Sermon by Susan Wells

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Sermon by Elliott Siteman

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Sermon by Stuart Pike

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Sermon Text:

Deuteronomy 30: 15-20

Matthew 5: 21-37

It was Tuesday when I read over the lessons for today in the presence of our administrative assistant, Sandra and our volunteer receptionist, Jackie. I think my first words were Oi vey! They saw my dismayed reaction to the Gospel as I read it to them, and my further dismay when I realized that I hadn’t had the forethought to schedule Elliott to preach on this one!

How does one preach on this text, with its graphic images of hacking off body parts in order to save oneself from the fires of hell? Most of you know me well enough to know that I’m really not a fire and brimstone kind of preacher. And how is this Jesus, whom we often portray as so loving and accepting and forgiving, now seeming to be so judgmental all of a sudden? What is that all about?

And these might be considered hard sayings of Jesus – especially in this rather permissive age, not to mention within an ostensibly tolerant and forgiving culture.

Well, after looking further at the lessons – especially the Old Testament and Gospel lessons a little more closely, I can sum it up with this: “God cares about our relationships.”

We’ve all been told many times that God cares about us as individuals, but more than that, God also cares about our relationships. In other words, God not only cares about us, but God also cares about how we are with each other.

In the Gospel lesson here, Jesus is still giving his sermon on the mount. This is the third of four consecutive weeks of readings from the sermon on the mount. This week we have the first few of a series of antitheses. Each one in the form, “You have heard it said … but I say. Each time Jesus quotes a law, but then seems to notch it up further.

Remember that last week Jesus said that he wasn’t here to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them.

Jesus quotes the law against murder, but then says that it’s not enough just not to murder, but that we must also treat one another with respect, and that means not saying hateful words to each other.

Jesus says it’s not enough just not to commit adultery, but we must also not treat people as objects to satisfy our imaginations and lusting after them

Then for probably the hardest saying to our ears: He quotes the law about divorce, but then says that it was because of hardness of heart that this law was given. He says that it’s not enough for us to follow the letter of the law regarding divorce, but that we must not treat other people as disposable.

Jesus says it is not enough for us to not swear falsely, or tell lies, but that we must truthful lives, so that we don’t have the need to make oaths at all.

God cares about our relationships. God cares about the commitments that we make to each other. God wants us to live in right relationship with each other.

Now it would be the easier thing for me to simply move on to another point in the Gospel, but I really feel that I should face the hardest saying of Jesus head on.

We live in such a culture of self-gratification. We call it by nobler names, such as self-fulfillment, but at the heart of it is still the feeding of the ego and our own desires. Other people can become objects or they can just be considered disposable as we move on.

Now I know that there are all sorts of reasons why marriages break down, and that very often it is not the choice of both of the parties, but it is disheartening the number of times I meet someone whose marriage had dissolved after years of trouble and yet the couple never once went for counseling. It seems to happen more and more.

Usually when I am preparing people for marriage, they are in the exciting dopy

Rector’s Charge to Vestry by Stuart Pike

Photo Credit: Sandy Darling of Christ’s Church Cathedral

As is our custom here at St. Luke’s, on vestry Sunday I give my charge to vestry, rather than preaching a sermon. However, I am struck by how well the biblical lessons for this Sunday fit into what I wanted to speak with you about in this charge.

I have a feeling that Gospel Lesson might be one of our Director of youth and Family Ministry, Elliott Siteman’s favourites. In fact our Youth Group is called the Salt and Light youth group. And Hymn 502 “You are Salt for the Earth” has got to be definitely one of Elliott’s favourites!

Jesus calls his disciples salt and light. Both of these things are to be used for purpose. Salt makes a critical difference in a recipe, in enhances it. Even a small amount is mixed into the ingredients and it changes the whole to make it better.

Light does not exist just to be hidden, but it is to be put on a lampstand to make a difference to everyone. It transforms darkness and enables the people to have the vision to do what they must do. Both salt and light are transformative and Jesus uses them here to show how the disciples are to enable the transformation of people so that they can see the new kingdom, can work to usher in the new kingdom and invite others to live in its reality.

This is our task as the followers of Jesus in this Parish Church of St. Luke. We are to be salt and light, to make a difference to both the members of this Church and to those outside that they may see and enter the new Kingdom.

I am so grateful for all the ways that the people of this parish have been salt and light over this past year. Those ways are varied and numerous and I am particularly thankful for them during what has been a challenging year.

First of all, I want to say how much I have missed the ministry and counsel of Cheryl Fricker, our Vicar, who has been on leave of absence for almost 11 months and who we now know will not be returning to parish ministry with us. She did an amazing job for us in her short time here. She spear-headed our needs assessment which will continue to shape our ministry and outreach into the future. She was instrumental in helping us partner with Art House – a free afterschool program for children in the community. She was there as we started to catch a vision about gathering the wider community together regularly for a meal which would provide food for those who are hungry and friendship for those who are lonely. She was very committed to providing excellent pastoral care and education to our parish. We continue to pray for her own healing, and her daughter’s, and we know that Cheryl will continue to be salt and light for God’s Kingdom in many other ways as God is calling her.

I would like to thank the Clergy team that has helped me out tremendously during this challenging year. Elliott Siteman took on some additional pastoral duties from time to time and Sheila Plant really stepped up to the plate with much more pastoral and worship work as well as all of her work in outreach. Carole Langlotz stepped into the breach and assisted tremendously with both pastoral and liturgical duties. I simply could not have done without them all.

Our administrative team including Sandra Tiernay and Chris Hughes plus our volunteer receptionists, Marilyn Barnes, Jackie Maver and Elizabeth Flett have ensured that our office runs smoothly and that all our administrative needs for worship are well met. Thank you all for your hard work.

I would also like to thank an excellent executive, which consists of the Rector’s Warden, Bill Stafford, the people’s warden, Dorothy Kew, the deputy Rector’s Warden, Heather White and the deputy People’s Warden, Alan Brodie and our treasurer, Chris Miller. They have been greatly

Sermon by Elliott Siteman

Photo Credit: Chickens in the trees on Flickr.com

Sermon by Stuart Pike

Photo Credit: Freestone Wilson on flickr.com

Sermon by Sheila Plant

Photo Credit: Waiting for the Word on Flickr.com

Sermon by Elliott Siteman

Photo Credit: Waiting for the Word on Flickr.com

Sermon by Stuart Pike

Photo Credit: Dr. He Qi of China

Sermon Text:

Today we hear the story of the end of a long journey. The three wise men finally were able to see the result of the prophecy of the star. The word, Epiphany means to display or to manifest. It alludes to a great truth shining through. It describes how it was that the Magi were able to travel a great distance to eventually find themselves at a humble village ‑ how, upon entering the humble home they would find a baby born in abject poverty ‑ and how, even in this unlikely setting, they were able to see God's presence there. God's love shone through in this unlikely scene, and the Magi were able to realize this. This was Epiphany for the wise men: the power of God shining through the seemingly mundane.

Matthew, the evangelist presents a very different story than the Christmas story that we get from Luke. In Luke, we have the simple story of Jesus being born in poverty and recognized and worshiped only by poor shepherds. The religious elites and the nobility of Israel are completely unaware of the great birth.

Here in Matthew we do have the nobility arrive to pay homage, but it’s not the nobility of Jesus’ own people! They are still caught unawares. These nobility that do arrive are the magi – from the east – with strange traditions and religion. They are outsiders. Probably from Persia, what is now Iran. They studied the stars – they were the scientists of their day. They were probably followers of the Zoroastrian religion. They are seekers after the truth, and they find their truth in the Christ child.

I might have been burned as a heretic at one time for saying it, but today we can celebrate that the truth of Christ is present in all of the great faith traditions as well as in science and in the experience of truth seekers of all kinds.

There are many lessons which we can learn from the story of the Magi. First of all is the fact that the religious leaders of Jesus’ own religion were closed to any new revelation about God. God’s revelation can come through outsiders. We religious people can easily become far too smug in our faith. The false belief that “my religion has the monopoly on truth” has resulted throughout history in some of the greatest violence the world has seen.

Revelations of God’s truth usually seem to come in ways that defy our cultural norms or expectations. God surprises us with truth from the farthest margins.

The Magi are guided on their journey by a star. God can reach us through the natural world as well as through human beings. God can speak through our own experience of nature, if we are aware and looking for the signs of God. Science as well as religion can reveal God’s truth. Some of the newest scientific discoveries have shown how the whole universe is so interconnected and in rhythm.

The Magi are also guided in their journey through a dream. God can be revealed not only in the conscious mind, but also in the unconscious. God communicates through dreams four times in the first two chapters of Matthew’s gospel.

At the end of the Gospel lesson, the Magi return home by another road after having been warned in a dream. We too need to be open to other ways. Many people find themselves not where they expected to be at this point in their lives. Often God is revealed to us not when we are on the familiar, expected path.

In his Christmas message in 1939, just as England had entered into world war 2, King George VI quoted a Poem entitled “God Knows” written by Minnie Louise Haskins. He quoted:

‘And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.” And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand i

Sermon by Elliott Siteman

Photo Credit: Lawrence OP at Flickr.com