Pastoral Reflections

Greetings in the name of Jesus “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith”!

This title for Jesus comes from the inspirational passage of scripture in Hebrews 12.

“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, ² looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our 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.”

We are all in this “race” of faith, living our lives and seeking to do that in a way that honours the story of God and the teachings and life of Jesus. We look to Jesus because we know that Jesus ran the race set before him; Jesus lived his life of service in faithfulness to God and in meaningful relationships of love with all those God placed his life. Jesus is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith who through his life, death on the cross, and resurrection to new life, defeated the power of evil and sin that weighs us down and holds us back. Jesus made the way for us to live our lives of faith!

This journey of faith, this way of life that follows Jesus, while filled with joy, is still hard. But the good news is that the Spirit of God, in so many ways, sustains us for this journey. Along with the presence of God’s Spirit, and the transforming life and work of Jesus, we are surrounded by, “so great a cloud of witnesses”, who also become a sustaining inspiration for our lives of faith.

Hebrews 11 begins to name for us this “great cloud of witnesses.” In that chapter the writer names and points to people of faith who are part of God’s story and members of God’s family. People, who by faith, lived in relationship with God throughout their lives, hoping, trusting, believing that the God they trusted in was their God; their creator, life giver and sustainer. By faith they believed that God would be faithful to all that God had promised to them and for them.

The writer names Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, and Samson, David, Samuel, the prophets, and “others”. The “others” could include Sarah, Rebekah, Hannah, Deborah, Bathsheba, Ruth and so many more. At one point the writer makes reference to “the people” who passed through the Red Sea on dry land. These “Red Sea people” included men, women and children of all ages.

These were the cloud of witnesses the writer was pointing to! They are the people of faith who have gone before us and whose lives speak into our lives. But I believe that the whole story of the Bible reminds us that the cloud of witnesses is not only a cloud of ancient heroes/people from the Old Testament past. We could add to this list of Hebrews 11 many New Testament followers of Jesus, and many followers of Jesus through the 20 centuries since Jesus died and rose again. And we could add many who have in the 20^th and 21^st century been for us companions and encouragers for our continuing journey of faith.

All God’s people, through all time, are transformed by Jesus and his story and are invited to become part of the great cloud of witnesses. We need the encouragement of people from the past, and the encouragement of those who have walked, and who still walk with us in our lifetime, to help sustain us and inspire us for our lives of faith. Let’s be members of each other’s cloud of witnesses. Let’s bless, encourage and inspire each other’s lives! Let’s be part of each other’s “great a cloud of witnesses” so we can “lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with perseverance the race that is set before us…”

Some of the significant people in our cloud of witnesses are loved ones who you have died but whose lives inspire us to keep living ours. Below Janice Ropp will introduce her book that tells the story of her sister, a significant person in her cloud of witnesses.

Book Launch – A Sister’s Legacy of Love by Janice E. Ropp

I am so excited to share my book, A Sister’s Legacy of Love with everyone!

It was never my intention or on my bucket list to write a book. I didn’t have a clue where to even begin!

Four years ago I lost a very special sister Margaret Anne. We had a close bond and when she died, I had a very difficult time dealing with her death. She died so suddenly and I was devastated that I couldn’t be with her and tell her how much she meant to me.

A friend suggested that I write her a letter and tell her the things I didn’t get to say to her. I did write that letter telling her what she meant to me and how much I missed her. I focused on all the wonderful memories we made together. With so many stories to tell, the letter was so long and I didn’t really know what to do with it.

While talking to Tanya about my grief she suggested putting all these memories into a book and share her story.

That’s how this book began. I wanted to share about the incredible person that Margaret Anne was and how she affected all our lives.

This book is filled with stories of Margaret Anne’s life. It is my hope that everyone reading it, it will give everyone moments of laughter, joy and most of love!

I have shed many tears and laughed lots as I wrote this book. It has been very healing for me and helped me to deal with my grief in a very meaningful way.

I have been very humbled by the response of those who have read my book. Many have shared how it has reminded them of special memories they have of Margaret Anne. Even though she is not here with us, her memories and stories will live on in our hearts forever.

I will be at church on Sunday November 8/20 from 1-3pm for those who would like a copy of the book.

I am so grateful for all the support and words of encouragement from everyone!

Grace and peace to you from our God who sees deep within us and loves us for who we are!

Tomorrow is Halloween and some of you, along with your children or other family or friends, may be planning to put on a mask or makeup, a pair of glasses or goggles, a crazy hat or wig, a set of clothes or some other form of disguise. It can be lots of fun to pretend to be someone or something else for the day. I know some of you are so creative at planning your costume disguise! Many of you who came to pick up a pumpkin at the HOPE Pumpkin Giveaway really had no idea who greeted you as you entered the parking lot. Thanks Larry! What a great disguise!  

Halloween masks aside, 2020 may actually go down in history as the year of the mask. Many of us have had to make the adjustment to wearing a safety mask in public places. Along with the personal adjustment of this “accessory” we have probably also had the experience of doing a double take as people pass by. “Was that ‘masked’ person I just passed in the grocery store my neighbour down the street?” Although it has not always been easy to wear a mask, and it keeps us from clearly seeing each other, we are committed to doing our part to help stop the spread of the virus and help everyone feel safer. This mask, unlike the Halloween mask, is not a one day or single event experience, it may be with us for a while.

There’s another mask we wear, and we have become quite accustomed to wearing it. It’s not a plastic, cloth, or medical mask, yet it still hides a part of who we are. It’s the “mask” of the nice (sometimes really forced) smile, and the common cliché “I’m fine!” The cliché and smile we use even when we are anything but fine. Tanya reminded me what “fine” stands for. Feelings Inside Not Expressed!

We use this “I’m fine” mask to hide our struggles, cover our wounds and pain, conceal our brokenness, and screen our emotions and feelings. We have concluded that it is safer for ourselves and others if keep it on. We think, if we wear the mask, we will feel less shame and we will be more loveable. In truth the mask keep us from both the peace and healing we all so desperately long for and need.

The scriptures invite us to take off this mask. They invite us to let our love and affection for each other be genuine. They invite us to share both joy and pain. The scriptures invites us to remove our masks and live honestly in our relationships together. The church, the family of God’s people, is not the place to pretend and wear masks. It is the place to be real and honest, vulnerable and truthful.  

⁹ Let love be genuine. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. ¹⁰ Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. ¹¹ Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. ¹² Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. ¹³ When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. ¹⁵ Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Romans 12

Often our first inclination is to cover a struggle or wound. We think if we just slap on a bandage (or mask), it will heal by itself. Maybe at times that is true, if the struggle or wound it slight and small. But we all have struggles and wounds that when covered/bandaged/masked only fester and get worse. They become infected and take life away. Oxygen and daylight are some of the first steps to healing many physical wounds. And the truth is our inner wounds need that exposure to oxygen and daylight too.

Romans 12:9-15 is an invitation to take off our mask and be genuine. It is also an invitation to be the church that provides the oxygen and daylight we all so desperately need; the oxygen and daylight of genuine love and affection, of honoring each other, of naming and celebrating our hope, of sticking together through the tough stuff, of persistent prayer for each other, of a helping hand and a listening ear. The church is called to create this space where we feel safe to stop wearing our masks. To create the space where we can instead open our lives to each other, share together our joy and our sorrow, and freely name our struggles and wounds. When the church is filled with this oxygen and daylight we create a safe place where God’s love for who we actually are can be believed and received. When this space is created by the grace of God we can receive both the peace and healing we so desperately long for and need.

Have fun this weekend with your Halloween mask and costume! Be faithful, when it’s necessary, to wear the face mask of this Covid time we are in. But please receive the invitation to take off the mask that hides the struggles, the pain and wounds you carry. You never need to wear that mask again! Your wellbeing and the wellbeing of others may depend on it. There is a God, and a family of God’s people, who desire to know you and walk with you just as you are. And they will love you, just as you are, too! Sure it’s a risk to remove this mask but it may be the risk we take that helps us to heal, that improves our mental health and sustains us through the coming winter.

Greetings in the name of God who fills us with the Spirit of Jesus!

What is most needed in our world and in our lives right now? That’s an important question to ponder for followers of Jesus who desire to be the light and to be channels of hope and blessing in the world. What is most needed? If we answered that question in one word the answer could surely be love! The call to love God and love our neighbour comes through the whole story of the Bible. To truly love, and to truly be loved, is life changing and world transforming! We all need love and always will. Love sums up the whole story of God.

The apostle Paul reminds the first century followers of Jesus of the power of love in our lives and relationships.

¹³ For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters;only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence,but rather, serve one another humbly in love.¹⁴ For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. 

Galatians 5

Paul desires that we live in the freedom of God’s love! As he continues to write his letter to the Galatians he calls the church to be filled with and led by the Spirit of Jesus. Paul knows what will happen if the Holy Spirit fills us and takes control of our lives. The Spirit will set us free and will produce fruit in our lives that has the potential to fill the world with love! And with light, hope, joy, peace and so much more! Paul writes:

²² But the fruit of 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 flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

The invitation and call is ours to hear and follow. Live by the Spirit! Keep in step with the Spirit! Let the Spirit produce its fruit in our lives! It will transform us and the world around us!

Prayer is one way we can keep in step with God’s Spirit as we seek to live in the freedom of the way of Jesus. The Breath prayer, prayed to the rhythm of our breath, is one prayer practice that may help us receive the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit.

Below is a Breath Prayer written by Sheridan Voysey (slightly adapted) and based on the words of Galatians 5:22-26. The prayer invites us to receive what is so needed in our lives and in the world right now, and to also release what can be so destructive to our personal and community wellbeing.

Invite the Spirit to bring you to a quiet inner place, then begin praying each line of this prayer breathing in for 3 seconds, then out for 3 seconds more.

Pray the first stanza slowly breathing in, and the second stanza slowly breathing out.

Lord God, fill me with your Spirit.

I receive your love, and release my insecurity

I receive your joy, and release my unhappiness

I receive your peace, and release my anxiety/fear

I receive your patience, and release my impulsiveness

I receive your kindness, and release my insensitivity

I receive your goodness, and release my wrongdoing

I receive your faithfulness, and release my disloyalty

I receive your gentleness, and release my severity

I receive your self-control, and release my self-indulgence

Lord God, fill me with your Spirit!

Pray this prayer daily, or a few times each day. Adapt it and make it your own. Or use one line as a shorter breath prayer breathed many times through your day. Let’s do what we can to allow God to fill our lives, our homes, our community and the world with the nourishing and sustaining fruit of the Holy Spirit of Jesus!

We can only share with others what we have first received ourselves as a gift from God. When we release all that hinders the fruit of the Spirit we are freed to receive and share even more of God’s good gifts! Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are so needed in our world right!

Greetings in the name of God the source of hope!

We all need hope!

Scripture affirms that hope is one of the three most essential and lasting qualities for our lives.

¹³ And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13.13)

Love may be the greatest of the three but hope along with faith are essential anchors for our lives of love.

“Hope” is commonly used to mean a wish, and its strength is the strength of the person’s desire. But in the Bible hope is so much more than a wish based on human desire. Biblical Hope is the confident expectation and assurance of what God has promised and its strength is in God’s unwavering faithfulness to fulfil the promises. Biblical hope is confident that our present and our future is held by God who is faithful and good, and working for our good.

Over the last 7 months we have lived through an unprecedented time. We have faced realities we have not faced before, restrictions that have been hard, and we are making decisions we had not imagined. And this “time” is not done! Along with Covid-19 we continue to face the other more common circumstances of life that threaten to overwhelm us. The death of a loved one (or two or more), the loss of a job or a relationship, a physical health crisis, the regular life changes that come…. Solid foundations of our lives have been shaken and our “soul” is sometimes weary and restless. 

The writer to the Hebrews speaks of hope as the anchor for our souls.

Therefore, we who have fled to [God] for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. 19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Hebrews 6:18-19 (NLT)

The Message translation says it this way:

We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God…

What is this hope that the writer refers to as an “anchor for our soul”, or an “unbreakable spiritual lifeline”? This hope is the assurance that God will keep all the promises that God has made.

The writer of Hebrews had just named Abraham, who had patiently endured through times of struggle and obtained the promise God had made to him and his family. Abraham and the people of God discovered over and over that God is faithful to do what God has promised. The promise was not always fulfilled when and how they expected but they came to discover that God would always be faithful to the promises God had made! This was their hope, the anchor for their soul, the unbreakable spiritual lifeline they clung to.

What promise of God do you most need to hear right now and hold onto as your “anchor for the soul”; your “unbreakable spiritual lifeline”? God has promised so many things: steadfast love, continuing presence through all that life brings, healing for our lives, freedom from sin and all that binds us, renewal and restoration for all! Through the prophet Jeremiah God brought all these promises together in such a powerful way.

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29)

Although those words of promise were spoken in a very specific time and place to a very specific people they continue to speak so clear and broadly to all of us now. The whole story of the Bible affirms this to be true. God continues to work for our wellbeing, for a good future for all! God continues to promise us abiding presence and steadfast love! God continues to lead us to new life, now and for all eternity! In Revelation 21 as John writes about his vision of the restored new heaven and new earth he records these words from the throne of God, “Look, I am making everything new!” (5)

Our present and our future is held by, and being fashioned by, our God who loves us with a steadfast love. God is making all things new! This is our hope! This is the “anchor for our soul”; our “unbreakable spiritual lifeline”!

Hope for this moment and for the future, in a present that is difficult and hard, can be a wonderful gift. As people of hope we are privilege to share hope with each other and with the world around us. Hope brings a light into the darkness, peace into chaotic times, comfort to those who mourn, confidence to those that fear, and the reminder of God’s presence to those that feel so alone. We share hope through our words and actions, through our presence and our prayers. We share hope as we extend God’s love to those around us! We share hope in so many ways. This week we invite you to use a pumpkin to help share HOPE!

“O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1)

This call to give thanks is a call that rings through the history of God’s people and is central to a life of worship and joy. As we approach thanksgiving weekend reminders come from so many directions to take time to give thanks for all that life has given to us. Maybe in the midst of a global pandemic the call to give thanks becomes even more important for us hear.

It can be easier at times to focus on what is bad – what needs to be fixed immediately, what crisis must be prevented or overcome, what new thing we need now to make your life better. Learning to notice the good, and the gifts of abundance we already have, and then giving thanks for them, takes practice. The practice of gratitude is a practice so important in our lives!

Gratitude is the quality of being thankful. Gratitude is a spiritual practice of seeing and celebrating the good in the world around us. It’s a practice that helps us notice and appreciate God’s work in the world.

Brené Brown, a writer and research professor, in her book “The Gifts of Imperfection” highlights an important link between gratitude and joy. Brené noticed that every person she interviewed, who described themselves as joyful, actively practiced gratitude and attribute their joyfulness to their gratitude practice. They understood joyfulness and gratitude as spiritual practices bound to a belief in a power greater than themselves. She concludes that “There is no joy without gratitude!”

The poets and worship leaders over 25 centuries ago also seemed to know that practicing gratitude and living a life of joy flow out of a belief in a power greater than ourselves! Psalm 136 was an important Psalm of praise for the people of God. As it called God’s people to give thanks it focused on the living God who was the “greater power” of their lives.

Psalm 136 names God as the “God of gods”, the “Lord of lords”, the “God of heaven”, the God who “does great wonders” on the earth. Throughout the Psalm, which is written as a responsive litany of praise, the leader calls the people to praise their God for the “great wonders” that the Lord has done. The people respond with the powerful refrain, for God’s steadfast love endures forever.” 

This refrain proclaims the most basic characteristic of God toward his people – steadfast love!  The Hebrew term translated “steadfast love”, is also translated as: mercy, grace, kindness, faithfulness, loyalty. It is a love that is boundless, a love that loves no matter what the circumstance or response. This love is everlasting, eternal, it never fails and never quits. The origin, past history, present and future of God’s people, are intimately tied to the faithful and forever steadfast love of God!

This call to gratitude, that results in joy and is intimately connected to God, is summed up so well as the Apostle Paul nears the end of his first letter to the Thessalonians: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you…The one who calls you is faithful. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 24a).

Notice that we are not called to give thanks for all circumstance but rather to give thanks in (as we go through) all circumstances. Some circumstances are really hard. They should not happen but they do. Yet in the midst of them God remains faithful, God’s steadfast love endures! Because of that amazing truth about God we are able to see good even in the midst of bad circumstances. By God’s grace we can practice gratitude by giving thanks for the good we are empowered to see.  

How will you express your gratitude this weekend? Where have we seen good, and how do we appreciate that good in the world around us? How are you/we experiencing the steadfast love of God that is all around us? 

I invite you to read Psalm 136 as an act of giving thanks. And I invite you to write your own Psalm in the pattern of Psalm 136. I offer my contemporary paraphrase.

O give thanks to the LORD, for God is good; for God’s steadfast love endures forever.

O give thanks to God who dwells within us; for God’s steadfast love endures forever.

O give thanks to God who does great wonders, for God’s steadfast love endures forever;

great wonders revealed in the ordinary details of our lives,

for God’s steadfast love endures forever.

who created the heavens and earth and all within them,

for God’s steadfast love endures forever;

who continues to create and renew by bringing order out of the chaos of our lives,

for God’s steadfast love endures forever;

who brought Israel out of the slavery of Egypt, for God’s steadfast love endures forever;

who delivers us from the chains of circumstances, addition, fear, violence, prejudice and hate,

for God’s steadfast love endures forever;

who led God’s people through the wilderness, for God’s steadfast love endures forever;

and rescues them from all their foes, for God’s steadfast love endures forever;

who has brought us through 7 months of Covid-19, for God’s steadfast love endures forever;

and is helping us heal and discover hope as researchers prepare a vaccine to fight our current foe,

for God’s steadfast love endures forever;

who gave the promised land as a heritage, for God’s steadfast love endures forever;

and gave food and water as nourishment along the way,

for God’s steadfast love endures forever.

who is helping us discover our “new normal” and dream new dreams;

for God’s steadfast love endures forever;

and is nourishing us through all our grief of letting go and finding our new way;

for God’s steadfast love endures forever;

Israel’s God is our God too and continues to bring restoration, healing and hope to all people;

for God’s steadfast love endures forever.

O give thanks to the God of heaven, who continues to do good work on earth, even in 2020,

for God’s steadfast love endures forever.