Gathered through the power of the Holy Spirit, we worship God with gladness. We encourage you to pray over the words that follow, and follow the links within the liturgy. Prayers in this service are adapted from Celebrate God’s Presence (UCPH). Thanks this week to Taye, Cor, and Heather!

PRELUDE: “Flying Free” (Besig)

OPENING PRAYER

For all the saints
who went before us
who have spoken to our hearts
and touched us with your fire,
we praise you, O God.

For all the saints
who live beside us
whose weaknesses and strengths
are woven with our own,
we praise you, O God.

For all the saints
who live beyond us
who challenge us
to change us
to change the world with them,
we praise you, O God.

HYMN OF PRAISE: “Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!”

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;
holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee,
casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide thee,
though the eye made blind by sin thy glory may not see,
only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea;
holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

May Christ,
who makes saints of sinners,
and who has transformed those we remember today,
transform us too, made new in his likeness.
Surround us with your Spirit,
and call us find within ourselves
the heroic virtue that defines the saints.
Help us to see Christ in others,
and serve them, as we are served. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

God will give us what we need:
strength for today,
hope for tomorrow,
and forgiveness
for all that is past.
Amen.

SPECIAL MUSIC: “When in Our Music God is glorified” (Green/Stanford)

FIRST READING: Psalm 107

O give thanks, for God is gracious;
God’s steadfast love endures for ever.
Let the redeemed of God say so, those redeemed from trouble,
whom God gathered in from the lands,
from the east and the west,
from the north and the south.

Some lost their way in desert wastes, finding no place to settle;
hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to you, God, in their trouble;
you rescued them from their distress.
You led them by a straight path,
till they reached a place to settle.
Let them thank you, O God, for your steadfast love,
for the wonders you do for us.
For you satisfy the thirsty,
and fill the hungry with good things.

SECOND READING: 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13:

9 Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. 11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

HYMN: “Shall we gather at the river”

Shall we gather at the river,
where bright angel feet have trod;
with its crystal tide for ever
flowing by the throne of God?
Yes, we’ll gather at the river,
the beautiful, the beautiful river;
gather with the saints at the river
that flows by the throne of God.

Ere we reach the shining river,
lay we every burden down;
grace our spirits will deliver,
and provide a robe and crown.
Yes, we’ll gather at the river,
the beautiful, the beautiful river;
gather with the saints at the river
that flows by the throne of God.

Soon we’ll reach the shining river,
soon our pilgrimage will cease,
soon our happy hearts will quiver
with the melody of peace.
Yes, we’ll gather at the river,
the beautiful, the beautiful river;
gather with the saints at the river
that flows by the throne of God.

REFLECTION

I suspect my mother was a secret Catholic.

And while my evidence may be vague and and a little flimsy, it remains a question in my mind. My suspicion began with the purchase of a late 70s Corolla, used, brown in colour with a beige vinyl roof. Already you find this story troubling, and that’s before you sit inside. For there, in the middle of the dashboard, was a small ornament, like a small coin on a pedestal.

Me: Mother, what is that?
Mother: That’s St. Christopher, patron saint of travellers.
Me: But you’re not Catholic.
Mother: I know, but he’s the patron saint of travellers.
Me: You’re just gonna leave it there, aren’t you?
Mother: Of course.

It was only later that I learned that St. Christopher had been demoted—maybe reassigned—within the list of Catholic saints. I can’t imagine that this information would have any bearing on the shiny metal object in the middle of the dash, since leaving it there was more about avoiding bad luck. In other words, she was not-so-secretly superstitious rather than secretly Catholic.

If you are currently looking at the St. Christopher medal on your keychain, I do not mean to offend. He’s an interesting case, and represents an important step in the evolution of the idea of sainthood. His story mirrors numerous saints who emerged in the middle ages and became increasingly popular. Christopher, like his colleagues St. Nicholas and St. George, appeared with the kernel of a story that was embellished over the centuries.

The name Christopher means Christ-bearer, and he is said to have carried a young child across a river, only to discover that he was carrying Christ. In this sense, he blesses travellers, as he was blessed. He becomes the embodiment of “entertaining angels unawares” (Heb 13) or serving Christ in the form of the “least of these.” (Mat 25)

This, of course, was not enough to keep him on the formal list of saints. Church reform in the 1960s demanded that saints who were more legend than fact be removed from the primary calendar of commemoration. They were never fully omitted, just placed in a new category. This allowed the church to emphasize saints that were recognized through the highly organized process of canonization.

Over here in the Protestant Church, we’ve taken a different approach. Our Anglican friends continue to commemorate pre-Reformation saints, but have shifted focus to “saints and heroes” of the faith. On the west front of Westminster Abbey you will find statues of Martin Luther King Jr. and Óscar Romero, modern saints and heroes, just two examples. Methodists have taken a similar approach, never praying to saints, but lifting them up as examples to follow.

The phrase “hero of the faith” is helpful, since the common definition of sainthood is to display “heroic virtue.” Beginning in the middle ages, this meant demonstrating the four cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance) along with the three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. If these three sound familiar, it may relate to the many weddings you have attended. St. Paul commends faith, hope, and charity in 1 Corinthians, though we usually flatter the bride and groom by using the alternate translation, “faith, hope, and love.”

In many ways, Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians is an expanded version of faith, hope, and charity. The letter is less concerned with matters of doctrine, and more about living together as believers. The passage that Joyce shared is like a letter inside the letter, giving us the gist of the matter:

For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

Paul is keen to remind them that he was trying to set an example, demonstrating “faith, hope, and charity” at Thessalonica, and urging them to do likewise. In some ways it sounds immodest, reminding them that he and his helpers were “holy, righteous, and blameless” while with them, but it strengthens his point. By living lives worthy of God, we practice the ultimate form of devotion, the greatest gift we can give.

His words are not fully without doctrine, because he shares an important principle in the next section:

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

“You accepted…the word of God, which is indeed at work in you…”

I’m going to be bold and suggest that what Paul is giving us is a summary of sainthood, a summary that includes virtue (in the word of God) and the abiding sense that God is at work in us. Consider it: when we follow the word, we take it on, we embody it—then we take it into the world. Without us, there is risk that the word of God will simply be words in a page. But when we live it, when we personify the word, then God is working in us.

And this, of course, is why we treasure scripture. It provides comfort and hope, inspiration and direction, but it also reminds us of the many ways we can allow God to work in us. Think about some of your favourite passages, and then consider the mandate of allowing God to “work in us and others.” Think of Micah 6, for example: “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Countless believers have lived these words on their daily walk with the Most High. Likewise, these words from Proverbs 3: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” (Prov 3)

Perhaps the Proverbs passage is a little less familiar than Micah, but “lean not on your own understanding” is also at the heart of sainthood. We imagine that the great heroes of the faith had all the answers, knew exactly what they were doing, always did the right thing—but this is not the case. Allowing God to work in us, allowing God to anchor our lives, doesn’t make us less human. In fact, allowing God to work in us will make us more aware of our need for redemption, and the power of God’s mercy.

I want to conclude with the list of church names that we have been compiling since last Sunday. As an anniversary project, the list represents all the churches that formed us, and formed Central, making us who we are today. That was last week. This week, we ponder the list and call to mind all the saints represented by the congregations of the list. Consider the service rendered by these congregations: the mercy shown, the comfort given, the instruction shared, the inspiration kindled. Each church on our list represents devoted service—the work of saints—to keep the faith, share hope, and enact the charity that God provides.

We’ll pray over these names in a few moments, but for now we give thanks, thanks for lives lived and love enacted, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

O God,
we thank you for the many people throughout the ages
who have followed your way of life joyfully;
for the many saints and martyrs, men and women,
who have offered up their very lives,
so that your life abundant may become manifest.
For your love and faithfulness we praise you.

O God,
we thank you for those who chose the way of Christ.
In the midst of trial, they held out hope;
in the midst of hatred, they kindled love;
in the midst of persecutions, they witnessed to your power;
in the midst of despair, they clung to your promise.
For your love and faithfulness we praise you.

O God,
we thank you for the truth they passed on to us:
that it is by giving that we shall receive;
it is by becoming weak that we shall be strong;
it is by loving others that we shall be loved;
it is by offering ourselves that the kingdom will unfold;
it is by dying that we shall inherit life everlasting.
O God, give us courage to follow your way of life.
For your love and faithfulness we praise you. Amen.

O God,
bless the saints who embodied your Word:
through work and worship,
and the desire to serve others.
We call to mind these congregations,
some active, some gone, but none forgotten.
Bless everyone touched by these
expressions of your love,
and bless us as we read these names:

All Saints Roman Catholic Church, Toronto
Althorpe United Church, Althorpe, ON
Angus United Church, Angus, ON
Applewood United Church, Mississauga
Bethesda-Dixie United Church, Mississauga
Beth Tzedec Synagogue, Toronto
Beverly Hills United Church, North York
Blakey Street Mission, Blackburn, Lancashire, UK
Bloor Street United Church, Toronto
Bolingbroke United Church, Bolingbroke, ON
Bracebridge United Church, Bracebridge, ON
Broadway United Church, Regina, SK
Brookdale United Church, Boileau, QC
Calvary United Church, Calgary, AB
Calvin United Church, DeWitt’s Corners, ON
Canadian Memorial United Church, Vancouver
Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, Kent, UK
Central United Church, Weston
Chalmers United Church, Mount Dennis
Chapel on the Hill UCC, Largo, Florida
Christ Church Anglican Church, Ivy, ON
Christ the King Chapel, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA
Church of the Good Shepherd, Mount Dennis
The Church on the Road to the Dump, Kawartha Lakes
Coppercliff United Church, Sudbury
Davenport Presbyterian Church, Toronto
Deer Park United Church, Toronto
Dublin Street United Church, Guelph
Eastminster United Church, Toronto
Eden United Church, Mississauga
Elizabethville United Church, Elizabeth, ON
Elverston-Trethrewey United Church, Toronto
Etobicoke Salvation Army Church, Etobicoke
Exmouth Street United Church, Saint John, NB
Faith United Church, Toronto
Fenelon Falls United Church, Fenelon Falls, ON
Foothills United Church, Banff, AB
Forest Hill United Church, Toronto
Fort Totten Chapel, Fort Totten, Queens, NY
Fraserburg United Church, Bracebridge, ON
Glen Ayr United Church, Scarborough
Grace United Church, Barrie
Grace United Church, Tavistock, ON
Greenwood United Church, Greenwood, ON
Gilmore Park United Church, Richmond, BC
Heritage United Church, Regina, SK
Hillview Presbyterian Church, Etobicoke
HMCS Cornwallis Chapel, Deep Brook, NS
Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Thornhill
Humber Valley United Church, Etobicoke
Inverary United Church, Inverary, ON
John Calvin Hungarian Presbyterian Church, Hamilton
Knox Presbyterian Church, Toronto
Knox United Church, Dunchurch, ON
Knox United Church, Nippising, ON
Königin Luise Kirche. Königsberg, Ostpreußen (Germany, now Russia)
Lady Margaret Road Wesleyan, Kentish Town, London UK
Maple Presbyterian Church, Maple, ON
Martingrove United Church, Etobicoke
Medical Ministry International
Mount Albert United Church, Mount Albert, ON
Mount Dennis United Church, Mount Dennis
Mount Dennis Baptist Church, Mount Dennis
Nobleton United Church, Nobleton
North Bramalea United Church, Bramalea
Ossington Baptist Church, Toronto
Park Lawn Baptist Church, Toronto
Pasadena Community Church, St. Petersburg, FL
Pearen Memorial United Church, Mount Dennis
The People’s Church, Toronto
Pioneer United Church, Hillside, ON
Rexdale United Church, Rexdale
Runnymede United Church, Toronto
Silverthorn United Church, Toronto
Simcoe Street United Church, Oshawa
South Burnaby United Church, Burnaby, BC
South Wilberforce United, Wilberforce, ON
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Humber Heights
St. Andrew’s United Church, Oshawa
St Andrews-Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Uxbridge, ON
St. Anne’s Church, Highgate, London, UK
St. David’s United Church, Toronto
St. George’s Presbyterian Church, Blackburn, Lancashire, UK
St. Gregory’s Catholic Church, Oshawa
St. James-Bond United Church, Toronto
St. John the Evangelist, Weston
St. John’s United Church, Stratford
St. Margaret’s United Church, Kingston, ON
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, Kitchener
St. Mark’s United Church, Whitby
St. Matthew’s United Church, Toronto
St. Paul’s United Church, Oakville
St. Paul’s United Church, Waterloo
St. Petersburg United Methodist Church, St. Petersburg, FL
St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, Toronto
St. Stephen’s United Church, Vancouver, BC
St. Stephen’s Church, Lewisham, London, UK
St. Willibrord’s, The Hague
Streetsville United Church, Mississuaga
Sunbury United Church, Sunbury, ON
Swastika United Church, Swastika, ON
Teresia van Avilakerk, The Hague
Teston United Church, Teston, ON
Thistletown United Church, Thistletown
Thornhill United Church, Thornhill
Timothy Eaton Memorial Church, Toronto
Trinity United Church, Huntsville
Trinity United Church, Malton
Tsawwassen United Church in Delta, BC
Unity Church of Truth, Toronto
Wesley Hall Methodist Church, Leicester, UK
Westdale United Church, Hamilton
Westmount Church, Etobicoke
Westminster United Church, Mississauga
Westminster United Church, Orangeville
Westminster United Church, Weston
Weston Park Baptist Church, Toronto
Weston Presbyterian Church, Weston
Westway United Church, Etobicoke
Zion United Church, Moose Jaw

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

HYMN: “For all the saints, who from their labours rest”

For all the saints, who from their labours rest,
all who by faith before the world confessed,
your name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Hallelujah, hallelujah!

You were their rock, their fortress, and their might:
you were their captain in the well-fought fight;
you, in the darkness drear, their one true light.
Hallelujah, hallelujah!

O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
yet all are one within your great design.
Hallelujah, hallelujah!

The golden evening brightens in the west;
soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
sweet is the calm of paradise the blest.
Hallelujah, hallelujah!

But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day
the saints triumphant rise in bright array:
as God to glory calls them all away.
Hallelujah, hallelujah!

From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost:
Hallelujah, hallelujah!

BLESSING

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Amen.
—1 Thessalonians 5:23

God be with you till we meet again;
loving counsels guide, uphold you,
with a shepherd’s care enfold you;
God be with you till we meet again.

Gathered through the power of the Holy Spirit, we worship God with gladness. We encourage you to pray over the words that follow, and follow the links within the liturgy. Prayers in this service are adapted from Celebrate God’s Presence (UCPH). Thanks this week to Jenny, Cor, and Heather!

PRELUDE: “Jesus Has Time” (Roebuck/Fettke)

OPENING PRAYER

Greetings to our brothers and sisters in the faith.
We come to celebrate God’s presence,
and God’s love expressed through Jesus Christ.
We come remembering Christ’s life and ministry,
and the life we are called to live.
We come as a pilgrim people
searching for ways to live out our faith.
We come seeking the strength to carry on our journey.
Let us rejoice in God’s gift to us! Amen.

HYMN OF PRAISE: “Sing praises to God!”

Sing praises to God! Sing praise in the height;
rejoice in God’s word, blest angels of light;
high heavens, recalling by whom you were made,
come, offer your worship in brightness arrayed.

Sing praises to God! Sing praise upon earth,
in tuneful accord, you saints of new birth;
praise God, who has brought you rich grace from above,
and showered your life with abundance of love.

Sing praises to God, all things that give sound;
each jubilant chord re-echo around;
loud organs, your glory tell out in deep tone,
and trumpets, the story of what God has done.

Sing praises to God! Thanksgiving and song
be ever outpoured, all ages along:
for love in creation, for hope spread abroad,
for grace of salvation, sing praises to God.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires, known,
and from whom no secrets are hid:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

God will give us what we need:
strength for today,
hope for tomorrow,
and forgiveness
for all that is past.
Amen.

SPECIAL MUSIC: “Retell what Christ’s great love has done” (Rowthorn/Holmes)

FIRST READING: Psalm 90

God, you have been our refuge in every generation.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
before earth and world were formed,
from age to age everlasting, you are God.
You turn frail humans back to dust, saying:
‘Return, you mortals.’
For a thousand years in your sight are as yesterday,
a day that is past, a watch in the night.
You sweep them away like a dream,
like grass that is fresh in the morning,
like grass which in the morning is green,
but in the evening is dried up and withered.

Turn back, O God! How long?
Have compassion on your servants.
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us,
as many years as we have suffered adversity.
Show your servants your work,
and let their children see your glory.
Let the favour of our God be upon us,
and prosper the work of our hands.
Prosper the work of our hands.

SECOND READING: Deuteronomy 34.1-12

Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, 2 all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, 3 the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”

5 And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. 6 He buried him[a] in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. 8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.

9 Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit[b] of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses.

10 Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11 who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. 12 For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

HYMN: “O God, our help in ages past”

O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home:

under the shadow of thy throne
thy saints have dwelt secure,
sufficient is thine arm alone,
and our defence is sure.

Before the hills in order stood,
or earth received its frame,
from everlasting thou art God,
to endless years the same.

A thousand ages in thy sight
are like an evening gone,
short as the watch that ends the night
before the rising sun.

Time like an ever-rolling stream
soon bears us all away;
we fly forgotten, as a dream
dies at the opening day.

O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
be thou our guard while troubles last,
and our eternal home.

REFLECTION

He’s the internet pioneer you’ve likely never heard of.

His name is Jacques Gaillot, and his route from rural south-eastern France, to the Algerian desert, and the early days of the World Wide Web begins with a sermon. But that’s the middle of the story.

The story begins as young Jacques completes compulsory military service, enters the seminary, becomes a professor and a priest, and later a bishop. At this point, his story reads like so many of the countless bishops within the Roman Catholic Church. But everything changes with his first Easter service as Bishop of Évreux, when he shares these words: “Christ died outside the walls as he was born outside the walls. If we are to see the light, the sun, of Easter, we ourselves must go outside the walls…Does a bishop remain in his cathedral or does he go into the street?”

His activism was boundless. From the “street” in Évreux he spoke out on disarmament, apartheid, gay rights, French nuclear testing, contraception, clerical celibacy—to name a few. A dozen years after Pope John Paul II appointed him bishop, he removed him, or rather, he relocated him to the Diocese of Parthenia—many times larger than Évreux, but almost completely covered in sand.

You see, Parthenia is a titular see, meaning it was once a thriving part of the church, but no longer exists (except on paper). Within the Catholic Church these former regions are retained as placeholders, or honorifics, or in the case of Jacques Gaillot, as punishment. Along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa there were nearly fifty dioceses with nearly fifty bishops, all of which were gone by the early middle ages.

Having been given a diocese buried under metres of sand, the good bishop moved online, creating the first “virtual” diocese and reaching a worldwide audience. What began as punishment became an opportunity and an early example of the power of the internet to inform and mobilize. 25 years later his work continues.

I share this unlikely story with you because I love stories of people who managed to “make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear,” but also because of the story of Parthenia. We celebrate 199 years of Central today, but we also celebrate all the history that led to this moment. We mark this place, but we also remember the parts of the church that led to the creation of this place: from the recent and well-loved places like Mount Dennis, Westminster, and Elverston-Trethewey—to the places that led to their creation. In the same way that each church was formed by people coming from other churches, each person was (and is) formed by others, all of them with a unique background in the faith. This web of believers, existing over time and space, makes us who we are today, as we mark this moment.

It also reminds us that we exist in the middle of the story—always the middle of the story—and what follows is always unknown. We recall the history of this place, and we celebrate the present of this place, and we anticipate with hope the future. Yet, it remains unwritten. We don’t get to see the promised land, the future church that is the fulfillment of all our hopes, because we belong to the middle of the story. And we’re in good company, of course, with no less a figure than Moses himself.

The remarkable passage from Deuteronomy 34 describes the end of Moses’ life, the middle of the story where God shows him the vastness of the promised land—a land he cannot enter. It is the culmination of the most important story in the Old Testament—along with creation itself. From the baby in the basket, to the Incident at Meribah, to this view of the promised land, the story of Moses is foundational to our understanding of the God Who Saves. And as I share this claim, and as you call to mind the arc of the Exodus, I hope you (like me) wonder at the Incident at Meribah.

It’s hinted at in our passage: God says to Moses “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.” Walter Bruegemann argues that by the time God reminds Moses, it’s all ancient history—the Incident at Meribah—but our passage turns on this story nonetheless.

It happens like this: The people are complaining once more. Despite the water and the manna and the awkward quail, the people are complaining once more. And in their thirst and frustration they begin to complain to Moses and Aaron and it all sounds rather familiar: ‘Why did you bring us this evil place? At least in Egypt we had places to grow our grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and here, there isn’t even water to drink.’

So Moses and Aaron retreat to the tent of meeting and seek God’s help. God says (in essence) ‘do what you did before. Take the staff, tell the rock to bring forth water, give to the people.’ So they gather the people once more, and Moses speaks. He forgets his homily about the God Who Saves and the gifts God has given them to sustain them so far. And instead he says “Look you idiots, you want me to get some water from this rock?” (look it up—Numbers 20.10) He struck the rock (twice) and everyone drank.

But God was angry. ‘You didn’t speak to the rock, you struck the rock. You didn’t uphold me by saying ‘look at what God is giving you’—you said ‘look at what I’m giving you’ instead. For this reason, you will get to see the promised land, but you cannot enter it. Again, this may be ancient history for Moses, tired after leading these unruly people for forty years, but it defines his end. Stuck in the middle of the story, never entering the promised land, he must settle for hope.

It seems to me that the lesson of forever dwelling in the middle of the story has even wider application. Almost exactly four years ago I shared an article about St. Augustine, the North African saint that some were calling the “patron saint of the 2016 election.” It turns out it was a little too prescient. The author of the article argues that even as the barbarian hordes were overtaking the city, Augustine never lost hope. Even as the Western Roman empire was crumbling, and with it the certitude of the church in this period, Augustine was working for the well-being of the city, and the people he was trusted to lead. “Christians are not of the world, but we’re most definitely in it,” the Archbishop of Philadelphia said. “Augustine would say that our home is the City of God, but we get there by passing through the City of Man…and while we’re on the road, we have a duty to leave the world better than we found it.”*

Again, the middle of the story. And just because we need hope more than ever, I want to quote President Obama, who shared these words on Wednesday, more-or-less saying what all these others are saying:

And the fact that we don’t get 100% of what we want right away is not a good reason not to vote. It means we’ve got to vote and then get some change and then vote some more and then get some more change, and then keep on voting until we get it right.*

The past might be a mystery to us, or even covered in sand, and the present might look like one crisis after another, but we still have hope. The past might not feel like the past to us, and the present might seem like it never lives up to the past, but we still have hope. The past might seem like a trial in the desert, and the present merely a glimpse of the promised land, but we still have hope.

Our task is to keep wandering, keep moving, keep supporting one another, and keep the faith alive. Our task is to find Christ “outside the walls” of the church, and in the streets, the streets where God lives. And our task is to remember that God will save us from every kind of trial, and that God will always lead us home. Amen.

*http://religionnews.com/2016/11/03/is-augustine-the-patron-saint-of-the-2016-election/
**https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/22/politics/obama-speech-transcript/index.html

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

O God,
where the gift of life is given,
remind us to give thanks;
where your blessings rest upon us,
remind us to share them with others;
where the turning leaves leave us breathless,
remind us they reflect your glory;
where our needs are met each day,
remind us that you are the source;
where the gift of an anniversary is celebrated,
remind us to give thanks.

O God,
where hearts are fearful and confined,
grant freedom and daring;
where anxiety is infectious and widening,
grant peace and reassurance;
where impossibilities close every door and window,
grant imagination and resistance;
where distrust reshapes every understanding,
grant healing and transformation;
where spirits are daunted and dimmed,
grant soaring wings and strengthened dreams.

O God,
where nations descent in chaos,
grant understanding between people;
where communities are divided by station or race,
grant a sense of the sacredness of every life;
where leaders are unable or unwilling to lead,
grant wisdom and courage;
where systems conspire to keep people down,
grant vision and insight;
where people cry out for freedom,
grant them that which we all deserve.

O God,
where the pandemic rages,
grant healing and a common purpose;
where families grieve the loss of a loved one,
grant comfort in the face of loss.
where hopelessness appears, these months on,
grant us hope for the future;
where frontline workers feel overwhelmed,
grant us the means to help;
where the vulnerable suffer the most,
grant us a voice to speak for them.

In Christ, we pray.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

HYMN: “God of life, in Christ you lead us”

God of life, in Christ you lead us,
guiding us along the way.
In our past, through joys and sorrows,
you have been our strength and stay.
Keep us faithful, true disciples,
in our learning and our praise,
celebrating past and present, consecrating future days.

God of words and Word Incarnate,
words that challenge and embrace,
grant us boldness in our speaking,
while we know your loving grace.
Give us words both clear and winsome,
loving hearts and listening ears,
celebrating past and present, consecrating future years.

God of music, psalms and anthems,
help us sing your faith anew:
melodies expanding worship,
harmonies enriching too.
May our lives be hymns in action,
tuned to Christ in note and rhyme,
celebrating past and present, consecrating future time.

God of days and years and eons,
still you call as in the past.
Work undone demands our labour;
justice yearns for peace at last.
Yours the vision and the challenge;
ours the mission and the praise,
celebrating past and present, consecrating future days.

BLESSING

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Amen.
—1 Thessalonians 5:23

God be with you till we meet again;
loving counsels guide, uphold you,
with a shepherd’s care enfold you;
God be with you till we meet again.

Gathered through the power of the Holy Spirit, we worship God with gladness. We encourage you to pray over the words that follow, and follow the links within the liturgy. Prayers in this service are adapted from Celebrate God’s Presence (UCPH). Thanks this week to Dave, Cor, and Heather!

PRELUDE: “Welcome to Another Day” (Saward/Jones)

OPENING PRAYER

God of life, we rejoice in your love which has filled creation from the beginning and which calls all life into being.  We praise you for Jesus Christ, who reveals most fully your loving purpose for all people.  We bless you for your Spirit who draws all humanity into the circle of your tender love.  Gracious God, bless us with your presence so that our worship and our lives may be a true celebration of your love in Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray.  Amen.

HYMN OF PRAISE: “Where cross the crowded ways of life”

Where cross the crowded ways of life,
where sound the cries of race and clan,
above the noise of selfish strife,
we hear your words of life again.

In haunts of wretchedness and need,
on shadowed thresholds, dark with fears,
from paths where hide the lures of greed,
we catch the vision of your tears.

The cup of water given for you
still holds the freshness of your grace;
yet long these multitudes to view
the strong compassion of your face.

O Jesus, from the mountain side,
make haste to heal these hearts of pain;
among these restless throngs abide,
and tread the city’s streets again,

till all the world shall learn your love
and follow where your feet have trod,
till glorious from your heaven above
shall come the city of our God.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Merciful God,
we admit that we get discouraged.
We underestimate your light within us.
Forgive us when we turn away
from the needs of others.
Help us to reach out in faith, and to be generous.
Empower us to be your beacon of light
in a troubled world, through Christ, Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

God will give us what we need:
strength for today,
hope for tomorrow,
and forgiveness
for all that is past.
Amen.

SPECIAL MUSIC: “Take Time to be Holy” (Longstaff/Stebbins)

FIRST READING: Psalm 146

Praise God, O my soul. As long as I live I will praise God.
Yes, as long as I have life I will sing praises to God.
Put not your trust in princes, nor in any mortal,
for in them there is no help.
When they breathe their last they return to dust;
then their plans come to nothing.
Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
the One who keeps faith for ever,
who gives justice to the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.

God sets prisoners free, restores sight to the blind.
God straightens those who are bent;
loves those who are just.
God cares for the stranger in the land,
and sustains the widow and orphan;
but the way of the wicked God turns to ruin.
God shall reign forever, O Zion,
your God for all generations.

SECOND READING: Matthew 11.2-6

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.”

HYMN: “O Master, let me walk with thee”

O Master, let me walk with thee
in lowly paths of service free;
teach me thy secret, help me bear
the strain of toil, the fret of care.

Help me the slow of heart to move
with some clear, winning word of love;
teach me the wayward feet to stay,
and guide them in the homeward way.

Teach me thy patience; still with thee,
in closer, dearer company,
in work that keeps faith sure and strong,
in trust that triumphs over wrong,

in hope that sends a shining ray
far down the future’s broadening way,
in peace that only thou canst give,
with thee, O Master, let me live.

REFLECTION

Editor’s note: This sermon was first preached at Birchcliff Bluffs United Church on December 16, 2007.

Does anyone have a fifty-dollar bill?

No, this isn’t a last minute appeal for donations. Although it could be. There is something important I want you to see.

While you’re looking, I’ll give some background. Last month I was looking for the words to “In Flander’s Field” on Google when the Bank of Canada website came up. Of course, I remembered, part of the poem appears on the back of the ten-dollar bill. Looking over the site, I was impressed by the way each bill is presented, along with notes explaining the various images.

Near the bottom of the page are the bigger notes that the humble rarely get to see. I’ve always been impressed the $50, with a thoughtful looking Mackenzie King and a picture of the memorial to the Famous Five, the five women who won the Persons Case of 1929.

Then the surprise. There, on the back along with the Famous Five is a quote from part of a text written by John Humphrey: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” My head was spinning. What is this quote? Who is this John Humphrey? I have a minor in Canadian history. Among my professors were Bill Kilbourn and Jack Granatstein. My family fears me at Trivial Pursuit.

It turns out John Humphrey wrote the first draft of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Eleanor Roosevelt called the Declaration “the international Magna Carta of humanity.” Humphrey is the only Canadian to win the UN Human Rights Prize, one of only 37 individuals to win it in the history of the prize. Other recipients include Nelson Mandela and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Alarmed and shocked, I started asking people if they knew John Humphrey. My daughter and son-in-law, both Queen’s grads in Canadian history: never heard of him. People at the pub: never heard of him. What is going on? If there was ever a nominee for “greatest Canadian” it’s John Humphrey. This is the moment when I would normally do my rant about how Canadians hate their own history, and how Americans invent and promote theirs, but I will spare you.

It is enough to say that the late John Humphrey, deserves a bigger place in our collective memory. He may not surpass Tommy Douglas or the Famous Five, but he deserves to be common knowledge. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, now nearly sixty years old, remains the best description of our highest aspirations as humans. And this may be the problem.

It may be our collective failure to live up to the declaration—which has the force of international law—that has led to our ignorance. Listen to Article 25 (1):

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Here, Humphrey is sounding like an Old Testament prophet, describing our need to protect widow, orphan and alien like some latter-day Isaiah. The words have a unique ancient-future quality to them: language that begins in a tradition and describes what is yet to be. It is ancient hope and future desire. In this sense, it is Advent.

This season of waiting is more than rehearsing the nativity and looking for signs. The season includes an abiding belief in God’s justice, a vision of the world as it ought to be, as God wishes it to be. Jesus prayed “thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” There is no clearer statement of what it means to live under the promises of a just God. Listen again to the words of the psalmist:

5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God, 7 who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free; 8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. 9 The LORD watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow.

It is the same God, come in Jesus, who said “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.” It is the same God, come in Jesus, who points to the new age.

There were some, John included, who wondered about the direction Jesus was taking. They were looking for “a strong hand and an outstretched arm” (Ex 6.6) to free the people, and to overthrow Caesar as God did Pharaoh. But something else was happening. Jesus was speaking in parables, and making disciples, healing the sick and preaching good news to the poor. There were no plagues and there was no blood. Jesus was liberating the human heart.

This also was God’s project. As the words “Go and tell John what you hear and see” leave his lips, we recognize what follows are quotes, words found in Isaiah 29 and Isaiah 35. These are words that point backwards to an age-old challenge: opening the eyes of the blind and unstopping the ears of those who cannot hear. This is not a physical condition, though Jesus can heal that too. This is an ailment of the soul. Perhaps the greatest single summary comes from Isaiah:

11 For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say to him, “Read this, please,” he will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.” 12 Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” he will answer, “I don’t know how to read.” (Is 29)

How ironic that the most famous photo of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is one of Eleanor Roosevelt unrolling it in the form of a scroll. And this whole vision, we know, is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. The words cannot live beyond the page unless we make them live, unless we bring them to life.

This is the hope of Advent: that we break the seal and read the words and open our eyes and tune our ears to the message God would have us receive. That we give to God our greatest hope and deepest desire that a world made new may come, that our longing may be met now and always, Amen.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

God of hope, we give you thanks for the faithful ones who shape us and encourage us. Enable us to grow in faith and to be the body of Christ in the world. We are grateful for the opportunity to learn about new realities and new challenges.

God of love, shine your light in the world’s troubled places. We pray for all who are too weary to pray; for all who are ill and each one who cares for them; for the sick and anxious; and all who feel alone. We pray for each one who mourns the loss of a loved one, or the end of a dream. Grant strength and comfort in the face of pain.

God of wisdom, guide the ministry of WAES. Strengthen their mission, help them to help others, and further their work as a reflection of your Realm.  Remind us to pray for them and all others who seek to support the vulnerable people you love so dearly.  We pray for everyone experiencing economic hardship today.  We pray for the unemployed, the underemployed, and everyone who has given up.  We pray for hope in these uncertain times, trusting that you, O God, will provide the hope we need.  

Fill us with your love, that it may overflow as we reach out to this community.  Grant us confidence as your children and courage as your servants to learn about people in need.  Be with communities burdened by trouble or turmoil, and those most affected by COVID-19.  

In the silence, we lift up to you those known to us who are in need of your love and comfort. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

HYMN: “Today we all are called to be”

Today we all are called to be
disciples of the Lord,
to help to set the captive free,
make ploughshare out of sword,
to feed the hungry, quench their thirst,
make love and peace our fast,
to serve the poor and homeless first,
our ease and comfort last.

God made the world and at its birth
ordained our human race
to live as stewards of the earth,
responding to God’s grace.
But we are vain and sadly proud,
we sow not peace but strife,
our discord spreads a deadly cloud
that threatens all of life.

Pray justice may come rolling down
as in a mighty stream,
with righteousness in field and town
to cleanse us and redeem.
For God is longing to restore
an earth where conflicts cease,
a world that was created for
a harmony of peace.

May we in service to our God
act out the living Word,
and walk the road the saints have trod
till all have seen and heard.
As stewards of the earth may we
give thanks in one accord
to God who calls us all to be
disciples of the Lord.

BLESSING

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Amen.
—1 Thessalonians 5:23

God be with you till we meet again;
loving counsels guide, uphold you,
with a shepherd’s care enfold you;
God be with you till we meet again.

Gathered through the power of the Holy Spirit, we worship God with gladness. We encourage you to pray over the words that follow, and follow the links within the liturgy. Prayers in this service are adapted from Celebrate God’s Presence (UCPH). Thanks this week to Dave, Cor, and Heather!

PRELUDE: “We Praise You for the Sun” (Mahnke)

OPENING PRAYER

God of plenty,
You give us all we need.
The seed that waited in darkness,
beneath the earth you made,
has emerged in its fullness,
and the bounty is ours.
You made the rain fall,
and the sun to shine,
and everywhere we look we see the result.
You bless us,
and encourage us,
to share what you give—
daily bread for all your children.
Hear us, God, as we pray today,
and express our thanksgiving.
Amen

HYMN OF PRAISE: “For the fruit of all creation”

For the fruit of all creation, thanks be to God.
For the gifts to every nation, thanks be to God.
For the ploughing, sowing, reaping,
silent growth while we are sleeping,
future needs in earth’s safekeeping, thanks be to God.

In the just reward of labour, God’s will is done.
In the help we give our neighbour, God’s will is done.
In our worldwide task of caring
for the hungry and despairing,
in the harvests we are sharing, God’s will is done.

For the harvests of the Spirit, thanks be to God.
For the good we all inherit, thanks be to God.
For the wonders that astound us,
for the truths that still confound us,
most of all that love has found us, thanks be to God.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Ever patient God:
You send plenty,
And we see scarcity.
You send mercy,
And we see judgment.
You send the rain,
And we long for the sun.
You send the sun,
And we cry out for rain.
Yet you remain patient, God,
In the face of our failing.
You send forgiveness,
Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

God will give us what we need:
strength for today,
hope for tomorrow,
and forgiveness
for all that is past.
Amen.

SPECIAL MUSIC: “Beautiful City” (Tebelak/Schwartz)

FIRST READING: Psalm 106

O give thanks, for God is good; God’s love endures forever.
Who can recount your mighty acts, O God,
or tell of all your praise?  

Blessed are those who act justly,
and always do what is right.
Remember me, God,
when you show favour to your people,
and come to me with your saving help.
May I see the prosperity of your chosen;
may I share the joy of your nation,
and exult with the people you have made your own.  

We have sinned like our ancestors;
we have erred, and acted wickedly.
They made a young bull at Horeb,
and worshipped that molten image.
They exchanged the glory of God
for the image of a creature that feeds on grass.
They forgot that you were the God who had saved them
by your mighty acts in Egypt,
the wonders you had done in the land of Ham,
awesome deeds at the Red Sea.
You would have destroyed them
had not Moses, your chosen one, stood in the breach.
He turned back your wrath from their destruction.  

SECOND READING: Philippians 4.1-9

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!

2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

HYMN: “Praise to God, immortal praise”

Praise to God, immortal praise,
for the love that crowns our days;
bounteous source of every joy,
let your praise our tongues employ:

for the blessings of the fields,
for the stores the garden yields,
flocks that whiten all the plain,
yellow sheaves of ripened grain:

all that spring with bounteous hand
scatters o’er the smiling land,
all that liberal autumn pours
from its rich o’erflowing stores.

These to you, O God, we owe,
source from which all blessings flow;
and for these our souls shall raise
grateful vows and solemn praise.

REFLECTION

Sometimes you’re rhetorical, and other times you’re rhetorical.

The first and most common meaning is the rhetorical question. If you looked outside last night and cried, “why is it getting dark so early?” then you were asking a rhetorical question. There’s a scientific answer—something to do with the earth’s axis—but that’s not the purpose of the question. The rhetorical question is meant to make a point, like the surprising pace of seasonal change.

The other rhetorical, the one that St. Paul loves, relates to persuasion and the use of language. There are numerous devices, or techniques, that are commonly used, and have been identified. And since rhetoric is an ancient discipline, it has long been the subject of study. And no one studied rhetoric as thoroughly as the Greeks, who claimed the right to name these devices. Some examples:

When Yoda said “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering,” he wasn’t just making an excellent point, he was employing anadiplosis. The ‘last word becomes the first word’ pattern is anadiplosis.

When Ben Franklin said “we must all hang together or most assuredly we shall all hang separately,” he was using antanaclasis—two meanings for the word hang to emphasize his point. Lucky for him, they won their little rebellion.

If I said “tens of people attended worship this morning,” it would sound funny—perhaps even clever—and would be an example of antiphrasis. Antiphrasis takes a common phrase (“tens of” is usually followed by thousands”) and applies it to a given situation.

On the more serious side, if someone raises a topic while pretending not to raise the topic (“I don’t know anything about it, but people are talking about it…”) then they are engaged in apophasis. It’s a way for liars and cheats to deny they ever talked about something. Michael, tell is how you truly feel.

My final example is anaphora, the repetition of a word or phrase to underline your point. Lincoln did it at Gettysburg, and most famously Churchill did it on June 4, 1940:

“…we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

The use of “we” is meant to unite the nation, create common cause, and underline the resolve to never surrender. Interestingly, Churchill used only Old English words in this quote—words in use for over a thousand years—except one: surrender, from the French.

And finally to dear Paul, who wrote in Greek and used anaphora to create this remarkable passage:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

It’s a powerful passage, made more powerful by the use of anaphora. Paul could have said “think about truth, nobility, purity, loveliness…” and it wouldn’t have nearly the same effect. Here Paul is almost pleading, and the repetitive use of “whatever” is an invitation to think of these virtues and whatever else comes to mind. And this, of course, leads to his conclusion—whatever you see in me—try to do this too.

This might be the moment to say more about the context of these words, both the church at Philippi, and people who lived in the city. Philippi was first a Greek city, mostly abandoned by the first century before the common era. After Rome’s civil war (42 BCE) the city was colonized by retired Roman soldiers, a reward for their service to the republic (soon to be empire). There were mines in the area, which meant prosperity, making Philippi a very attractive place to live.

All of these clues (proud, prosperous) may reveal why Paul wrote what he wrote. If you had to summarize the Letter to the Philippians with two words, the two words would be humility and unity. Maybe all that wealth explains the need for humility, or the humility you might need as a proud Roman surrounded by colonized Greeks. Maybe a mixed church of Romans and Greeks, colonizers and the colonized, explains the need for unity. Whatever the reason, Paul wants humility and unity, and he’s willing to use powerful rhetoric to get it.

Still, I think there is more here—more about the Roman world itself—and the ideas that defined the culture. I’m thinking specifically of Roman virtue (weir-tus), which meant something quite different from the virtue we know. We think of goodness when we hear the word virtue, but for Romans virtue was closer to manliness, valour, courage, character, or worth. The Roman god Virtus was the god of bravery in battle, the personification of the Roman virtue.

Later on, the meaning of virtue will begin to resemble what we call virtue, but at the time Paul is writing, virtus is about strength. Everything you did in the public sphere was about gaining and maintaining virtus. You could become famous in the process—there was no shame in glory—but the overall goal was the betterment of Rome. Virtus meant higher standing, higher standing meant more responsibility, and more responsibility meant more opportunities for conquest.

Hold that in your mind and listen to Paul’s plea once more: “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…think about such things.” These are his concluding words, which are really just a coda to his starting point back in verse four: “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.”

“Let your gentleness be evident to all.”

It would be easy, then, to suggest that our time period has returned to Roman virtus—manliness and conquest—and somehow left a gentler age behind. We could idealize the recent past and imagine that what we face today is unique or new. Yes, we seem to be sliding into a dangerous new age, but for many people and places (even here in Canada) the danger never went away. The view from relative wealth and privilege makes it harder for us to see that for many—too many—conquest never stopped.

And this just adds urgency to Paul’s message. The goal of seeking these things is as relevant today as the day Paul put pen to parchment. As the people of God, we stand up for “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…” What other goals are there? The world needs reminding (and Christians everywhere need reminding) that the Kingdom of God is a kingdom of gentleness, and mercy, and justice. Paul gives us powerful rhetoric for powerful ideas, Godly ideas that may be our only hope. Amen.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Holy Love,
Beginning and End,
beyond all Names:
giver of plenty and harvest,
clothing and warmth,
love and hope,
life in all its goodness—
We praise and adore you.

Jesus Christ,
Wisdom and Word:
lover of outcasts,
friend of the poor,
one of us, yet one with God,
crucified and risen,
life in the midst of death—
We praise and adore you.

Holy Spirit,
Storm and Breath:
building bridges,
breaking chains,
waking the oppressed,
making us one,
unseen and unexpected,
untameable energy of life—
We praise and adore you.

Holy Three, forever One,
whose nature is community;
we pray for those we love,
and those we struggle to love,
and everyone you call our neighbour.
You bring healing and hope,
and comfort to those who mourn.
We praise and adore you. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

HYMN: “As those of old their first-fruits brought”

As those of old their first-fruits brought
of vineyard, flock, and field
to God, the giver of all good,
the source of bounteous yield;
so we today our first-fruits bring:
the wealth of this good land,
of farm and market, shop and home,
of mind and heart and hand.

A world in need now summons us
to labour, love, and give,
to make our life an offering
to God, that all may live.
The church of Christ is calling us
to make the dream come true:
a world redeemed, by Christ-like love,
all life in Christ made new.

With gratitude and humble trust
we bring our best to you,
not just to serve your cause, but share
your love with neighbours too.
O God, who gave yourself to us
in Jesus Christ, your son,
help us to give ourselves each day
until life’s work is done.

BLESSING

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Amen.
—1 Thessalonians 5:23

God be with you till we meet again;
loving counsels guide, uphold you,
with a shepherd’s care enfold you;
God be with you till we meet again.

Today—World Communion Sunday—left us with a dilemma: we determined that there is no completely safe way to share communion at the church, and we can’t do share it online either. Pondering this, I was reminded that today is also the Feast of Saint Francis. Francis, famous for preaching to the birds, is the inspiration behind “communion” for our avian friends—a liturgy and seed offering. Those worshiping in person will receive a small bag of bird seed (in a compostable plastic bag), while those at home are invited to gather seeds or some other food item that the birds might enjoy. You will find the liturgy near the end of this service. Thanks this week to Jenny, Cor, and Heather!

PRELUDE: “In the Evening” (Hofmann)

OPENING PRAYER

Loving God,
you speak to us in so many ways:
in the song of a bird,
in the babbling of a brook,
in the voices of our friends,
in the warmth of an embrace,
in the songs we sing,
and in the stories of the Bible.
Speak to us as we worship.
Help us to hear your voice
and follow the way of Jesus.
Amen.

HYMN OF PRAISE: “Come, we that love the Lord”

Come, we that love the Lord,
and let our joys be known,
join in a song with sweet accord,
and thus surround the throne.

Let those refuse to sing
who never knew our God;
but children of the heavenly King
may speak their joys abroad.

The hill of Zion yields
a thousand sacred sweets
before we reach the heavenly fields
or walk the golden streets.

Then let our songs abound,
and every tear be dry;
we’re marching through Emmanuel’s ground,
to fairer worlds on high.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

God of all creation,
we confess our inability to tread lightly on the earth.
Our use of resources,
the lives we live,
have done harm to our earthly home.
Help us, Lord, to repent,
and to find new ways to interact
with the world you gave us.
Lend us your mercy and show us your way:
that we may travel as lightly
as the birds of the air,
and dwell as effortlessly
and the flowers of the field.
Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

God will give us what we need:
strength for today,
hope for tomorrow,
and forgiveness
for all that is past.
Amen.

SPECIAL MUSIC: “Eternal Christ, you rule” (Damon)

FIRST READING: Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the vault of the sky reveals God’s handiwork.
One day speaks to another,
and night shares its knowledge with night,
and this without speech or language;
their voices are not heard.
But their sound goes out to all the lands,
their words to the ends of the earth.

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun
which comes out like a bridegroom from under the canopy,
like an athlete eager to run the race.
Its rising is at one end of the sky,
it runs its course to the other,
and there is nothing that is hidden from its heat.

God’s law is perfect, refreshing the soul;
God’s instruction is sure,
giving wisdom to the simple;
God’s precepts are right, rejoicing the heart;
God’s commandment is pure
giving light to the eyes;
God’s fear is clean, enduring forever;
God’s judgements are true,
every one of them righteous;
more desirable than gold, even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
pure honey from the comb.

By them is your servant warned;
for in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can discern unwitting sins?
O cleanse me from my secret faults.
Keep your servant also from presumptuous sins,
lest they get the better of me.
Then shall I be clean and innocent of great offence.

SECOND READING: Philippians 3.4b-14

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

HYMN: “When I survey the wondrous cross”

When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
save in the death of Christ, my God:
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.

See from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small:
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.

REFLECTION

He preached to the birds, he befriended a wolf, and he rebuilt ruined chapels.

Like many saints, he was a reformer, directing the church back to founding principles: repentance, care for the sick, and a call to poverty. His movement, the Friars Minor, grew from the strength of his personality and the compelling example he set. He was no revolutionary, and he never sought to break with the church—something that disappointed his critics. He is perhaps the best known saint after Mary herself, and certainly among the most loved.

Francis began his life with wealth and position. His father was a successful cloth merchant in Assisi, his mother a French noblewoman. And Francis lived into this wealth. He had a reputation as a wild young man, a rogue with deep pockets and easy charm, which made him very popular.

The first change to this life of ease began in war. Enlisting to fight—some say to demonstrate his love for luxurious costumes—he was captured in battle and held for a year. Finally ransomed by his father, he returned a changed person. He began to spend less time at business and more time in prayer, mostly outside Assisi in small chapels. He developed an affinity for the poor, and when he went on pilgrimage to Rome, he spent much of his time around St. Peter’s with local beggars.

Returning to Assisi, he continued to pray in remote chapels. On one occasion, Christ spoke to him and said “Francis, Francis, go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins.” He took this direction literally, rebuilding ruined chapels and gathering fellow-minded followers.

His father, you can imagine, was not impressed. Fearing that all this wealth would one day be spent on these projects, his father sued to disinherit Francis. The climax of the case saw Francis renounce his father, and famously disrobe, returning his clothing. As his local fame increased, so did his followers.

And Francis soon understood the command to rebuild the church as metaphor. He directed his followers to care for the poor, tend to lepers, and share a message of repentance, brotherly love, and peace. He and his followers rejected possessions, survived (in the early days) by begging, and saw themselves as standing against the surrounding culture.

Perhaps this is at the heart of his lasting appeal. Like the hippies of the 1960s, Francis and his group defied the dominant culture. They wore simple tunics, and went barefoot—earning them the name pazzo, meaning madmen. Labelled fools, Francis called himself “a new kind of fool.” He spoke about himself and his followers as Jongleurs de Dieu (which means something like “jesters for God”). And together they were also referred to as poverello (little poor ones) for their refusal to accumulate possessions.*

All of this points to a departure, a turn from one life to another life altogether. It defines the life of Francis, and it defines the life of St. Paul. We hear this in our reading from Philippians: Paul’s recitation at the beginning, his former c.v., and then the conversion that follows. Listen once more to the source of his early confidence: “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.”

But his confident recounting of the past is then transformed into new confidence in the present:

But whatever were gains to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I now consider them garbage…

In both Francis and Paul we see the same pattern: renunciation, redirection, and rededication. They discard comfort (Francis) and confidence (Paul) for the sake of Christ. They redirect their effort to care for the poor (Francis) and the poor at heart (Francis and Paul). And they rededicate themselves to the gospel of Jesus Christ, building a church (Paul) or rebuilding a church (Francis) to reflect God’s glory. Whatever was gain is now considered loss for Christ Jesus.

About now you may be wondering how this tiny temple to Methodism (Central) ended up marking a feast day on the Catholic calendar and engaging in so much hagiography—recalling the lives of the saints. It turns out that Francis is also venerated by Anglicans—our ecclesiastical forebears—and most other traditions too. Oddly, scholars can find no mention of Francis in the writings of John Wesley, strange because they had much in common. They shared the same concern for the poor, the same desire to preach Christ in the open air—directly to the people—and the same desire to rebuild the church. They even shared a love for God’s creatures, Wesley preaching against cruelty to animals.**

What these reformers share is a desire to return to the primitive church. Reading scripture, considering the relationship between Christ and his disciples, and trying to find the heart of the message—these are the hallmarks of the reformer’s project. Time and trouble create a complicated church, and the task of the reformer is to return the church to first principles: forgiveness, care for the vulnerable, and peace—peace between people, and between people and the earth.

And this last point, perhaps, explains Francis’ lasting appeal. Each generation can find in Francis the simple and unifying message they need in troubled times. In the 60s it was an end to war, and the sense of sisterhood and brotherhood of all peoples. Today, it’s the environment, and a saint that can bless our need to care for creation, to guide us back to a peaceful relationship with the one Francis called Sister Mother Earth. To this end, I want to conclude with the story of the Wolf of Gubbio.

Fear of wolves lived in the hearts of many in the middle ages, and none more than rural people. Wolves were a threat to livestock, and a threat to the lone traveller, particularly at night. While Francis was living near Gubbio, the townspeople were contending with one such wolf. The town, in effect, was under siege. Attempts were made to kill the wolf, but to no avail.

Francis, deciding on a new approach, departed the town walls, and found the wolf near its lair. Making the sign of the cross, he spoke to the wolf, offering a simple exchange. Past wrongs would be forgiven, and food shared, if the wolf left the people and their animals alone. The wolf extended a paw and Francis took it. It is said that the people befriended the wolf, and mourned when it died, even (according to tradition) burying the wolf in the churchyard. All of this, of course, was regarded as legend, until 1872, when the skeleton of a large wolf was discovered near the outer wall of the church.

Knowing Christ Jesus, understanding his way, we can live new lives of love and mercy. Knowing Christ Jesus, understanding his way, we can live differently on the earth. And knowing Christ Jesus, understanding his way, we can rebuild the church for each new generation.

May God bless us and the world God made. Amen.

A LITURGY FOR THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCIS

God be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the God Most High.
It is right to give thanks and praise.

Today we mark the feast of St. Francis,
beloved of God, and worthy of praise.
He followed God’s command to rebuild the church,
to bless the poor, and become poor—
that the riches of God might extend to all.

Holy One, you inspired Francis
to walk in the way of Christ:
to love others,
and to care for the least of your children.
He saw Christ in others,
and he saw divinity in the natural world.

In this way he praised you, as we praise you:

Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.

Embracing heaven and earth,
he named them family,
praising the God he saw all around:
Brother Sun and Sister Moon,
Brother Wind and Sister Water,
Brother Fire and Sister Earth.

Surrounded, as he was, by your glory,
Francis preached to the birds,
befriended the wolf,
and gave voice to earth.
He found you, God, in glade and forest,
on crashing waves, and on the pilgrims’ path.

In time, he developed the wounds of Christ,
a sacred mystery we struggle to comprehend.
Yet in his very being,
Francis proclaimed the Good News:

Dying, Christ destroyed our death,
rising, Christ restored our life:
reassuring, Christ will come again.

Send your Spirit on these seeds, O God,
that like Francis we might preach to the birds,
embrace all creatures, and find in them your kingdom.
Bless our homes and families,
Strengthen our fellowship,
and teach us, like Francis,
to live with love and mercy.
Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

HYMN: “I feel the winds of God today”

I feel the winds of God today;
today my sail I lift,
though heavy oft with drenching spray
and torn with many a rift;
if hope but light the water’s crest,
and Christ my bark will use,
I’ll seek the seas at his behest,
and brave another cruise.

It is the wind of God that dries
my vain regretful tears,
until with braver thoughts shall rise
the purer, brighter years;
if cast on shores of selfish ease
or pleasure I should be,
O let me feel your freshening breeze,
and I’ll put back to sea.

If ever I forget your love
and how that love was shown,
lift high the blood-red flag above;
it bears your name alone.
Great pilot of my onward way,
you will not let me drift.
I feel the winds of God today;
today my sail I lift.

BLESSING

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Amen.
—1 Thessalonians 5:23

God be with you till we meet again;
loving counsels guide, uphold you,
with a shepherd’s care enfold you;
God be with you till we meet again.