Pastoral Reflections

Grace to you and peace this Christmas Season!

One beautiful way to define grace is, “the stance of kindness and favour toward someone.” When I understand grace as a stance, or act, of kindness and favour I realize how powerfully the word grace captures the essence of Christmas.

You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich. (2 Corinthians 8.9 NLT)

Though [Christ Jesus] was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.
⁷ Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. (Philippians 2:6-7 NLT)

Christmas is the celebration of this generous grace of God; the generous act of kindness that came from a heart of love directed toward a world in desperate need of God’s favour/goodwill/kindness. God coming to us as a human being! The Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us! Emmanuel – God is with us! This is grace! This is Christmas!

God desires that we all experience kindness! God desires that we all receive grace! So God in a generous act of grace and kindness acted for our sakes. God set aside the riches of divine nature and was born as a humble vulnerable and economically poor human being. Jesus then lived a life rich in kindness and grace toward all, sharing grace wherever he was. And then “he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross” to save humanity from the power of sin and death (Philippians 2:8). Jesus did all that because of love. Jesus did all that so that we could live lives rich in grace and kindness too!

This Christmas we are invited once again to receive this grace and then live lives of grace and kindness to all. 2020 has been hard for all of us in various ways. The challenges of the pandemic have affected so many dimension of our lives and has created much occasion for worry, stress, fear and grief. All this has greatly impacted our Mental Health. Add to that the truth that so many of the healthier coping mechanisms that support our mental health are either unavailable to us or too risky due to the contagious nature of the coronavirus. To keep physically safe we have needed to avoid many of the important things used to support our mental health. All this to say that more than ever we all need the essence of Christmas; more than ever we all need generous acts of grace/kindness toward us.

As we protect and care for each other physically this Christmas, by staying apart, how can we insure that Christmas still comes to each of us, and for all of us? Maybe we answer this question by asking a few more. How can we still extend kindness and grace to those in the circle of our love? How can we share the message and essence of Christmas this year? I offer a few humble suggestions and invite you to add your own.

• Acknowledge to each other how hard this year has been and allow yourselves and others to grieve.  
• Give one another permission to not be at their best this Christmas. And let go of the guilt we feel about not being at our best. Let go of the pressure we feel to make this the best Christmas ever.
• Ask each other, and talk to one another, about Mental Health.
• Pray for each other! And occasionally let people know that you are doing that. 
• Laugh and have fun.
• Stay in touch with family and friends through hand written cards, emails, texts, social media or phone calls.
• Create a care package and drop it off at someone’s door.
• If someone drops the ball on something extend grace to them realizing you may need the same grace extended to you some day.
• Be who God created you to be and act as God leads you…

Kindness, caring and gracious acts are in our DNA as a people of God. At one point in history our God and heavenly parent, in the gracious act we now call Christmas, came to us in human flesh. Jesus came to us “for our sakes” and Jesus invites us to follow him and continue the ministry of generous grace; acts of kindness toward all. This is the essence of Christmas! 

Pastor Ray

“Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you!”

These words from the angel Gabriel to Mary began the conversation that named for Mary the invitation God had placed on her life; the invitation to carry, birth and mother the child who would be named Jesus and called Son of God. Mary said “Yes” to the invitation and it would forever change her life. It was all a bit overwhelming for Mary as she began to ponder the implications of this visitation from Gabriel and the invitation from God.

Luke records a fascinating story of an encounter between Mary and her older cousin Elizabeth that happened immediately following Mary’s encounter with the angel.

³⁹ In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, ⁴⁰ where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit ⁴² and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. ⁴³ And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? ⁴⁴ For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she who believed that there would bea fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” (Luke 1)

Jan Richardson in an advent reflection on this text writes:

In the home of Elizabeth, in the company of her cousin who is herself pregnant in most unusual circumstances, Mary finds what she most needs. Elizabeth gathers and enfolds her. Welcomes her. Blesses her.

In response to Elizabeth’s blessing, Mary sings. And how she sings! She sings of a God who brings down the powerful, who lifts up the lowly, who fills the hungry with good things. Strangely, wonderfully, Mary sings of a God who not only will do these things, but who has done these things. She sings as if God has already accomplished the redemption and restoration of the world.

O my friends, this is what a blessing has the power to do. The blessing that Elizabeth speaks and enacts through her words, her welcome, her gift of sanctuary: such a blessing has the power to help us, like Mary, speak the word we most need to offer. Such a blessing gives us a glimpse of the redemption that God, in God’s strange sense of time, has somehow already accomplished. Such a blessing stirs up in us the strength to participate with God in bringing about this redemption in this time, in this world.

Where will we go, like Mary, to find and receive such a blessing?

How will we open our heart, like Elizabeth, to offer it?

I love the reminder Jan gives of the power of blessing and the variety of forms it takes. The blessing of a welcoming and safe space. The blessing of kind words, of comforting words, of personal prophetic words, of truth telling words. The blessing of music and song and of so much more.  And I love the reminder of the importance of receiving and giving blessing to and from each other. We need each other! We need each other always, but maybe when we are together less, as we have been in 2020, we need the blessing of each other even more. That’s a challenge, but not one that can’t be overcome. Mary went with haste to the home of Elizabeth. We may need to go with haste to our phone and make that call, or to our email and send that note, or to that porch visit on a sunny day, or to the creative action the Spirit inspires within you to make meaningful connection.

Christmas reminds us that God inspires unconventional actions to accomplish amazing things. The restrictions of the pandemic may change the way we give and receive blessing. It may change our Christmas activities and even take away some things we really love. But this pandemic can’t take away the gifts of Christmas and the call of God on our lives. As the angel Gabriel reminded Mary, “nothing will be impossible with God!”

The Eastern Orthodox tradition calls Mary “Godbearer”, because she, quite literally, brought God into the world. And while God does not ask any of us to bring Christ into the world as literally as Mary did, God calls each of us to become a Godbearer through whom God may enter the world again and again. In that sense we are all “favoured” ones; we are all invited by God to bring blessing; to bring God into the world. If like Mary you desire to continue to say “yes” to God to be used by God, but it all feels a bit overwhelming, seek out the people you need. Receive your blessing, and then open your life to extend blessing to others! If we do that we will realize the presence of God and the gifts of Christmas all around us!

Tanya and I as your pastors desire to have a more personal chance to extend a blessing to you and to receive a blessing from you.

We are planning a Christmas Drive Thru as an opportunity to greet you. We invite you to set aside time on Sunday December 20 from 1-2 PM to drive through the church parking to share words of Christmas blessing. The Missions Committee also plans to be there to receive food items we will collect for Agape Fellowship’s Food Cupboard. We invite you to bring a food item or a cash donation along with you when you come. This is one way we can extend blessing to Agape in this difficult year.  See Agape’s wish list of food items below.

We extend our thanks to Joe Wagler for building the HOPE sign at the front of our church building. This sign will be lit up each night as one way to extend blessing and a word of hope to the travellers along 16^th Line.

May God help us to be people of blessing sharing HOPE, PEACE, JOY, LOVE, with each other and all those around us!

Pastor Ray

“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.

These words begin the familiar advent text in Isaiah 40. They are words that remind us that God is aware of our need for comfort. We live in a world that provides its share of challenges and occasions for grief. This world often leaves us restless and unsettled. The advent scriptures and the stories of Christmas speak into our restlessness and inspire hope, peace, joy and love. And they bring comfort too! They are stories of ordinary people who are called from their comfort zones to be used by God in extra ordinary and amazing ways. And in a strange and unexpected way these stories of discomfort comfort us!  

A fascinating snippet from the life of John’s parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, inspires hope, brings joy, instills peace and displays amazing love.

Zechariah and Elizabeth are “getting on in years” as the Gospel writer Luke tells the story (Luke 1:5-17). They had longed for and prayed for children in the first half of their married life but no children had come; Elizabeth remained barren. As the years had passed this hope for children had faded and died.

Zechariah is a priest and he is on a week of Temple duty in Jerusalem. One day while offering incense before the Lord an angel of the Lord comes and stands in the sanctuary with him. He is shocked and terrified; “fear overwhelmed him.” The angel of the Lord, after giving Zechariah a moment to calm his breathing, shares this wonderful message of comfort.

“Do not be afraid Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard.”

The next line however throws Zechariah for an unexpected loop and results in some unsettling discomfort.

“Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.”

The angel pauses for a split second but Zechariah’s mind and emotions are racing and his stomach is churning. That dream and desire for a child had been set aside long ago, that prayer hadn’t been spoken for years!

But here is the good news of comfort! God does not forget our prayers. God does not forsake our deepest longings. God remembers us! God knows what we need!  And when the time is right God answers! Not always when, and in the way we expected, but always in the way we need.

One of my favourite Christmas scriptures is from Galatians 4:4-5.

⁴ But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. ⁵ God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

God’s timing always ends up being better than ours! Although in the moment of longing we often wonder if that is true.

But back to the story. The angel continues…

¹⁴ You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth… even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him…, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 

As the angel concludes Zechariah realizes that God has not only heard their prayer of long ago for a child, God has also heard the continuing cry and prayer of the whole people of God. Their prayer for a Messiah, a deliver, a saviour! God’s people had been praying this prayer for a saviour for a long time. They had a hope that went way back to promises made 100’s of years before. God’s people were waiting and longing for a ruler who would save them from oppression and restore their nation. Although they continued to pray and hope they had days and years where that hope was fading and turning to hopelessness. And now in this surprise visitation from the angel Zechariah comes to realize that his renewed hope for a child in his life is tied directly to a renewed hope for the whole people of God.

John, God’s answer to Zechariah and Elizabeth’s prayer for a child, will become the messenger God uses to prepare the way for the Lord; for the Messiah the nation was longing for. John becomes a messenger God uses to bring a message of comfort to God’s people.

Walter Wangerin writes: “It is in the fullness of time that God answers [Zechariah and Elizabeth]. God answers them in the rich moment, when to answer at all does the most good for the most people!”

A way to hope, peace, joy, love and comfort is born in the reminder that God has heard the prayer of an ordinary couple and God has heard the prayer of a nation and people God so passionately loves. And God has heard our prayer as a congregation together and God has heard your more personal prayer too!

What is your deepest longing right now? What is that prayer you have been praying for months, maybe years? What is that prayer you have stopped praying? May the stories of Christmas and this story of Zechariah and Elizabeth inspire hope, bring comfort and give you peace.

“Do not be afraid ________________, for your prayer has been heard! ….”

Pastor Ray

Grace to you and peace from Jesus Christ who came to live among us!

Signs of Christmas are beginning to appear all around us! And as they do we are reminded that the season of Advent is upon us. Advent means “coming!” In the tradition of the church over the last 1500 years Advent has marked the 4 weeks before Christmas. Weeks set aside to focus on the truth that Jesus came to live among us, continues to come to live within us and will come again to bring to fullness the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Advent is a time of waiting, longing, anticipation and preparation. As we wait for, and prepare to receive, the coming of God in the human person of Jesus, we open our lives to be filled with the gifts of hope, peace, joy and love.  

One of my favourite Advent/Christmas scripture passages comes from the beginning of John’s Gospel.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴ in him was life,and the life was the light of all people. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it….

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,full of grace and truth. 

This passage reminds us of two additional gifts that can fill us at Christmas – life and light! The Word, which is God, is life! And life is the light for all people. And no darkness can overcome the light! Darkness can momentarily block the light but the light will always find a way to shine through!

God who is life and light and the source of life and light for all, became human flesh and lived among us. The way The Message version of the Bible translates verse 14 sends shivers through my body.

The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.

God is life and light! God is generous inside and out! God is faithful and true from start to finish! God can fill us with hope, peace, joy and life! And God is not content to be God from a distance! So God makes a choice to come in close. God who is not content to live outside of us decides to moves within us! God who is “holy other” choices to become one of us! God becomes flesh and moves into our neighbour! WOW!

If ever we need that kind of God, and all the gifts that come with that God, it is now!

We are tired of this pandemic and a growing second wave. We are sad that present and looming restrictions will keep us more apart at Christmas than we had hoped. Maybe we are mad at others, at our leaders, at each other, at ourselves, maybe even mad at God. And we are trying to see the light when it feels, some days, like the darkness is growing darker.  

Our pastoral prayer is that Advent and Christmas this year will help prepare us again, and help us experience again, the God who came, continues to come and will come again. Jesus prince of peace, light of the world, source of life, hope, love and joy has come to live in our neighbourhood! That is the good news of Advent and Christmas!

Our Advent worship theme this year is “A WAY in a Manger: the gifts of Christmas”. The prophet Isaiah proclaimed these words of God: “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19).

In a Faith@Home worship resource sent this week to families with young children Tanya shared these words.  They are words we all need to hear.

“The pandemic has created so much loss, along with disappointments that we have never experienced before. As young families trying to navigate the struggles of this time, Jesus offers us a WAY.

• Feeling sad? Jesus show us A WAY to HOPE.
• Feeling mad? Jesus shows us A WAY to PEACE.
• Feel like complaining? Jesus shows us A WAY to JOY.
• Feeling lonely? Jesus shows us A WAY to LOVE.”

These gifts of Christmas, HOPE, PEACE, JOY, LOVE continue to come no matter what we experience in the world. The way that God made, and continues to make, became so much clearer as God came to live among us in Jesus. Jesus is the way to hope, peace, joy and love!

May we receive these gifts of Christmas, and allow them to fill us with life and light! And may we share them in our neighbourhoods in the weeks to come!

Pastor Ray

Grace to you and Peace from Christ who sustains us through the valley of the shadow of death.

I will never forget my Uncle Carl’s funeral. It was loud. So loud I thought it was going to blow the roof right off my home church! Allow me to explain. My uncle was an art professor at the University of Lethbridge. He was also a renowned sculptor. He liked to build and create often very large, very unique art pieces. As a child, I was always fascinated by his works of art. It was my first exposure to that kind of thing.  

Tragically, my Uncle Carl’s life was cut short by cancer. I am grateful to East Zorra for allowing me to take time off to travel home to Alberta to attend his funeral. When the funeral procession began and we were seated as a family, I was surprised to see three massive Japanese Taiko drums set on large wooden stands.

I was told that my uncle made the largest middle drum for the University Percussion Ensemble. It was beautiful. Another masterpiece. The funeral service itself was sad and meaningful not unlike most funerals I’ve attended, that is, until the final benediction. At which point, 3 Taiko drummers, dressed in traditional attire, stood up and proceeded to jump back and forth, pounding loudly on the drums creating an all-consuming, overwhelming sound that resonated so deeply, it moved me to tears. It was such a fitting expression of our grief. It was a powerful act of lament.

This coming Sunday is known as Eternity Sunday, usually celebrated on the last Sunday before advent. Eternity Sunday creates some space for us to remember loved ones who have died. It’s a way to grieve together and remember God’s promises. Next Thursday, our church Care Team and pastors will offer our yearly Service of Remembering. This year on Zoom, we will gather with family members to remember cherished loved one’s who have died this year, in our church family and beyond. We will give powerful expression to our grief, not by pounding drums but by naming our loved ones, turning to God’s Word, sharing together and lighting candles. This time of remembering acts as a reminder of the faith that sustains us and leads us into the future with hope.

During this pandemic, we have experienced much grief. As we prepare to light candles for our loved ones, I am finding that I also want to light a candle for the front line workers and residents in Long Term Care Homes. I want to light a candle for homes experiencing outbreak like Cedar Kroft. I want to light a candle for over a million people who have died from the coronavirus. I want to light candles for those who died in the explosion in Beirut. I want to light a candle for George Floyd and people of colour who face racism everyday. I want to light a candle for those who lost their lives and homes in the Australian and Californian forest fires this year. I want to light candles for the missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada. I think I am going to need to buy a few extra candles this year.

There is something powerful about naming our grief. It helps us feel what’s inside of us. Whether it is through the dramatic lament of a pounding drum, telling your co-worker or friend that you are having a hard time or that you cried last night, or quietly lighting a candle. David Kessler, the world’s foremost expert on grief says “When you name it, you feel it and it moves through you. Emotions need motion. It’s important we acknowledge what we go through.” 

What are you grieving right now?

How can you give that grief healthy expression?

What acts of faith are sustaining you in this dark valley of shadow and doubt?

Carol Penner, Professor of Practical Theology at Conrad Grebel University Collage, wrote this reflection on Eternity Sunday.  

Eternity Sunday is a day to remember that death comes to every one of us. Death is a constant in human existence. For some, death comes suddenly, through an accident or sudden illness, for others, the movement towards death is years long. Young people sometimes die, and old people always die. Death is hard to handle, and even very strong Christians can get the shivers when we face the death of a loved one: as we let go of their hands we wonder, “God are you there?  Do you hold their hands now?  Can we trust you?”
The promises of Jesus are what sustain us.

Jesus died for us, he was crucified, died and was buried.

On the third he rose again, death could not hold him.

Resurrection was a victory, and is a promise for us of life eternal with God and with all those who have gone before. This is what sustains us through the valley of the shadow of death.

Copyright Carol Penner www.leadinginworship.com

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
    I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff—
    they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    my whole life long.   Psalm 23: 4-6

In the words of a friend, “Remember, even the smallest, single candle flame brightens the darkness. And for me, for many of us, lighting a candle is a prayer. Prayer opens our hearts and minds to God, which means that our hearts and our minds are more open to each other.” Naming our grief, however who choose to do it, is an act of faith that reminds us that we all in this grief together. May the peace of Christ be with us all.

Pastor Tanya