mortal lives, there is joy, a divine joy. May you too find that sensible, positive perspective in which it does not matter if you live or die, nor if your own dreams live or die. All that matters is for the Light of the World to shine. And shine It will.

SERMON: Not Since Moses?

(Ex 14:19-31; Rom 14:1-12) J G White

Today is to be the annual Terry Fox Run, in thousands of communities across Canada. Here in Amherst it was cancelled. I have become a bit of a runner, this year, but I have yet to participate in the Terry Fox Run. 

I do have two T-shirts from an annual, local run called ‘Not Since Moses.’ Once a year, on a low, low tide, hundreds run along the beaches of Five Islands, five or ten kilometres, before the unstoppable Fundy tide comes flooding in. 

I love the Minas Basin landscape. For decades I have been exploring the Parrsborough shore, Five Islands, Economy Point, and the red, muddy beaches of Hants and Kings Counties. This summer, again, I walked over to Moose Island at Five Islands and camped overnight. I have been known to take friends with me out there, and on an extreme low tide walk (and wade water) ever so quickly to go around Diamond Island, Long Island, Egg Island, Pinnacle Island and the Pinnacle itself! Again this summer, I walked three kms out on the sandbars of Economy Point to get as close as I could to that little red island called the Brick Kiln. 

And I can watch the tide come in for hours. It is very dramatic in many of these places. At Thomas’ Cove there is a veritable tidal bore that flows over the beach, and there is real danger if one found oneself on a rocky outcrop or sandbar. 

So, the story of the Children of Israel crossing the Red/Reed Sea captures my imagination: I can easily picture it all. It is a story of rescue and freedom, as well as of death and destruction. 

After years of enjoying our immense tides ebb and flow, I know, and you know, how dangerous water can be. This year in Nova Scotia and beyond, waters have flooded and destroyed and killed. Far too much, we’d say. After our dry, burning spring, the waters started flooding down, and in some ways have never stopped. Not to mention the recent, deadly flooding in Libya. 

In the book of Exodus, we just peek in, today, at the dramatic moment when the ancient Israelites escape across the empty bottom of the sea, and then the pursuing Egyptian army gets flooded and drowned. We read, “Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.”

Not since Moses has such a thing happened upon earth? Not since Moses and the days of the Bible has the Creator intervened with such miracles? Stopping and starting rivers and oceans. Pausing the sun and moon crossing the sky. Instigating earthquakes to swallow up evildoers. Turning the sky to darkness when there is a crucifixion. ?

But how do we expect help, in the face of flooding rains? In the face of furious fires? In the face of the latest earthquakes and droughts? How do we pray? How do we expect God to respond?

People differ in their opinions on this. Christian opinions vary! This is quite important to us. When the largest forest fires strike Nova Scotia, and many more scar the Canadian landscape. Pray. When chains of thunderstorms cross the province, and then hurricane season begins. Pray. When nearly three thousand people die in the recent Morocco earthquake, and at least eleven thousand in the Libyan flooding. Where are You, O God?!

It is not as simple as say the right prayer, get the blessing. My own, real short answer to this, is: I don’t know how prayer works, what God will and won’t do, but it is well worth having conversation with the Spirit of truth and power. And I am grateful when good things come our way. I say ‘thanks.’ 

So, our text today from Romans 14 is helpful. What Paul was writing about was not our situation, but the principles apply. Don’t despise those who differ from you. The diet of the ancient Jews and early Christians was clearly important to them; eating meat, or not, has religious and spiritual implications for them. This is not likely one of our issues. 

For believers now, the role of women in church and society is an important issue. Yes, it is still an issue in Church. In August, we Baptists just elected our first woman as our Executive Minister: Rev. Renee MacVicar. Our President for this year also happens to be a woman, Dr. Lois Mitchell. Other Baptist denominations with churches around us would do no such thing. We are still siblings in Christ with the Baptist believers who differ with us in their teaching.

Why do you pass judgement on your brother or sister? We may pass judgement on someone’s ideas and teaching and practices, using some wisdom, but not upon the people themselves. 

Another example: last weekend there was a wedding, in Annapolis County. Sharon and I were invited - the groom was a member of Digby Baptist Church with us - but we did not get to the ceremony. I would have liked to be there, even though I am disappointed and concerned. Concerned, because the wedding was held at a local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Have our friends who got married quit the Baptists and become Mormons? Apparently. My own judgement is that’s a dumb move. Yet, in Christ, I think I need to keep loving and respecting these folks we knew.

One more example. I noticed my mother is reading a recent book by Philip Yancey, his memoirs, I think, called Where The Light Fell. I remember reading in one of his many other books, about his father. When Philip was young, his father was ill with polio, living in an iron lung, in fact. The family was very Christian, very devoted, very conservative. The Church and the family believed that with faith and prayer, Mr. Yancey would be healed by the Lord! So they turned off the iron lung. He died, two weeks later. 

You might say that ‘not since Moses’ have such healing miracles truly happened, if ever. Or, you may not be a sceptic like me, and you can testify about unexplainable healings and great prayers answered. (Sharon White counts hundreds of miracles that kept our granddaughter alive, after Amelia was born three months early, in 2017.) Miracle of miracles, Jesus has us all together in the family of God, despite our wondrous differences. 

There is a role to guide and help others, yes. But the ‘spirit of correction’ can be harmful! A flood of opinions may spill from our mouths and from our eyes. In our discipleship to Christ, we get trained to be gracious and patient with others, not judgy. 

Perhaps that last line in our reading from Romans means a great deal: we are accountable, to God, far more than to one another. When it’s all said and done, every day, we are not the judges of those around us. If we are in a school of spirituality, here we learn not to pass judgement. Our training with Jesus has been from the little things, up to greater things. We let go of judging others for how they want to rearrange the chairs on the Titanic // I mean, the ‘Ladies’ Parlour.’ Then we move on to being free from judging how others want to pray or to sing or to serve God. Then we graduate up to stop judging people for making different conclusions about how their life is to be lived, what is moral and ethical. 

The great balance between not judging others, and helping others find a better path, is a balance we can only walk by the grace of God, shown to us in Jesus the Christ. 

Welcome those who are weak in faith, says Romans chapter 14. And may I be ready to face the fact that my great faith is also weak. The God who died and lived again is the true Giver of strength.

SERMON: What Depends Upon You?

(Ex 3:1-15; Rom 12:14-21; Mtt 16:21-28) J G White

Allow me to begin with a story, an old-fashioned story, 100 years old, by William E. Barton. Written in an even older-fashioned style, it comes from the tales of a fictional character, a preacher known as Safed the Sage. The Frog & the Hornet.

There came to me a man who said, 

I have many unpleasant experiences.

And I said unto him, Thou art not the Only Pebble on the Beach.

And he said, But mine are such as I cannot speak of, and they Humiliate me. For my occupation is such that I am beholden to those who Exasperate me, yet must I say nothing, and it is not easy to Grin and Bear it. 

And I said unto him, I walked one day through the Forest, and I came upon a Little Pool. And in the margin of the Pool was there a Frog. And he sat as Immovable as the Sphinx sitteth amid the sands; so sat he in the mud.

And as I regarded him, there came an Hornet, and lighted a little space away from him, as it were an half or two parts of a Cubit. And the Frog gave no sign that he saw the Hornet or me, but sat in the mud immovable. But when the Hornet let down his wings and began to sip of the water that was in the mud, then did the Frog leap. And it was a marvelous leap, for he seemed to make No Preparation for it, neither to pull himself together or to take thought of the distance, but rose as if he had been shot from a Gun, and landed so that his mouth came exactly where the Hornet was. And the Frog Gobbled the Hornet before the Hornet realized that Anything Had Occurred.

Now when I saw that, I said, That was a Mighty Good Jump, and accurately measured, but that Frog hath procured for himself a Prize Package the nature whereof he knoweth not. And I looked that the Hornet should have bored him full of Gimlet Holes from the inside out. And I said, Surely that Frog will immediately display all the Characteristic Symptoms of Appendicitis.

But if it gave him Stomach Ache he showed it not, but set-tled himself in the same old place, and waited as if he were the more content for having had a pinch of Mustard with his Meat.

And I said unto the man. Be like unto that Frog. And if thou must swallow a Sting with thy Daily Bread, do it so Contentedly that no man shall know that thou hast colic. But if the time cometh to leap, then do thou leap so that thou shalt swallow not only the Sting but the Stinger.

And he said, Shall I wait till I may avenge myself?

And I said, There are more kinds of revenge than one. And most of them hurt the Avenger more than the Avenged; so that I commend them not. Consider the Divers Kinds, and be ready for that which is best, and if thou forget all thought of revenge, so much the better. Meantime, let not the sting interfere with thy Digestion nor thy Prayer. (Wm. E. Barton, Safed and Ketura, 1921, pp. 60-62)

What depends upon you? 

Well, one thing is to live peacefully with others in this world. Romans 12:18 reads: If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. What a remarkable admonition amid all the other encouragement in this chapter. In these eight verses a speaker could easily come up with one dozen separate talks to be preached. I chose, live peaceably with all.

Some of us may feel we are in a day and age when this is a greater task than ever before in our lives: to be at peace with everyone. Opinions seem stronger, in all sorts of extreme directions. Politics is getting more polarized in many parts of the world. Religion is still a fighting point for millions. Crises of the world are driving people apart, not bringing together.

Do everything possible on your part to live at peace with everybody. You can see that these Bible verses are still dealing with evil, the real threat of evil in the world. All our stories are, today. 

We visited those memorable scenes of Moses, minding his business out in the desert, suddenly meeting Creator God at a shrub that is aflame but not burning up. He is being given a mission: go lead a whole ethnic group, a people, out of slavery. It will not be easy to get out of Egypt peacefully, and become a free nation.

Centuries later, it is the time of Jesus. He tells those closest to Him that He is about to be destroyed, in the cause of good, in bringing true freedom for all humans. Disciple Peter says ‘No way!’ And this turns out to be evil. “Get behind me, Satan,” Jesus famously says. We watch Christ closely, to see how He lives at peace with those closest to him, and those farthest from Him. He does bring peace, but not everyone receives it.

If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. There is something about peace in your corner of the world that does depend upon you. As much as possible, we become people of peace, as we live with Christ. We are together to learn to do our part. What you have to do for peace, in a world of enemies, is not always the same as what I need to do. 

In a recent podcast, spiritual writer, artist and activist Jan Phillips told of a struggle she had in her own family. Jan is an American, a lesbian woman, and a rather post-Christian spiritual person. She speaks of a morning thought she had, one day: I wish I could have a relationship with my brother like I used to have. Well, why can’t I? Well, things changed. When I come out, he’s not that happy about that. And then he voted for Trump, and then we could never talk about anything real in the world, because we had to avoid that. And then he moves to Phoenix because he doesn’t want to be around black and brown people. So there’s the duality. I, of course, am right; he, of course, is wrong. So, I have to correct that, because dualities just contribute to conflict. 

So, I wrote a poem, just wanting to have myself say whatever it was that is the original bond between a brother and a sister that is stronger than politics, stronger than religions, stronger than queer… What is it that solidifies a sibling relationship? And let me stay there, in the conversation. 

So, that’s the work that I had to do. He’s a Trumper and I can’t stand it. I don’t want to think of my brother as a racist, ya know. I don’t want him to be embarrassed by my life choices. But I have no control over those things; the only control I have is over how I frame our relationship. So, it's what I’m working on; it’s kind of psychological, spiritual work, but it’s a big job. 

“Surrender and fulfilment happen simultaneously.” 

I am surrendering my knee-jerk reaction, surrendering my disappointment in the kind of man he turned out to be; and when I let that go, and think about who we were as teenagers to each other, who we still are… then I met with a brother who… is like the greatest brother I could have asked for, if I don’t come to it laden with how I wish he was, right? It’s a fulfilling relationship. But that’s my choice. 

(podcast: The Musecast: The Sound of Light, Season 2, Episode 5)

If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. These words of Apostle Paul are in the middle of his talk about blessing those who persecute you, weeping with those who weep, not having a proud attitude, not repaying evil, and blessing your enemies with good stuff. Those are all hints about living peacefully with all - how to do as much as possible. Our daily, yearly training with the Spirit of Jesus leads us not to be overcome with evil, but to overcome evil with good. 

There is much good to be done: you in your small corner, and I in mine. So remember these words of the Saviour: Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these... (John 14:12)

SERMON: Love & Good & Evil

(Ex 1:8-2:10; Rom 12:9-13; Mtt 16:13-20) J G White

Seven days ago I gave this sermon a title: The Look of Love. Then I left town for the week. Yesterday, I put the sermon together, with a new title: Love & Good & Evil. Love is action that deals with good and evil. Our reading from Romans 12 today says: 9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good; Marva Dawn translated it this way:  The love – not hypocritical! Abhorring the wicked thing!  Glued to the good thing!

Many a sermon has been preached on love, from many texts in the Bible. Many books written too, such as the C. S. Lewis classic, The Four Loves. The love mentioned here in Romans 12:9 is what gets called ‘brotherly love,’ and is side-by-side with these short commands about good and evil. Sticking to what’s good and getting rid of evil - this is what love is all about.

Let me start this sermon by quoting from the late, great, and very literary preacher and writer, Frederick Buechner. In one book he has a short article about LOVE. 

The first stage is to believe that there is only one kind of love. The middle stage is to believe that there are many kinds of love and that the Greeks had a different word for each of them. The last stage is to believe that there is only one kind of love. 

Of all powers, love is the most powerful and the most powerless. It is the most powerful because it alone can conquer that final and most impregnable stronghold which is the human heart. It is the most powerless because it can do nothing without consent.

To say that love is God is romantic idealism. To say that God is love is either the last straw or the ultimate truth.   (Wishful Thinking: a Theological ABC,  Harper San Francisco, 1973, pp. 53-54)

The great love for us, shown in Jesus Christ, is the great, tremendous thing that binds us together. When we connect our experience of Christ with the rest of our lives and the people we meet, we will tackle more problems and rejoice in more beauty. 

Allow me to quote Frederick Buechner again: A Christian is one who points at Christ and says, 'I can't prove a thing, but there's something about his eyes and his voice. There's something about the way he carries his head, his hands, the way he carries his cross – the way he carries me.' (Ibid, p.  )

The phrases of Romans 12 continue on. 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Actually showing affection breaks down walls and barriers. It disperses some evil. A hug, a smile, a look in the eye and clear words can truly bless. 

Author Marva Dawn told this story. Once, when I was still single, during an intense time of work and loneliness, I misunderstood a friend's comment. After stewing about it an entire evening, I drove back to his house the next day to clear up the missed communication. His explanation was gift enough, but then he added, “Marva, you are so afraid of rejection. I’m not going to run away or drop your friendship without talking things through. I am committed to our friendship.” That word of commitment made a huge difference in my feelings about myself and about life, and I am… grateful to God… (MD, Truly the Community, 1992, pp. 165-166)

11 Do not lag in zeal; says Romans 12,  be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord. To be energetic and accomplish things is what love does in this world. We each, in our congregations, can find ourselves to be inspired and equipped and empowered to do the good we want to do. 

A church called Grace Memorial Baptist Church did some things last year in April; they called it 30 Days of Grace. “What a generous demonstration of community love” read a caption from Fredericton High School when 900 muffins were donated by the Church for the school food program. 

A special outreach during Holy Week was the preparation of Easter boxes. An enthusiastic group of volunteers showed up at the church to assemble boxes of ingredients for Easter dinners. Altogether, the group packed twenty boxes and delivered them to households in need. 

And on the last day of April, a crew made up of 13 men and women from Grace gave up half of their Saturday to help a senior, single woman move to a new apartment. All morning they lugged boxes and furniture down a set of stairs and into the back of a truck, then turned around and climbed up the stairs again for another load. It was demanding work but appreciated by the woman who had to move to a more affordable apartment due to a rent hike and did not have the means to hire professional movers (Kate Thompson, Tidings, September 2022, p. 11)

We do similar things here in our own community, don’t we? To be zealous and ardent in serving our God in such ways is rooted in our confidence in Jesus and in the goodness that matters in this life. 

We heard that Bible conversation today of Jesus and His closest disciples talking about who people thought Jesus was. Disciple Peter got Him right: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Upon this kind of confidence the Church of Jesus would be built, and the gates of hell can’t stand against it - against us! The illnesses, the poverty, the injustices, the hurts and trauma of life have an answer in Jesus and the people of Jesus. We are deployed by God to do good work. The love of Christ reaches with our serving hands and our listening ears, our voices for justice and our giving wallets. 

So we obey these commands of the heart: 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer. Here are the quiet attitudes behind the actions, and the troubles we see. We find joy and hope. We find patience in problems. We keep having God conversations. 

Hope and patience and prayer are fuel for our living, our living in these days of trouble. We look back, way back, for inspiration from the most familiar of faith stories. Moses, a baby born in slavery in Egypt, thousands of years ago, is saved to become the leader of his people out of slavery. Who in this story was brave because of their love? The Jewish midwives who refused to kill the male children who were born. Their love took risks. The parents of Moses took a big risk, to send their son floating down the river, hoping against hope for some miracle. The child’s older sister watched over him as he helplessly found his way to the waters near Pharaoh’s palace. And Pharaoh’s daughter found a love for this mysterious child, and claimed him as her own, protecting him. So much love that was risky. The story of struggle for justice and freedom for thousands of people begins with brave resistance, against the evil forces that threatened.

The final phrases from our Romans 12 reading today said: 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers. Here is love for those we love, and for those who don’t even know. The saints - those in the congregation of Jesus, and the stranger in our midst. 

Our actions to care for the family of God and our actions towards those we do not know - how different those actions can be. On the surface, at the start, we may treat visitors better than those close to us: we’re more polite, more positive, trying to make a good impression, perhaps. Later, if a stranger stays, they may find it hard to break in, socially, and be treated like they belong. It could be said of Nova Scotians, we are amazingly friendly to tourists, but not so much to those who actually move here ‘from away.’ 

The gift of hospitality often is a spiritual gift, a gift from God, a miracle! Hospitality includes the love of strangers. Loving strangers is a worthwhile matter of risk, and sacrifice, and justice.

One last time, let me read from Frederick Beuchner. 

In the Christian sense, love is not primarily an emotion but an act of the will. When Jesus tells us to love our neighbours, he is not telling us to love them in the sense of responding to them with a cozy emotional feeling. You can as well produce a cozy emotional feeling on demand as you can a yawn or a sneeze. On the contrary, he is telling us to love our neighbours in the sense of being willing to work for their well-being even if it means sacrificing our own well-being to that end, even if it means sometimes just leaving them alone. (Wishful Thinking: a theological ABC,  Harper San Francisco, 1973, p. 54)

Love is for those near and dear to us, and for those who are new to us. We would do well to be inspired and influenced by the many Bible texts about Love, and people today who pursue hospitality. It is a matter of good over evil!

I’ll end now, wondering how many of you know this scripture song: 

Beloved, (beloved,)  let us love one another: (love one another)

for love is of God; and every one that loveth 

is born of God, and knoweth God. 

He that loveth not  X X X  

knoweth not God; for God is love. (God is love)

Beloved, (beloved,) let us love one another: 

First John four, seven and eight.

SERMON: One (Humble) Body

(Gen 45:1-15; Rom 12:3-8; Mtt 15:10-20) FBCA, J G White

 Anybody: This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

Everybody: There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

Nobody: Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody: Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.

Everybody: Everybody thought that Anybody could do it,

Nobody: but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.

Everybody: It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Welcome to the Body of Christ. We call it The Church. Here, “you’re a somebody.”  Anybody can join us, when they join Christ. We want nobody to be left out. Everybody has a role to play.

Today’s segment of Romans chapter twelve reminds the believers to live humble lives together. The author says: I bid every one among you not to think of [themself] more highly than [one] ought to think, but to think with sober judgment… (12:3) Humility: a virtue that is, well, so well hidden these days.

Where does it come from, in us? How is it cultivated? Humility grows from realizing our talents and skills are ‘gifts’ to each of us. We may have worked at developing them, but life and all its qualities are gifts to us from Creator. This is a lesson we have for our neighbours, part of what we proclaim to our world.

This text is one place among several, in the NT of the Bible, where Paul and others write about spiritual gifts: capabilities that God puts into the lives of individuals: talents. The four great places where there are some spiritual gifts, some graces, listed, are Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 4. The list is different in each place, which tells us they are not comprehensive. Plenty of blessed abilities are above and beyond what’s in these Bible lists. Here’s a spiritual gift example from author Marva Dawn.

For example, many years ago I went every Monday to visit and sing at a convalescent [long-term care] centre with a five-year-old named Michael. That lad had an uncanny sense about when certain residents needed to hold somebody’s hand; he would simply walk to the person’s wheelchair and extend his own hand. A grinning lady would take his little one in her arthritis-gnarled hand and crush [squeeze] it with affection. Now what could we call that gift? We might have a difficult time trying to categorize it, and yet there could be no doubt that Michael’s grace-gift of holding hands brought Hilarity [Cheerfulness] to the community in that convalescent [long-term care] centre. His gentle gesture of care brought more grace to many of those residents than any of my songs or theological words. (Marva Dawn, Truly the Community, 1992, p. 95)

Our fellowship with Jesus shows us that all of life is gift. We count our blessings - we count everything! And Faith itself is a gift, somehow. I’m not sure what to do with this phrase, but it does remind me that confidence in God has its levels and its growth: think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. God has something to do with the faith you or I have.

And look at the apostle Paul’s injunction in verse 3; he saw his own authority was under the grace of God: For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think… With humbleness he writes to tell Christians what to do. His role as a teacher and guide is God-given. Paul’s authority is simply passed on to him from Christ.

Along with the goodness flowing from our lives all being gifts, I’d also say our Humility comes from our roles as parts of One Body, as Members. 4 For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ…

Within our ‘church families’ we have group and individual tasks and projects. Like the roles of the organs of the human body. I can’t do my wonderful things without you each doing your wonderful things.

Right now, I am looking for the prayer people of First Baptist, those who have a gift for prayer, a habit of prayer, a private practice of praying plenty. I feel the need for a little team of people who can join me in praying on our own for various requests for prayer each week. Some people in the Body of Christ are gifted in this.

Others are skilled in other things. I am always so grateful in churches for the financial whiz kids - at least, compared with me, you are accounting geniuses! Some of you express the gift of hospitality. Others are visionary and active when it comes to getting out there and helping the needy in our neighbourhoods. And so on.

All these roles are like the various roles of the organs of a human body. Each different, some obvious and some hidden, all needed. The New Testament picks up on this metaphor more than once. As it says elsewhere, how could an eyeball live and be wonderful if it was just an eye, and had no hand or brain or lungs?

The Spirit trains us to be humble while we do our own things, as part of the greater team of the Body of Christ. We who speak or make music in front of everyone have a greater need to be humble, because we are on the front line and ‘performing’ all the time.

One other thing about humility in our differing roles… on the next level up, each congregation is different, with different ways we specailize. So, First Baptist has certain tasks, particular skills and resources now, some of which differ from Trinity-St. Stephen, and from Christ Church, or Amherst Wesleyan, and so forth. To work as a team and love one another, we learn to be humble. To rejoice when another church succeeds and is different from us. To support the others with what we do and what we say and what we pray. One body with many different parts.

This takes us to my third of four points: Humility develops from our roles in partnerships with all the others. Puzzle pieces. 4 For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.

At Oasis, ten days ago, Pastor Jason Ballard taught that a key to our spiritual recruiting, and to discipleship, is one-on-one (or small group) interaction. To bring someone into Faith in Jesus usually will depend upon one or two or three people connecting. It won’t be based on big group activities, like worship services, for instance. A recent study of evangelical Christian parents in Canada revealed that younger people rely much more on their friends to learn to be Christian parents than on Church programs and teaching resources.

Our Faith teaches us to rely upon one another, to mentor one another, to team up with and support one another. It takes humility to seek and receive help from one of your peers. And it takes humbleness for the Christian Educators in a congregation to respect that people are learning to follow Jesus from many sources, not just us. Individually we are members one of another.

Finally, let me say: Humility comes from always needing to grow and develop. There are at least two reasons for this. One, none of us ‘has arrived.’ We ain’t perfected yet.  How God blesses me so I can do good things is different now than it was twenty years ago. What you can do to serve God in your seventies or eighties is new and fresh compared with life in your fifties, I’d surmise.

Two: our spiritual gifts are multiple, and they change thru life, as needed. As Marva Dawn wrote: The pushiness of some churches to “find your gift” is not biblical. Rather, the biblical texts indicate that we each have unique combinations of gifts, very much in the plural. (p. 93) So then, we do as Romans 12 suggests. We take what we are capable of and learn to do them well, very well. Here’s how Eugene Peterson put some of these verses into English. Good advice.

 If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

So shall we be members of One Humble Body. Amen.

Sermon: Mind Renewal & ‘Hip Hop’ Prayer

(Gen 37:1-4, 12-28; Rom 12:1-2; Mtt 14:22-33) FBCA, J G White

 I guess I am in training. Not for any marathon or race in particular. Just for the sake of being in shape and being able to run. At least once a week I run with the Amherst Striders, and about once a week on my own. Started with them in January. Last week I ran with them on Wednesday evening. I started out great and fast, with the front runners. I was pleased! But after about seven kms, I was losing steam. I really slowed down. The main pack circled back for me and the others pulling up the rear. I walked a bit. I ended running, but tired. I started too strong, too fast, I think. 

So that’s good. Good if I learned something. In my mind, and in my muscles. It is all part of the training, and the transformation. I may not look transformed; I need to stop eating all the extra stuff I eat to change my appearance. But my renewal has restarted.

I’m going to talk about personal renewal today.

We had a little study group for the younger adults in Digby. One Sunday evening, when we were dining together before our lesson, a child in the household brought a toy to the table. We were trying to help mould a Transformer from a vehicle into a robot, and back. Little Sam was able to manipulate the toy better than the parents and other grown ups! 

At that meeting, the Bible study group took on a new name: The Transformers. Is that not what the life of Faith is all about? Transformation? Is that not what a Church fellowship is for? Developing people; us being changed for the better?

I am taking us into Romans chapter 12 this month, spending four weeks here. We start with just the first two verses. There is so much packed in here. So much, that Marva Dawn’s book about this one Bible chapter has 31 chapters. You could take a month and read a chapter a day of her book, to learn how truly to be the community we call a local Church: First Baptist Amherst, Trinity-St. Stephen’s, First Baptist Moncton, Falmouth Baptist, any other.

As with any other improvement and development, it takes training, training to be disciples of Jesus Christ. There are practical activities that train us to do more and do better in our life with God. Many of them can be called spiritual disciplines, or focal practices. 

My older step-daughter and family has a new member: a puppy. A golden retriever. Ellie is learning what it means to be with the Doucettes, and the Doucettes are learning how to live with Ellie. “It’s all in the training.”

If you are a Christian, Romans chapter twelve can influence your training, your being apprenticed to Jesus. Paul the apostle wrote: I appeal to you therefore, [dear siblings], on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship [service]. 

Nine pages into this letter, Paul turns to some practical things, with four pages to go. Give your body - really, your whole self - over to God. Be a living sacrifice, not a dead one like all the pigeons and goats and sacks of grain from their ancient worship tradition. Live for God, with God, in God, overflowing with God. 

Sounds great, but it ain’t usually that easy. That’s why it takes training. It takes so many steps, so much practice, learning some practical lessons. And discipleship to Jesus is more like a trade school than a philosophy degree. It is whole-life discipleship. Apparently this is reasonable, a reasonable expectation from God, ‘your reasonable service.”

Years and years ago, author and pastor, Richard Foster, reported that he saw in the churches that people were trying, and trying hard, to follow the Bible and be successful Christians, but that was not working. Too much trying and not enough training, thought Foster. 

Maybe Yoda was right, in The Empire Strikes Back. To Luke Skywalker he said, “Do, or do not, there is no try.” To grow and develop in all our skills we need to do many things, not just try to get the finished product. 

2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. I believe that when Paul speaks of “renewing of the mind’ he means the whole person. We do get changed from the inside out - by the grace of God - yet we cooperate in this process by many day-to-day things we do with life. 

I’m at work; what’s my next best thing to do today? I’m retired: what is the opportunity for me among people now? I’m sick, and getting some help from medical experts: how do I add prayer to the healing process? With Jesus we can learn all about these moments. We can learn all about our lives. 

We have so much to learn about life, living the best life. This can sound like an accusation against us, and it is, but I like to receive it also as a joyful opportunity. There is so much to gain! So much development and improvement that can happen in us! So much progress available to me, to you! What Paul called the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect, is the actual potential in the rest of your days. There is some flourishing that is a gift from God, from the inside out. Instead of being moulded by the world.

In her book on Romans 12, Marva Dawn tells of the little boy who was trying to open up a flower bud and see the flower. It just crumpled and fell apart. “Why does the bud fall apart when I try to open it,” he asked his mother, “but when God opens it the flower is beautiful?” The mother was speechless. “Oh, I know!” said the little fellow. “When God opens it, he opens it up from the inside.” (Truly the Community, 1992, p. 29)

Perhaps we have learned all our lives, in Church, that this is what God is up to: renewing people from the inside out. Instead of being moulded by the world around us, conformed to this age, we get transformed by the Spirit of God, reaching inside us. And yet we have so many ways to cooperate with this personal renewal by God. There are many things we do on the outside. 

I don’t know about the United Church of Canada, but in Baptist life, I find that most of us learned about three things to do, only three spiritual disciplines: Bible reading, praying, and worshipping together. Come into Church on Sundays, and as you go, take a little book with you, like ‘Christ in Our Home,’ with its Bible reading, short story, a tiny prayer and a prayer request for each day of the month. Good. Great. Yet there are many other activities that are the training ground for our mind, heart and body. Maybe we heard about fasting, to go with prayer. Dallas Willard suggested these other approaches to transformation, such as solitude, silence, frugality, secrecy, sacrifice, study, celebration, fellowship, confession, submission. 

Some of you heard me mention, in the spring, the conference Sharon and I attended in St. Andrews, NB. There, Dr. Amy Sherman inspired us to notice that where people work and volunteer is a big part of life, and where God does transforming work. So the administrator going into the office for the day, the farmer ‘out standing in her field,’ the retiree out at the cottage for the summer, in those places are in the place to be trained by the Master, Jesus. That is your training ground.

As is our families and social lives. Family dynamics are complex and challenging. Experiences like that of Joseph and his brothers repeat themselves in every culture and age. There is a great deal of learning from Jesus that can happen in families. I believe His Spirit keeps speaking to me about letting go of correcting others, of telling them what to do and how to do it, and trying to keep the peace when it is not my job to do so. But, as an old children’s hymn said,

He’s still workin’ on me, to make me what I ought to be.

As the little boy suggested, there is an opening and blossoming that happens from the inside out, thanks to the Creator. Our part is the faithful watering and living in the sunshine and all. Let us be disciplined and devoted to our training. ‘Do or do not; there is no try.’ ;)

PRAYERS  Today, with a nod to the 50th anniversary of hip hop:  Let us pray, let us say 

God we bow, right now, to Thou,

to the presence of Your grace,

in the glory of Your face,

as we run the Christian race we can’t make it

take it, fake it or shake it:

all the trouble that we’re seeing,

all the sin the world’s not fleeing,

and the climate’s not agreeing,

and the Church is just not being

what our Jesus was decreeing.

            Help our seeing.

So we pray here to confess,  that our world is a pure mess,

            wars and battles keep on raging,

                        nations, powers, keep on staging

                                    all the violence that’s deranging

                                    and we claim it's there and them

            but it's still us, we’re just repeatin’

                        in our hood and fam and nation

                                    what our prayers for peace berate on.

God, we bow, right now, to Thou:

to the presence of Your grace,

in the glory of Your face,

as we run the Christian race we can’t make it

take it, fake it or shake it:

Now there’s fires in Hawaii, 

there’s too many people dyin,

       there’s too much news got folks cryin;

Now the floodings in Korea, it’s in every land we see, ah,

            and our praying… do You hear, draw near, and bear,

                        and clear, and rear up to help?

Here at home, where we roam, there’s always mourning.

            But we trust that You are just and will just

                        comfort those who cry for those who die.

Harriet we thank You for; Gracious God she was so sure

            of You, what’s true, & all the things she liked to do. 

Bless the friends who are sick and in pain, 

or energy drained,      relationships strained, 

            reputation stained, or trauma gained. 

Holy Spirit, set them free, just one more step,

            one move, one hope, one door, one restful moment.

God, we bow, right now, to Thou:

to the presence of Your grace,

in the glory of Your face,

as we run the Christian race we can’t make it

take it, fake it or shake it.

Oh, we thank You, Jesus, Jesus, for the good things

            that have pleased us. 

You have opened up a door to pray, a sabbath day,

            ways to confess, and bless, de-stress and reassess,

                        would You help us to fast, and to last, 

                                    and to get past our apathetic traditions?

                        Yours is the mission! And we are deployed.

                                    This world won’t be destroyed!

Master, the Baptists just met: we decided, reported, 

rejoiced and restarted as we meeted. 

God, be with our new Executive Minister, Renee 

MacVicar, she’s the one You have picked for, us.

Guide now us, First Baptist, we insist, we persist, 

as we search for our next Minister 

of family and outreach - 

to teach and preach & repair the breach.

And Trinity-St. Stephen, bless for every reason

            in this season, for pleasing You, Lord. 

That's our word of prayer; You, God, are there.

            You’re ahead, there’s no dread, now we’re fed, led, 

                        You’ve sped to the needy and shed glory:

Our lives are Your story. 

Praise You! Raise You! We’re amazed with You! 

            Now You will DO; and we’ll follow too. 

That’s the en’, till we talk again: 

Amen & AMEN.

That’s a ‘rap.

Amamean Anguish

10:30 am, Sunday, August 6, 2023  

(Gen 32:22-31; Romans 9:1-5; Mtt 14:15-21) FBCA, J G White

Here we are, together for worship of the Living God. We bring ourselves, and put ourselves in this place together, no matter what else is going on in life. We bring our lives before God, together. We start a new week with new hope. For we have our own anguish and anxieties, not only for ourselves, but for those near and dear to us.

Today, we peek again into the New Testament book of Romans, presented to us as a long letter from the apostle Paul. At this point in the letter, Paul is looking back to his Jewish people, with their traditions, their history, their faith, which go back hundreds of years. Paul is in anguish over them, so upset that so few have recognized the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my siblings.” (9:3)

With Paul’s deep feelings, I could just as easily have called this sermon ‘Semitic Sorrow,’ or ‘Hebrew Heartache.’ I called it ‘Aramaic Anguish’ for the sake of alliteration.

It can be important to express anguish over those we want to have faith. We each have different experiences of wanting more for those we love. It can be as simple as longing for someone to ‘see the light’ and get connected to God through Jesus, like we are. The Baptist tradition is rooted, partly, in evangelicalism, with its deep concern for people to be saved by Christ, and be assured they will live for God here in this life, and the next. But our faith also believes so strongly in individual human freedoms, including the freedom to choose to be a follower of Jesus, or not. So we pray, and we find the best ways we can find to show The Way. 

There are many people who had experience in churches, but do not take part in any community of faith now. What is the number of young people who spent time in these hallowed halls, or those of Trinity-St. Stephen’s, and are no longer youths, but are no longer practicing Christians? The deep longing that is akin to what’s in Romans 9 is a genuine concern for people to have a better life. It is not so much about making our Church congregations more successful; it is about the people who could use a faith community.

There is also the anguish over loved ones who are simply going a wrong way in their day-to-day lives, as we see it, and we wish they would find the right path. I think of a young man I met in Amherst this past winter. I had known him back when he was but a child. It was good to get reacquainted. I’m not sure what he has been doing, where he’s been living. His grandmother is a long-time friend of mine. I know she is concerned about him: is he taking care of himself? Is he taking his medication? Is he finding work? Is he keeping in touch with immediate family, or not? 

Sometimes people wish they could do something, even give up something to help someone they care about; a bit like the apostle Paul. He seemed willing to do anything to convince his fellow Jews that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. Paul said so. And we confess our anxieties for those dear to us. This also leads us to prayer.

A second thing I pondered this week, from Romans 9, is this simple fact that our religion comes out of Judaism. Remember: our Faith is built from another, older tradition. More pages of our Holy Bible are the Hebrew Bible than the New Testament. Seldom do we notice, or acknowledge, that we took their Holy Book, claimed it as our own, and added to it. Perhaps if we saw it more often in its original Hebrew language and Aramaic language, we’d remember the deep roots of our Faith. 

It is important to remember from whence we come. It is so valuable to have some deep roots to grow from, and not be simply creating and inventing our own spirituality in this century. Looking in to the Hebrew Bible, we see how they valued their history - or, needed often to be reminded of it, for the sake of living well!

For instance, thousands of years ago, when they got into their promised land, they were to worship and make their first offerings of their first harvest by reciting a speech that began with this: 

A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populus. (Deuteronomy 26:5)

With a brand new start, they were to remember their ancestors. The Arameans, by the way, were people from a region of the Middle East, including the ancient Hebrews, the Jews. In some Bible times, the Aramaic language was spoken; words of this common language pop up in the scriptures, and a big part of the Old Testament’s book of Daniel was written down in Aramaic. 

From the wandering Arameans, Abraham and Sarah, to his contemporary Jewish rabbis and leaders, Paul understood and respected the faith, the traditions, the beliefs the Jews had. Their life with God was rich; their stories dramatic and dynamic. From this fertile ground the Messiah arrived, and the new faith in Jesus grew. A thorough study of our book of Romans will teach us the place of Jews in the plan of God on earth.

So this brings me to a final observation from chapter 9. There is so much in Christianity, passed on to us from Judaism. Our spirituality is rich and full. So, remember all the aspects of faith, such as those Paul listed here. I could play with words again, and name them all starting with the letter A. From our Hebrew faith roots we gain

the Adoption

the awesomeness (glory)

the agreements (covenants)

the axioms (laws given)

the adoration (worship)

the assurances (promises)

the ancestors (patriarchs)

and the Anointed One (Messiah/Christ).

The holy glory of God is shown in the story of the Hebrews. The covenants between God and people grow and blossom thru history. The giving of the law - as a gift to people - is celebrated. The worship of almighty God develops and evolves in Judaism, and keeps growing in Christianity. The promises of God are there in the past, and fulfilled in bright new ways by Christ. The ancestors, the patriarchs, have their stories still told: like that today of Jacob wrestling and getting a new name, Israel. And from Judaism comes their Messiah and ours, Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God, our Saviour, Teacher, Master and Friend.

And there are so many other facets of the diamond we call Christian Faith! No wonder we have a sermon every week. Speaking of this, in the next Sundays, I am going to move ahead to Romans chapter 12, and stretch it out over four weeks. It is a rich chapter that can influence our community building.

Until then, we express our own anguish - to one another and to our God - and find that a sorrow shared is halved, while a joy shared is doubled. May it be so; in the name of God the Parent, the Sibling, and the Spirit. AMEN.

SERMON: Kindred Spirits?

10:30 am, Sun, June 25, 2023 - JGWhite/FBCA

(Gen 21:8-21; Ps 86; Rom 6:1b-11) 

Stories from Genesis are carrying us into the summer. Next Sunday, and on into August – when we are back in these pews – we will still be reading the saga of the patriarchs and matriarchs. Today, this dramatic story about Abraham, Sarah, and their son Isaac, AND  their household servant or slave, Hagar, with Ishmael, the son she had with Abraham. Talk about drama.

Looking at this familiar scene in Genesis 21 got me thinking immediately about some religions of the world. The three Abrahamic religions, as they are called: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. They all look back to Abraham and Sara. The Arabs of the world, and the Muslim faith, look to Father Abraham. Islam actually claims Abraham as the first true Muslim. Of course, he was a primordial Jew. And then, in our New Testament, we have the authors of Romans and of Hebrews (and other scripture texts) speaking of Abraham’s faith, consistent with Christian faith. In Romans 4, for instance, the Christian writer speaks of those who share the faith of Abraham (who is the father of all of us…)

But let’s take a couple minutes to reflect on this child, Ishmael, who with his mother is rejected by the Abraham-Sarah family. He and his mother survive, by the grace of God, and with a promise to be the ancestor of many people. Ishmael goes on to have twelve sons; his tribes are considered to be at the roots of the Arabs, & many Moslems.

We Christians, would we say we are kinfolk of the Muslims? With them and the Jews we are monotheistic, declaring there is actually only One God in the universe. Are we kindred spiritualities, despite what seem to be our many differences? Is it to the same God they and we pray and devote our lives? Whatever our attitude is about this, it is important how we relate to this other faith group in the world, as well as all the others. Today we saw young Isaac and Ishmael as half-brother playmates. Sarah decides this other child and his mother have to go, have to leave the household. Abraham is reluctant about this, but YHWH God assures Abe that this child will be well, in fact, will be blessed. Today, we might bless Muslims or we might curse them.

What I truly want to get to in this sermon is some dialogue about what the core things are about being Christian. Getting to know another faith can help us clarify who we are, and how we relate to God.

Islam is a world religion that is complicated, like Christianity is, but we can simplify what it means to be Muslim. They are known for their five pillars, five main things they do.

There is Bearing Witness, which in essence is that they declare the following: I bear witness that there is no god except God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God. To declare this with words is confirmed, of course, by declaring it in the rest of life.

The second pillar is Prayer. At the heart of this, for Muslims, are the prayers said five times a day, at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and after dark. Other prayer and devotion are in addition to this.

Another core practice of Islam is Almsgiving, sharing with the poor and needy. Not only are those in need helped by this, but the giver is understood to be purified from greed and attachment to material possessions.

The fourth pillar is Fasting during Ramadan, a special month in their lunar calendar, so it moves, starting about eleven days earlier each year. Other special things are done in this time also.

And the fifth pillar of Islam is the Pilgrimage to Makkah. Not everyone manages to do this of course; it involves a journey to a sacred site in Saudi Arabia, with a structure Muslims believe was set up by Abrahm and his son Ishmael!

We are not here to study this religion today; I simply mention these Pillars to reflect on what we know we might share in common with these millions of folks, and then how to be clear about what we say we Christians are. We don’t say we have five pillars, or an eightfold path (like Buddhism), but what do we say are our main things, Christians? Here is where we get to dialogue, and build our sermon together. What things we do because of our lives of Faith? What binds us together, so we are kindred spirits, in the name of Jesus?

Let me start the conversation right here, with Jesus. To take our angle on the first pillar I just stated, I’d say we are bearing witness that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour. And there is a lot more we experience with Christ that we explain in a lot of other ways. So much of it rooted in our scriptures. We heard today a bit from Romans 6, and a bunch of language about sin and forgiveness, dying and being resurrected with Jesus.

Maybe there are two things here. One is the idea of Christian witnessing: we have a role to let the world know this. We show and tell this. The second thing is how God helps us with all the problems of life: evil, sin, suffering, unfairness, and death. How does God help us? With Jesus, His life and everything Christ is and does. The whole story. We call this the Gospel.

OK, what are other main things that make Christians Christian? How would some alien visiting from another galaxy know you are a Christian, or not one? How do we act differently?

Prayer and worship (Ps praising)             Contemplative

     (Abraham, Hagar w God)                   Evangelical

                                                                 Holiness

Service/serving                                        Social Justice

                                                                 Charismatic

                                                                 Sacramental

Discipleship to Jesus: following              Mtt 10:24, 25a

4 “A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master; 25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master. We are kindred spirits, in a fresh way, when we are disciples of the Master.