EMMANUEL UNITED CHURCH

SCRIPTURE READINGS

June 5, 2011

GOD’S WORD FOR US

The First Lesson is John 17:1-11

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, ²since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. ⁴I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. ⁵So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

⁶“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; ⁸for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. ⁹I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. ¹⁰All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. ¹¹And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 

THE RESPONSIVE LESSON:  Psalm 12

I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where will I look for help?

          My help comes from God,

          who has made heaven and earth.

God will not let your foot stumble;

the One who protects Israel will not slumber.

          The One who protects you

          will neither slumber nor sleep.  R

It is God who protects you,

your defence at your right hand.

          The sun shall not strike you by day,

          nor the moon by night.

God will protect you from all evil,

God will protect your life.

          God will protect your going and coming,

          now and forever.

THE NEW TESTAMENT LESSONS are Mark 10:32 and Revelation 21:1-6

They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, 

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ²And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

    “See, the home of God is among mortals.

    He will dwell with them;

    they will be his peoples,

    and God himself will be with them;

⁴    he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

    Death will be no more;

    mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

    for the first things have passed away.”

⁵And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” ⁶Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.

“The Last Word”

   I wanted to call this sermon, “The Impatience of the Parson” or “Peeves of the Pastor,” But I thought that was not very elevating.  It is not good for  your V.A.M. Minister to complain or be sour.  Complaining about the world, or brow-beating a congregation does more harm than good.  Nevertheless after 50 years in ministry, it seems alright to have one sermon which is rather out of sorts, and griping, and even a little negative.  Only God is truly patient with human beings for a long time, a very long, long, time. The patience of God is well known in Scripture and in our lives.  Until finally even God says, “Enough!  You have chosen the lessor gods and the lessor life,now stew in it, for a long, long time.”  I had another title for this sermon.  It might well have been, “When God Gets Fed Up.”

   Well, let's get my minor petty, peeves about the world out  of the way.  That's lighter fare. Some of these may make you impatient, also.  I am annoyed by people with cell phones and beepers, unless they are doctors or emergency aid people.  These people interrupt my dinner or lunch at a restaurant in order to close a deal.  They make appointments as I walk along the streets. In public places I can hear the content of their sales, or their meaningless conversations.  You even hear them ringing  at funerals and weddings.  The cell phone which began as a sort of one-ups-man-ship across North America and Europe, is  now a general nuisance.  Here's another complaint.  It's beeps, you look, you read, then you text back, all the while you are in conversation with someone.  I am weary of those who say, “No Problem,” when it is obvious there is a problem, and of waiters who are compelled to say, “Enjoy,” every time they put a plate in front of you.  I am annoyed when people say to me on Fridays, “Have a nice weekend”---as if I was not working on Saturdays or Sundays.  Of course the classic irritant is the wise guy who says, “Well, you work only one day a week” and laughs like crazy, as if that is the first time I have ever heard that jibe.  (ad nauseam)  I am irritated with talking to machines instead of people, even though I must when I call Emmanuel Church, I know it's here to stay.  It is an ugly, dehumanizing wave.  I hate medicines which are childproof, and generally adult proof when you want to get the lid off.  Another is people, usually women, carrying shoulder bags and purses that bang you on the arms and head as they walk by.  I am irritated by listening to music that I didn't ask to hear in elevators, phone calls, doctor's offices and stores.  Silence is golden.  So, what are your pet peeves that  cause you to lose patience or even composure?

   There is a lesson in this: we all need to learn patience, and the only way to develop patience with our fellow human beings, is to suffer impatience, and to suffer it with grace.  As I said, God is patient with all of us, including impatient ministers, because God knows we are not finished yet.  No, I don't think I am finished yet, but I  think that  after 50 years in ministry, one needs to think about retiring from the pulpit and that is what I am going to do today. In any case, here are some last words.  I hope they are a benediction, that is literally, a “bene,” “good,” and “diction,” “word,” a good word.

   First of all, a good word about our Lord, Jesus Christ.  The Psalmist looked to the hills for his help.  And the hills spoke to him of God's protection and presence.  But our hope is in another hill---a man crucified on a hill.  Here is God's wounded way on our behalf to mend what was broken, to heal what was sick among us and to set free those of us who are bound.

   Somehow our life as Christians begins with Him as Master, or it doesn't begin.  We see God through Christ's eyes, as a loving Parent.  We see people through God's eyes, as children who have worth and potential.  We see the meaning of life as self-sacrifice rather than self-praise.  We see the end of life,not as death and foolishness, but as a beginning.  It's a new birth, and going home, and a wedding party. 

   At the centre of our faith is a man on a cross, the Lord Jesus Christ.  The Apostle Paul said it as least twice, so there would be no misunderstanding.  He said, “We preach, not ourselves, but Christ crucified!”

   I have enjoyed the story I read some time ago about a woman who came bustling up to the preacher after church.  She said, “O Pastor, I just love your sermons.  They are so superfluous!”  The preacher had to admit that he never thought of his preaching quite that way.  But the lady went on to say that he should have them printed.  The minister rejoined that he felt that the only way was to do so posthumously.  Whereupon, she said eagerly, “Absolutely.  You should get at it right away.”

   When Phillips Brooks was elevated to the Bishopric, the city of Boston extended to him congratulations upon this deserving honour.  Among the many letters that came to him was one that Phillips Brooks valued above all others.  It was from a tailor who worked in a little shop near the Church building.  This was the letter: “Dear Dr. Brooks: I am a tailor in a little shop near your Church.  Whenever I have the opportunity I always go to hear you preach.  Each time I hear you preach I seem to forget all about you, for you make me think of God.”  Brooks once said, “I had rather carry the memory and message of that tribute to Kingdom Come than all the bags of gold you can drag through the streets of the city.”

   You've heard it all before, BUT, a good word for our Lord, Jesus Christ.

   Secondly, I want to say a good word for the church.  Some of you know me well enough that I am unyielding on this.  There is absolutely no substitute for the Church---our ministry of worship and Christian education and caring and mission together here at Rideau  Park and Emmanuel.  I know of no person who would not be a finer person through the atmosphere of the Church.  I know of no person who would not serve the world better if they were to offer their gifts and ministries through the Church of Jesus Christ.

   In what other community will Christ's life be upheld, if  not in the church?  Will our social clubs feature the cross, or will our Service Clubs talk of finding life by losing it?  Will our veterans organizations or our fraternities  beat the drums for loving our enemies?  O, I don't think so.  And none of them will dare to begin, flat out, calling its members sinners in need of the sheer benevolence of a wounded God.  But there it is.

   Another Bible picture of the Church is as Christ's body.  We are to be the arms and legs and mind and heart of our Lord.  Each of us is a part, and when we are all together, Christ's work get done. 

   And there's another symbol yet, which I like.  It is of the Church as a hospital.  The Episcopal priest, Sam Shoemaker, said it once: “The Church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for the saints.”  Isn't that apt?  Some of us are the walking wounded, some need intensive care in trying times.  Some are just able to put their feet over the side of the bed. Some are outpatients, who yet volunteer to give blood and to be wounded healers here among other people.  No plaster saints, however.

   One more picture I like, and it isn't from the Bible, but seems apt to me.  The church is like a great orchestra playing music which is too great for it, but all are playing.  At Emmanuel and Rideau Park there are thousands of people, (maybe not thousands, but a thousand) people in this orchestra plus lots of children, and each has an instrument to play.  Some get to play only one note the whole time, others  sit in first chairs  and have leadership roles.  But everyone is needed if we are going to hear the music of Jesus Christ. 

   You've heard it all before, BUT there needs to be a good word for the church.

   Finally this, I want to say a good word for the future with all its changes.    With Emmanuel folks moving into a new building, whenever that it....it's going to happen friends, the greatest years are ahead of us.  They are not behind us, not yesterday's glory, but tomorrow's.  I love that verse in the Bible,when Jesus and the disciples are headed for Jerusalem, and it says simply, “And Jesus walked ahead of them.”  He always is out there.  He leads.

   Moving back into our building, there will be changes,but those changes are signs of hope and promise.  And with a great staff, hopefully, they will lead us in new thoughts and styles and directions.  I know you will welcome that.

   For me the future will be different too.  50 years come June 7^th, is a long time to serve as a minister in the United Church.  But let me tell you.  I would do it again. I would do it again.  All of it.

   People are going to ask me: “what will you do with yourself?”  And the answer is “Something different.”  One retiring minister who was a colleague of mine told  the presbytery that in his retirement he would be visiting in churches and walking around in the rear of the sanctuary while the pastor was preaching,the way some of his members did.  That's different.  It gives me ideas.  I suppose  with my first cell phone which I purchased recently, in case of an emergency, I would take it to church and sit five rows back, front and centre in some unsuspecting church, and leave it on.  And when it rang with the opening notes of  “I'll Pick You Up in a Taxi Honey,” and point to someone else as the culprit.  Another thing I might do, which I haven't done at Emmanuel,  is I'd like to rest my eyes during a sermon the way some folks do, and I would like to walk out in the middle of the closing hymn, in order to get to brunch on time.  I've never been able to do that. 

   I will continue to rely on God's grace to tell me who I am and that I have value, even when I'm not having to worry about preparing a sermon, and hoping I say the right things.  I don't think God  is done with me yet.  Like Robert Frost, I hope I have “miles to go before I sleep.”

   I don't have the last word.  God has the last word, and as the Psalmist says, “He will keep our going out and our coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

  Amen.