Pastoral Reflections

“Grace and peace to you from God through Christ!”

After greeting the church at Philippi with the above greeting, the Apostle Paul gives thanks for them and offers this prayer: 

⁹ And this is my prayer: that your lovemay abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1)

The insightful and discerning love Paul prays for is a love so needed as we seek to love our indigenous neighbours. They, along with many others around our country and world, continue to grieve the death of so many indigenous children in the history of residential schools. Last Sunday Tavistock Mennonite Church led us in a service of lament and confession as we were invited to reflect on the pain our indigenous neighbours carry. It is important that we ponder how we have contributed to this pain, or been blind to it.

As the service ended last week we were invited to look to the future and commit ourselves, through our words and deeds, to work in the power of God’s Spirit, “to build bridges of reconciliation; bridges that cross the barriers of skin colour, cultural heritage and faith.”

This bridge building work of reconciliation happens as we each take steps toward a more insightful and discerning love. A number of ministries in the broader Mennonite Church help us to take those steps.

“Indigenous-Settler Relations” is a ministry of Mennonite Church Canada. This ministry helps Mennonite communities grow in awareness of host peoples, and nurture justice-based friendships where love and understanding can grow. Their webpage states, “Our aim is to honour the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and live into the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as we pursue the costly path of Christ.” https://www.mennonitechurch.ca/indigenous

I invite you to check out the above link (and the ones below) to continue (or begin) the journey to a greater “knowledge and depth of insight” as we seek to love our indigenous neighbours.

Treaty as Sacred Covenant Videos – Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (mcec.ca)

Indigenous Neighbours – Mennonite Central Committee – https://mcccanada.ca/learn/what/categories/indigenous-neighbours

May our love “abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that we may be able to discern what is best….and be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Pastor Ray

Grace to you, and peace!

As we enter the summer months of July and August, in the midst of Reopening Ontario, there is a growing sense of hope that the light at the end of the Covid tunnel is getting brighter. This is certainly good news! It felt amazing last week to have people across the generations gathered in our worship space, and then sharing in conversation outside following the service. Words like, “so good” and “WONDERFUL” describe a few of the feelings that people experienced and then expressed as they reflected on the Sunday morning gathering.

As wonderful as the anticipation is for a return to a more “normal” way of living and worshipping we are still not quite there. And the road from here to there will have its continuing challenges and struggles. We are still living with restrictions that need to be understood and managed. Some are thankful for that. Others are quite impatient about that. Some are so ready to throw away masks and begin hugging again, or at least shaking hands. Others are quite fearful of what new freedoms, and a return to “normal” will bring, and they are not sure they are ready. There remains both excitement and concern around vaccines. Some are eager to share when their second shot is, or was. And would even chart the vaccine status of the whole community if we asked them too! Others are still not convinced about vaccines. And they certainly don’t want to be asked, again, “Are you vaccinated yet?”

The steps to reopening, the return to “normal”, the journey from here to there is one we will all take together, even as we walk at varying paces. We are all in this together but we are not all on the same page. Our understandings differ, our eagerness, readiness, patience and tolerance levels are not the same. But I pray our commitment to each other, regardless of our differences, remains constant and strong.

At our ministerial meeting on Wednesday morning Pastor Rick Brown read from Galatians 5 and one line jumped out at me. “Against such things there is no law (or restrictions).” As we manage the restrictions due to Covid, and relate to each other with our varying understandings and acceptance of these restrictions, may we be reminded of the unrestricted ways we can live and follow Jesus.

²² But the fruitof the Spirit is love,joy, peace,patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control.Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the fleshwith its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit,let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5)

The Spirit of God is free, unrestricted to do the Spirit’s work in us! And we are free, unrestricted to let the Spirit work in us and free to let the fruit of the Spirit flow from us to all our relationships.  May we each do our part to keep the Spirit free! May we each do our part to let, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, flow freely from us to one another and the world around us! We may not all be on the same page, on this journey we share together, but we can all choose to step with the same Spirit!

Pastor Ray

Greetings in the name of Jesus who blesses children!

I have been thinking a lot about children this week. On Tuesday morning at 7 AM my phone rang. It was my son Kyle and instead of his usual “Hi dad!” he greeted me with, “Hi grandpa!” Kyle called to tell me that late Monday evening he and his wife Becca, welcomed Addison Grace into their lives! My letter writing will be interrupted in a few hours so Sue and I can go meet “Addi” in person and welcome her into our lives too!

Later Tuesday afternoon Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) sent their weekly Bulletin announcements email. This image immediately caught my attention. As MCC commemorates Indigenous History Month in Ontario, they take the time to name the truth of the 4,100 Indigenous children who never returned home. MCC invites us to wear these button and lift up the survivors, and the multi-generational survivors, who carry this pain.

On Wednesday I entered into email conversation with Dana Hyde and Bethany Kropf our Christian Education Lay Ministers who give leadership to our Christian Education and Nurture Team (CENT). A Litany of Appreciation, prepared by Dana and Bethany (printed below) will be shared on Sunday as we gather for worship. The words acknowledge some of the work and ministry done this past year to bless our children and youth.

On Sunday we will also take time to dedicate our 2021 Vacation Bible School (VBS). We will pray God’s blessing on our children and their parents, on our VBS leaders and on all who have been and will be involved in this experience. At VBS this year our kids will learn “how Jesus is our ultimate guide in the rainforest and in life. Some days we might feel lost, but Jesus will show us the way. He leads us to the treasure of eternal life, and He’ll never leave us alone!”

As the read the stories of Jesus I am always blessed when I read about the interactions Jesus had with children. Jesus cared deeply for all children and he honoured them. Jesus would expect that his followers do the same!

¹³ One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.

¹⁴ When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. (Mark 10:13-14)

Pastor Ray

Xenophobia

I had to look this word up recently.  It was not that this was a totally new word to me.  I had seen, heard, read, it many times.  Lately, its usage has been more frequent. I just wanted to know for sure what it meant.  Through ‘google’, I found that it means excessive fear, dislike, and even hostility toward anything ‘foreign’ or to anything and anybody outside of one’s own social group, nation, or country.  It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and an out-group and may manifest in suspicion by one of the other’s activities, a desire to eliminate their presence, and fear of losing national, ethnic or racial identity.

It would seem that the British, when they conquered Quebec in the mid-1700s were not xenophobic when they allowed the French to retain their religion, and language.  However, 100 years later, this grace was not extended when the residential school system was implemented to deal with the ‘Indian problem’ and assimilate First Nations people. 

Xenophobia manifests itself in many ways.  While Canada has generally welcomed refugees from many countries, there is resentment about ‘them people’ taking jobs away from Canadians.  A relative of mine, having visited downtown Toronto complained, ‘I couldn’t understand anyone, doesn’t anyone here speak English anymore?’ Recently I was shocked, as were many others that a family in London, ON was deliberately struck by a vehicle.

The word ‘xenophobia’ is not in the Bible. There are plenty of examples of it, for sure.  Pharaoh’s attitude towards, the Israelites; the story of the Syrophoenician woman; Jesus story of the Good Samaritan; etc.  Obviously, God did not desire this attitude. In the Old Testament, farmers were encouraged to not thoroughly harvest all the crops, but leave some for the stranger and foreigner, and in the New Testament, Jesus encouraged people to ‘love your neighbour’, and even your enemy, the Christian Church in general, has not done a great job of following these precepts.  It could be said, that Christianity has earned a bad reputation.

Many Christ-followers are counter-acting this bad rap with visible acts of love.  Some churches sponsor refugee families, welcoming and aiding immigrants to a new life.  Others endeavour to help the widows and fatherless, and the poor, and by feeding the hungry. Aid has been sent to many foreign cultures, and let’s continue to do so.  But let us not forget those close by.  Now is the time to do some ‘random act of kindness’ for someone outside your in-group, near your home. Maybe, in addition to boring water wells in other countries, we could endeavour to make amends at home by providing clean water where presently there are ‘boil water’ advisories.

May we ‘not grow weary in well-doing’.  Galatians 6:9

‘Those that sow in tears, shall reap in joy’. Psalm 126:5-6

I love this rhyming couplet:

To live above, with saints we love, Oh, that will be glory;

To live below, with saints we know, -that’s another story!

Pastor Lloyd

PLANT YOUR GARDEN

⁸ Then the Lord God planted a garden …, Gen 2:8a

Most of us plant a garden each spring and look forward eagerly to seeing the plants and vegetables grow. Grow into things that nourish our bodies and help keep us healthy. This growing and being ready to provide nourishment is a process; it doesn’t happen overnight. We need to care for the soil and provide water, sun and the nutrients required for healthy growth. This also applies for growing the spring garden in the picture. Without the Lord God planting in our souls, and without His Son working in our lives, and without our tears to water and rinse and cleanse, then these rows of peas and squash and lettuce will not grow…and flourish…and nourish…

Jesus said: “Love each other just as much as I love you” …John 13: 34

Only with Jesus help can we tend our gardens, remove the weeds of wrong thoughts and cultivate the love to share with everyone no matter what colour, or creed or differences they might have. With God’s love, we can embrace our brothers and sisters everywhere!

The above reflection and picture, written and shared by our Parish Nurse Jean MacDonald speaks so powerfully into this moment as we grieve the senseless killing of the Afzaal family this week in London; a killing motivated by anti-Muslim hate.  By God’s grace may we, empowered by the Spirit, love as God loved, praying as Jesus taught us, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…