Remembrance Day 2015

An Act of Remembrance

Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream – Ed McCurdy

Last night I had the strangest dream
I ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war
I dreamed I saw a mighty room
Filled with women and men
And the paper they were signing said
They'd never fight again
And when the papers all were signed
And a million copies made
They all joined hands and bowed their heads
And grateful prayers were prayed
And the people in the streets below
Were dancing round and round
And guns and swords and uniforms
Were scattered on the ground
Last night I had the strangest dream
I ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war.

Setting a Stage

I remember always wondering what my grandfather did during World War II. It was pretty much the one thing he never talked about – sure there was a story, but it was the details that were missing. My grandfather was a train engineer and joined the North Shore Regiment. He trained as a Bren Machine Gunner and fought until September 18^th 1944 when he was shot in the head and left for dead. He was not, though, and was found, recovered and returned to Canada – paralyzed on the right side. He could no longer work with trains so he became a teacher.

That is as far as I ever heard the story. I have filled in a few of the details… They landed in Juno and fought their way through France into Belgium, taking a few towns on the way. There was one sunny day when the allied planes bombed them by accident on a nice field in Normandy – and shortly after they reached Belgium my grandfather was shot… The Regiment continued to Germany, crossing the Rhine and fighting until the end.

See – that was the thing, my father was in the Navy, my grandfather the Army, my great great great great grandfather was even a ships surgeon in the British Navy – or so the story goes, he is the first one to emigrate to Canada – if by that we mean jumping overboard and swimming up to the Gaspe as his ship made its way to fight the French in Quebec.

When I got old enough, I enlisted and made my way through basic training in the Armoured Corp. There was a sense of honour, a sense of family pride, a sense of the idea that our family fights for queen and country.

But I still did not know what it meant.

What does it mean?

When the Iraq war broke out I was 2 years out of the military. I had left my airborne armoured unit to go back to University and was deciding whether to become a minister or not. Someone put up these fake draft notices everywhere in Montreal – I was on a recall list already. I was actually scared I was going to end up fighting… the reality of which filled me with dread. I was no longer the naive and invincible 19 year old who signed up, I figured I might die. 

I had been trained as part of the reconnaissance unit of the 8^th Hussars. My job would be to go ahead of the regular forces and gather information. Now, the life expectancy of an armoured soldier is pretty low – the scout – even less.

I would have gone had the draft be real; but I have to admit I was really, really frightened.

It made me spend a long time soul searching about WHY we make the choices we do, about what it means to fight for peace… which always seems like a contradiction at first glance.

And what I came to see is that there is a religious concept behind all this – there is a sense of justice and respect that comes from our belief in God’s love that makes us want to stand up for the underdog – to fight against bullies – to make the world as safe as possible for everyone!

We see it in the prophet Micah’s vision of a better tomorrow, a time when we allow God to be the judge of the nations and we no longer need swords and spears… a time when justice becomes the norm and everyone is fed and no one is afraid.

Now – this is a dream, remember, it is a vision – a goal – a hope… but it still has something do with what my grandfather thought he was doing when, as a 22 year old, he decided to see the world on the military’s tab.

We believe in a higher standard of right and wrong. We believe in the concept of peace and fairness. That is what it means to follow Jesus.

The Harvest of Peace

That is sort of why I threw James in there as a reading – to help give Micah a little backup in terms of how God sees the world. You see, James knew that war is caused by us – by envy, by pride, by us not trusting each other… and he suggest we need to accept that we are not wise enough to protect ourselves from this – we are not wise enough to always choose the best route forward… Just think of fighting with a family member or a spouse- do you always choose the best thing? So he suggests that we trust in a higher wisdom, a better way, God’s way.

Do you know the story of the Christmas truce from the First World War? It is an amazing story.

On December 24, 1914, thousands of soldiers put down their rifles and stepped out their trenches. British and German soldiers spent Christmas together along the Western font. For a moment of this horrible war, there was peace.

Most accounts suggest that the truce began with the singing of Christmas carols from the trenches. It was a beautiful moonlit night, with white frost on the ground.

Those who were there describe how the Germans would sing one of their carols in German and then the British would respond with one of their carols in English, until finally they all began singing the same hymn.

That hymn was “O Come, All Ye Faithful”, to which they both knew the Latin words. “Ades-tee fi-dell-less lay-tee triumph-antees...”

Two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war. All people singing God's song of peace together. Rumours tell of sharing chocolate and brandy – of playing soccer and in many cases, even refusing to fight when Boxing Day came back around.

It is hard to fight someone once you understand them. It is hard to hate someone when you realize they are just like you are; the same hopes and dreams, family back home, and fear of dying.

Love, Love, Love

To quote the immortal John Lennon – all you need is love.

Well, ok, that is not all you need, but it is at the heart of what you need. Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love – everyone, always, even yourself. And then he said something even harder – go out and help people do that.

This is where it gets tricky. When someone is hurting someone, is stopping them an act of love? When we protect our loved ones by hurting or even killing someone else, is it an act of love? Well – perhaps. I don’t want to say I am condoning violence; I am just trying to point out a very real conundrum we struggle with and a “feeling” that is at the very heart of Remembrance Day.

I think that the people who sing the song of peace the loudest are the ones who have seen the most violence and destruction and disarray. I have never met a soldier who does not carry this vision close to their heart.

Over the bombs and the screams, over the chaos and confusion, they can hear hope.

And that's why these people do this. That is why they risk their lives, say goodbye to their families, and get on a boat or a plane to travel to a warzone. So that the song of peace may be heard throughout the world and that it might matter.

And it shows up in their letters, in their songs, in their poems, and in their stories.

“In Flanders fields the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row...” John McCrae heard the song in the fluttering of the poppies that grew up from the ground.

“Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag, And smile, smile, smile.” With every step of the soldier's march, the song of peace can be heard.

In his song, “Take a Breath”, where David Rivett sings of Normandy, he says: “Look around this old world and See the flags are flying. Hear the voices crying out for love… In the streets they are shouting, and the guns they are firing. See the tears in the eyes of the dove.”

With every beat of a dove’s wing, the song of peace plays on.

That song of peace is what we sing out in our remembering. And it rings out into our world, like a trumpet blast, loud and clear.

This Remembrance Day, listen for it – in the prayers, in the reveille, in the silence, in the footsteps of the parade, in the murmur of the crowd…

And when you hear it, know that it is God's song.  It is a song that has rung out through the ages. 

A cry for harmony.  A rally for unity.  A call to action. 

For when more are able to hear it the world will change.  But we must never forget to listen.  Amen.

EPIPHANY 2 A

“The "show business," which is so incorporated into our view of Christian work today, has caused us to drift far from Our Lord's conception of discipleship. It is instilled in us to think that we have to do exceptional things for God; we have not. We have to be exceptional in ordinary things, to be holy in mean streets, among mean people, surrounded by sordid sinners. That is not learned in five minutes.”

― Oswald Chambers

Introduction of Theme:

God has an invitation for you.

Ever think about the invitations we receive in life? They can be formal, like to a wedding next summer. Or they can be as casual as your daughter saying come and see what I just drew. In each and every case, we make a choice.

I am starting to think it is not the events that happen to us, nor is it the invitations that matter, it is the response.

What defines us is what happens when someone asks us for something. What matters is how we relate to the people that need us.

How we respond shows how much we care after all. It shows us how much the other person means to us. If you care about someone, it is hard to ignore their needs, their problems, their pain.

Jesus taught it to us this way, he said that we should feed the hungry, he said we should care for the widow and the orphan, he said we should cry with those who are sad and rejoice with those are happy.

In other words, he said we should choose how we respond to them. And God’s invitation is to respond like Jesus would. Like God would. We are asked to become disciples.

Exploring the Theme

In the stories we have of Jesus you can see a lot of things at work. Clearly he must have spoken well, cause everyone seemed to listen. I imagine he had a presence so that when you looked at him you trusted him. All of these things made sense. One thing he did not seem to ever do was force anyone to do anything.

In Jesus mind faith was all about you, the listener. He told you the stories, he healed you, he talked to you when you were curious. But he never said to anyone, you need to believe this or else.

In fact, the closest he ever got to that was to tell a rich person that the only thing he could possibly do to be any better was to sell what he owned and help the poor more. It was not a judgement, it was not a command, it was an answer to a question: “I go to church, I help people, I live according to the rules… what else can I do…”

Once upon a time there were some people minding their own business when Jesus walked by and talked to them.

Well, I guess it wasn’t that simple, they were the curious sort already. They had been following along behind John the Baptist for a while trying to figure out what he was up to. They were disciples, trying to learn how to repent, how to be holy.

But then they met Jesus, and they simply asked, what are you all about, and he responded even more simply. Come and see.

Following Jesus was not a command it was not even because they couldn’t help it. It was an invitation. And following was a choice.

We happen to know that whatever they found back at Jesus’ campfire it intrigued them enough to make them want to come back. But at every step, it was their response that mattered. Come and see what I am doing, Jesus said, try it yourself, Jesus said, go over to the next village and give it a whirl, when I am gone, you are welcome to keep trying…

It was their choice, and it was their reaction, that made them followers.

Exploring the Theme:

So let me tell you a story.

Last weekend Ali and I decided to go to Quebec City on Thursday night. It was going to be warm all weekend, maybe some rain, and it is only 5 hours away. We could easily get back to Fredericton on Saturday for Ali to do church in the morning on Sunday.

So… apparently the weather people were wrong. It seemed as we travelled along every highway around us got closed either just before we got there or just after. By Edmunston we were wondering if we should stop…. By St Anne we decided to pull over… so we took the first off ramp with a sign for a motel.

Unfortunately the off ramp was solid ice, as was the road. We found ourselves sliding sidewise down a hill towards a bridge over a river…scariest few minutes of our life till feet cramping on the brakes and pulling on the emergency brake the car finally slid to a stop, still sideways, across the road. Every time we tried to put our gas on and ease of the brake… it just started to go further down the hill… luckily we managed to just get it off the road. And there we stayed, afraid to move.

No Rogers cell phone coverage…. But 911 worked. Still there were no police available in the province of NB to come and help us. They suggested sleeping till morning. An hour and a half later… us thinking if we took our foot of the brake the car would careen into the river, a man named Gerard pulled up with studs on his tires. Let me tell you. I think it might be worth it to that from now on…

He was driving by on his way from work when he saw us. He picked us up and took us to a hotel. It was closed for the season. He drove us to the next place… 50 km down the road, and waited while we asked about a room. None available… off to the next place… His wife and kid were safe at home, he phoned them to tell them he would be late… we got a place and once he knew we were ok, he left… he would not take any gas money, or any thanks really. It was just the right thing to do, he said.

So here we are in a motel surrounded by other stranded motorists, including a stranded CBC news crew, all of whom went off the road in the ice; which made us feel less like idiots. The woman behind the desk was being driven crazy by phone calls and people and panicking… and yet, when our turn came, she focused on us and helped us and apologized for having to charge us.

It was 10 oclock. We had last eaten at 3. The motel restaurant was closed… but there was soup and bread in the fridge and she heated it up for a bunch of us.

In the morning we phoned some friends and asked them to drive an hour out of their way, take us back to our car, and help us get it out. Their response, “give us an hour to get there.”

We still had three hours to drive back to Fredericton, and on the way Ali and I sat in silence for a while… but then we started talking about something in a brand new way. What does God want you to do with your life? What does it mean to follow God?

Now, I don’t know if any of the people we met go to church. I have no idea what their faith is and I did not mention mine. But I hope I am half as good a disciple of Jesus as they are.

Conclusion of Theme

I will tell you this. I am not going to drive by people stopped in a storm anymore if I can possibly stop and help.

Life is not as simple as that. But I am starting to think faith is a lot simpler than I ever thought. Faith is simply a matter of responding… and like I said when I started, how you respond might just be the most important measure of who you are.

Jesus is asking us to stop and look at what he was doing, to come and see how life could be, if we just loved like he did.

But in the end, it is still up to you and me.

CHRISTMAS EVE

A Reading:       Isaiah 9:2-7                                                        

                               

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—   on them light has shined. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. 

For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire. 

For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders;  and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onwards and for evermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. 

Reflection

Thousands of years ago, people longed for something to change. They spoke of it in their poems and songs, they gathered around fires and told stories. One day, things would be different.

We are not so different. We all want things to be better next year than they were this one, we all want to believe in the idea that there is something more.

And so we gather with our families, on one of the darkest nights of the year, to believe in miracles...

I saw an ad on Kijijji yesterday, it is an online place where you can sell stuff, and the ad was offering Christmas spirit. It said, if you have no one to spend Christmas with, come to our house, if you have nothing for supper, we have a ham we can give you, if you have no gifts, we have gift certificates for the stores... then I read how the power is out in half of Moncton today, so the Crown Plaza, one of the nicer hotels in town, is offering rooms to anyone without power for 30 bucks.

Life will not get you down, Isaiah said, There is such goodness in the world that we will see light shining in the darkness... and tonight, we see that light. Here. Now. In the faces of those who have gathered.

A Reading:    Luke 2:1-7

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.      

Reflection

It all starts with this... with the baby in the manger... and we can see it in so many different ways; God bending near the earth and coming to live among us... God’s love showing up in unexpected ways in unexpected places... a moment when someone was born that would change everything...

But it is Christmas. And it is worth noting that it happened in an out of the way place and the first people to recognize why this was important were not kings or queens or professors or priests, it was ordinary people, like you and me, like the shepherds, who were able to see in what was happening, something amazing.

A Reading:    Luke 2:8-14                                        

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’

Reflection     

I love the idea of Angels bending near the earth. I love the idea of thin places, of those times when heaven and earth seem very close together. I mean that poetically – like when you see a sunrise, or walk on new fallen snow in the starlight… When you hold a baby or see someone sound asleep with a smile on their face. I love the times when we see God.

I have a romantic notion that the shepherds just could not live without seeing this baby for another second. That it was as if they knew that something magical, something divine was happening and they just had to be a part of it. So much so that they just left… they ran down the hillside to get there in time… they did whatever it would take to be with God.

I have always felt that Christmas was a magical time of year, and I guess what I have always been trying to say is that I feel the magic of God’s presence in these moments. I am not sure how, concretely, that happens… I am not sure what, exactly, I am feeling at times such as these… but it is as if I know that everything will be all right, that I am loved, that goodness really will save the day.

You see, I have seen the stranger push the car out of the snowbank; I have watched someone give 100 dollars to a homeless man on Christmas Eve; I have read stories in which Christmas has the power to change lives and I have seen evidence.

And I think it really is that simple. We all want to believe. We all want to know that we are loved. We all want to have hope. We all want to sing with joy… but we need a reminder every now and again that these feelings are ok. We need to be shown that there is goodness and hope and mercy and love and that in the end, these things do make a difference.

Perhaps it is too simplistic, but I see that in a Christmas Eve service. I see friendly faces, I see candles burning nostalgically, I see lights aglow and new fallen snow… and well… I see God.

Christmas Eve makes me want to run down that hillside too. It makes me want to go and see what God has done, and then take that out into the world... I want to be a shepherd.

                                   

Conclusion

We are like the Shepherds. We are the ordinary people living our lives on the hillside... but every now and again, the miraculous, the holy, the magical breaks through....

We catch a glimpse of God and we see love breaking through... Hopefully tonight in this service, or at home in the morning with the gifts under the tree, something stirs your soul, and you can go from here and take God’s news. Be the messengers and share the love...

And so I send you forth with hope, with peace, with joy, and with love.

Know that the light of Christ goes with you.

May this lovely season of Christmas bring you blessings in abundance.

May the love of God work its magic in your life.

May your heart be filled with hope and joy. 

May you touch every life you meet.

Merry Christmas and peace for you this New Year.

ADVENT IV - Angels

This is a sermon modified from a service created by Ali Smith and I for a powerpoint presentation with Angel movie clips. Due to snow in 2013 I never gave the service, and re-worked it for this sermon....

Advent Four – Angels Among Us

Reading:         Matthew 1:18-25   The Angel Visits Joseph                          

            Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.

            When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph,

            but before they lived together,

            she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

            Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man

            and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace,

            planned to dismiss her quietly.

            But just when he had resolved to do this,

            an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream

            and said, ‘Joseph, son of David,

            do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife,

             for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

            She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus,

            for he will save his people from their sins.’

            All this took place to fulfil

            what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
            ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
            and they shall name him Emmanuel’,
            which means, ‘God is with us.’

            When Joseph awoke from sleep,

            he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him;

            he took her as his wife,

            but had no marital relations with her

            until she had borne a son;

            and he named him Jesus.

Theme Introduction:

            When you picture an angel, what do you see?

            There is a pretty classic image: 

            the perfect human body,

            the white wings enfolded behind the shoulders,

            the halo...

            maybe they are carrying a sword,

            maybe they are brooding silently

            or flying through the air.

            And where do we find angels in our tradition?

            Angels guarded the entrance to the Garden of Eden

            when we were kicked out;

            angels came and destroyed the cities that turned against God;

            angels came to speak to Mary and others about the birth of Jesus,

            they sing in a heavenly chorus

            and angels destroy the world in Revelations.

            It is a bit of a mixed bag -

            from warriors to choirs to messengers.

            But the actual word “angel” has a pretty specific meaning.

            If you trace it back, it comes from the Latin “angelus”

            which in turn traces back to the ancient Greek ἄγγελος (aggelos).

            In any case, it means messenger.

            So angels come to bring a message,

            they come on behalf of the divine,

            and they show us something that we otherwise would overlook.

            Angels exist in Christianity, in Judaism, and in Islam.

            And over the centuries there has been a lot written,

            a lot imagined,

            and a lot of traditions which have developed.

            Believe it or not,

            there are some dozen types of angels

            that we have come to believe in.

            The main divisions are listed in the back of your bulletin.  (Note:  At the end of this document.)

            From Guardian angels who protect us and keep us safe

            to the Cherubim and Seraphim

            that pop up around this time of year in some of our Christmas carols,

            known for their joy and beautiful singing abilities. 

            Who knew that this whole angel thing could be so complex!

            When we think of the stories, the movies,

            the ways in which Angels have been known in popular culture,

            angels are the ones who come to us and show us the way.

            Are they real?

            What exactly is an angel?

            Where do these beliefs in angels come from anyway?

            Join me today as we explore these mysterious creatures.

            Let's think together about who or what they are

            and how they might work in our lives today.

Exploring

Reading:         Exodus 23:20-22         An Angel to Guard You

            I want to read you a couple of verses from Exodus

            that show us that the notion of angels is really quite an old one.

            Listen to what God promises to send to someone who needs help.

            I am going to send an angel in front of you,

            to guard you on the way

            and to bring you to the place

            that I have prepared.

            Be attentive to him

            and listen to his voice;

            do not rebel against him,

            for he will not pardon your transgression;

            for my name is in him.

            But if you listen attentively to his voice

            and do all that I say,

            then I will be an enemy to your enemies

            and a foe to your foes.

Reflection:      “The Stereotypical”

            When most of us think of angels,

            we do think of the Guardian Angel.

            Perhaps it was Michael Landon in Highway to Heaven,

            or maybe Touched by an Angel,

            or maybe It's a Wonderful Life,

            but when angels come to mind for most of us,

            it is this heavenly person sent from God

            to watch over our shoulder.

            This is not the Angel of classical paintings either -

            no wings or perfect bodies.

            Rather they look just like us.

            So ordinary, in fact, that you might never even notice them.

            But you can usually find someone

            who has had an encounter

            or thinks some invisible angel has helped them.

            Perhaps an invisible presence has warned them of a  storm

            or helped them out when their car broke down… or….

            well, you get the idea.

            The thing is,

            this understanding of an angel

            is not mentioned very much in the Bible.

            And it is not all that different

            than how we think of God -

            the voice that leads us,

            our conscience,

            those little voices that warn us of danger.

            This is not to say that this goes against the definition.

            An angel, after all, is a messenger of God.

            An Angel speaks for God.

            An Angel is the voice of God. 

           

            So this is where we start our journey -

            with angels as the voice of God, however we hear it -

            that still small voice,

            or that overwhelming feeling which changes everything.

            I love It’s a Wonderful Life.

            I think we have all been there:

            feeling like nothing we do works out

            or makes a difference.

            And we really do need reminders

            of who we are

            and how much we matter.

            Perhaps that is where these stories come from.

            They come from times when we have somehow been connected

            to the Divine enough

            to hear the way it is at work in our lives.

            The idea of the Guardian Angel comes from

            the feeling that God is speaking to us

            and usually that God is warning us.

            The other thing about this way of seeing God at work amongst us

            is that the end result is up to us.

            The angel comes and speaks to us

            but we are the ones who have to make the choice

            whether to listen or not.

Reading:         Revelation 12:7-9      Michael Defeats the Dragon

            Sometimes certain angels are mentioned by name.

            At Christmas time,

            we hear an awful lot about

            the Angel Gabriel, for instance.

            And then there's Michael,

            an archangel who features at the very end of the Bible

            in the Book of Revelation.

            His claim to fame is described in this way:

            And war broke out in heaven;

            Michael and his angels fought against the dragon.

            The dragon and his angels fought back,

            but they were defeated,

            and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.

            The great dragon was thrown down,

            that ancient serpent,

            who is called the Devil and Satan,

            the deceiver of the whole world—

            he was thrown down to the earth,

            and his angels were thrown down with him.

Reflection:      “The Unexpected”

            So, angels are messengers from God

            but they are not always what we expect.

            In fact, you might say when God interacts with the world,

            it is almost never what anyone expects.

            Jesus born as a baby in order to save the world?

            Not what the people were really hoping for.

            What is it that we are expecting of angels?

            What is it we are hoping for?

            I loved the movie Michael when it came out,

            because it so highlighted the idea

            that this was an angel who was not what anyone expected.

            And it reminds us that what we have in mind,

            really is our own projection.

            The same could be said about our conception of God, right?

            And this is why this is so important.

            The angel is the stand in for God.

            When we imagine angels,

            we are imagining them

            speaking or acting for God.

            And the thing is,

            God is almost never acting the way we want.

            It's like when we talk to someone on the phone for a while,

            or write emails back and forth,

            and then finally meet the person.

            The voice led us to imagine they look a certain way,

            and they do not.

            The Archangels like Michael are not what we expect

            an angel to be.

            In fact, they might just be the opposite of what we expect.

            The image of Christmas angels

            fills our heads with white flowing robes,

            soft angel wings, and harps –

            the very picture of peace on earth.

            But according to legends,

            archangels were the shock troops of God.

            And when you look at the biblical stories about them alone,

            they give us cause to worry.

            These are the soldiers who swoop down from heaven

            and kill every first born child.

            These are the ones who wipe out whole cities.

            They guard the Garden of Eden with flaming swords.

            Now, I mention this not to say

            that our God is a violent, vengeful God

            who sends fully-armed messengers to earth,

            but to make the point that God shows up

            in unexpected places

            and in unexpected ways.

            There is no simple way of understanding God.

            So keep your eyes peeled for God's messengers

            in all kinds of places.

            God may be trying to speak to you

            through the lovely older lady

            who speaks gentle words of wisdom

            but God also might speak through

            the young inexperienced tattooed man too.

            God might try to speak to us

            through the confident preacher on a hillside

            or through the inaudible cries of a tiny baby.

Reading:         Matthew 28:1-7          The Angel in the Garden

            It is interesting that the two events

            that anchor our Christian faith

            rely heavenly on angels.

            We've already talked about Christmas angels,

            and now I'd like to read you about an Easter angel

            from Matthew's Gospel.

            After the sabbath,

            as the first day of the week was dawning,

            Mary Magdalene and the other Mary

            went to see the tomb.

            And suddenly there was a great earthquake;

            for an angel of the Lord,

            descending from heaven,

            came and rolled back the stone

            and sat on it.

            His appearance was like lightning,

            and his clothing white as snow.

            For fear of him,

            the guards shook

            and became like dead men.

            But the angel said to the women, ‘

            Do not be afraid;

            I know that you are looking for Jesus

            who was crucified.

            He is not here;

            for he has been raised,

            as he said.

            Come, see the place where he lay.

            Then go quickly and tell his disciples,

            “He has been raised from the dead,

            and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee;

            there you will see him.”

            This is my message for you.’

Reflection:      “The Comforter”

            Angels can be guardians and angels can be warriors

            but here is another way to understand angels – as comforters. 

            We have all been in those low places,

            those times of our lives when the tears fall too easily,

            or when we cannot possibly imagine what to do next.

            We have all had times where so much seems

            to have fallen apart that we really do not know where to go.

            Picture Mary Magdalene on Good Friday.

            Jesus has been crucified and buried.

            Everything she believed in has been turned upside down

            and if she could wish for one concrete thing,

            it would be for someone to come

            and tell her everything is going to be all right...

            maybe even tell her exactly what to do.

            And that is who she encounters in the garden.

            In those moments when we do not know what to do,

            we hear the voice of God

            or the whisper of the cosmos in our ear

            and it sets us in the right direction.

            We could be talking about conscience,

            we could be talking about a dream,

            we could be talking about someone else

            who is communicating possibilities -

            for those are all ways

            that God speaks to us.

            And so all of these examples

            could be seen as angels of comfort.

            And I see that as another way

            that we are connected to God.

Prayers of the People:

            In this most holy season,

            we have gathered, God,

            to celebrate the birth of Jesus,

            to join our voices with the choirs of angels,

            to come with shepherds to the stable

            and wonder at this Christmas miracle.

            With us,

            we bring the hopes and hurt of the world.

            In this season of abundance,

            we remember those who have little.

            We remember neighbours who are unemployed,

            those whose futures have been frustrated.

            In this season of carols,

            we remember those who have little to sing about -

            all who are lonely, anxious, or sick.

            In this season of festivity,

            we remember those who face

            the harsh reality of oppression and violence.

            Yet through the shadows of our world

            shines the light of your promise.

            The angels' heavenly music

            floats over all the weary world.

            For ourselves,

            we ask strength and purpose,

            to live the love of Christmas Emmanuel,

            God-with-us,

            in whose way we now pray:

-3-

Reading:         Genesis 32:22-31        Jacob Wrestles with an Angel 

            There is a funny little story way back in the book of Genesis

            about Jacob struggling with an angel.

            It is funny in the visual image that pops into your head

            when you think of a grown man in a wrestling match

            with a stereotypical white winged angel.

            It's not so strange though

            when we consider

            how we metaphorically “wrestle” with God

            all the time.

            So, listen to these words

            and see if you can find yourself in them.

            The same night he got up

            and took his two wives,

            his two maids,

            and his eleven children,

            and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.

            He took them and sent them across the stream,

            and likewise everything that he had.

            Jacob was left alone;

            and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

            When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob,

            he struck him on the hip socket;

            and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.

            Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day is breaking.’

            But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me.’

            So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’

            And he said, ‘Jacob.’

            Then the man said,

            ‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,

            for you have striven with God and with humans,

            and have prevailed.’

            Then Jacob asked him,

            'Please tell me your name.’

            But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’

            And there he blessed him.

            So Jacob called the place Peniel,

            saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face,

            and yet my life is preserved.’

            The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel,

            limping because of his hip.

Reflection:      “The Challenger”

            How do we hear the voice of God when it comes to us?

            We have been exploring different ways

            through which the voice comes to us,

            but I want to turn it around for a second

            and put the focus back on us.

            What do we hear?

            How do we hear it?

            Do we always hear it?

            I really think that answer to the last question is no.

            We do not always listen to the wisdom of God;

            in fact, we often get so caught up

            in ourselves or our problems or our despair

            that we need to be challenged

            to see life from a different perspective.

            Sometimes the challenge comes through our acceptance of pain

            and how life is worth living even in the face of that pain.

            At other times,

            it is about being honest with who we are,

            as we see in our reading about Jacob at the Ford in Jabbok.

            Here is a man who has not made peace with his past,

            a man who is feeling a lot of pain.

            And he wrestles with it through the night

            in order to make peace with it.

            He is wrestling with the angel of the Lord,

            according to the story.

            Angels challenge us.

            Angels come and bring with them a wisdom,

            a way of seeing us that we perhaps do not have

            and thus we grow.

            In all of our stories about angels,

            we are looking at the ways we hear the voice of God

            and how it helps us out.

            But there is one step more:

            we need to hear that voice,

            we need to believe that voice,

            and we need to act.

            Look out for the angels,

            for just as they could be heard

            singing in the fields of Bethlehem

            when Jesus was born,

            you can find them in your life too.

            I can't tell you exactly

            how they might appear

            or how you might experience such a presence,

            but I can say that if you open yourself up,

            you will surely hear God speaking to you.

            How will you respond?