The Message

Did you know that in 2023, the US Surgeon General put out a lengthy and detailed report declaring loneliness an epidemic in the US?
 
And it’s not just a US problem, of course.
 
In 2018 (pre-COVID, by the way), the UK appointed its first “Minister for Loneliness.” Japan followed suit in 2021.
 
Australia and New Zealand both have national loneliness reduction strategies, and China has gone so far as to pass a law stating that adult children must visit their parents regularly.
 
And, of course, Canada is not immune to the issue – people here struggle with common problems that are being faced in every first-world nation.
 
Now, we could discuss the causes of this “epidemic,” but we would probably be here all day if we did that.
 
I do think, however, that it is worth mentioning some of the important information from the US Surgeon General’s report:
- 1 in 2 adults reported experiencing loneliness (even before the COVID pandemic)
- Loneliness is associated with greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death
- The consequences of loneliness impact our schools, workplaces, and civic organizations
 
One of the most important things the Surgeon General says in his report is, “We are called to build a movement to mend the social fabric of our nation.”
 
Of course, he’s referring to the US specifically, but this sounds like a profound call to our churches to help build a movement to mend the social fabric of our communities.
 
Interestingly, I wonder how much of an impact the “Minister for Loneliness,” or the loneliness reduction strategies have had in other countries?
 
The reason I wonder is because it seems unlikely that any kind of government program to counteract loneliness could be truly effective.
 
For starters, people have to want to address their own loneliness. But secondly, people have to want to address loneliness for others, as well.
 
Certainly, we feel a sense of empathy for those who feel loneliness.
 
But I wonder how many people actually articulate to others that they feel lonely?
 
How many people even recognize loneliness in themselves?
 
Loneliness can be hard to address because it falls on a spectrum.
 
We can be surrounded by people and still feel lonely.
 
We can be in a relationship with another person and feel lonely if our needs for connection aren’t being met.
 
Likewise, some of us can be perfectly content to spend a lot of time alone, and yet still be socially isolated.
 
Additionally, social media users can have hundreds or even thousands of “friends” or “followers,” and still feel lonely when they see those “friends” sharing the incredible things happening in their lives.
 
Sometimes, our life circumstances can create feelings of loneliness.
 
Moving away from friends and family can be socially isolating, especially when it has become harder and harder for adults to make friends.
 
Similarly, having a friend or family member that you are close to move away can create feelings of loneliness for people who depended on their presence back home.
 
It is truly no wonder that 1 in 2 adults struggles with feelings of loneliness.
 
Loneliness is very much a modern phenomenon.
 
A lot of this is a function of how we live today, and the push toward independence instead of communal living.
 
We are far more individualistic today.
 
We have also seen a significant decline in the number of people who participate in religious communities or faith communities, and we have seen a rise in online social media platforms where people are simultaneously connected to more people electronically but disconnected from people in the real world.
 
So, where does this leave us? It all sounds quite hopeless.
 
If lawmakers and government officials can’t solve the problem, how do we even begin to address it?
 
Well, I think the Surgeon General said it best when he said “we are called to build a movement to mend the social fabric” of our communities and, by extension, of the world.
 
No one person is going to be able to step in and wave a magic wand to fix loneliness.
 
Rather, this needs to be addressed on the local and on the individual level.
 
We need to be practicing kindness and compassion as much as possible.
 
I also think we probably need to be committing to stepping away from social media and our cell phones more often and interacting with real people instead.
 
However, to do that, we need to actively choose to involve ourselves in some kind of community.
 
I worry about our younger generations in this sense, including my own.
 
How do we create a movement, especially with younger generations, when they have known nothing but social media as a primary way of connecting with people?
 
I know that many people worry about how involved in sports and other recreational activities our young people are, but I see this as a positive for them because at least they are socializing and connecting with people in real life.
 
The people I worry about most right now is mid-life adults.
 
Adults my own age, who may or may not have children and families, but who often work from home alone all day and struggle to get involved in things outside of work.
 
I can attest to the difficulty of finding and maintaining friendships as an adult. Developing new friendships is especially difficult as we get older, and because our lives are busy, it can also be difficult to find the energy to involve ourselves in community.
 
What can we do to help and support others?
 
Like Ruth, we need to choose kindness, and we might need to sacrifice a bit for others.
 
Ruth chooses to stay with her mother-in-law, Naomi, rather than seek to find another husband.
 
She maintains the important connection with Naomi in a world where the social norm would have been for her to move on to another husband and forget about Naomi completely.
 
But doing that would have left both women lonely and isolated.
 
Instead, Ruth chooses kindness. Together, they form a new family and a new covenant with one another.
 
This new family they formed was built not on blood, but on kinship. 
 
Ruth dared to believe that her life was better intertwined with Naomi’s.
 
Neither of them were meant to journey alone, and Ruth believed that wholeheartedly.
 
When loneliness begins to creep in on us, it can cause us to start to think that we are the only person carrying the weight of loneliness.
 
Feeling alone in the struggle causes a cascade of other thoughts of inadequacy, insecurity, and insignificance.
 
The good news is that the only way for us to really address this problem is to cultivate compassionate community.
 
The reason this is good news is because we already do this quite well here at this church.
 
And our call as individuals the moment we step out of this building is to continue cultivating compassionate community.
 
That said, the statistics would seem to indicate that if 1 in 2 adults struggle with loneliness, it could be the case that about half of us in this room feel a sense of loneliness despite our connection to this community of faith.
 
Those feelings of loneliness can be especially strong this time of year, when many people struggle with loneliness or grief.
 
But we cannot go alone, nor were we meant to.
 
If you are one who is finding yourself dealing with feelings of loneliness, I encourage you to connect with someone you trust and share those feelings.
 
It can be someone in this community, or it can be another trusted person. It will mean being vulnerable, which isn’t easy.
 
But don’t let those feelings consume you.
 
We can each commit to kindness and compassion, to helping the stranger, or to extending an invitation.
 
But we also need to commit ourselves to sharing in our grief and loneliness because we are not meant to walk this path alone.
 
There are people in this community who would be happy to walk with you, talk with you, or listen as you share.
 
I would encourage you to reach out to someone if you are able.
 
It can be incredibly hard to admit to feeling lonely, but if we can’t admit it to ourselves and we don’t feel like we can share it with others, then we will perpetuate our own cycle of loneliness.
 
And this is where the call to build a movement comes into play.
 
Movements begin with individuals and small groups who are committed to speaking the truth in a kind and compassionate way.
 
Our movement may begin within the walls of this church but could very quickly expand into our own communities.
 
If we are called to create a movement to begin mending the social fabric of our communities, then let it begin with each of us.
 
Let us work together to break the cycles of loneliness. Let us walk with one another and remind each other often that “we cannot go alone, nor were we meant to go alone.”
 
Beloved, you are not alone on this winding journey.
 
May the companionship of fellow sojourners reflect the love of the One who – in becoming flesh – chose to journey alongside us.
 
May the quilt of life warm you from the chill of isolation, and may the Spirit move you to compassion as you cultivate community, even in times of uncertainty. Amen.
​
Let us pray: Holy God, The words of this world whip around us like a mighty wind. We are caught up in news reports, in text messages, in emails and notifications. We are drowning in updates from the media, caught off guard by the constant hum of it all. But here on this bright morning we remember: you too are speaking. Still the voices around us. Calm our minds and center our hearts so that we can hear your words above the wind. We are leaning closer. We are at the edge of our chairs. We are beginning again. Speak to us, as only you can. Amen.
 
“Prayer by Rev. Sarah (Are) Speed | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org.”

Sermon References: Commentary by Kayla Craig | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org.
C2C Journal: Ideas that Lead | https://c2cjournal.ca/2023/01/a-kingdom-of-one-the-great-loneliness-pandemic-and-what-not-to-do-about-it/
Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation; 2023 US Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community

​Young at Heart Message
 
Advent is a season of endings and beginnings.
 
As the calendar year comes to a close, a new church year begins.
 
Christ’s birth ushers us into new ways of living and loving; and yet, the world as we know it spins madly on.
 
This year’s Advent theme is “Words for the Beginning.”
 
Once again, we will be using A Sanctified Art’s Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany materials.
 
This year, we will explore an Advent series filled with the words we need to hear over and over again as we begin a new year.
 
Today’s words that I think we all need to hear often, throughout our lives, are “You are a blessing.”
 
I don’t know about you, but growing up, the theology I was raised on took a bit more negative outlook.
 
Instead of feeling like a blessing, I often felt like a burden.
 
Being taught at an early age that we are all sinners, or that bad things happen to us because we weren’t faithful enough or we did something wrong to deserve punishment did not exactly leave me believing I was a blessing on this world.
 
If anything, I internalized the idea that I should take up as little space as possible in this world – something that I have spent years trying to unlearn.
 
It may become obvious very quickly that the imagery used in this year’s Advent theme is that of quilting.
 
I initially wondered why they were using quilting as part of the theme this year, but I realized that it’s because quilts are brilliant metaphors for life.
 
This concept of having things that we were taught as young people that we need to unlearn is not unique. Most of us have things we learned as children or young adults that we must now unlearn as we journey through life.
 
Now, I’m not an expert on quilting, but if there are quilters in the room, how easy is it to unstitch something that has already been stitched into a quilt?
 
My understanding is that it’s doable, but rather inconvenient and difficult, and sometimes it is obvious that stitches have been removed and re-stitched.
 
In other words, we may be able to unstitch and re-stitch sections of our quilt (or unlearn and relearn things in our lives), but we may not be able to completely hide the evidence of either. 
 
I asked some of the members of our congregation who are quilters if they would be willing to send me some pictures of some of the quilts they have created in their lives.
 
Merlyn sent her photos with a note saying, “don’t look too closely, these aren’t perfectly sewn, but hopefully they’re at least warm.”
 
What a perfect metaphor for our lives! Don’t look too closely, because I’m not perfect, but hopefully I have a few good qualities!

It may be easy to look at these quilts and see the finished product, overlooking the hard work and the individual pieces that went into making them.
 
But, what would happen if we took out one section of these quilts?
 
The quilts would be incomplete!
 
On their own, each individual piece of fabric in these quilts may seem insignificant, but the quilt would not be the same without any one of those pieces.
 
And the same is true for us in life.
 
Our lives would not be the same without the people, words, and messages that have made us who we are – good, bad, or otherwise.
 
Remove a single piece of the quilt, and it is not the same piece of art. Similarly, remove a piece of our past, and we are not the same self.
 
This year’s Advent theme begins with blessedness because it is Mary’s beginning, and it is our beginning as well.
 
This statement, “You are a blessing,” is a radical statement considering that too many people are taught – whether implicitly or explicitly (through cultural norms and expectations, media, role models, their parents, or their church leaders) – that they are a burden.
 
The message that we are each a blessing can be easily muted, trivialized, or taken away from us.
 
There are many forces in this world that might make us believe that we are not a blessing.
 
When we stop believing that we are a blessing to God, we may stop believing it about others as well.
 
We may begin to think that we are unimportant to God – unimportant in the quilt of our own lives.
 
However, when we are rooted in our blessedness, we can treat every created being as a blessing as well.
 
We can recognize our own importance to God, to creation, and to the people around us.
 
The Message

This is where we meet Mary in today’s scripture passage.
 
She has forgotten, or perhaps she doesn’t truly believe, what the Book of Isaiah says, that “I have called you by name. To me, you are very dear, and I love you.”
 
Mary is an ordinary girl from Nazareth. She did not have power or prestige. She did not believe she had a significant role to play in the world.
 
And yet, she was blanketed in belovedness nonetheless.
 
Advent welcomes us to reflect on how we are invited into God’s redemptive narrative.
 
Like Mary, we may feel ordinary or small, but we too have the potential to carry God’s love into a weary world.
 
In our Gospel reading today, the story of Mary and the angel Gabriel demonstrates how God might choose someone the world might overlook to be part of something beautiful.
 
Gabriel’s message to Mary – “You are truly blessed! The Lord is with you” – is a declaration of Mary’s essential place in the divine quilt.
 
Mary’s response to Gabriel – “How can this be?” – is profoundly human. She doesn’t necessarily believe that she is an important piece of the quilt.
 
And yet, Gabriel reassures her by saying “Do not be afraid.” It is a clear reminder that even when we worry or wonder if we matter in the vast expanse of the universe, God knows our heart, acknowledges our fear, and moves toward us.
 
The passage from Isaiah provides additional comfort, promising that we are never alone, even in the darkest moments when it feels like we are lost.
 
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
 
In a world often consumed by pain, suffering, and injustice, it is a gift to remember that we are formed and made by a God who loves us and doesn’t leave us.
 
You are a blessing because the One from whom all blessings flow sees you, knows you, and calls you by name.
 
By embracing our inherent blessedness as a starting point, we open our hearts to recognize and affirm the blessedness in others, which transforms our interactions and communities.
 
God's perfect love invites us to live out our belovedness by entering into the good work of the quilt God’s hand began sewing many years ago.
 
May you remember that you are a blessing – known, chosen, and called for a purpose.
 
May you boldly live into this truth, recognizing and cherishing your inherent worth so that you may honor God’s image in others.
 
Trust in your belovedness as you enter the redemptive work God has invited you into this Advent season. Amen.
 
Affirming God, How often do you speak to us, and how often do we miss it? How often do you whisper blessings over us that we refuse to hear? Open our hearts. Create space in us to not only hear these words, but to believe the good news tucked between them. We are hungry for your wisdom, so help us hear you. With hope and curiosity, we listen. With hope and curiosity, we dare to begin again. Amen.
 
“Prayer by Rev. Sarah (Are) Speed | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org.”
 
Sermon References: Commentary by Kayla Craig | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org.

Young at Heart Message
 
Today is Reign of Christ Sunday, also known as Christ the King Sunday.
 
Pastors don’t like to admit this, but this Sunday is often one that pastors would prefer to avoid.
 
Reign of Christ Sunday was established in 1925. So, next year will be the 100th anniversary of this celebration in the church year.
 
Pastors like to avoid this Sunday, and often we will ignore it and talk about something else, because we don’t always really know how to handle it.
 
It also falls right before Advent, and often people miss this Sunday anyway, so I think a lot of pastors figure no one will notice if we skip it.
 
But, I think it’s worth talking about, so bear with me today.
 
I want to begin with what I hope will be a fun exercise for us.
 
I want to compile a list together of all the ways we might describe a king.
 
Since I’m guessing few, if any, of us personally know a king, we will need to draw on what we know from history, any current knowledge of monarchs, and, we will need to draw a lot from popular culture – movies, TV, books, etc.
 
So, let’s make a list together. It’s OK to be a little silly here, or to put something on the list that you’ve seen in movies or on TV.
 
Our AV folks are going to type our list into the next few slides for us so we can see it.
 
I’ll get us started by adding two things to the list:
 
Kings lead battles.
 
Kings are rich.
 
Now, let’s ask our AV folks to get ready to type into our next slide, and then you all add your own ideas to our list.

A Brief History Lesson
 
How many of you have heard of the “lot” being used to make decisions?
 
Historically, Moravians used what’s called the “lot” to help them make decisions of all kinds – from who could marry, to who should be running the church, and all kinds of things in between.
 
The way the lot worked was that they would have three possible responses to their question written on three pieces of paper.
 
One would say “yes” (in whatever language the group used depending on their location), one would say “no,” and one would say “not yet.”
 
Then, they would ask the question that they sought to answer, and they would choose one of the three pieces of paper.
 
Whatever the paper said was the absolute, indisputable answer.
 
So, for example, when I was called to Good Shepherd Church, they would have had to use this system to decide if they wanted to hire me.
 
The Board would ask the lot if they should hire me as their pastor.
 
Then, they would write the three possible responses on three pieces of paper.
 
They would mix up the paper and choose one.
 
If they chose the “no” response, they would have to go back to the drawing board, regardless of how much they liked me and wanted to hire me.
 
If they chose the “yes” response, they would have to hire me, even if they really thought I was a terrible choice.
 
And, if they chose the “not yet” response, they would have had to wait until a future date and try the lot again.
 
The early Moravians believed emphatically that the lot was a way to take their personal opinions out of the equation. Instead, they deemed the response the lot gave as God’s final word on the matter.
 
In other words, it was their way of bringing God into their decision-making process, ensuring that they were not making decisions based solely on their own emotional state at the time.
 
It also took the debate out of the process. Decisions could not be argued about after the fact because they believed that God had led them to that decision.
 
If they had debated it, it would have been like debating God’s will.
 
So, imagine you have found the absolute love of your life.
 
The person is attractive, kind, genuine, and cares deeply for you, and you wish to marry them.
 
But, in the early Moravian system, you could not simply choose to marry someone without first asking the lot.
 
So, a man would have to begin by asking a woman if she would consider marrying him.
 
Then, assuming she said yes, they would take the proposal to the community leadership, and they would present the choice to the lot.
 
If the lot said yes, then they would confirm with the woman that she indeed wanted to marry the man.
 
If the “lot” said no, however, that decision was final. They could not ask again in the future, and each person would need to seek another potential partner instead.
 
And, if they chose “not yet” they would have to wait and ask the lot again at a future date.
 
Can you imagine the nail-biting anxiety of waiting to see what the lot said about your future spouse?
 
I can understand the theory behind this system.
 
After all, it demonstrates a strict devotion to God that they would rely so heavily on a system which believed this was God’s way of speaking in their lives.
 
And yet, in practice, I could imagine it potentially being devastating if people desperately wanted a “yes” response but instead received a resounding “no”.
 
It is with this process in mind that we turn now to the Moravian settlement of Herrnhut in Germany.
 
In 1736, the Moravians held a Synod, much like our current Synods. At the end of that Synod, their Chief Elder, Leonhard Dober, asked to be relieved of his position.
 
His skills simply didn’t meet the need, but it had also become a position that could not be done by one person alone. He was tired.
 
The Moravian church had spread far and wide through missionary work across the globe and it was a lot to manage.
 
They chose to postpone the discussion about his resignation until June of the following year, at which time they decided to deal with Dober’s decision.
 
But, his resignation was not accepted by the lot so it had to wait until a future Synod.
 
Finally, in 1741, 5 years later, the lot supported Dober’s resignation, which left them with the task of electing a new Chief Elder.
 
Various members of the community were nominated, but the lot declined each nomination.
 
So finally, those gathered for the Synod in 1741 decided not to appoint another person to the position.
 
Instead, they decided to put forth Jesus Christ himself as their Chief Elder.
 
They posed the following question to the lot: “Whether this signified that the Saviour would himself undertake the office.”
 
The lot’s response to this question was “yes.”
 
It was on November 13th, 1741, that this major decision was announced to the members of the church.
 
Through a time of turmoil and chaos, when they were anxious about who would take on this very important role within the church, Jesus Christ brought hope to their community.
 
And now, for the last 283 years, we have celebrated Christ as our Chief Elder on November 13th each year.
 
In practice, what this means for us is that we are asked to remember – especially in our service on Boards and in leadership roles within the church – to acknowledge that we look to Christ first and foremost when we are making decisions that might affect our community.
 
It is symbolic, but deeply meaningful and provides us with hope that even when we work to make difficult decisions, Christ walks with us and guides us in all that we do.
 
The Message
​
So, this history lesson leads us to today, just four days after the November 13th celebration, when we heard a rather apocalyptic scripture reading from the Gospel of Mark.
 
Jesus says “watch out! When you hear about wars and threats of wars, don’t be afraid.”
 
That’s easier said than done, don’t you think, Jesus?
 
But then he says, “These things will have to happen, but that isn’t the end.”
 
He goes on to warn that nations will go to war against each other, there will be natural disasters, and people will starve, and that all of this is just the beginning of the troubles. It sounds rather discouraging.
 
And yet, these things will inevitably happen, whether Jesus predicted it or not, because it is the way of the world and the way of humanity.
 
In this rather scary passage, Jesus is giving us hope, believe it or not.
 
Just like when the Moravians of the mid-1700’s needed reassurance when their steadfast leadership was changing and their world felt like it was in chaos, Jesus once again provided them with hope.
 
Jesus acknowledges in this passage that difficult times lay ahead.
 
And if we are being honest, he doesn’t just mean imminently. He means always and forever.
 
We know this because we have experienced it in our own lives.
 
We don’t just experience challenges, turmoil, and chaos globally.
 
We know about the chaos and devastation that he speaks of because we have felt it in our own hearts, and we are aware of it all around us.
 
Some of us are in the middle of it right now, and nearly all of us have experienced it at some point in our past.
 
But Jesus is reminding us here that when we are in the middle of the storm, he is right there with us.
 
It is not the end, he assures us.
 
It reminds me of the song “Eye of the Storm” by Ryan Stevenson. He sings:
 
In the eye of the storm,
You remain in control
And in the middle of the war
You guard my soul
You alone are the anchor
When my sails are torn
Your love surrounds me,
In the eye of the storm.
 
Ryan reminds us that Jesus doesn’t promise us that there will never be a storm.
 
Jesus knows too much about the human condition to be able to promise us that.
 
But he does promise that no matter what happens, God is with us through it all.
 
Jesus cannot stop what he predicts is to come for his disciples, nor can he stop disaster and chaos from affecting us.
 
But he can join us in the storm.
 
He can sit right there with us when we are riding out the storm – a shining beacon of hope in a dreary or stormy sky of despair.
 
He can be our hope amid the chaos, whether than chaos is in our hearts, our minds, our families, our communities, our country, or our world.
 
So, may we always remember that Jesus is our hope and our guiding light when all feels lost.
 
We are not lost because Jesus is always with us.
 
Just as our early Moravian forebears knew that Jesus was right there with them, guiding them through their uncertainty, may we also know this to be true in our own lives.
 
Amen.
 
God of hope, we thank you for all the blessings of this life. For the gift of life. For the gift of Christ, for the gift of the Holy Spirit, for your tender mercy. For Your saving love.

Let Your love, steadfast and faithful, be a great sign from heaven.

May Your peace bend our will to your will, like trees in a strong wind.

Signs of heaven, sighs of hope. Amen.

​Young at Heart Message
 
Several months ago, I tried to show a video from the movie Encanto. The video didn’t work, but I talked a bit about the premise of the movie.
 
I’m sure you all remember it in detail, but just in case you don’t, I’ll tell you about it again because it applies to today’s scripture passage.

Encanto is a Disney movie about a family that received a special gift which gives them heightened abilities.

​Everyone who was born into the family after “Abuela” – Grandma – was born with a special gift.
 
One of her daughters, for example, can heal people through food. If someone just eats something she made, they will be healed from at least minor ailments.

​The other daughter’s mood controls the weather. If she is in a bad mood, it might storm, but if she is in a good mood, the weather will be sunny and warm.

​Both of these women had children, and each of their children have gifts as well.
 
Dolores can hear things other people can’t, and Antonio can talk to animals.

​Isabela can make plants grow, and Luisa is super strong.

Mirabel is so proud to be part of her family that is so special, even though she is constantly overshadowed by her sisters and cousins who all have special gifts that are used to “help” the family.
 
But here is where things get interesting.
 
Mirabel works so hard to try to contribute to her family – to help them be successful in their community and in their home.
 
But because she doesn’t have any special abilities like the rest of her family, they all treat her as though she really can’t contribute anything of value to the family.
 
And, to some extent, she believes this herself, although she works really hard to define herself outside of the realm of special talents.
 
And yet, her family and the rest of the community believe she has nothing to offer because, compared to everyone else, her abilities are far less defined.
 
The other members of her family, therefore, believe that what they contribute to the family’s success is of far greater value than what Mirabel contributes.
 
And yet, as the movie goes on, we get to see that Mirabel is, in fact, the one person who can save her family from disaster.
 
Interestingly, in the process of saving her family from actual physical harm, she also shows her sisters that they are defined by so much more than their special abilities.
 
It is a story about family systems and the boxes we tend to put people in, but it is also a story about growth and community and sacrifice for those we love.
 
Based on how the family defined usefulness within their family system, Mirabel was the least “useful” of all. She has the least to offer, in their opinion.
 
And yet, she ended up giving the most of herself, and she showed everyone that they also had more to give than what they were offering.
 
If you haven’t seen the movie, I recommend watching it.
 
But, in the meantime, you can settle for my brief description!
 
So what does this have to do with today’s scripture?
 
The Message
​
Well, today we heard the story of Jesus watching people place their gifts into the offering box in the temple.
 
What he witnesses was a lot of rich people giving a lot of money, which is not in itself a bad thing!
 
But then, he witnesses a poor widow put her offering into the box.
 
That widow, relative to everyone else who was putting in their gifts, gave almost nothing.
 
And yet, Jesus notices that she in fact gave more than any of the rich people because she gave everything she had.
 
She gave all that she had left, leaving her without any money to live on. She gave money she really needed.
 
On the other hand, the rich people, even though they gave higher amounts, all gave money they did not need.
 
Parallel to the story of Encanto where everyone with special gifts gave out of their abundance, Mirabel and the widow in our story gave out of their scarcity.
 
But, why does Jesus really draw attention to this poor widow?
 
Many people will argue that he draws attention to her to point out that we should all give everything we have.
 
But I don’t think this is actually what is happening here.
 
Jesus points out this widow because he wants to highlight the lack of justice in a society that would allow a widow to become so poor and destitute.
 
She clearly wants to prioritize her faith and her duty to the temple, but Jesus doesn’t ever tell the poor to give all they have and sacrifice all of themselves to the point where they could not afford to live.
 
And I don’t think that Jesus would sit next to each of us today and tell us to sell everything we own and live in poverty either.
 
But, in pointing out this woman’s poverty, he is calling attention to the fact that so many rich people gladly give to the temple, but completely ignore the poor people in need right in front of them.
 
Much like Mirabel’s family overlooking her very “average” talents because she didn’t receive a singular “special” gift like they all did.
 
Instead of asking themselves why Mirabel had to work so much harder to define herself within the family system, they really should have asked themselves why they didn’t use their gifts – not just their special gifts but all of their unique gifts – to help Mirabel discover what talents she had and how she could use them to help the family in her own way.
 
In other words, there was opportunity for them to change the system in which they lived, but it took Mirabel pushing the bounds of that system before any of them could see in a new way.
 
Likewise, it takes Jesus pointing out the injustice of this poor widow before any of the rich people would take notice of her at all.
 
The two small coins that she gave would have been unimportant and insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
 
But the fact that their society was set up to be a very dangerous and insecure world for widows was important and significant, which is why Jesus points it out so directly.
 
He is asking people to notice her.
 
Certainly, notice the sacrifice she’s making in her giving. But more importantly, notice this person who is poor not through any fault of her own, but likely because her husband died, and she had no son who could care for her (as was customary at the time).
 
Notice the injustice of a world where a woman’s only safety net is being married and having sons, and unless she can quickly marry again, losing her husband could be a life sentence of poverty and heartache.
 
This passage is a call to action.
 
A call to notice the injustices of the world.
 
A call to change those injustices if we can.
 
And, as we sang earlier, a call to let our hearts be broken for a world in need.
 
To allow ourselves to love others in such a way that we can see how they might not benefit from the same systems we benefit from.
 
If we open ourselves up to loving people in this way, we have no choice but to notice when the system isn’t set up to care for them.
 
We have no choice but to notice. We sang earlier:
 
“Blessed to be a blessing,
privileged to care,
challenged by the need
apparent ev’rywhere.”
 
“Let your heart be tender
and your vision clear –
rouse yourself to action,
serve God far and near.
Let your heart be broken
by another’s pain,
share your rich resources – 
give and give again.”
 
Our hymns, in case you have not noticed before, are often Biblically based.
 
So, may we let our hearts be broken for a world in need.
 
May we hear Jesus as he tries to help us notice the injustice of the world and the systems that perpetuate poverty.
 
And, may we hear the call to do something about it – or at the very least to acknowledge the ways in which we benefit from the system so that we can notice when there are others who do not.
 
That is what Jesus is asking of the rich people in our passage today.
 
Notice the ways in which the system allows you to be able to give out of your abundance.
 
And, notice when the system keeps someone oppressed so that when they give of themselves, they must give everything they have because that is their only choice.
 
It is a call for us to wake up to the realities of other people’s lives.
 
It is not a call for us to feel guilty about what we do have, but it is a call to be aware that our own realities are not necessarily the same as other people’s realities.
 
If we are to truly love our neighbours, then we must notice when they are affected by a system that keeps them from thriving.
 
So, may we do the hard work that Jesus calls us to do and allow our hearts to break for others – allow ourselves to notice and empathize with the struggle of our neighbours.
 
May we let our hearts be tender, and may we continue to serve God far and near.
 
Amen.
 
Let us pray: God of grace, thank you for sending your Son Jesus to teach us and help us better understand the complexities of human behaviour. Thank you for reminding us that loving others means recognizing injustices and working toward balancing the scales. Jesus demonstrated genuine love and concern for others, and calls us to follow his lead in all things. Amen.

Young at Heart Message
 
I bet you never thought that we would be talking about sponges during a worship service, and yet, today our message is going to start off with a discussion about sponges.
 
I have two sponges here – one is a used sponge that has done its time washing a bunch of dishes.
 
It is already wet and has been squeezed out many times.
 
The other is a brand new sponge – still dry from the packaging and eager to absorb water.
 
Which of these sponges do you suppose will be able to absorb more water?
 
I have two bowls with water in them. Should we test it out?
 
I put the same amount of water in both bowls.
 
Let’s see which one will hold more water.
 
The older sponge that has already absorbed water in the past wasn’t able to absorb the water in the bowl as easily as the new sponge.
 
The new sponge was eager to absorb water and absorbed pretty much all of the water in the bowl.
 
It may even have room to absorb some of the water from the other bowl.
 
What do you think the purpose of this “experiment” was? What does it teach us?
 
Ultimately, this demonstration reminds us that as we get older and have absorbed more information and have more life experience, it is not as easy for us to absorb new things.
 
Let me give you another real-life example.
 
As most of you know, I was a professional dog trainer in my previous life.
 
Part of my job was to teach training classes.
 
The vast majority of the time, I was teaching adults who had a dog that needed training.
 
I had a lot of tricks I used to help adult learners who had already absorbed a lot of information in the past and came with a lot of assumptions.
 
Adults, I noticed, tended to think they were already experts on how to train dogs, and often they had a lot of previous knowledge or experience.
 
This previous knowledge and experience was not necessarily the best knowledge or experience.
 
Many adults came to classes needing to unlearn old habits as much as they needed to learn new habits.
 
They were like the older sponge – already filled with knowledge and experience that wasn’t necessarily conducive to working with their current dog.
 
They had a very hard time because they were simultaneously “wringing out” the old knowledge and experience while trying absorb the new information.
 
Some adults were better at this than others.
 
But, on the rare occasion when a client would ask if their child could join the class, I observed that most, if not all, of the kids were much better trainers than their parents.
 
Why?
 
Because they were fresh, new sponges – ready to absorb new information.
 
And because they didn’t have prior knowledge or experience, they didn’t have to try to “wring out” any previous ideas of what dog training should be.
 
They were eager to learn and work with their dogs, and quickly surpassed any training skills the adults had.
 
It was fascinating to watch, and it taught me even more about the challenges of teaching adult learners.
 
And of course, this experience translates to most anything, including scripture interpretation.
 
As we get older, we tend to get wiser, but we also become more set in our ways.
 
Our knowledge and experience becomes vaster, but we also become a little less capable of absorbing new information that might be different than what we were taught previously.
 
It is, of course, the human condition.
 
We are all sponges when it comes to learning!
 
But, our “spongy-ness” changes over time as we are molded into adult versions of ourselves.
 
So, where does this leave us with today’s scripture?
 
The Message
​
Today’s lectionary passages can be incredibly challenging passages to read, and even more challenging to preach about.
 
Partly, the reason they are so challenging is because as soon as (adult) people hear them, they immediately start to form a “sermon” in their own mind.
 
Most adults have already formed opinions about these passages, whether they really know it or not.
 
Some will hear the word “divorce” and immediately assume Jesus is condemning it. 
 
This might create deep feelings of guilt or shame for those who have experienced divorce in their lives, or for those who were children of divorced parents.
 
Some will hear “divorce” and immediately jump to conclusions about everyone who has experienced divorce.
 
Some will hear this passage and assume Jesus is dictating “rules” about divorce or marriage that are applicable in all times and places.
 
But no matter what, if a pastor chooses to preach on these passages, it can be difficult to simultaneously “wring out” past knowledge, experience, and assumptions, while also opening people up to being able to “absorb,” or think about different ways of hearing this text.
 
So, let’s look at this passage a little bit closer to see what Jesus might mean here.
 
Before we do, it is important to understand the context in which Jesus is speaking.
 
It’s always important to understand context when we read the Bible, but it is especially important when we are reading passages that have been used in the past to place guilt and shame on people.
 
As we know, Jesus rarely, if ever, speaks with the purpose of making people feel guilt or shame.
 
So, it’s hard to imagine he would do that in this case, either.
 
We have to remember that Jesus lived in the first century.
 
The concept of divorce in his time was, first of all, that only men could divorce their wives.
 
And, they could do so for any reason – small or large.
 
A man could simply decide he was sick of his wife and would rather be with another woman, and he could divorce her and toss her aside.
 
Unlike today, when women have more rights and the ability to find work and earn a living supporting themselves, women and children in the first century had very limited rights, and no recourse.
 
The Pharisees in this passage are trying to catch Jesus off guard and are referencing the Law of Moses specifically.
 
Deuteronomy 24:1,  which is the passage being referenced, assumes marriage for most people, but it also assumes a man’s right to divorce “if she does not please him.”
 
It says nothing about a woman being able to choose divorce.
 
Within the context of the first century then, Jesus explaining that God made man and woman gives women a sense of agency in a time when they had none.
 
Jesus then talks about men and women becoming one person when they choose to marry one another.
 
Jesus is talking about a partnership, whereas the assumption in that time was that men controlled the relationship and the marriage.
 
While this passage may seem quite strict and prescriptive of behavior in marriages, it is actually quite radical for that time period.
 
Jesus says that both men and women who divorce are unfaithful to their spouse if they remarry.
 
Again, this might sound harsh in today’s culture, but in this context, he is emphasizing the equality of partnership, and he’s suggesting accountability for both men and women.
 
This is huge and unexpected in a world where women were not considered equal partners.
 
Jesus goes on, then, to include children too.
 
Children are so valuable that they help us enter the realm of God.
 
Children are fresh little sponges – eager to learn and grow and change the world with each new generation!
 
The disciples tell the children to stop bothering Jesus, but he tells them to let the children come to him.
 
Those children had not yet absorbed the rules that their parents had.
 
Jesus didn’t need to teach them to unlearn what they thought they knew about these matters, because they didn’t already have the norms set forth by previous knowledge and experience.
 
This passage is not a condemnation. Rather, it is a reminder that God’s love liberates.
 
This passage is not as much about divorce as it is about recognizing the image of God in everyone – especially those who have tended to be disempowered by society.
 
It is not intended to be a prescriptive passage, and it definitely is not intended to make people feel a sense of guilt and shame if they have been divorced, if they are thinking about divorce, or if they are in a situation that may require divorce.
 
I vividly remember a woman I knew who was taught, perhaps even using this passage, that divorce would mean being sentenced to hell.
 
She had been divorced, out of necessity (her former spouse was abusive and she was not safe in that situation), and yet she believed until her dying day that she could not be absolved of her “sin” of divorce.
 
I will never forget that because I don’t think Jesus would ever intend to place that kind of guilt or shame on someone.
 
There is too much good news in the life and work of Jesus to lead me to believe that if Jesus sat down with that woman, he would condemn her.
 
Jesus would not treat her or anyone else as though they were not lovingly made in God’s image.
 
Jesus didn’t spend his entire ministry trying to teach us how to love one another, just to condemn us in a few passages.
 
You might be wondering, then, if I believe Jesus is condoning divorce.
 
I don’t believe Jesus is condemning or condoning divorce. It’s a reality of the world he lives in, and a reality of the world we live in.
 
I believe he’s addressing the question the Pharisees asked him, using their assumptions and the social norms in place at the time, to demonstrate one small way that humans could open themselves up to better loving other humans.
 
Jesus set examples for us to follow, albeit in his time and place, which is the only context he had.
 
Jesus could not have predicted that in the year 2024, women would be treated at least in some parts of the world more as equals. So he did his best with the cultural implications he had to work with.
 
We have no business treating anyone as though they were not created in God’s image.
 
This text uses a first-century situation to tell us to stop participating in traditions that disempower and destroy human beings and to start living in love.
 
If we consider the context of this situation, it becomes a bit easier to set aside our prior knowledge and experience with this text and understand that Jesus did not intend to condemn people with his words.
 
Rather, he intended to widen the scope for people in that time period – to move the needle ever so slightly toward justice and equality.
 
If we can open ourselves up to new and different possibilities for this text, we can hear the passage as good and hopeful news:
 
Each of us – men, women, children – everyone – is created in God’s image.
 
We are loved, and we belong in Christ – not to feel guilt or shame, but only to feel loved and hopeful.
 
Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
Loving and gracious God, we come before you in gratitude for the gentle reminder that we are lovingly made in your image. You remind us through your Son, Jesus Christ, that while there is always room for improvement, we are also loved just as we are in this time and place. May we each continue to feel your love and grace surround us, and may we remember this love as we receive Holy Communion in unity with our Christian siblings around the world. Amen.

Young at Heart Message
 
Have you ever experienced a stumbling block to your faith?
 
I have experienced several throughout my life.
 
The first stumbling block that I can recall - and perhaps the most impactful for a variety of reasons – happened when I was maybe 12 years old.
 
I didn’t go to Sunday school for some reason, and my cousin, who was the same age as me and also in my Sunday school class, told me that I was going to go to hell because I missed Sunday school.
 
I was distraught. I couldn’t understand how something out of my control would automatically doom me to hell.
 
It didn’t make sense. So I asked the smartest person I knew at the time – my Dad.
 
And I distinctly remember my Dad laughing when I told him about it.
 
Here I was, practically in tears, worried about my soul and wondering how I could be doomed so early in life.
 
I was probably the only kid in the world to commit myself to hell so soon in life.
 
And my Dad laughed.
 
But then he told me that if I was going to hell for something like that, then we were all going to hell for some reason or another.
 
And then he probably said something more about hell, but I don’t remember anything after that.
 
I just remember that he had assured me that I was not, in fact, going to hell.
 
But this scenario was a huge stumbling block to faith and religion and my path to God.
 
I didn’t know much about God or Jesus, but what I did know was that I had been taught that Jesus loved me. God loved me.
 
And if I was so loved by God, then how could a God who loved me be so flippant about condemning me to hell (or making people believe that other people were condemned to hell)?
 
Now of course, my cousin probably doesn’t remember this at all. And I can’t blame her for this – she was just repeating something she’d been taught at some point.
 
She wasn’t old enough to know any more than I did on the subject of God or hell.
 
But this was a stumbling block for me, nonetheless.
 
I have had other stumbling blocks in my life, too.
 
My natural curiosity and my propensity to ask questions and be skeptical of the answers I received turned me away from organized religion for a large chunk of my life.
 
But it also allowed me to spend many years asking questions, understanding what it means to love our neighbours as ourselves, and to approach God with wonder and awe.
 
I was free to explore, to stumble, and to be curious and open-minded, not just about religion but about God, about other people, and about myself.
 
Most of us have probably experienced at least one stumbling block to our faith in our lives.
 
An experience, a comment, something you read or heard, or something that just didn’t seem to jive with what you were taught when you were growing up.
 
Those stumbling blocks helped formed your faith as much as the things you’ve learned in church, in Sunday school, or in the world.
 
We meet Jesus and the disciples today at the precise moment when the disciples experience quite a large stumbling block.
 
The Message
​
The disciples see a man helping people in the name of Jesus. But John says “he wasn’t one of us, so we told him to stop.”
 
Jesus then basically says “what?! Why would you stop someone from helping people just because they aren’t ‘one of us’?!”
 
The disciples are essentially separating themselves from everyone else.
 
They are implying that only people who are in their folds can do what they do.
 
If we look closely, John said “he wasn’t one of us.” The stumbling block they are experiencing is an “us vs. them” mentality.
 
And Jesus sets them straight by telling the disciples that just because someone isn’t walking with them directly doesn’t mean that the person can’t be doing good work and spreading good news in the world.
 
Humans can be very skilled at stumbling blocks, which isn’t necessarily something we would want to try to be skilled at.
 
Sometimes stumbling blocks are put in our path through no fault of our own, but often, especially when it comes to faith, we create our own stumbling blocks. And sometimes, we put stumbling blocks in the paths of others.
 
My cousin put a huge stumbling block along my faith journey without knowing it.
 
Which is exactly what the disciples do here. They started to think of themselves as “better than” or “more than” them.
 
And of course them is anyone who isn’t in their tight circle of followers.
 
So not only do they create their own stumbling block, but they drop this stumbling block onto the path of the person they told to stop simply because he wasn’t “one of them.”
 
How often do faithful Christians do these types of things to others, and by extension to themselves, I wonder?
 
How many of you have either believed that your denomination or religious tradition is the one and only “right” way, or know someone who has been taught that or believes it currently?
 
I know I have heard that, and I know people who believe it.
 
But Jesus uses some strong words to caution us against such notions of “us” vs. “them.” He cautions us against this idea that we are somehow better than them.
 
I am not, and will never be, a fire-and-brimstone, put-the-fear-of-God-into-you preacher.
 
That doesn’t feel like good news to me. If anything, it feels like bad news meant to scare you into running toward Jesus, rather than good news intended to remind you that Jesus’s arms are always open for you.
 
And I don’t think Jesus is a hellfire preacher either.
 
So why does he offer such strong words to the disciples here, and why does he talk about hell?
 
I think we need to put his language into the larger context of his entire life and teachings.
 
What does that mean? I think we need to read Jesus’s language as spoken with all the love and compassion in the world.
 
The disciples want to “copyright” their work, and the work of Jesus, so that only they own the rights to him and his work.
 
As far as stumbling blocks go, that’s a huge one because Jesus wants the exact opposite – he wants his message to get out to as many people as possible. He doesn’t want it limited to only a few who are “allowed” to share the message.
 
Putting themselves between people and Jesus to gatekeep is exactly the opposite of what Jesus wants.
 
This behavior only limits what should be open and available to everyone.
 
The disciples had good intentions, but ultimately, all their actions did was turn someone away from Jesus.
 
So Jesus feels like he needs to use some pretty harsh language with the disciples, but it ultimately comes from a place of love – not just love for them, but love for all those people who are following outside of the inner circle.
 
He tells the disciples that placing these stumbling blocks in the paths of others – “causing even one of my followers to sin” he says – would be terrible.
 
Just don’t do it, guys. Come on. It would be better for you to not follow me at all than it would for you to cause someone to turn away from me.
 
So, Jesus says, if part of you is causing you to sin, do away with it (metaphorically). It would be better to go into God’s kingdom with only one eye, for example, than to keep both eyes but be thrown into hell.
 
In other words, don’t allow yourself to get caught up in these antiquated notions of “us” vs. “them.” Don’t allow yourselves to believe that you are better than others when all they’re trying to do is follow me, too.
 
No one owns the good news. Not the disciples, not any one denomination, and not even the “big C” Church.
 
Jesus is reminding us that humility is important, and as much as we’d like to think so, we don’t know everything.
 
So let’s set aside any thoughts that we do know it all.
 
If the disciples teach us anything throughout the Gospels, it’s that they were far from perfect. And they had direct access to Jesus!
 
So there is no way we have perfect faith, either. So let’s not assume we do.
 
Jesus ends this passage by saying “Salt is good. But if it no longer tastes like salt, how can it be made salty again?”
 
In other words, if we stumble, or if we start placing stumbling blocks in the paths of others, how can we get back onto our own path and stop hindering others?
 
Jesus has an answer for that, too. “Have salt among you and live at peace with each other.”
 
There’s more than enough salt to go around. Have your salt, but don’t prevent others from having theirs, too.
 
Live at peace with each other.
 
One of my teachers this semester for my discernment class says “be at ease.”
 
Friends, be at ease. Live at peace with each other.
 
Don’t worry about who’s right and who’s wrong.
 
Jesus shares such good news with us, and his arms are open wide especially for each of us.
 
Not just for us individually, but for all.
 
It’s not necessary to scare anyone into loving Jesus.
 
Jesus’s arms are lovingly open wide for everyone, no matter how many times we might stumble.
 
Amen.

​The Message

We are faced with the task of decision-making all day, every day.

Often, the decisions we need to make are small or seemingly insignificant – choosing what outfit to wear for the day, which shoes are best going to meet my needs today, will coffee or tea get me off to a better start, should I have a bran muffin or yogurt for breakfast – the list goes on and on.

And of course, sometimes the decisions we are faced with are much harder, and some could take days, weeks, months, or even years.

Something like a high school student choosing what universities to apply to, or deciding with your spouse whether or not to replace that old rusted vehicle (and then, what to replace it with), or deciding whether or not to downsize and move into a smaller house.

Sometimes, these decisions can loom over our heads and cloud our judgement about other things.

And then, there are times when we have to wake up every day and choose to commit our lives to something – a change in habits, a partner, a healthier lifestyle, or even our faith.

Some of you who participated in the Going Deeper studies previously were at the session where I showed a clip of Craig Ferguson, a late night talk show host, talking about his struggles with addiction to alcohol.

I won’t show the clip here because it’s a bit “not suitable for church,” but he makes a point that I thought was valuable to share, both in the context of that discussion, but also in the context of today’s scripture passage.

He shared the story of how he realized he had a drinking problem and needed help, and as is often the case in these situations, he had hit absolute rock bottom.

He shared what was very likely a very embarrassing story that probably made him feel quite a bit of shame.

But, in sharing that story, he was able to relate to everyone who has been in similar situations.

And he concluded his story by sharing that he’d now been sober for many years, but he still had to wake up every single day and recommit to sobriety.

He would find himself thinking, even so many years later, that maybe he could have just one drink.

But every day, he had to remind himself that he could not allow that to happen.

He had to renew his commitment to sobriety over and over again, every single day, probably for the rest of his life.
And, he admitted that wasn’t always easy.

And decisions like that – decisions that could forever alter our lives – are never easy.

Similarly, I have gone through many periods in my life where I have been trying to lose weight and maintain an active and healthy lifestyle.

And it is never easy.

I know, logically, that in order to create long-term, sustained change, I have to wake up every day and choose to stay on track.

And yet, I have repeatedly fallen off track many times throughout my life.

Even though I know what needs to happen - even though I know I have to reduce or eliminate unhealthy food in my house and I have to stick to an exercise plan and I have to eat out less, etc – I often find that it is just easier said than done.

I am sure there are other situations that are relatable – for example, if you are partnered, you have to wake up every day and choose your partner over and over again, even when life has gotten difficult or things are rocky between you.

I think most of us have experienced something like this in our lifetimes, and many of us have something that we need to recommit to every day.

So, now that we can hopefully think of a relatable experience, it may be easier to put ourselves into the shoes of the disciples and the followers of Jesus.

Jesus has just put his followers and his core disciples at a crossroads.

Last week, we read the passage just before today’s in which Jesus told the group that was following him that whoever eats his flesh and drinks his blood abides in him, and he in the person.

That is a really difficult concept to stomach, especially if it’s the first time you’ve heard it!

And, it appears many of his followers took this literally and couldn’t understand how eating the flesh of Jesus would bring them closer to God.

I can understand their concern!

Of course, we understand today that Jesus meant this to be symbolic.

Nonetheless, we heard Jesus’ followers in today’s passage complaining “this is too hard for anyone to understand.”

In other words, they’re saying this is too difficult, and they are at a point where they need to decide whether or not to keep following Jesus.

Like some of the other examples I gave earlier, making the choice for God and all that God offers is not easy, and it isn’t a choice that’s made only once.

Choosing God doesn’t just happen in one single moment, in one day, or for one month or one year. Choosing God is a lifetime commitment.

It is an important reminder that faith is not easy.

Jesus tells the people that to believe in him, to trust in him, means they must “abide” in him.

They must stay, even though it is a hard path to follow and many lose their way.

Even some of those followers who were among the first choose to turn away at this point.

This just shows us that making the choice for God isn’t something we can do once, when it seems fun and easy to follow this guy named Jesus around.

We must choose to follow God, and follow Jesus, every single day our whole life long.

We must abide.

Anything worthwhile requires abiding.

Quitting drinking or smoking, losing weight, maintaining a healthier lifestyle, committing to an educational program or career path, training for an athletic event – it all requires commitment – abiding.

And, like I have done several times, no matter how committed we are, many of us will make mistakes or get off track.
Sometimes, our failures cannot be overcome.

However, when it comes to faith, making a mistake or making a wrong choice is not the end of the story.

John’s Gospel and this passage reminds us that we always have a choice.

We can choose to look up at Jesus, or we can turn away.

We can choose to accept or reject the challenge and the promise of the cross and what Peter calls the “words of eternal life” that are always calling to us.

Making the choice to follow Jesus is not always easy, and is not a decision we make once and never think about again.
It is an ongoing, daily decision we must make.

And, as I conclude today’s message, I leave you with some questions for pondering.

What might our lives look like if we claimed the promise of the cross every single day?

What if we were no longer afraid of difficult teachings?

What if we were no longer afraid of people who think or act differently than us?

Would we treat other people with more dignity and grace?

Might we allow others to change us for the better?

May we, together, commit to abiding in Jesus, hour after hour, day after day, year after year, for our entire lives.

Amen.

Let us pray:
​
God of patience, we come before you today in gratitude for your love and care. We ask that you help us to continue to choose to abide in you, day after day for the rest of our lives. Even though sometimes life can be difficult and we can lose our way, we ask that you help us choose to turn to you - to turn to the promise of the cross and trust in your guidance and help. All of this we pray today in your name. Amen.

​Young at Heart Message
 
Today I chose to preach on Proverbs rather than the Gospel because I think today’s passage from Proverbs offers us some wonderful insights.
 
The passage is essentially a personification of Lady Wisdom.
 
She invites the young and the foolish to eat and drink at her table so they might gain understanding and live better lives.
 
This method of teaching wisdom to young people seems highly effective!
 
I was young once – believe me, I know how effective a free meal can be at getting the young to be a captive audience so that a message can be conveyed.
 
Now of course, this can be a good thing or a bad thing. But for the sake of this passage, I would argue it is a good thing.
 
The entire aim of the wisdom literature in the Bible – of which Proverbs is the quintessential example – is to teach [young] people how to live with wisdom and integrity, and how to live the “good life” in the best sense of that term.
 
But of course, the way we tend to think of “the good life” today is very different than what the writers of wisdom literature viewed as the good life.
 
I don’t know if any of you remember these, but Maserati used to have an ad that looked like this:

​The implication of course is that the key to an extraordinary life is owning a luxury vehicle.
 
This notion that owning nice things, having money, or “keeping up with the Joneses” is the way we measure and achieve having a “good life” is a cultural phenomenon that has plagued humanity for a very long time.
 
And yet, most of us don’t question it, really. We strive to earn more, save more, buy nicer things, own nicer homes, own nicer cars, take expensive vacations… the list goes on and on.
 
And, when people can’t achieve these things, they fall into the trap of longing for a life they simply cannot support.
 
People go into debt trying to keep up with cultural expectations that having more and better things is the key to the good life.
 
While this might seem a ridiculous way to live, we are subconsciously receiving messages regularly that tell us that this way of living is the only way to truly have a good life.
 
So even if we know intuitively that this isn’t true, it is hard not to succumb to the cultural implications that not having the nicest things makes us some kind of failure as human beings.
 
Our worth, of course, doesn’t stem at all from the things we own, the money we have, the way we look, the people we know, or any other arbitrary thing we use to measure status in society.
 
And yet, it is hard for us to break out of that way of thinking.
 
I’ll give you a quick example.
 
I feel like I live a fairly modest lifestyle.
 
Of course, I wish I had more money – I long to save more, I wouldn’t mind replacing some of the things I own, I might like to buy new furniture, etc.
 
But, when I think back to the years I spent in university and shortly after graduating, I made next to nothing.
 
I was close enough to the poverty level that I considered applying for assistance, though I think I was just over the limit so likely wouldn’t have been accepted anyway.
 
But I survived (even though, looking back, I have no idea how I survived)!
 
I would have been thrilled to make the income I make today!
 
And yet, today, I still long for more.
 
It almost seems that the more we earn, the more we long for more.
 
When I was barely getting by all those years ago, I just wanted things to be a little easier.
 
I didn’t want to be rich necessarily, but I wanted to be a little better off so that I didn’t have to worry as much about money.
 
Of course, I’ve since learned that it doesn’t matter how much you make – you always long for more.
 
The Message
 
So, is this desire to have more than we currently have actually allowing us to live a good life?
 
Is this culture of “keeping up with the Joneses” actually providing a good life?
 
Or do we end up always striving for more?
 
When we finally reach the next level – the level at which we think we will be happy – do we stop striving, or do we then want to get to the next level?
 
Lady Wisdom would sigh and say “hey, set aside this life of immaturity and always longing for more. Instead, join me at my table, rest, and walk in the way of insight.”
 
The writers of the wisdom texts could appreciate material prosperity, but they did not consider it life’s ultimate goal.
 
Instead, they urged their readers to live lives of virtue, integrity, honesty, hard work, and faithfulness.
 
There was a sense that they knew that when we get to the end, none of the “stuff” is going to matter anyway.
 
What will matter is how we lived, not what we achieved or what stuff we owned when we reach the finish line.
 
Living a life of virtue may not seem extraordinary in the way the Maserati ad would imply our lives need to be in order to be extraordinary.
 
However, a life of integrity, honesty, self-control, and faithfulness is extraordinary in the best sense of the word.
 
The person who puts into practice the teachings of the wisdom sages may become an example of a way of being in the world that is neither flashy nor attention-seeking, but is in fact noteworthy and, in its own way, quite remarkable.
 
People with such wisdom possess qualities that draw others to them in ways that material prosperity simply can’t.
 
The feast that Lady Wisdom invites us to is an invitation to a life of virtue and integrity, honesty and generosity.
 
By contrast, just a few verses further in this chapter, Folly issues an invitation to her own feast.
 
She uses the same exact words that Wisdom uses: “You who are simple, turn in here!”
 
Folly’s invitation is tempting to the young, the naïve, and those who are more concerned about material wealth and prosperity.
 
But, those who might be tempted aren’t aware that Folly’s feast consists of stolen water and the bread of secrecy.
 
Those who choose to accept Folly’s invitation aren’t aware they are “in the depths of Sheol” – in other words, they are on the path toward death.
 
Of course, Proverbs and the wisdom writers tend to speak in ways that seem a bit cryptic, admittedly.
 
What we can understand from this passage is that Wisdom’s feast is always available to us, and she will always call out to us to “walk in the way of insight.”
 
Even if we have occasionally been tempted by Folly’s feast, we can always accept Wisdom’s invitation.
 
What does that look like in a world where Folly’s invitation is accepted by more of us than we care to admit?
 
Well, it could look different for everyone, but perhaps it’s a meal together as a family or a small group of friends.
 
Perhaps it’s reading a book instead of watching a movie.
 
Perhaps it’s giving to a charity instead of buying that new outfit or a new car.
 
Maybe it’s telling someone you love them if it’s been too long.
 
Wisdom’s invitation is a call to be self-aware.
 
It is an opportunity to look at our lives and acknowledge the ways in which we have been living based on cultural influences rather than by Wisdom’s virtue.
 
She is not suggesting that we entirely set aside worldly comforts, necessarily.
 
She is simply suggesting that we aren’t living lives in which our sole purpose is to accumulate wealth, status, and “things.”
 
Whatever shape Wisdom’s feast takes in your life and in the lives of the people you love, may her feast be satisfying in the way that only real food and real bread can be.
 
May it nurture your soul and bear fruit in your life so that others might be sustained by that fruit.
 
And, may it teach you wisdom as you seek to walk in the way of Christian discipleship.
 
Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
God of compassion, help us to see the ways in which our lives are good, and help us to break the cycle of always longing for more. Help us to live lives of virtue, and to share ourselves with others in ways that honour our own gifts, and the needs of other people. Help us to open our eyes to the good life as You would have our lives be, rather than as society might dictate for us. Grant to us Your grace and mercy in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Young at Heart Message
 
Let’s start today’s message by trying to put ourselves into the story we are hearing today.
 
Let’s imagine for a moment that we are part of the crowd that is following Jesus around.
 
Yesterday, we witnessed a miracle.
 
There wasn’t enough food, and yet somehow, we were all fed.
 
We are used to going hungry more often than we would like.
 
Illness, hunger, and unsanitary living conditions lead to some level of misery for most of us, at least some of the time.
 
Life in this age can be a burden at times.
 
Shelter, food, safety, and security can be a struggle for many of us.
 
Life is uncertain in so many ways, and most of us are looking for miracles or solutions to these daily burdens that plague our lives.
 
Yesterday, we all sat together and watched as this man, Jesus, turned a few loaves of bread and two small fish into enough food for all of us.
 
We ate well for the first time in a long time, and the best part was that we didn’t have to do the work of gathering or preparing the meal.
 
Anyone who can provide food in such a way should absolutely be our king.
 
And yet, when we expressed our desire for this man, Jesus, to be our king, he left us and declined to accept this honour.
 
Perhaps he was just being humble and modest. A man like that who can work such miracles is probably a humble man at heart.
 
So today, we searched long and hard and we found him again!
 
He was able to feed us yesterday, but who knows what else he can do!
 
What would you want to ask Jesus if you were part of this crowd who searched so hard to find him?
…
What would you want Jesus to know about how you live and what your needs are?
…
 
How do you feel about meeting Jesus again today?
…
I image that this crowd feels a mixture of wonder, excitement, anticipation, and hope as they encounter Jesus again.
 
They ask him a seemingly innocent question: “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
 
But instead of giving them an answer they might expect, Jesus seems to chastise them.
 
He says, more or less, “You worked all night to find me because I represent a free lunch. You never read the signs; you missed the point completely.”
 
Putting ourselves back into the crowd for a moment, how does it feel to have Jesus call us out for having “insufficient reasons” for trying to find him again?
…
 
The Message
 
I imagine that the people in the crowd were confused and perhaps even angry at Jesus’ response, at least initially.
 
They felt like they were doing the right thing, not only for themselves, but also for someone who had clear leadership skills and, they assumed, should be honoured that they wanted him to be their king.
 
The question they asked him implies that they know something about Jesus, but they desire to know so much more.
 
Their question is not limited to time and place. Rather, it’s a question about ultimate origins.
 
They want to know where he came from and how he became a miracle worker.
 
So Jesus’ response to their seemingly innocent question feels rather harsh.
 
Although the people have been searching for him all night long, and even crossed the lake to find him, Jesus detects an ulterior motive and calls their bluff (even if they don’t know it’s a bluff).
 
Most of us are afraid to be this forthright.
 
How many of us have had friends, family members, or acquaintances ask us for something or do something with seemingly good intentions, but we know they have a different agenda all together?
 
And yet, it is rare that we call people out so bluntly.
 
Many of us, myself included, will even allow the person to take advantage of us or work their agenda knowing that’s what they are doing because that’s easier than calling them on it.
 
But Jesus does something that is ultimately more meaningful and useful to the crowd than simply going along with their misguided agenda would have been.
 
He essentially tells that that he knows why they’ve come to find him.
 
“You came after me because of what happened yesterday when it was time to eat. You ate your fill, and now you’ve come to see if you can get more out of me today. You aren’t really interested in knowing who I am. Your question is a façade to cover your true intentions.”
 
Ouch.
 
More or less what he is saying is that they have come looking for him for what I would say is “insufficient reasons.”
 
I hesitate to say “for the wrong reasons” because they are just doing what instinct, cultural norms and expectations, and their own survival skills tell them they should do.
 
They aren’t trying to do the wrong thing here.
 
But their reasons are insufficient, and Jesus is pressing them to go deeper than their surface-level agenda.
 
And this shouldn’t really be surprising to us today.
 
People have, throughout history, chosen “insufficient reasons” to follow Jesus.
 
The cause of Christ has been exploited in myriad ways over the course of history to either hurt people, or to further people’s political or personal agendas that have nothing to do with Christ.
 
But Jesus isn’t having it, and if he were here today, I imagine his response would be very similar, or perhaps he would have even more harsh words for us today.
 
He abhors such crass opportunism.
 
In this case, he doesn’t even answer the question they ask him, but instead he moves the conversation in a new direction.
 
“The bread you’re after,” he tells them, “will not last. Yesterday you assuaged your hunger. You ate the bread and now you’re hungry again. There is food that perishes and there is food that lasts. God the Father has marked me to provide you the food that endures. So work for that food.”
 
In other words, your focus on things that are fleeting in this life will keep you on the hamster wheel. Jesus is inviting them (and us) to step off the hamster wheel into a new life. 
 
How do we do that?
 
Jesus tells the crowd that the answer is simple: “Believe in him whom he has sent.”
 
So easy! Right?
 
Well, the crowd doesn’t think so, and they ask him to prove it.
 
We heard a similar story from Exodus today as well – the very same story the crowd mentions as sufficient “proof.”
 
Jesus reminds them that Moses isn’t the one who provided the manna – that manna came from God.
 
Like most of the people in this crowd, each of us here is challenged by at least one personal “wilderness:” painful loss, physical suffering, financial woes, betrayal, bereavement, and more.
 
These are roads that we travel not by choice, but by necessity.
 
With the life-sustaining bread that Jesus offers, we are able to walk these roads.
 
It doesn’t mean it will be easy.
 
He doesn’t promise the crowd that all of their troubles will disappear.
 
He’s promising something deeper, something that will sustain us through the challenges and burdens of life – not something that will allow us to bypass those challenges completely.
 
Jesus is offering us an opportunity to see past whatever “insufficient reasons” we have for seeking him, and instead recognize that our own agenda needs to be set aside in order to truly be fed by the Bread of Life.
 
This is the Good News that the Gospel of John is trying to convey – it’s simultaneously a reality check that allows us to look at ourselves and our selfish motivations, and also set those aside so that we can come to Jesus with more intention and deeper meaning.
 
May we each take this opportunity to grow more deeply into our relationship with Christ and may we look beyond ourselves to the love and sustenance that Jesus provides through, for, and with God the Father. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
God, we sometimes have insufficient reasons for following you - sometimes we hope for answers, want you to do the hard work for us, or expect you to clear our path of obstacles or challenges without us having to do any of the hard work ourselves.
 
We sometimes forget to be grateful for those times when life gets difficult and you continue to love and support us through the challenges.
 
Thank you for loving us and guiding us, teaching us and being patient with us.
 
We know we don’t even have to ask, but we pray that you continue loving us and supporting us throughout our lives.
 
All of this we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
 
Resources: 
~ Commentary from Christian Century titled “Wonder Bread: John 6:24-35” by Charles Hoffman (2006): https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2006-07/wonder-bread
 
~ Commentary from Working Preacher titled “Commentary on John 6:24-35” by Alicia D. Myers (2024): https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-18-2/commentary-on-john-61-21-7
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