Devotion Dec 9

Isaiah 40:11

He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms and carry them in his bosom and gently lead the mother sheep.

      Today, oh God, is a brand new day.  Yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not here.  But Jesus, you are always the same, you never change.  We change as we allow your Holy Spirit to have his way in our lives.  We do have that blessed hope that all things will work together for the good as we trust and allow you to have your way.  The seasons of life change and things die as we will, but there is a resurrection that gives us hope that we will live again new.  Alive forevermore.

Blessed assurance of the Glory that will come.  So let us rejoice and be glad for this is the day the Lord hath made and every day with Jesus is better than the day before.

Give us this our daily bread.  Forgive us our trespasses and forgive our temptations against us.  Lead us not into temptation, deliver us from all evil, for thine is the King from Glory and power forever.  Amen.

Trust Jesus and your life will never be the same.  There is only one way to trust Him and that is to believe when you call on His name.

What a wonderful name it is, the name of Jesus.  He will be with you. He will guide you into all truths.  So allow the Holy Spirit to be your teacher.  Give thanks always with a cheerful heart.  Bless His holy name.  To God be the Glory.

- Sharon Howard

Devotion Dec 8

Isaiah 40:3

See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.

Malachi is the last book of the OT whereby God’s people had to live under the sacrificial or old covenant of bringing animals to the Temple to be sacrificed to God for the forgiveness of their sins.   The word Malachi means “My Messenger.” In this verse once again God is reminding his people Israel how there will be someone who will one day come into the world to prepare the way for his son. When I read this verse my mind tends to fast forward to the NT whereby Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all write about John the Baptist preparing the way for the Lord. John the Baptist is the last of the old covenant law and Jesus is the beginning of the new covenant  law whereby Jesus, due to the cross event, took all of the sins of the world upon himself, once and for all, so that God’s people would no longer need to provide animal sacrifices for God at the Temple.

Prayer: Almighty God, I thank you for loving me so much you sent your Son into the world so that I would no longer have to provide animal sacrifices for the forgiveness of my sins. I only need to come before your throne of grace, admit my sins and you will forgive me through your son JC. I love you! Amen.

- Rev. Marlene Quinn

Devotion Dec 7

Luke 21:29-31

Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

Devotion: Dec 6

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13

And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Whenever a baby is born, relatives begin to make comparisons such as, “He has his mothers’ eyes,” and soon the physical and personality traits of both sides of the family make up this new arrival.

And so it was with Jesus.  Born of Mary, He was very human, and with God as His heavenly Father, He was divine.  He is “God with us.”

Because Jesus knew hunger and thirst, God is with us when we need the basic necessities of life.  Because Jesus knew pain, God is with us when we hurt. Because Jesus knew rejection, God is with us when friends turn against us.  Because Jesus knew grief, God is with us when we must say good-bye to someone dear.

What a remarkable and awesome combination: Because Jesus is human, He understands us.  Because He is divine, He is able to help us.  Surely He is “Immanuel….God with us.”

Prayer: Our heavenly Parent, we are thankful for your Son, who has been tempted like we have, who has known pain, who has known grief and who has walked this earth.  And because He came, we can look forward to walking with You for eternity.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

    - Greg Wilson

Devotion Dec 5

1 Thessalonians 3:9-10

How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you?  Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.

      Working in the travel industry for over forty years, I was very fortunate to travel the world and experience other countries, cultures and traditions.  I was especially in awe when visiting some of the Caribbean Islands.  People seemed to always have smiles on their faces and warm greetings for you.  They are hard working, many for very long hours each day for little money in comparison to our standards.  Their homes are modest and material things are not so important or a priority.  They are happy with what they have and proud of their families.  They have joy in their hearts.

I often pondered Why? Why can’t we be like this? Why do we obsess about things?  Where are all the smiles?

It is like these small islands are on another planet than ours, maybe it is all the sunshine.

I always felt my faith renewed after my travels, reflecting on my life and how I live it usually brought me some small change.  I try to find the joy in life and be thankful for it.  I hope you find the joy this Christmas season.

Prayer: Loving God, thank you for those little islands that bring so much joy to many.  I pray that you could bring joy to all of us and put more smiles on our faces.  Amen.

   - Jean Harrison

Devotion Dec 4

Psalm 25:9-10

He leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

(None written for today.)

Devotion Dec 3

Psalm 25: 4-5

Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.

     This is such an excellent prayer to pray before daily Bible and devotional readings. It helps to centre our mind and heart to focus on what is being read, praying for the Holy Spirit to guide us as we read His word. Daily readings, especially in the morning, are so important and helpful to prepare us for the day ahead. Praise God, He is always ready to give us direction if we just ask. Asking may be easy to do yet it may not be so easy to hear what He says. Sometimes we need patiently to wait and focus our listening ears to hear His still small voice. And when we hear and understand, what a blessing there may be for us to find. 

From Sarah Young’s book, Jesus Lives: “ If you’re uncertain about your direction, ask him to show you the way…. The more you seek My Spirit’s help and yield to his loving guidance, the better your life will be. When you don’t know how to pray as you should, cry out, ‘ Help me, Holy Spirit!’” 

Prayer: Father God, I pray for a heart willing to listen to your guidance and wisdom daily. Help me to learn to focus as I read your word. Help me to recognize your Holy Spirits leading and to be willing to follow. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen!

        - Barbara Martin

Devotion Dec 2

Jeremiah 33:16

In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The LORD is our righteousness.”

It was about 2,600 years ago that the prophet Jeremiah spoke among the Hebrews. He had a forty-year ministry. It was a time when one of their greatest and most godly kings had died, and later the Jewish nation got conquered and destroyed. It was the worst of times. Jeremiah ended up with those who fled to Egypt. Many others got deported north to Babylon.

Now, in 2024, quite a few Christian folk believe we are living in ‘the last days,’ a time of things getting worse and worse before the better days to come, the golden age. (I’m not quite in that camp.) This feeling was surely among Jeremiah and his people all those centuries ago. And many times in history, people have felt ‘the end was near.’ 

Our little season of Advent and Christmas is a time for us to discover, together, some hopes and some reasons to carry on in our faith. For there are many reasons to give up. Like Jeremiah of old, there are voices of hope for us. Keep alert; stick together; seek goodness! Then our name can also be ‘God-Is-Doing-Right-Things.’

PRAYER: God of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy: we pray for us, Your people. These days are hard. Not always for us, but for so many, that’s for sure. Is there hope for this world of people? We look to You, to find that answer is ‘Yes.’ Even when we are not sure what are the right things to do, may You accomplish some good in us. This Christmas, and always. Amen.

  - Jeff White

SERMON: Greening of the Church

10:30 am, Sunday, Nov 3, 2024, FBC Amherst ~ J G White

Psalm 25:1, 2, 5, 7 Creche

This year, we start the ‘greening of the church’ with our ‘creche’ or ‘nativity.’ So think of this as our destination, this month. We look ahead to this scene; then we take a spiritual journey to get there, once again. 

From Psalm 25 we just said, “you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.” Even though all the festive, Christmas stuff happens from now until December 25th, in the Church there is waiting. We take time to dwell upon the meaning of ‘salvation.’ We certainly face the facts that so much we need and want from God still seems in our future and somewhere in the future of our beloved ones.

We also tend to look back a lot in December. We remember. We get traditional. We get nostalgic. We also miss people who are gone, and we miss the way some things used to be. 

The Psalm prays that the sins of years ago be forgotten, as God kindly loves us deeply. Let us seek that steadfast love in Christ.

Advent Candle Sherrill & Roy Pettigrew

The first candle of this season is called the “Hope Candle” and the “Prophet’s Candle,” symbolizing the anticipation of the coming Messiah and the hope that He brings to the world. 

Malachi (Mal-ah-KI) was an ancient Hebrew prophet, one of the very last. He probably lived about four hundred years before the birth of Jesus. His message we just heard gave the hope of a messenger who will prepare for the Lord to appear, suddenly, in the Temple. 

One of our own hopes, at this season of the year, can be that the Spirit of Jesus will be clear and be here, when we gather, and when we are on our own. 

Jeremiah 33:14-16 Jesse Tree

Family and genealogy was so important to those Jewish people of long ago. ‘There would be a King for you, from the family of King David.’ They kept saying that, over and over. Like Jeremiah today: “I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” 

One of the Church Advent decorations you may have never had here yet is a Jesse Tree. Here, I made one out of white birch. A Jesse Tree is decorated with symbols of the family tree of Jesus, and many stories from the Bible. 

Why is it called a Jesse Tree? Who was Jesse? Jesse was the father of David, King David. Each day of Advent we can have a symbol of someone who went before Jesus. Each Sunday we can put up a few of these decorations, called Chrismons. Let’s start… 

Luke 1:68-71, 78-79 Evergreens

This poetic praise is here, spoken by Zechariah, after his son, John, was born, a few months before Jesus was born. This ‘song’ sometimes gets called for its Latin name, the Benedictus. Thirty years later, John would be known as John the Baptist, not because he was a Baptist Christian - we had not been invented yet - but because John baptized a lot of people, out in the Jordan River. 

But when he was a newborn, his father celebrated Abba God, saying: “Because of the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

We say that evergreen branches remind us of everlasting promises and provision from God. Light to brighten our souls, from the inside out. Hope in the face of hardship and even death. Guidance for this challenging life, leading us into deep peace. Peace within us, and peace among us. May our evergreen boughs and their lights lift our spirits to the God of inner light and shared peace. 

Luke 3:1-6 Poinsettias

Here we have John, Jesus’ cousin, all grown up, exercising his ministry of preaching and teaching and baptizing. It gets called a baptism of repentance, for the forgiveness of sins. This ritual of turning away from the wrong things of life was preparation to receive the Saviour. A Saviour who saves by living and dying, and yet going on to live.

Often, when we have our ceremony of bread and the fruit of the vine, we get in touch with the forgiving and healing power of God. We remember that a real human, God as a human, shed His lifesblood. No wonder the deep red star of the Poinsettia plant became a Christmas decoration. For two thousand years, there has been such power in the retelling of this story, of the life of One, poured out for many. 

You likely have noticed that a Poinsettia plant bleeds easily, whenever a leaf or stem is broken or injured. But the blood, the sap, is white. May these plants remind of us a real God, who lived a physical life among us, that was broken and bled. 

Devotion Dec 1

Jeremiah 33:14-15

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

Whenever I read these verses I often think of genealogy ---a family tree. When I was growing up I remember how my father’s sisters spend many hours researching our family tree but they could not understand why my father did not share the same interest in genealogy. At the time of Jeremiah’s ministry both houses of Israel and Judah were living in exile.  Jesse was the father of David. David was a young shepherd, when under God’s direction, Samuel anointed him with oil. (1 Samuel 16:11-13). God promised his people he would one day provide them with a king, from the family of David, who would rule with both honesty and justice. This king was Jesus, God’s son who would come into the world as a baby born in Bethlehem. As we begin our advent journey, amidst our preparations of trimming the tree, shopping, wrapping presents & baking. STOP! Take a deep breath remember Jesus is the reason for the Season.

Prayer: Heavenly Father as I begin my advent journey, may you slow me down in the busyness of life to spend time with you both in scripture and prayer so that when it is time to celebrate the birth of your son I will be ready physically, mentally and spirituality. Amen

- Rev. Marlene Quinn

SERMON: Where I Praised on My Summer Vacation

(Psalm 132; Revelation 1:4b-8) J G White

10:30 am, Sunday, Nov 3, 2024, FBC Amherst

I grew up in Wilmot, Annapolis County - officially it was Wilmot Station. But that is not why, when in Fredericton this past Mother’s Day, I attended Wilmot United Church. I went to Wilmot United because it had a reputation. I knew that for years they would have world-class lecturers come and speak there. Decades ago it would be Marcus Borg or John Shelby Spong, or other sensational Biblical scholars on the fringe. 

The ‘Mothers Day’ Sunday I was there, in a few pews, downstairs and up, there were knitters knitting, during the service. They were celebrating a prayer shawl ministry, among other things, as they worshipped together.

There are many spiritual practices that a Baptist Christian might exercise: personal prayer, Christian meditation, tithing income, Bible reading and study, Bible memorization, spiritual direction, spiritual retreats, singing or making other music. 

One of the few I am any good at doing, and sticking with as a discipline, is worship, and by this I mean worshipping God with others: this. And it has fascinated me for decades. How does this work? What is really going on? Why are other people invested in it - or not? 

The Hebrews of old, at least in the Bible, seem always to be worshipping, in their strange and ancient ways. Let us go to His dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool says today’s Psalm. We catch glimpses of Jewish priests in their perfect clothing, shouts of joy from the faithful, and the Ark of the Covenant, that famed furniture of their ancient religion. 

Let me take you on my busman’s holiday, the places I praised with others this year that were not here. Ever been to Plaster Rock, NB? I hadn’t either. But a friend and former colleague lives there, so I visited her. Sunday morning (Aug 4) came ‘round, and I looked for a Church that was having service early. One white building with steeple had the name of the Church on it, St. Andrews United, but not a hint of services or times or anything. I happened to be driving around at 10 am, and saw about seven cars parked there. I went in. Worship had already started. 

A lay preacher was leading the service. She gave an OK sermon that seemed a bit traditional and also lengthy, I thought, for a United Church. Turns out, the preacher, visiting from Perth Andover, was a Baptist. A week later I saw her at Oasis, our Baptist meetings in Moncton, and she had just passed the examining council for ordination. She ‘became Reverend’ this past fall. 

At the end of my vacation I heard a true lay preacher, at St. George and St. Andrew United Church, Annapolis Royal. It was their interim organist who spoke, in plain, down-to-earth ways. Their minister, a friend of mine, was away on vacation that day.

The role of priest, preacher, pastor, minister, carries on for thousands of years… In Psalm 132, God declares, about Jewish Jerusalem, ‘its priests I will clothe with salvation.’ 

Some Anglican once said, ‘A priest should be a kind of living Sunday.’ Even as an ordained minister, I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with clergy in the Church. We can be too influential. I value the role, as a profession, a calling, a home for my own career. We are to equip the saints for the work of ministry; ‘the saints’ being all of you. Worship is the work of the people, not a performance or holy lecture by me or Marlene. I believe I am never to say “I pray” when I am praying here - because I am simply guiding all of us. “We pray.” When I am focused in these ways, I am clothed in righteousness. So I do not want people attracted to Sunday morning by me. I need them to be attracted by Christ, and how Jesus shines out from all of us together.

The next week of August I skipped out early from the Baptist AGM called Oasis, to get to St. Martin’s, NB, for the Funday Sea Shanty Festival. I love that seaside village, and the music was delightful. Even when the weather was not. Sunday morning (Aug 11), I went to the St. Martin’s Baptist Church. One brief mention was made of the Sea Shanty Festival, but we did not sing any shanties in church. The guitarists who led the singing started off with this song, a new one to me:   

I'm using my Bible for a road map

The Ten Commandments they tell me what to do

The twelve disciples are my road signs

And Jesus will take me safely through

Psalm 132 says, ‘Let the faithful shout for joy.’ There are many ways people of faith ‘shout for joy.’ Or lament. Or pray in our music. Is it working? I have never been a member of a strong-singing congregation. In the pews, a proportion of people sing, but not most. And certainly not with any volume. My volume could beat all of you put together, I sometimes think. And spread sixty people out in a space for five hundred - it’s a recipe for mediocrity and mumbles. 

I want us to offer the world (our community) the spiritual practice of singing together. This still inspires me. But not everyone. Meanwhile, I daydream about having a ‘sea shanty service’ one day, and sing some rewritten versions of I’se the b’y,  Wellerman, Leave Her, Johnny or Guysborough Train. 

 On August 18th I was camping near Guysborough, NS. I found a handful of church buildings in that village; most seemed closed up. So I attended mass at St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church. The priest’s sermon did not endear me; it was a plug for attending the mass regularly. But the building was nice. Big, tall, clear windows. No stained glass. I could see out to the sky and the trees and the neighbourhood. One could say, Look! Jesus is coming with the clouds; every eye will see Him, if you were so inclined. 

I grew to love that kind of clear view, at worship, in the Manning Memorial Chapel at Acadia University. I try to be aware, in a room like this, of all that is unseen just outside these windows and the stone.  

The ancient Hebrew Temple was on a hill called Zion, in their city, Jerusalem. Celebrated in Psalm 132. Did you hear the part that says, I will abundantly bless its provisions; I will satisfy its poor with bread? In the midst of all the promises about their King, their anointed one, is how the surrounding people are cared for. When their final Anointed One arrived, Jesus, He was all about this.

A congregation that worships with the community in view is a congregation that has a place for others who care. Who believe God is in the business of blessing those who need a blessing. Who understand we are brought together to be sent out on our deployment, our mission. Our gathering must join us to be on this team together, out there on our own.

I’m not going to talk about my Sunday morning stop on August 25th; it was Trinity-St. Stephen’s United Church, Amherst, NS. And I have already mentioned Annapolis Royal on September 1st. Let me end with God’s call to gather and worship. The dramatic, dreamy words of the book of Revelation keep rejoicing with God in view. Chapter one is but the start of it. Every eye will see Christ, the Alpha and Omega - the A to Zed. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

One of Marva Dawn’s books about Christian worship is titled: A Royal Waste of Time. And here is what Frederick Buechener said about the worship service:

To worship God means to serve him. Basically there are two ways to do it. One way is to do things for him that he needs to be done—run errands for him, carry messages for him, fight on his side, feed his lambs, and so on. The other way is to do things for him that you need to do—sing songs for him, create beautiful things for him, give things up for him, tell him what’s on your mind and in your heart, in general rejoice in him and make a fool of yourself for him in the way lovers have always made fools of themselves for the one they love.

A Quaker Meeting, a Pontifical High Mass, the Family Service at First Presbyterian, a Holy Roller Happening—unless there is an element of joy and foolishness in the proceedings, the time would be better spent doing something useful. (Wishful Thinking, 1973, pp. 97-98)

Thank you for joining me for this royal waste of time.

SERMON: Provoke One Another: Ten Strider Lessons

(Hebrews 10:14-25; Mk 13:1-8) J G White

10:30 am, Sunday, Nov 17, 2024, FBC Amherst

I have been ready for months to offer a talk about the blessings of being a Strider, part of the running and walking ‘club.’ I knew it was time when I read from Hebrews chapter 10 this week. This part of the Bible, called Hebrews, is really like one long sermon, addressed at first to some tired, discouraged people who were trying to follow Jesus in life. Keep going! Remember where your strength comes from! You all belong! Etc. This is the sort of stuff I hear in Hebrews, and among the Amherst Striders. So today, my Top Ten Lessons from the Amherst Striders:

ONE: ‘Everyone’ Is Welcome, Everyone Can Belong

There are exceptions: I believe there is an exception to everything. Including what I just said. ;) I know that not every person can run or walk. But the Striders is a loosely organized group for runners and walkers of various speeds and abilities. It is not tailored for the swift. It is suited to the slower, the beginner, and the shy. And we make you feel welcome.

Congregations for spirituality also know this. At least, we sing “All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.” We do have improvements to make about other ways we are actually welcoming. We could say that any person can be confident to enter the sanctuary because of Jesus. “By the blood of Jesus” Hebrews 10 says, not by our own blood, sweat and tears. You are welcomed in.

TWO: Give Encouraging Words

About twenty-three months ago, I bravely came out for a Monday evening and joined these ‘Striders’ for a one hour run. The August before, on my own, I had run a bit, and got up to running ten kilometers – twice. Then, I did not run again, until January. Ya know what I remember from that first run with the Striders, and the next few? The encouraging words of Myrna, and Ken, and the others. ‘Good run! Keep at it! Well done!’

It was lies like that that kept me coming back for more punishment! ;) Seriously, there is important power in encouragement. I knew right away that I was welcome, and how this group was doing things was intended to include a beginner like me. I love this phrase from Hebrews 10 in the Bible: Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds. The ‘let us consider’ part is about intention. We make our minds up to work on it, to figure out how to prompt the goodness in other people.

I wonder what a Church, a congregation of people, could learn from the Striders about encouraging words. “So good to worship with you!” “Good singing along today!” “Thanks for praying this week.” “Great work with the Spirit of Jesus at our committee meeting.”

THREE: Loop Back

A vital way a group out for a one hour run includes slower people is by looping back. The bunch up ahead, turns around and goes back to where the last runners are. So we are all together again. When we get spread out again along the road, those in front, and in the middle, loop back again. The speedier ones keep up their pace, and actually get more distance. The slower and slowest get to stay with the group, on the same route, and finish together.

This is a ‘how to’ for runners; a how to provoke good running together, and good running culture. So it is with other categories in our lives, such as how we tend to our spirituality, and bless one another. Once in a while, Baptist Christians might need to loop back to stay with others in their own moment of the soul, be it a time of discouragement, depression, trauma, pain, or confusion. I always rejoice when I see someone loop back to accompany someone else.

FOUR: There Is No Bad Weather, Only Poor Clothing

The Striders know this, but I first learned it from another group, the Fundy Erratics. That’s a hiking group centred in Digby. In the last decade I learned that people can hike in January and February, or in the rain of November. Not to mention run in all weather. There are ways of dressing and being prepared. All things are possible!

Those words we heard from Hebrews in the Bible were rather technical: lots of old Jewish theology and history tied up in that stuff about priests and sacrifices and covenants and all. Hopefully we get the drift with words like since we have confidence... let us enter... let us approach with a true heart... Let us hold fast to... our hope... Our religion has resilience training for us. Sometimes it even speaks of armour we can wear, including: what’s true, what’s right, good news of peace, faith, salvation, scripture. Training to use all this is so helpful.

Speaking of that, FIVE: It’s All In the Training

I stole that phrase from a friend in Parrsboro. And the idea from the Christian thinker, Dallas Willard. And from the example of the Striders. Training, training, training.

I know Yoda said to Luke Skywalker, “Do or do not; there is no try.” And maybe that was good Jedi wisdom. We don’t just try to accomplish a personal goal. We do something. We do things to prepare us, to train us. Sometimes we start small and work our way up. Sometimes we train with one activity that makes us ready to do something rather different.

I think, in Churches today, we need to develop more training programs for our spiritual goals. Prayer – there is so much to explore here, so many little steps we could take together to train. Generosity – what training could we use, making life more simple, frugal, kind, un-attached to stuff? Hope – in a discouraging day and age, what practices (practice makes perfect) can we offer to one another to claim hope?

SIX: Inspire One Another; Learn From One Another

I have only become a runner now, at this stage of life, because of other people. They (you) inspire me. You have taught me everything I know! Like some of the training which is stretching, before and after running. There is a stretch called ‘the pigeon’ that I have not quite taken to yet; maybe later. ;)

So it is in my own spiritual and religious life. I have hung around with so many people who are, as scripture says, like little clay pots that hold a beautiful treasure inside! Let us be committed to hanging out together, and discover the treasures each other holds. Share the inner treasure.

SEVEN: You Can Do More Than You Realized

The human body and the human spirit have limits. I remember so well the exhilarating experience of climbing Gros Morne in Newfoundland, seventeen years ago. I enjoyed the hike up that tallest hill in Newfoundland, on a beautiful day. Near the top, the steepest climb happens: one foot after another, up a rocky, steep slope. I found I could take a coupe more steps up, then take a break for half a minute, then a few more steps, then pant and break. Not being athletic, I truly felt the limits of my capabilities. And it was worth it. Learning what I could do, if I took the time.

And more is possible. Like, running a half marathon. I’d never done anything approaching that until this year. This year of my life. More is possible than I’d ever considered.

So it is with the things I preach. More is possible in our inner lives, and in how we do good for others in this world. How we do good for the whole word. More is possible in you, and you, and every other person.

EIGHT: Run Your Own Way, With Your Own Peeps

So, you join the Amherst Striders. Does this mean you must run or walk with others on Mondays at 6 pm, Wednesdays at 6 pm, and/or Saturdays at 8 am? No! There are lots of other moments that people run or walk together. Little groups that have their own habits, their own schedule, their own locations, their own speed and distances. They are still cheered on as Striders. Not to mention many folks who get out there, striding, on their own, solo.

Once upon a time, Jesus’ twelve closest disciples were travelling the countryside with Him, and discovered some other person setting people free from evil power ‘in the name of Jesus.’ John tried to stop them. But Jesus said, ‘No, don’t stop them. Whoever is not against us is for us.’ (Mark 9:40)

NINE: Everyone Gets a Medal

As you saw, I brought some of my own medals and awards today. How did I get them? How many runs did I place first in? Or second? Or third? Hmmm. None, not one. [Here, this one, the Lily Lake Lollygag, I am quite sure I got last place in the 10k. J Because, at the finish line, they were already talking and giving out the awards! How did I get these medals?] Everyone gets a medal.

We provoke one other to do good deeds, to do well at the race of life. There are many ways we give medals, awards, congratulations, kudos, props, encouragement. And we can give these to every – single – participant in life. The New Testament speaks of encouragement as a spiritual gift. Seek to have this encouragement flow through you to as many others as possible.

TEN: Welcome People Back

Someone used to be a runner. Used to come out and run or walk with others here in town. But they got out of the habit. Maybe they made some bad habits. Or, they had an injury that disrupted their activity. Months go by; maybe years. Then, then they show up. Starting again, they might be slower or shorter in distance. Nevertheless, “Welcome back! It is so good to see you back with us!” That’s the Strider way; that’s the attitude. I hear it in the talk among the folks who have been here longer than I have. They talk about people they know getting back into the swing of things – positively, happily. Striding again.

I guess we could say, ‘once a Strider, always a Strider.’ There is, in the history of Baptists and other Evangelicals, the saying, ‘once saved, always saved.’ I don’t actually plant my feet in the theological tradition that has said that, but the larger principle is good. ‘You were welcomed in? We will welcome you back.’

We have just spent almost an hour inside a grand, stone building, where very little walking and running happens. (But there is line dancing!) Like those disciples who entered their Temple, with Jesus, long ago, we may have wondered how long this will last. What happens next in faith, in society, in our own lives. ‘Keep calm,’ I think Jesus would say. ‘Don’t panic.’ Our role is to provoke one another to be loving, and to accomplish good. May you make great strides to do so.

SERMON: Seek Some Security

(Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17; Mk 12:38-44) J G White

10:30 am, Sunday, Nov 8, 2024, FBC Amherst

Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, said to her, “My Daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you.”(R 3:1) Your life and mine, today, are quite different from these two women, thousands of years ago. But we also might need some security, some sense of safety and hope. I do.

This past week, within a twenty-four hour period, I saw someone die, right in front of my eyes; I finished reading a serious book about the end of life as we know it, called Life After Doom; and a new president-elect was chosen in the United States of America. As an old friend would say, ‘it was a heavy week!’ I need to seek some security. Perhaps we all do.

Alongside the scripture readings for this day, and it being the eve of Remembrance Day, my own mind and soul have been overcome with these other three matters.

Wednesday morning, I arose early, as usual, and delayed checking on the world, to see what happened south of the border, until about 7:30 am. Later in the day, social media told me how various friends and acquaintances, not to mention educators and podcasters, were responding to the Trump win. Here are a few quotations:

When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace becomes a circus.

He’s not the messiah, he’s a very naughty boy.

Start building a wall, Canada.

Grief

Not all my friends are in the same camp.

Congratulations to all Americans!  You chose the best person to serve your country.  Next year it’s up to Canadians to do the same.

It does seem to be a time of uncertainty, including for us here, resting on the top of the USA. Concerns about so many things arose within me, as I listened just a little bit, to the alarms others were raising, in this return of President Trump.

In a season of speaking our own sense of including people at First Baptist, we get strong hints of some different attitudes among many millions in our world.

History repeats itself. It can also get more severe. I happened to listen to a bit of classic rock from my youth, Land of Confusion by Genesis, released in 1986. Funny how the song seems even more appropriate, in some ways, now.

Now did you read the news today

They say the danger's gone away

But I can see the fire's still alight

There burning into the night

There's too many men, too many people

Making too many problems

And not much love to go around

Can't you see this is a land of confusion?

Well, this is the world we live in (oh-oh-oh)

And these are the hands we're given (oh-oh-oh)

Use them and let's start trying (oh-oh-oh)

To make it a place worth living in

Back to the Bible now... At the time of Naomi and Ruth, it was also a ‘land of confusion. We can read: In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes. (Judges 21:15)

In the face of that terrible age (Just read the Book of Judges for details!) the amazing story of Naomi, Ruth & Boaz is given. And, as widow Naomi said to her widowed daughter-in-law, “I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you.” The story takes us way back in time, amid some different, ancient, Middle-Eastern cultural practices. In harvest time, they find a way to connect with some locals, a relative, there in Bethlehem, and become secure in the community.

It is in togetherness that we get through our challenges, such as world events that are far bigger than us and our little corner of the world. Don’t you see this in the Ruth and Naomi story? Like them, we are here to seek some security for one another, to seek the well being of our neighbours – especially those on the edge, those in need or trouble. Is this not what our nation, at its best, has fought for around the world, and worked for as peacemakers?

Heavy moment two. This week, as I said, I finished Brian McLaren’s book, LIFE AFTER DOOM: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart. It is a book about the climate crisis, emergency. So, I was reading stuff like this:

...we can’t shake this sense that we’re all in trouble—all of us, really serious, tangled up trouble. It’s the feeling that our civilization’s Jenga tower is about to crumble...

If we felt doom about the global climate crisis alone, that would be bad enough. But we have also come to see that global overheating is the toxic cherry on top of a hot, festering mess of other global problems that go untreated because they remain unacknowledged.

I have known this, to some degree, for, oh, thirty-five years. Since I started my biology and chemistry degree at college. What have I done about it? How have I lived differently? When have I teamed up with others to make a difference? It is a bit like my occasional idea to stop eating so much sugar in my diet EVERY DAY. Great idea. I believe in it. Sounds simple – I am the one in charge of every things that goes into my mouth. But my habits stay the same. So too with my use of gasoline, electricity, water, paper, plastic. I stay the same.

This weighs on me a bit more, in past weeks, as I read and pondered how I see the world. As I pondered how Christ would lead me, and us, in better paths. And as this book got me wondering about how things will collapse in the world. How people will behave when things get worse and worse, and really bad. And what is our calling, as those who are clinging to Christ in this day and age? Surely Christianity will not be about survival, or only readiness for an afterlife. The Creator calls us to build a Kingdom, a Kin-dom, here. And to help in crisis time.

I have a nice, easy life, compared with millions. And maybe it will still be so for me when I celebrate my 80th birthday in 2050. What about the refugees on earth, or the local unhoused? The traumatized and the dying? The poor and those cruelly treated? As the Bible put it, the widows and the orphans? Remember Naomi and Ruth, refugees in famine. Or, centuries later in the Bible, the widow Jesus and the disciples observed giving her last coins to the Temple. Generous, sure, but was she being taken advantage of, oppressed by her own Faith? Jesus brought to the fore God’s ‘preferential option for the poor.’ That priority for the needy of the world that Creator has in the Bible, highlighted by the theologian Gustavo Gutierrez, who just died two weeks ago today.

If we are saved, Christ has saved us for good work. Good action is here for us to do, as the New Testament tells us. In crisis time, we belong to the God who walks thru the crisis.

Ready for heavy moment three? Death. We are certainly facing it as we honour our military of the past and present in these days. It is everywhere, of course. As Billy Graham said, in the States, the death rate in America is still very high. 100%!

In Digby, my sixty-first and final funeral service was for a woman I knew who died in her nursing home room, surrounded by family, with the help of MAID. I was nearby that day, though not in the room with everyone at that poignant moment. This past week, I was present for the death of a man I knew, from Annapolis Royal, at the Valley Hospice in Kentville. I went back down for the memorial service on Friday, which was a beautiful musical event, planned by my thoughtful friend.

It is an important, though sometimes unwelcome, privilege to be present when someone dies. It has happened for me just a few times in my life, so far. So blessed when it is peaceful; but many deaths in this world are unpleasant. To witness it is often horrible and traumatizing. Not my experience, yet.

Once more, I take us back to Naomi in the First Testament story. Remember, she had lost her husband, and her two married children. She renamed herself Mara, meaning Bitter.

Jump ahead again to the days of Ruth’s descendent, Jesus the Messiah! He saw a poor widow give her last money to the Temple. Again, she was a widow, which was a place of weakness and vulnerability in that society, not to mention the simple, life-long grief of that loss she carried.

The Spirit has held and kept these sacred stories for us, and the world, in order to bless those who have suffered a loss. In order to bless everyone. This life is short. It is fragile. It is precious. It matters. What good you do, on your own, is important. Seek some security for others. And what we accomplish together can be very good.

Ten days ago I heard retired Pastor, Dr. Barry Morrison, offer this excellent blessing (as good a word to end on as I can find). Dear ones, life is short and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those with whom we walk this way. So let us be swift to love, make haste to be kind, and may the Holy One bless you, and make you a blessing. Amen.

SERMON: My God, Your God

(Ruth 1:1-18; Mk 12:28-34) J G White

10:30 am, Sunday, Nov 3, 2024, FBC Amherst

 It so happens that I keep seeing, in the Sunday scripture readings, elements of our new Inclusion Statement. October 20th, Job met Creator in a whirlwind and in all the elements of creation; I pondered indigenous Ethnicity and spirituality. Last Sunday, the Apostle Paul spoke of some disability that was his ‘thorn in the flesh.’ Ability (or disability). Next Sunday, Jesus points out a poor widow giving all she had at the Temple, two coins. Economic Status. 

Today, a foreigner follows her Jewish mother-in-law to her home in Judah. So I wonder some more about Colour, Ethnicity, and Creed. The story of Ruth, in just a few pages, stands out in the midst of many other texts in the First Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures. Her name, Ruth, means ‘friend,’ and she certainly acts as a friend to her mother-in-law, Naomi. Ruth had lived all her life in her native Moab, on the east side of the Dead Sea, a nation of people similar to the Hebrews but usually an enemy of them. She and her sister, Orpah, had married brothers, the two sons of a Jewish family who had come to Moab in time of famine. 

What does God think of those who are not of the Hebrew faith? Such as the Moabites? Or the Jebusites? The Ammorites? The Egyptians? We might know of many occasions in the Bible when they were to be eradicated, or at least kept at a distance. Somehow, Naomi and Elimelech and family live there, among the people of Moab. Tragically, after a decade, the men in the family have all died, leaving Naomi and her two daughters-in-law. Mother decides to go back to Judah, and her hometown, called Bethlehem. 

We can read over and over in the Bible of the challenges of various peoples getting along, or not. Sometimes one ethnic and religious group is very protective of its culture and religion, and treats everyone else as enemies. Have you done any reading in the book of Joshua lately? Or Judges? Many of the stories and the teachings are harsh. And very exclusive. The story of Ruth is set in the days of the Judges when, well, things were pretty wild.

Have you done any reading in the book of Baptists lately? Or Anglicans? Or Catholics, Nazarenes, Brethren? We too can be very exclusive, at times. Insisting on being in the right, and anyone who differs with us is in the wrong. Or, anyone who does not look like us, and do things the way we do, is not quite right. ‘Needs to learn from us!’

The Ruth story is the opposite of the ruthlessness of so much religion, now, and then. In contrast with the behaviours, and the beliefs, seen in the stories in the book of Judges, is the gentle, endearing way that this woman from Moab, Ruth, clings to her Mother-in-law and chooses to join her back in Bethlehem. 

Even Naomi can’t be certain how she will be received, back in her hometown, after a decade away, and with a foreign young woman accompanying her. You may know that the story does end well - more on this next Sunday. 

Suffice it for today to remember the poetic decision of Ruth.   Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge;

your people shall be my people and your God my God.

Have you ever been a minority? Ever spent time among those who were not of your ethnicity, or your religion? Did it feel like home? Did it become home? Did you feel loved at all, by your neighbours? Have you ever felt yourself among people whose understanding of God was different? Your way of praying, or explaining, or singing, or behaving did not fit with the majority? 

Here, we now declare, in our Inclusion Statement, that we do welcome everyone regardless of colour, ethnicity and creed. And regardless of those other named categories, which are meant to catch just about everyone. I believe it has been a journey of First Baptist for many years to get to this point. For years and years we have been singing, “All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.” We have been including people in this fellowship of Jesus who are diverse, different, and delightful to God. 

If Jewish Naomi and family could live in Moab for a decade and then go back; if Ruth can join her and enter Hebrew life in Bethlehem; if she can become (spoiler alert!) a great-grandmother of King David - then we can find our way to welcome all sorts of people into the family of God today. 

We have come to believe that the descendent of Ruth, named Jesus of Nazareth, meant all sorts of people, when He spoke of loving our neighbours as ourselves. Our differently-abled neighbour, our gay neighbour, our homeless neighbour, our differently- opinioned neighbour, our non-English-speaking neighbour. Who is my neighbour? Didn’t Jesus get asked that? And didn’t He answer?

Even our different conceptions of God and the Holy come together under one roof, in one fellowship. You have had great freedom in this for a long time, First Baptist, and this has been a gift. How you relate to God has an impact on my relationship with Christ, and vice versa. No wonder we do not feel compelled to re-baptize believers coming from other Christian churches. Diversity in the fellowship is a gift, and can even be a goal.

This past week I was hearing from Rev. John Perkin about life at First Baptist Ottawa, where he serves. In that busy, capital city, First Baptist has seen many new people join the life of the congregation, mainly non-white people. Their new, part-time associate minister is herself from Haiti, and a trilingual person. John mentions that Christians from Nigeria or Haiti or elsewhere have different opinions and theology they bring to the table. One Nigerian newcomer was not so sure about First Ottawa’s sense of including and affirming people of the LGBTQ community; but another African man who had been with them longer explained how he had learned this inclusion, this part of loving these neighbours as himself. The fellowship is learning from one another. May it also and always be so for us here.

We are going to sing a hymn later, words written by a mentor of mine, and First Baptist’s assistant minister of fifty years ago here. Before he died, in 2022, he had composed this:

Christ calls us to a journey Of faith and hope and love;

So we must still be learning Our wisdom from above:

The Spirit leads us onward Through faith that’s in the Word;

We walk the way that’s forward, By trusting all we’ve learned.

(R. H. Prentice)

SERMON: Thorn in the Flesh

(Job 42:1-6, 10-17; 2 Cor 12:6-10; Mk 10:46-52) J G White

10:30 am, Sunday, Oct 27, 2024, FBC Amherst

Is the Bible realistic, or unrealistic? Is Christianity down-to- earth, or idealistic?

One problem is a bit of a thorn in my side: all the happy endings in Bible stories. Because they don’t jive with all the tragedies of real life. Did all that really happen then? Well, why not now?

When we were finalizing our Identity Statement a month or so ago, one of our wise Deacons suggested we add to our list of diverse peoples who are all welcome in this fellowship of Jesus. That we add ability to colour, ethnicity, creed, economic background and so forth. People of any ability are welcome into the Church and all our work. This in itself may recognize the fact that we don’t expect every hurt, limited, injured or ill person to be healed by some miracle or other. 

But, some days, it seems like all the Bible stories are about miracles of healing and freedom from evil forces and even resurrection from being dead. Do our sacred stories have far too many happy endings?

Such as the finale of the book of Job? Today is Sunday four of four, skimming through this long, ancient book. We saw the profound response of this suffering man, Job, after God comes near. Job repents - makes a turn around - with dust and ashes: a very old, traditional way of expressing grief and humility. 

Then, then the ‘happy ending.’ His long-winded friends are told they were all wrong (and they must make sacrificial offerings to help Job pray for them). And then: Job ends up healed in body, gains a whole new family, and great riches in domestic animals. More than he’d had at first, in chapter one. 

Many people - from Bible scholars to folks like you and me - have wondered about this ending. And even wondered if it was not original: was it added on later? There is such power if it ends with Job humble and still faithful, in a heap before God. Why make it all sunshine and lollipops in the last eight verses?

I like the comments of Bible teacher Matt Skinner, a Presbyterian at Luther Seminary in Minnesota. Skinner made the point that he sees in the last paragraph of Job the message that people who suffer devastation can find happiness again. People who lost spouses or children can find happiness again with others, even new families. Not to discount the grief and trauma that is real and remains, and so on. So Skinner says that Job’s ending does not have to be either/or - an idealistic happy, happy ending, or a poor addition to the story of the book that dulls its impact. It is an ambiguous ending; it does give hope for new beginnings.

For me, there are two details in the finale that catch my attention. First, where we read that ‘the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.’ (J42:10) When all the sermons were over, and Job got to meet Almighty God, Job was blessed as he prayed for his friends who were no help to him at all. This is like what Jesus would teach, many centuries later: pray for those who persecute you.

The second detail is in the next verse. (J42:11) ‘Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring.’ Job’s truest friends appeared, and this was the start of the blessings. Perhaps it is true that many a miracle begins with some friends doing some good things for the person in trouble. That sounds real to me.

The Gospel lesson today is, once more, from Mark 10. Blind Bartimaeus is healed by Jesus. This is but one case among the many in these Jesus stories that sees a hurting person healed or freed from their trouble. Just skim through Mark and you can read of a man with an unclean spirit (1), Simon’s mother-in-in law with a fever (1), a leper in Galilee (1), a paralysed man (2), a man with a withered hand (3), and many others who were all healed. And this is just in the first three chapters of Mark! 

There are occasional exceptions - moments when Jesus does not heal an ill person or help someone with some other trouble. Such as the story of the rich young fellow, looking for the path to eternal life, who went away sad. We just read this a couple weeks ago here. The end of that man’s story is unknown. We have to go to another Gospel writer, John, for the story we see in our scarecrow at the front doors here: the death of John the Baptist. Here is a terrible horror that Jesus did not prevent, and later, Christ did not resurrect John, as He did with a few other people, such as His friend Lazarus.

The power, and the purpose, of all the healing stories must be pondered. The main point might not always be about miraculous healing. In the case of Bartimaeus, in Mark 10, we might see that those who said ‘be quiet!’ to the disabled man were wrong. Jesus called Bartimaeus to Him. When it is all said and done, we discover that Jesus calls others who suffer and are disabled to Him, and to follow, be they healed or not.

Such as the Apostle Paul. I picked out this reading from 2 Cor 12  today, in which Paul famously writes about his thorn in the flesh.  At last! Here is an un-healed, un-erased problem.

Much ink has been spilled by great thinkers about just what was Paul’s problem? Many illnesses have been suggested, not to mention other problems (some enemy who dogged him?) that could have been his thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment him. Sounds quite serious! Paul saw some purpose in his mysterious problem: it kept him humble, amid some profound spiritual experiences he enjoyed. He mentions praying three times for it to be removed, but no. The grace of God had to be enough for Paul.

I dare say most people on earth will endure some pains and limitations that come their way. And which won’t go away. And, amazing things, gracious things, can germinate and grow from a rugged seed planted in the dark, damp earth (and crap) of life. God’s grace is sufficient, in the face of difficulties and even evil forces.

Henri Nouwen was a priest and a brilliant teacher at places like Harvard and Yale. Feeling led by God, he spent the last decade of his life living in a community of people with severe emotional, mental, and physical disabilities. Henri tells a story about Trevor, a man with severe mental and emotional challenges who was sent by Henri's community to a psychiatric facility for evaluation. Henri wanted to see him, so he called the hospital to arrange a visit. When those in authority found out that Henri Nouwen was coming, they asked if they could have a lunch with him in the Golden Room—a special meeting room at the facility. They would also invite doctors and clergy people to the special luncheon. Henri agreed.

When Henri arrived, they took him to the Golden Room, but Trevor was nowhere to be seen. Troubled, Henri asked about Trevor's whereabouts. "Trevor cannot come to lunch," he was told. "Patients and staff are not allowed to have lunch together. Plus, no patient has ever had lunch in the Golden Room."

Henri was not a confrontational person. But, knowing that community is about inclusion, Henri thought, Trevor ought to be here. So Henri turned to the person in authority and said, "But the whole purpose of my coming was to have lunch with Trevor. If Trevor is not allowed to attend the lunch, I will not attend either."

The thought of missing an opportunity for lunch with Henri Nouwen was too much. They soon found a way for Trevor to attend. 

When they all gathered together, something interesting happened. At one point during the lunch, Henri was talking to the person on his right and didn't notice that Trevor had stood up and lifted his glass of Coca-Cola. "A toast. I will now offer a toast," Trevor said to the group.

Everybody in the room got nervous. What was he going to do?

Then Trevor, this deeply challenged man in a room full of PhDs, started to sing, "If you're happy and you know it, raise your glass. If you're happy and you know it, raise your glass…"

Nobody was sure what to do. It was awkward. Here was this man with a level of challenge and brokenness they could not begin to understand, yet he was beaming. He was thrilled to be there. So they started to sing. Softly at first, and then louder and louder until doctors and clergymen and Henri Nouwen were all practically shouting, "If you're happy and you know it, raise your glass."

Henri went on to give a talk at the luncheon, but the moment everybody remembered—the moment God spoke most clearly—was through the person they all would have said was the least likely person to speak for God.

A person ‘with limitations’ is still a person.  A person can thrive with a thorn in their side. Trevor did. Henri Nouwen did. The Apostle Paul did.  This is also some of what shines from our sacred scriptures, and what shines from our own lives today. 

We used a nice, new prayer book earlier today, and the title says it all, I think: ‘The Lives We Actually Have.’ Our conversations with God, and with one another, must be real, actual, down-to-earth. It is here we will survive many things, and thrive through many challenges. Thanks be to God, in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

SERMON: Meeting Creator

(Job 38:1-7, 34-41; Ps 104: ; Mk 10:35-45) J G White

10:30 am, Sunday, Oct 20, 2024, FBC Amherst

This week I have been enjoying the full moon. Friday at 8 pm I walked on a beach and a road, and turned out my flashlight so my only light was from the very bright, almost still full moon. I have not yet seen the comet that is up there, and I missed out on the recent northern lights. I’m being followed by a moon shadow, moon shadow, moon shadow. 

We started our ceremony here with some of Psalm 81. Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our festal day. We don’t count our months by the moons, but the Hebrews did. And so do the many indigenous peoples of Turtle Island. I am no expert at all in indigenous spirituality, and I barely know any first nations people personally. But let me take us on a short journey in respect of those who have been in this land far longer than us.

An attitude we share in common is our sense that we are part of creation. In Genesis 1:24, the sixth day in that story of creation, people get made on the same day as cattle and various creeping things. We do not need to see ourselves as supreme, or separate, or even ‘best of’ what’s in the world. We don’t need to make those value judgments. 

What we also share, I suppose, is how we can know the Creator in creation. 

Can ‘God’ be understood? We sometimes wonder - and for good reason. At the centre of the Christian story is how we meet God as part of creation. As the Messiah. 

We read a bit more of the Jesus story in Mark today. This has been a year for Mark’s Gospel. Here we see how it is tempting to want to be close to Power, closer to God. Like James and John. 

But this competitiveness is not Jesus’ Way. The Gospel scene today, follows right after Jesus said, “But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” Soon after – the next day perhaps - James and John express their ambition, so they seem to require a repeat of the message. “whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.”

The climb to be greater, better, at the top, is not quite the Way of Jesus. Our recent Inclusion Statement borrowed a good phrase. It’s put this way: we believe that Jesus taught and practiced an inclusive discipleship of equals... Not only is our human fellowship aimed at being gracious and generous and sharing, our fellowship with all the creatures and elements of the world can be humble.

In contrast with that story are the scenes from Job today. 

What would you want, from a meeting with the Creator, if all your business dealings (including your pension plan) got destroyed? Or if a bunch of your family died – and not the older ones, the younger ones, your children? Or if your own health failed, you got some very gross disease, severe pain, and you got shunned by some because of it? This is the ancient story of Job. He wants to know why? Why all this disaster? His visitors all think they know why – they blame Job. He must deserve it, must have done despicable things. But no, he had not.

Finally, chapter 38, in a whirlwind, God is there! And the speeches, they only speak of the marvels of creation – sun, moon and stars, weather upon earth, animals and their life cycles, ending with a couple great aquatic creatures.

Do you know these? Do you understand them? Did you plan the stars, or the times when the wild donkey raises its baby? Or can you tame the Nile crocodile? That’s what God says to suffering Job.

Or maybe, shows to Job. All these marvels of creation are before Job’s eyes, and are bigger than his one life and its problems, apparently. Job does not get answers. He gets questions, visions, mysteries. No reasons are given for his suffering, or explanations of why the speeches of Job’s visitors were wrong. Job gets to meet the Maker. And meet Creator in the creatures of creation.

I ponder the people I know and have known who have big suffering, and wonder why? Is it someone’s fault? How is it going to end? 

I think of a friend Sharon and I had for years, in the Valley, Jennifer. She was about our age, in ministry, slowly working her way thru divinity school part time. I discovered what a beautiful writer she was when she got diagnosed with cancer, and posted occasional reports on social media. After she died, I went back and saved all she wrote - I have this idea to have a special service someday where we read Jennifer’s cancer journey. Here are just three excerpts, in her own words. Listen to her attitude, her spirit!

May 23 This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!

The consensus is that the cancer is so aggressive that it is causing me to bleed internally and be infected, all of the issues are the same problem. It is growing so ridiculously fast. I can feel it.

There is always hope. I am filled with peace. God is good. All the time. And I am humbled that God’s people are praying for me. Thank you! Please pray for my husband and our families too. 

Much love…

June 1 8:09 pm

Odd things and observations from life in the VG. We know we are exactly where we are supposed to be and God is allowing me to convalesce and recover here daily. The staff is wonderful. Everyday is interesting! It is an adventure!

1. The water is contaminated. I can not shower. I cannot wash my hair. I need to wear a mask and close my eyes to wash my hands and flush. If cancer doesn’t kill me.... the water could. Jon cleans me up with bottled water from the kitchen for sponge baths and to try and wash my hair in the sink. Refreshing!

2. It costs $14.50 a day during the week to park our car here.

3. Anytime my friends come to visit me in the daytime on a weekday there is no parking in the lot. Or on any nearby streets. Parking is a real problem here.

4. The internet is slower than our internet on the mountain that comes over satellite. I think Jon said the wifi is .3 to .78 Mbps. 

It also kicks him off every two hours. He can get his work done on it and we are glad for it. Apparently until recently only one floor had it. Thank you to whoever fought for it and paid for it for patients on this floor!

5. There is a nice little cafeteria in the building but it does not feed patients. Patient meals are prepared at the infirmary site and shipped out to the other hospitals and they are later heated somewhere here. you have to order them a few days ahead or they pick what you get. My first meal was burnt spaghetti on a disposable plastic plate. Not sure how that happens... I have had good bad and ugly delivered but I have also had to throw so much food away it sickens me.

6. One day I threw up into a plastic bin. They just tossed it into the garbage and passed me a new one. The garbage can in my room is a big Rubbermaid roughtote kind. It is filled and emptied at least once a day. … The amount of single use plastic garbage here has been overwhelming me. I asked what they do with it. As every cancer hospital should... they burn it.

6. The nurses are amazing. I haven’t had one yet that I haven’t liked or that hasn’t taken wonderful care of me. The lab technicians each morning are great too. The doctors are fantastic!

7. Last night one of my neighbours was rather irate about the mice running around and no one seemingly doing anything about it. Pretty sure I saw one in my room last week. I didn’t announce it. I feel like I’m camping here. There are always rodents when you camp. I do feel bad for Jon because his bed is closer to the floor than mine. We gave our nurse a peace offering for her to give the man and apparently it may have helped sooth him.

8. Last night one of my neighbours died.

9. We have been told here that one in two Nova Scotians will be diagnosed with cancer.

10. My Patient Navigator in the valley told me she gets 30 new cancer patients assigned to her every month for King’s and Annapolis Counties. A new cancer patient a day.... and how many counties does Nova Scotia have???

And this is her last post, from June 13th that year. Not the whole poem - parts of it…

‘‘Twas the night before chemo and all through the house, 

not a creature was stirring, save the hospital’s mouse.

The iv bags were hung on standby with care, 

in the hopes that more healing soon would be there.

The patients were nestled all snug in their beds, 

pushing nurses buttons to make them stand on their heads.

And I in my kerchief, (or should I be wearing a cap?) 

had just settled down for a brief little nap.

Perhaps tomorrow’s cycle of chemical blast 

will be just what we need to send this disease to the past.

A growing pile of blessings make me believe all miracles can be true. 

I’ll leave God in charge, what else can I do?

I don’t believe that he gave this trouble to me, 

but even if he did, I will trust He.

There are bags of support drugs to keep you strong through the initial attack.

Once you have started, there’s no going back.

For 24 hours, or 48, who is sure? That chemical spins to all of your parts, 

you become rather toxic, even your farts.

And then when you’re feeling you’re actually green, 

you start to get rid of it and maybe come clean.

Chemo speaks not a word so pray it goes straight to work, 

And kills all the cancer, and isn’t a jerk.

But let us exclaim as we log off this site

HAPPY CHEMO-EVE TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!

Jennifer, wonderful delightful Jennifer, died on June 20. Did she get answers? I think she was an answer. A shining light. One who walked with Creator, with Jesus.

Job did not get answers, but got to hear from the Divine Answerer. Job got a similar answer, I think, that poet Mary Oliver did. Here is her poem, ‘I Go Down to the Shore.’

I go down to the shore in the morning

and depending on the hour the waves

are rolling in or moving out,

and I say, oh, I am miserable,

what shall –

what should I do? And the sea says

in its lovely voice:

excuse me, I have work to do.

Isn’t this the experience in Job 38-41. The focus of the trees and the seas, the birds and the stars is not you or me. What’s going on out there is much bigger than any one of us. 

We like to give meaning to nature’s things; people do this all the time. A bright red bird, a cardinal, visits your yard: it is a deceased loved one. It rains on a loved one’s wedding: good luck. What about our big issues? Do we meet our God out in the world like Job did? When we see the sunset or the tides, the frost or the white-tailed deer? 

I think I have mentioned my friend, Brian, before. He was born in the 1940s. He is a paraglider, for decades climbing up hills around Parrsboro, waiting for the wind to be right so he can take off with his wing and soar like the hawks. His partner, Ruth, would joke that he is up on a hill somewhere, ‘working out his problems.’

Brian is such a relaxed man, we don’t think of him having many problems to work out. But that’s the experience of some - getting out, getting away from it all, to ponder and process life’s challenges. 

Indigenous spiritually is deeply rooted in all the creatures of the earth. Even a lake or a mountain is thought of in personal ways, not to mention the raven or the squirrel. An upcoming Crash Course video about religion will ask, “can a river be a person?” Can the Maccan River be my brother? When we think of each part of the environment as personal, we may respect each element and living thing more. My brother is worthwhile, my sister is valuable.

God may answer us in our problems not with answers, but with being there, the divine presence. And some holy perspective. This world is not all about me. It has even been said, ‘your life is not about you.’ Even, like Job of old, we may live to prove that evil is wrong. Your life is not about you; your life is your message. ‘Actions speak louder than words,’ don’t we say. Amen to that. 

God knows all the things of creation. Including you. God is here. Meeting Creator in creation is a piece of every single day. And can be profound and powerful in some serious moments of life.

SERMON: Who Can Be Saved?

(Job 23:1-11; Heb 4:12-16; Mk 10:17-31) J G White

10:30 am, Sun, Oct  13, 2024, FBC Amherst

This month’s First Testament readings are from the ancient book of Job. Job being a man who is painfully ill, and the rest of his life was destroyed also: the possessions & the people near & dear to him. 

What can save Job? Today we heard from the middle of the book, the middle of all the speeches between Job and those who visit him. Here, Job cries out, not finding God. If only he could find the Creator, who would defend him as if in a court of law, and prove Job innocent. Because his ‘friends’ all think him guilty. 

In my own experience, this month, I have all these people under my care who are seriously ill. The ones who are undergoing amazing cancer treatments, which are very hard at times, but miraculous in their own way too. The people who have been through many treatments, and perhaps are healed, healed for a long time into the future. The folks who are just starting to find out what the problem in their body is, and what can be done about it. And the people who have been through it all, there is no more healing work to be done, and the number of future days here is unknown.

I wonder about my prayers for them (& guiding your attention to them) & how we find Jesus the Great Physician. Is our Holy Healer as hard to get to as a doctor at the ER of a Nova Scotia hospital? Can our friends be saved from pain and problems? Be saved from dying? 

What words of Job did we read from today?

O that I knew where I might find him,

that I might come even to his dwelling. (23:3)

If I go forward, he is not there; 

or backward, I cannot perceive him; (23:8)

If God’s saving help is sometimes for all the challenges of this life, making that connection is so important. And hard when others around us think we have what we deserve. But deep in the soul is that longing, that knowing of the One who made us, who is Love.

Here is another example I think of when I read Job - I wonder about people who are oppressed, mistreated by ‘friends.’ Who can be saved? Saved from injustice?

A week or two ago I got a book I’d been curious about since it came out in 2016. ‘Secret Path’ by Gord Dwonie and Jeff Lemire: the story of a boy who fled residential school, in October, 1966, and tried to walk home, find home; and did not. The harsh and poignant tale of Chanie Wenjack is told in this graphic novel and poetry. I think there is really nothing for me to say about it: it simply needs to be seen, viewed, read. Perhaps Next Sunday I will pay particular attention in our worship to indigenous peoples and our Gospel. October is Mi’Kmaw history month in Nova Scotia.

Who can be saved? What do we think is meant by the question?

Saved. Saved from what? Saved for what?

Saving people from afterlife problems, and evil now.

Saving people and communities from hurricanes.

Saving people and communities from war and violence. 

Saving them from illness, pain, injury.

Saving more than us - all of creation, which might be crashing. 

Another book I bought this year is Brian McLaren’s “Life After Doom: wisdom and courage for a world falling apart.” I just started reading it. It speaks of how we, as earth destroyers, are needing mercy and grace and hope, in the face of the impossible, perhaps. (I also rewatched, recently, that film, Don’t Look Up, which is funny and thought-provoking.) ‘It’s the end of the world, as we know it’ - and do we feel fine?

We have been so rich in things - probably become too rich, on the backs of the whole creation, and other people - and we have even stolen from the future generations, really. Taken and used up too much of what is here. 

Can we be saved? Or will the only salvation be in the afterlife - this world will end? What’s left of things here will become, more and more, a place of suffering? 

Going to heaven is not the goal of religion, wrote Richard Rohr. Salvation isn’t an evacuation plan or a reward for the next world. Whenever we live in conscious, loving union with God, which is eventually to love everything, we are saved. This can and should happen now in this world. Social justice advocate Dorothy Day (1897-1980) credited Catherine of Siena’s inspiration for her often-shared words: “All the way to Heaven is heaven, because He said, ‘I am the Way.’” (Richard Rohr, Dec 19, 2017)

All the way to heaven is heaven. Jesus is the Way. Day by day, we might get back to God. You may know the story of a newborn baby’s homecoming, which illustrates the implanted memory of union with God or heaven. A newborn’s precocious four-year old sibling tells her parents, “I want to talk to my new little brother alone.” The parents put their ears to the nursery door and hear the little girl saying to her baby brother, “Quick, tell me! Who made you. Tell me where you came from. I’m starting to forget!”

When we have forgotten, we need a path back. 

Friday here, we had a wedding rehearsal, and yesterday afternoon the wedding. What a joyful time it is for me to spend some time with a bunch of twenty-somethings, and several couples have a baby or toddler. Their lives together are beginning, and new people are being born. There is such joy in these young, innocent lives. 

I wonder what hopes and dreams the next generations have. Also what dreads and fears. Who can be saved? I believe the door of hope is open, but not easy. There is good news from God for these generations too. We get to be deployed here to share the path of Jesus, and in the values we spelled out in our Statement of Inclusion, for instance. 

Who can be saved? Back in the days of Jesus, a person who got to be wealthy was thought of as blessed. But it is easier to thread a needle with a camel than get a rich person into God’s Kingdom! If the blessed could barely get into the Kingdom, what hope is there? Jesus told His disciples, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

When we are most needy, blessing is most possible. When we are most in need of healing, of hope, of justice, of belonging, of answers, or of purpose, it is then that we are ready for the impossible to happen.

We look for all things possible, in all the ways we think of ‘salvation.’ So we follow Christ, and we find out!

STORY: Who Belongs In Christ's Garden

(Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12) J G White

10:30 am, Sun, Oct 6, 2024, FBC Amherst

A garden parable, about the Family of God, the Church. 

Who belongs? What plants belong in the garden of Christ?

Let me go through the seed packages I found…

Peas - Ah, those will be lovely in the spring!

Pumpkins - Nice! A year from now I will be so happy.

Spinach - Mmm. I could probably plant a fall crop now.

Swiss Chard - Oh yeah, I’ve had that. Very nice.

Sunflowers - I guess that would be OK. Flower and food.

Heirloom Tomatoes - not in a real package? 8 years old?

Spaghetti Squash - what is that? How do you eat it?

German Giant Radish - why not just a normal, red R?

Kale - isn’t that a bit too healthy? Bitter and tough? Too trendy. And they attract a lot of green caterpillars!

Parsley - that’s a decoration, not a real food, eh?

Sage - uh, that isn’t a food either, is it?

Peanuts - what? Good, but they don’t grow around here!

Cape Gooseberry - what on earth are these? 

Milkweed - that isn’t a food. And it's a poison weed, right?

unlabelled: Calendula? - why would Jesus plant that?

I think we only have five or six things to plant. Agree?

So it is not in the Kin-dom of God. 

For we will reap what we sow

When we include only those we know.

SERMON: Complain, Complain, Complain Why? - Rev. Marlene Quinn

As we prepare to receive this morning’s message, let us come before the Lord in Prayer. Let’s pray: O Lord let the words of my mouth and the mediations of all our hearts be acceptable to you, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

In Cumberland County we are known to talk about the weather a great deal. A saying we often use; if you do not like the weather wait 5 minutes it will change. So what do we say about the weather? Well, it’s too hot, it’s too cold? We have too much rain? Not enough sunshine. Too windy. We call this talking about the weather but if we wanted too we could call it complaining. Why? Because there is absolutely nothing we can do about the weather it is all controlled by God, our creator, our sustainer. But this is what the Israelites are currently doing in our scripture reading today.  (Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16-24-29).

 The Israelites were God’s chosen People. Back in the Book of Exodus they were enslaved by the Egyptians, they cried out to God to rescue them from their enslavement. God called Moses to lead his people out of Egypt, out of bondage, into a land flowing with milk and honey in other words freedom. 

The Israelites ended up spending 40 years in the wilderness before they reached the Promise Land, meaning two generations. The Bible considers one generation to be 20 years. Some of the older Israelites who started out on this journey would have passed on but their family members would have heard stories about the enslavement, how they were treated, how they were fed, how they were sheltered. By the time this section of Numbers would have been experienced the Israelites had spend a great deal of time in the wilderness. They would be feeling frustrated, discouraged, depressed, after all when would this journey end? When would they be in the promise land? When they run out of food they complain to Moses about their hunger, their lack of food and why is God not providing for them on this journey. Moses takes his concerns to God. Why? Moses was called by God in the burning bush event to lead the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan. God spoke directly to Moses and Moses communicated God’s words directly to the Israelites.

 God provides manna food from heaven bread for their consumption. Manna. What is it? It was a white powdery substance which fell at night on the ground, it had to be gathered early in the morning before it got too hot or it would melt.

The Israelites gathered just enough for their meals each day, except for the Sabbath. The day before the Sabbath they would collect enough for two days as God did not send the manna on the Sabbath. Recall the 10 commandments, God gave Moses: Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. On all the other days if they gathered more than what was needed for one day whatever was left over would spoil. The Israelites would take this substance and make bread out of it to eat.

I want to back track just a bit. Numbers 10 the Israelites are currently camped at Mount Sinai where God gave Moses the ten commandments. They set out from here to continue their journey to the promise land. It has been a long, long time since they had left Egypt. For most of us a coffee and a cinnamon roll smothered with cream cheese icing is a treat. But image if you were to drink and eat this everyday for breakfast, lunch and supper for years. YA I hear you.

Well this is exactly what the Israelites were doing they were grumbling about their steady diet of manna. They were reminiscing about how good they had it in Egypt (We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all to look at and eat but this manna.

It is important to remember the Exodus account; it was not only the people of Israel who came from Egypt but Egyptians as well as people from other nations also came with the people of Israel. It is this group called the rabble that start crying for meat and then the Israelites join in with them. Yet they had forgotten about their enslavement and how they had cried out to God to rescue them.

The Israelites in their reminiscing felt it cost them nothing to eat fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, garlic. Did it cost them nothing? That food cost them their very lives as they were slaves in Egypt. But all they can think about is the variety of food. Even though this manna was made into breads, cakes, and pastries the Israelites could no longer stomach eating it.

The problem here is what people are communicating. They are essentially saying life was better before they knew God. Life was better when they were not on the way to the promise land. Life was better when they were enslaved.  So....they are actually complaining about what they do not have. They are complaining about what God is not giving them.

In the first three verses they were complaining about what God was giving them in life (hardships).

Now they are complaining about what God is not giving them (a better menu of food). The Israelites had wept again and said” If only we had meat to eat! They remember the provisions of Egypt and complain against God’s provisions.

God says he will give the people meat to eat but they will not just eat it for one or two days but for a month until it comes out their noses and they hate it “because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, ‘Why did we come out of Egypt?’” (11:20). God says he is going to give the people so much meat that they will hate it.

We need to remember back in the Book of Exodus the Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians and cried to God to rescue them from their bondage. Yet when they got tired of the manna God was sending to them so they could eat, the Israelites forgot about their enslavement and how they cried out to God to rescue them. We know this when we read the question why did we come out of Egypt? (Numbers 11:20).

Now we see how sensitive Moses has become from dealing with these people day after day.

Moses can’t understand how it will be possible to feed over 600,000 people meat. We can’t even kill all our flocks for us to have meat to eat (11:22). God, what you said is not possible. Now before we go on I want us to catch something. You have heard this story before. You have seen this happen before in the New Testament. When Jesus is going to feed the 5000, Jesus tells the disciples to not send the people away but to give them food to eat (Matthew 14:16). Remember the response of the disciples is the same. I wanted you to see Jesus modeling the events of the exodus and the wilderness so the people will see Jesus as the greater Moses. So back to Numbers 11 we see God’s answer to be simple.

Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Is there something God cannot do? The hand of the Lord speaks to his power. Is it possible for God’s hand to not accomplish what he says? Now you will see whether my word will come true for you or not. God can and will always do what he says. Moses understands something the people do not understand: it is not about Moses. The people think it is about them. Our life is hard. We do not have the food we want to eat. We want what we want when we want it. We deserve certain things from God. We think God should do things for us. But Moses understands it is not about himself but about God. The people think it is about themselves; so that is why they complain.

This leads us to what God is going to do to teach the people.

There are so many problems with the sin of complaining. First, our complaints are received by God as acts of faithlessness. We are not happy with what God is doing for us. We are telling God we know better than he. We are telling God this life he has ordered is not good enough. When we complain we are undervaluing the provisions of God. Is this not what the people say throughout this chapter? They are complaining about their hardships. They are complaining about the food they are eating. God is doing a terrible job. Ultimately, complaining is the rejecting of the Lord who is with us on this journey. We are in the wilderness on the way to the promise land.

 How many times have we complained against the Lord about our circumstances, about our provisions, and about our possessions? How about the words of these Israelites? Our strength is dried up and we can no longer go with the Lord because of what is happening in our lives and what God is doing for us.

What Moses says is the answer to complaining and the answer to walking by faith: it is not about me. I am not important in God’s story. My life is a part of God’s story. God is not a part of my life story. I am part of God’s story. May God use me as an instrument in his service. This is what Moses understands. This must be our outlook on life if we will walk by faith and avoid complaining.

This leaves us with the final piece of the account. What did these people need? They needed an intercessor to go before God. The wrath of God is deserved against us for all our complaining. How often we have been faithless toward God because we have complained about his provisions or about the hardships of life. But God has given us an intercessor who goes before God on our behalf so that we do not have to experience the wrath of God. Jesus is our faithful intercessor whose sacrifice makes atonement possible, covering over our sins.

Put away the heart of complaining and grab hold of Jesus as our faithful advocate and intercessor who saves us from the wrath of God which we most certainly deserve. It is not about me. It is about God. It is about his story, not mine. Our lives are in his hands and he will use us for his purposes. Amen

SERMON: Whence Wisdom?

(Prv 1:20-33, Ps 19, Jm 3:1-12) J G White

10:30 am, Sun, Sept 15, 2024, FBC Amherst

Whence wisdom? Whence cometh wisdom? Where, how, when do we find answers, truth, the best ways to live this life?

I almost named this sermon ‘Wise / Dumb,’ a play on ‘wisdom,’ but at the end of the week, I did not want to home in on the contrast between wisdom and being dumb or foolish. Even though we hear that contrast in the opening scene of the book of Proverbs in the Bible. Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice… “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?”

Do we ever hear true wisdom offered up on street corners? In our community?  Three Sundays ago, at the corner of Ratchford and Havelock, a street preacher, with amplification, was calling out the local church and minister, giving an incessant warning. I don’t think that was wisdom - at least, not much. No great fount of it. 

Think about where you find wisdom today. Where you go for life coaching, for personal guidance, for help in understanding your world. What teachings attract you? What spiritual guides do you end up paying attention to, these days? There are many, many sources claiming to be an ‘answer.’

In God’s world, much of the wisdom does come to us through people. Some wise Jew of the ancient world was inspired to put these proverbs down on papyrus. We have people we know in our own lives who are wise ones, elders - some of them - whom we go to, to whom we listen, when they speak. 

Last week one person I spent some time with is elderly: in her nineties. She is experienced in life. Though she has suffered vision loss, and is hard of hearing, her mind and heart are still keen. We got talking - she and her daughter and I - about time, and age, previous generations and the younger ones around us now. This woman’s memory is keen. And I think she is still learning things. Learning things about her family. Learning things about how to live life when you can’t see much anymore, and everyone has a new phone number, and you must simply memorise them all, for instance. She keeps up a skill so many of us have lost. 

She might not claim to be a wise elder.  She might even have days when she wonders why she is still here, still alive. We who know her are grateful for her. She remains a touchstone of wisdom, a gift from God among us, as every person is, to tell some truth. I think the biblical Woman, Wisdom, calls out to those who will listen: when I meet up with this elder, here in our town. And many others.

We did not quite read Psalm 19 today: we read a poem inspired by it. Don’t you just love Psalm 19? The heavens are telling the glory of God. The days and the nights speak, but there are no words. It is a communicating Cosmos we live in. The first half of the Psalm is all about the sky, which I enjoy immensely. And does it speak? Is there wisdom? Yes, yes there is. Holiness grows as we are silent before it. 

Having lived so much of my life near the Bay of Fundy and the Minas Basin, I am a tide watcher. The Biblical people did not have tides to view, so none of their stories and poetry are tidal. The closest they come is when the Hebrews crossed the ‘Reed Sea,’ and forty years later, the Jordan River. The stormy sea is so often a threat, a danger in their imagination. 

For me, the steady, somewhat predictable, tidal cycle is so powerful, so sure, so beautiful, so dangerous, so amazing. I can wander for hours at Five Islands, Economy Point, Kingsport or Cape Split and watch the water flow in, relentlessly. This summer I was hiking one morning with friends along the beach from Fox River to Diligent River. It was sunny, and perfectly calm. Barely a ripple on the water. The water was moving, the tide flowing in the channel to fill the Minas Basin. At one point, looking across to Cape Split, about 6 kms away, I could hear a sound: a gentle roar in the distance. No plane, no car to be heard, not a boat in sight. It was the water. It was the water ripping and rushing and foaming over at Cape Split. We could hear it roaring, kilometres away. 

It gets called the Voice of the Moon, that roaring water of the Split. Because the Moon (with the Sun’s help) is sloshing all this water around the earth, and speaking with that roaring salt water. As Regina Coupar’s Psalm 19 says,   we look to the sea

and feel

your strength in the waves

Or as an old hymn says:

All nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres.

You, you may seek and find wisdom - and the voice of God - in other elements of nature. The birds in your yard. The flowers and fruit growing. The animals of your life. Hand in hand with the words of scripture are the words of the whole world.

And, we look for wisdom in those who teach and train and write and guide.  But we have warnings, in the New Testament, in James. A retired teacher read aloud, Not many of you should become teachers, my siblings, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make mistakes. And a preacher repeats the words. 

There are so many teachers and preachers among us: in books, in lecture halls, in pulpits; in blogs and podcasts, TV and internet; the influencers and activists and authors. They are inside Christianity, and on the fringe, and outside it completely. Could not our loving, powerful Master make use of most of them? So it was in Bible days.

I thought I should listen to some local voices of leadership and life coaching and motivational speaking. More than one resident of Amherst is a guide, with podcasts and books and seminars on offer. Perhaps you know some. Perhaps you have found some wise counsel and encouragement and correction and guidance. I found it quite interesting - and encouraging- this week, to listen to Stephanie Allen on podcasts, and Patrick Manifold. 

Bless God for the gifts of good advice and wonderful thinking. Bless God for the gifts of powerful storytelling and wise counsel. Bless God for the gifts of beautiful artistry and inspiring creativity. These all speak - sometimes beyond words - to the soul and body and society. Bless us when we do long for and hunger for wisdom…

Let me close with wise words from a wise person. Christian author, Frederick Buechner, said this about ‘Wishful Thinking,’ which was also the title of one of his delightful books. 

Christianity is mainly wishful thinking. Even the part about Judgment and Hell reflects the wish that somewhere the score is being kept. 

Dreams are wishful thinking. Children playing at being grown-up is wishful thinking. Interplanetary travel is wishful thinking. 

Sometimes wishing is the wings the truth comes true on. 

Sometimes the truth is what sets us wishing for it.

[1973, p. 96]