Why are we here? Ecclesia and Sacramentum

I speak to you in the name of the One, True and Living God. Amen.


Why are we here?

What is the reason that this group of people gathers together each Sunday in this building? What brings us here? What brings us to church?


The word church comes for a Greek word – “Ecclesia”. Ecclesia is a secular term meaning “a group of concerned citizens taking counsel for the betterment of the common good.” Whew, that’s certainly a mouthful, but is it the reason we are here? The early church chose that name, so obviously it was at least part of why they gathered. On the other hand, they might have chose that term to hide what they were doing. In the early years Christianity was at the very least persecuted and at worst illegal after all.

I think that we are, or should be, a group of concerned citizens taking counsel for the betterment of the common good, but I don’t believe that’s why we are here. It is a result or by-product of why we are here. If that was all there was to coming to church, there are plenty of other organizations which serve that purpose.


Ecclesia has failed us today. So I’ll take a look at another foreign word. This one is Latin – “sacramentum”. The word sacramentum was first used in Roman law referring to an oath of allegiance taken in a sacred place. Our use of the term today is rooted in this but has much more to it. Saint Augustine was the first to define a sacrament in the Christian church. He wrote that a sacrament is “an outward and temporal [or visible] sign of an inward and enduring grace.” No wonder we keep using these terms. They pack a lot of meaning into a small package.

I think this word is far more important than ecclesia. Sacramentum defines what we are all about. In our passage from the Gospel of John today we hear “My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” This is what the sacraments are all about. We are here because we hear that voice. Jesus also said “I have told you, and you do not believe.” We are here because we do believe. The works that we do in our Father’s house, in this ecclesia, we do not because it is the reason we gather. We do them because they testify to the truth of Jesus Christ. The sacraments are “an outward and visible sign of an inward and enduring grace.”


I could say “thanks be to God” right now and be done, but there’s more. We are here because we are sacraments. We are outward and visible signs of the grace of God and I don’t think any passage in the Bible expresses that better than Psalm 23. Please open your Book of Common Prayer to page 356 and we’ll read it together.


The Lord is my shepherd; / therefore can I lack nothing.
He shall feed me in a green pasture, / and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort.
He shall restore my soul, / and bring me forth in the paths of righteousness, for his Name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; / for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff comfort me.
Thou shalt prepare a table for me in the presence of them that trouble me; / thou hast anointed my head with oil, and my cup shall be full.
Surely thy loving-kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; / and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.


Silence


Thanks be to God.

Shalom Chaverim - Be Expectant

Last 3 weeks Gospels
- Jesus appears to the disciples
- Unexpected … why? He said he would
- What is it trying to tell us
- Expect to see Jesus
o What does that mean?
o Where do we see Jesus (God)?
- What does it mean to be an image of God?
- Who is an image of God?

Does anyone know the song “Shalom chaverim?”

Do you know what it means?

How does that fit with what we just talked about?



Shalom:
- peace
- between people
- between self and God
- between countries
- completeness
- wellbeing
- health
- safety
- hello / goodbye

Chaverim
- friends

L’hitraot
- until we see (each other) again


Let’s learn the song so we can teach it to everyone else.

We’re going to sing it again at the end of the service.

Blessing of the Fleet

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today is a very special day. Today is the second Sunday in the Easter season. Today we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Easter is a time for new beginnings.

We have a number of new beginnings going on. The weather has changed and the snow is (mostly) gone. Crocuses are springing up along with the snowdrops. New greenery is emerging on the trees and the gardening club is getting organized. Spring has emerged from winter. Nature is being reborn as it is every year.


The tourist season is just around the corner. Many people are getting ready to go back to work. Soon we will once again have restaurants. Soon the road will be busy with people we don’t know. Soon will come the time when we grieve the loss of our quiet community and embrace the new life and business which comes with that change.


Some new births are much more painful. Right now our prayers need to be with Poland and all her people. They are a nation who will have little time to grieve their great loss yesterday as they struggle to rebuild their government. In yesterday’s plane crash they also lost much of their living history. It is impossible for us to truly feel their pain, but we can pray for them and be thankful for what we have.


In our own community, we have more new births. Last week we baptized three new members of the Body of Christ; Jeremy, Sean, and Landon. With each person who is baptized, the Body of Christ gains a new image of God. With each of the baptized, the church is one step closer to being complete; one step closer to the Kingdom of God. As members of the Body of Christ, we need to see each other as reflections of God. Each and every one of us worthy of love and needing each other’s support.


Our community is also growing in our relationship. As we make our way together through this first year of my ministry here, we are learning about each other. We are coming to new realizations about ourselves, about our strengths and our weaknesses. We are learning where we need support and where we can give support. We are learning about different traditions. Struggling with unspoken assumptions. Finding new faith and understanding on the other side.


Saturday is a big day. I’m sure you all know that the crab fishery opens on Saturday. Today we are blessing the fleet. What does it mean for us to bless them?

First of all, it means that we are asking God to make his presence known to them. That no matter what happens this season, God is their companion while on land and at sea. No matter what happens, God is sharing their successes and their failures, the good times and the bad. God is with them.

We are also praying for their safety and for abundance in the seas. We are praying today and promising to pray throughout the season. We will be providing a symbol of these prayers and God’s presence to be carried on each of the boats.


We will be remembering two of the Saints that come from deep within the tradition of the Christian church.

First, we remember Saint Andrew. St. Andrew was the first fisherman to follow Christ. He gave up everything for his faith, including his life. Andrew is an example for us of what it means to follow Christ. It is to St. Andrew that Jesus said “I will make you fishers of men.” St. Andrew shows us that what we do in Jesus’ name has much greater meaning than anything else we can do. St. Andrew is the patron saint of fishermen and of Scotland. Fishermen and all who call him their patron call upon St. Andrew for guidance and other needs.

Second, we remember Saint Christopher. The name Christopher means Christ bearer. Saint Christopher is remembered for helping travelers of all sorts. It is said that he once helped a child cross a river by lifting him up on his shoulders and carrying him across. He found the child unbelievably heavy. The child, according to legend, was Christ carrying the weight of the whole world. St. Christopher is called upon to protect us whenever we travel, whether near or far. We call upon him specifically to protect us from storms while at sea.

There is a long history in the Anglican church of praying through the saints. By choosing a saint and directing our prayers through them, we are better able to focus our prayers. It helps us to be clearer to ourselves and to God. This is why we are calling upon St. Andrew and St. Christopher in our blessing today. When we ask for abundance and safety during this season’s fishery. It is also why we are providing St. Christopher’s medals as tokens. We pray that they will carry with them the focus of our prayers. That those who carry them will know that they are not alone. That they will have confidence that they are in God’s hands.

We do all this because we have faith that God is with all of us and listens to our prayers.

Thanks be to God.

The Easter Bunny - Great Symbol of Christianity

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.


Happy Easter.

Has the Easter Bunny been good to everybody?

Great!

You might have thought I would talk about the resurrection today; about who Jesus Christ is to us and why today is so important.


Nope. Today I’m going to talk about that great Christian symbol, the Easter Bunny.


I think the Easter Bunny is a little bit like that stone that the builders rejected. There is something distinctly wrong with it but God uses it anyway. Not only does he use it, but he identifies the most important Holy Day in the Christian calendar with it. He made it our chief advertiser. Right up there with Santa Claus. There are lots of people who know very little, if anything, about what Christ teaches us. I doubt there are many who don’t know what the Easter Bunny does.


Well, that’s a good start. The Easter Bunny advertises the name of the core of our faith. … So what. … How does that tell anyone about what Christianity is actually about?


What does the Easter Bunny do? … First of all, it is a bunny. Like most other bunnies, it emerges in the spring. Every year at the end of lent it springs up again. Like other bunnies, once it gets out it spreads everywhere. You see the first chocolate bunny in the stores and suddenly there are hundreds … thousands … they are everywhere.

The message (or chocolate) of the Easter Bunny is easy to spread and impossible to stop. It is almost like it is spread by the wind, or in Hebrew, ruach. It is almost like it is reborn every year about this time; appearing here and there to its disciples, the children, and then vanishing again, leaving behind miraculous gifts of eggs comprised mostly or entirely of chocolate. Each one a message saying “you are loved.”


The Easter Bunny also describes Christianity in how it is different from other bunnies.

How does the Easter Bunny know when Easter is anyway? I don’t know any other bunny that can figure out which day is the first Sunday after the first full moon after spring equinox. He must be inspired by something.

There is something distinctly different about this bunny. He is not like the other bunnies. He lays eggs! He turns the world of biology upside down. This should not be possible. This is a very important message. He shows us that the world is not always what we expect it to be. He shows us that those who are different from everyone else are worthy of our love. He shows us that those who are different from everyone else can love us too.

The Easter Bunny is also a bit different from Santa Claus. The Easter Bunny does not keep a list of who is naughty and who is nice. The Easter Bunny doesn’t care. He loves us all equally.

It doesn’t matter if you are poor or rich … the Easter Bunny loves you.

It doesn’t matter if you are bad or good … the Easter Bunny loves you.

It doesn’t matter what race you are … the Easter Bunny loves you.

It doesn’t matter if you are male or female … the Easter Bunny loves you.

Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter … the Easter Bunny loves you.


Thanks be to God.

Easter Vigil - Baptism

Eternal God, help us to find the way from darkness into light. Show us your presence in our lives. Lead us into the glow of your glory reflected in your creation and in us. Through Jesus Christ our risen Lord. Amen.


Tonight we are reborn. Tonight we surrender to death and are brought into new life. All through Lent we have been making our way, step by step, in the path of Jesus as he walked his road to Resurrection. Well, we made it.


Tonight is a happy message. We are done with the doom and gloom of Golgotha. Tonight we are celebrating three baptisms.

But if this is such a joyous event, what is with that reading from Romans. According to it, tonight Sean, Jeremy, and Landon will be baptized into Christ’s death. How is that good. Aren’t we supposed to be baptized into new life?


Well, both are true. Because Christ died for us and rose again, he defeated the power of death over us. As Christians we do not live in his crucifixion, we live in his resurrection. In baptism, we take our part in his death and are raised to new life on the other side. We are an Easter people. That is our choice and our calling.

This does not mean that we undertake baptism lightly. Baptism has serious consequences and the benefits are much less clear.

We don’t need to be baptized to be saved from eternal death. Christ was quite clear that he died for all, not just for those who follow him. For the same reason, we don’t have to be baptized to be forgiven our sins, but it helps.

That’s what baptism isn’t. There are many very different customs and beliefs about what baptism is. There are a few that most churches agree on.

Baptism is a gift from God. In baptism the holy spirit becomes part of us and is with us for our entire life.

Baptism cleanses us from sin, both past and future. In baptism we become more aware of the moral implications of what we do. We become more able to recognize when we need to return to God, when we have strayed.

Baptism is a sign of the Kingdom of God here on earth. Baptism is part of God’s promise to us of the time when all will acknowledge the One True and Living God. When justice will reign and the strife will be over.

Baptism is a rite of initiation into the Body of Christ. When we are baptised we make promises to God and to the other members of the Body of Christ. These promises are bound to change our lives if we keep them. None of them are particularly hard to keep but as a whole they define a way of life that takes discipline, practice, and help to maintain.

In baptism we participate in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We become part of the story of salvation. We give up our former life. We surrender to God through Christ and promise to follow his example as we make our journey in the light of our own resurrection.

In just a moment we are going to celebrate the baptism of Sean, Landon, and Jeremy into their life in Christ. As we make our way through the ceremony, remember that the vows made in baptism were all made by you or on your behalf. As we pray for the candidates, remember that we are praying also for all of the baptised. As we affirm our own faith in the baptismal covenant, think carefully about what you are promising. These are promises made to God.


We know that God is faithful and will keep his promises to us. Let’s see if we can help each other keep our promises to God.

Amen.

Today God Died for Us

Father in Heaven, on this day no words could possibly be good enough to describe your love for us. Use my words and our meditations to help us return that gift of love to you and to your creation. Amen.


Today we are celebrating the death of our saviour.

About two thousand years ago people just like you and I betrayed him, accused him, tried him, condemned him, and executed him. We are no better or worse, no more or less deserving than those who did this. They were ordinary people, faced with ordinary choices, under ordinary pressures. I could just as easily be one of those calling for his death. So could you.

Let’s just imagine for a moment if Jesus were to come today. First he would show that he understood our system of government. He would become a respected teacher in our churches. He would show a depth of knowledge and wisdom which was well beyond his years.

As time went on he would find a back way into our political system. Maybe he would found a new party. He might call it the People for Open and Organized Reform, or the P.O.O.R. party. His party would gain popularity quickly among non-traditional voters. Within a couple of years the major parties would be very worried.

At the same time he would be gaining respect among the religious masses. He would avoid any position which put him under the authority of any church leaders. He would eventually start teaching about the shortcomings of the church leaders themselves. They would get very worried.

Next he would start telling us that we aren’t doing enough for the poor and disadvantaged. He might say that we have been given enough time to address poverty and we haven’t done it. If elected to office he would see that a year of Jubilee would be declared in law. Everything that anyone owes anyone else will be automatically forgiven. Also, anyone who can’t afford the necessities (which he would define) will have them provided through higher taxes. Now those in financial power are worried.

Pretty much everyone has some debt so we might like the Jubilee. But unfortunately the banks who hold most of this debt would fail taking any savings we might have (including retirement savings) with them. Now we are worried.

Long before it got to this point, our society would find a way to silence him. The political parties would find some way to discredit the P.O.O.R. party. The church leaders would ban him from preaching in their churches. The financial heavyweights would block any commercials he might produce by threatening to pull their advertising. And we would back it all to save our way of life.

We might not actually put him to death but we would put him in a little box where we could safely ignore him. We haven’t learned much since the first time we killed our saviour. So why is today Good?


Today God died for us!


Today is not about how good we are. Today is about the grace of God.

We did nothing to deserve God’s sacrifice for us. Nothing we can do will make us deserving of that sacrifice.

Today our God chose to die so that we could find our way back to God.

God, who was born into the world from a woman, understands what it means to be limited by humanity.

God, who walked among us as a human, understands that we will stray.

God, died a human death, has called us back to him.

God, who defeated death, shows us the way.

Thanks be to God.