Our Shrove Tuesday Menu

A few days ago, St. John's held its annual Shrove Tuesday pancake-and-sausage supper. It was fairly well attended and everybody who was there seemed to enjoy themselves. The proceeds of the supper go to help fund our Vacation Bible School in the summer.

My usual spot for most of the evening.
I had a lot of help this year. Usually the young folks assist but this year,
a more "mature" crowd pitched in.

Some of the early arrivals including the Tillsonburg contingent.

More folks enjoying their pancakes and sausages.

If the pancakes and syrup weren't sweet enough, one of our number kindly donates donuts.
Believe it or not, this is a selling point for some!

More donuts and fritters from the local bakery.

Of course after this, Lent sets in.

The First Sunday in Lent ---- 22 February 2015

(Since this Sunday was the last Sunday of the month, the congregation chooses the Hymn of the Day - actually 5 hymns, 2 verses each, and Worship was followed by the Annual General Meeting of the congregation, I chose to keep my message short.)

Mark 1:9-15

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." 12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

• These words are the first ones Jesus says in the Gospel of Mark. In some ways, he's echoing the message of John the Baptizer as we've found that message in the other Gospels.
• I find it interesting that the phrase “good news” is used twice in this brief, two verse passage. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." To hear this “good news” must have been quite important; in fact, the Gospel of Mark begins with a statement about this good news: The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
• The idea of “good news” is always a welcome one. We all love to hear good news, whether it is about our family, our work, our favourite sports team, or even about the weather. Good news is usually things we like. It's up-building and happy. It is something positive.
• We might wonder how this applies to what we hear in what we refer to as the Gospel (which is nothing less than a translation of the Greek word meaning “good news.”) The over-all idea means that the good news of the Gospel is the message of the coming of the Messiah and of the kingdom of God, all coming to the hearer through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. With this, our lives are changed and the entire world is changed.
• Now how is this good news to us?
• I often think we lose some of the power of the message of the Gospel because most of us have been surrounded with it our entire lives. This doesn't mean that we should forget the Gospel or try to find another way. Not at all. It means something far beyond that.
• The Gospel becomes good new to us when we are confronted with what we can and cannot do for ourselves. The Gospel is good news to us in a particular way after we've spent time in the wilderness as Jesus did. – whether it is some sort of badlands experience or a personal time away from distractions. That wilderness becomes a place where temptations are known and, much more importantly, where the lies we tell ourselves about ourselves are unmasked. Faced with the lies and the temptations that we find within ourselves, we know we can not turn to ourselves, but must turn to God for grace, life, and salvation... and in God, we'll find them and more.
• This is the good news and it's meant for us. This is the message that applies to us always. This is the good news that changes our lives and turns us around, the original meaning of “repent.”
• As we read more of Mark's Gospel as well as the other three Gospels, we'll hear more of this good news. Our Lenten observance will serve us and the good news by clearing our minds and hearts to hear again with a new freshness and power what we've heard for so many years, beginning with these words:

"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

The Transfiguration of Our Lord ----- 15 February 2015

(For those reading this elsewhere in the world, today was icey cold but with bright sunshine. The temperature was about -25ºC and in the sanctuary, it was 17ºC. Dare I say our numbers were down.)

Mark 9:2-9

2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" 8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

• Today is the Sunday of the Transfiguration, the last Sunday of the season after Epiphany, the Sunday before the beginning of the season of Lent. The event narrated by Mark is a rather mysterious one. You've all heard it and you've heard it every year, so there's no sense in me going over it bit by bit. There are some things that are worth looking at more closely.
• As Jesus is transfigured, he is joined by Moses and Elijah there on the mountain. Peter, James, and John are present and are understandibly terrified by all that goes on.
• Many commentators take the presence of Moses and Elijah on the mountain to be an affirmation of Jesus' life and ministry. All he says and does is in line with the history of the people of God, in line with the revelation of the Law of God and of the ministry of the prophets. Moses of course represents the Law while Elijah, the greatest of all the prophets, represents all of the prophets of Israel.
• There is also the long history of both Moses and Elijah being part of the promise of the Messiah. God had promised to send a prophet “like you” - that is, like Moses – as the final revelation of God's plan. Of course, the coming of the Messiah would be heralded by the return of Elijah. This is why both Jesus and John the Baptizer were questioned as to their prophetic identity, even to the point where they were asked if they were Elijah. Even today, the Jewish people set a chair for Elijah at the ceremony of circumcision and set out a cup of wine for Elijah at the Passover meal.
• Both of these ideas with regard to the presence of Moses and Elijah on the mountain of the Tranfiguration are valuable and cannot be laid aside. Still there are other ideas.
• Both Moses and Elijah were quite familiar and intimate in their communication with God. Moses was always the only one who could enter the Tent of Meeting while the Israelites wandered. He was the one who faced the burning bush and received the mission to “set my people free.” Moses even asked that God kill him rather than have him continue to serve as God's intermediary with such a “stiff-necked people”, but of course, God did not do that. In fact, God told Moses that he would raise up a new people of God from Moses when the Israelites got extreamly self-willed and hard to deal with. Moses refused. It sounds to me like God and Moses were friends considering they could talk like that together.
• For Elijah's part, we read about his many deeds in the Old Testament. One of the most important and mysterious is Elijah's encounter with God in the first book of Kings:
• He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for theLord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. 
• Both Moses and Elijah have a very familiar and intimate relationship with God, so it makes sense that they would be present when Jesus allows a glimpse of his divine nature to his disciples. These three had a very close relationship with Jesus in his earthly ministry.
• The fact that this almost secret event is written down for all Christians to read and take to heart means that what happened on the mountain was not for those three disciples only. Yes, Jesus told them to keep it quiet: As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. Maybe they did and maybe they didn't; we'll never know since our time is after the Resurrection. The fact that it is told and retold in the Gospels and read and re-read every year in our churches means that that went on there is for us as well.
• We catch a glimpse of the Jesus who is both human and divine. We get a hint of the glory that is his and the humanity he lived out every day. We receive the exhortation from the Father to listen to him. For each of us also is the invitation to enter into a very familiar and intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This is what we believe God wants with us and one of the reasons why Jesus came to live among us as one of us.
• If a further invitation is needed, we need go no further than Jesus own lesson on how to pray. When his disciples asked him how to pray, he gave them simple, powerful words – words that show a great familiarity and a deep intimacy. Words that can be said from the heart and words that carry with them a tremendous understanding of our relationship with God – of trust, of love, and of closeness. Those words permit us to be, in a particular way, like Jesus before God in prayer.
• Those words are words we will say shortly. Those are words we know quite well. Those words are “Our Father.”

The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany ---- 8 February 2015

Mark 1:29-39

29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31 He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. 32 That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34 And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35 In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and his companions hunted for him. 37 When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." 38 He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do." 39 And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do."

• I almost don't know where to start. Jesus is quite busy, as he usually is in the Gospel of Mark. Here we find him healing, preaching, casting out demons, and praying, all while ready to move on to other places almost immediately.
• Still, throughout all the busy-ness, there is a theme. It may be hard to catch sometimes but it is there. Allow me a brief time to show this.
• First off, Jesus heals Simon's mother-in-law who is ill with a fever. As things are done in Mark's Gospel, she gets up and begins to serve and wait on the guests in the house. I know this sounds familiar to many of you – I know that many of you have gotten up while sick or tired to cook a meal or prepare for company, even skipping other things that might be important to you in order to be hospitible.
• I'm not going to go into how this might be the way thing were in Jesus' time and culture. I'm not going to make excuses for what strikes us as a great unfairness. (One commentator wondered why Simon Peter couldn't have made the sandwiches this once.) I don't need to make excuses for a detail in the Gospel story, even if some folks want me to.
• The word used for what Simon's mother-in-law did is the same word used for Christian service of any kind. When Jesus lifted her up from her sick bed, it wasn't for her to wait on them; it was for her to be healed and to become a disciple. Discipleship always includes service for service is the shape discipleship takes in day-to-day reality. The reality of discipleship points to something even greater.
• As the story continues, Jesus heals the sick and casts out demons from all who were brought to him. Mark seems to put these two actions on the same level. Of course, Jesus will not permit the demons to speak because they know who he is.
• Did you ever wonder why Jesus appears to heal selectively? Why Jesus did not go around making a point of seeking out people to heal? The actions of healing and the actions of exorcism do not stand alone; they are signs of greater things. If Jesus had only come to heal people and deliver the possessed from their demons, he might have set up a stand on the roadside or in a town - maybe even Jerusalem – and been known as a fine and true healer. He might have even made a career of it.
• But this was not the case! Jesus was about bigger and better things. Again, the healings and exorcisms were tangible signs of something larger and Jesus' every action calls everyone involved to discipleship.
• Again as the story goes on, Jesus goes out “to a deserted place” in the early morning in order to pray. Simon and his friends have to search for him. When they find him, he tells them it is time to move on to the neighboring towns... so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.
• Jesus always seems to go out to deserted places to pray and be in communion with his Father. For Jesus, prayer was not simply a few muttered words before a meal or a hurried reading at bed-time or a worshipful necessity on the Sabbath. It is as important to him as the bread he ate to survive or the air he needed to breathe. In this, he is our example of how to pray and what prayer can mean to a disciple.
• Discipleship, healing, service, and prayer are all included in this Gospel story. And all of them are part and parcel of something larger. Jesus' preaching and teaching, his call to discipleship, his prayer, and his healing and casting out demons, his opposition to all that dehumanizes people are all part of the larger picture that the Gospels -and the church- refer to as the Kingdom of God.
• All of the individual actions shown in this Gospel passage – the healings, the exorcisms, the almost instant jump to service, the prayer and communion, and even the moving on – are all ways that the Kingdom of God can be shown to be breaking through the every-day reality those people encountered.
• That is why Jesus did not set himself up as a healer. In fact, he only healed those who either came to him or were brought to him. That is why he moved on to proclaim the message of the Kingdom of God rather than stay permanently in one comfortable place. That is why Mark writes of the recovery and service of Simon's mother-in-law, a thing that seems so completely beyond our understanding and our own concepts of fairness. That is why Jesus prayed so earnestly in private and sought out times and places to deliberately be with his Father.
• All of these incidents must be taken together. Taken alone, they are just news items which we can take or leave, imitate or lay aside. Taken together, they tell us of the presence of the Kingdom that is yet to come. Taken together, they invite us to follow, to reform our lives, and to let the Good News of Jesus Christ set our priorities and our directions. In short, taken together, this passage -like so many others- invites us to become disciples.

He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do."

The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany --- 1 February 2015

Mark 1:21-28

21 They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 and he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, "What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

• When you came here this morning, what were you expecting? A nice quiet time at a familiar pace with some familiar music? A little bit of preaching, maybe with a word or two to take home and keep for the week? A brief yet pleasant visit with some folks you might not see much of during the rest of the week?
• What about a life-changing event? Surely no one expects that! Maybe that's something we should hope for though.
• I can't promise such an experience to you this week either... primarily because it's not up to me! It's up to the working of the grace of God in the heart of each person here, including me.
• We could imagine the congregation at the synagogue in Capernaum being prepared for the usual Sabbath prayers and message as they went to the Sabbath service that day. To hear Jesus of Nazareth speak “with authority” would be quite an experience. The scribes compared and contrasted the teaching of past teachers and left the decision up to each listener to make. They would not say anything that hadn't been said before, although finding new ways to say what had been said before might be one of their main concerns. They appeared to say what others had said and not have anything to say for themselves.
• That's not how it would be with Jesus. First of all, he was not part of the scribal movement. We don't know what he said to the worshippers that day, but we now it was astounding.
• If we take the next step, we see the amazement of the entire worshiping body at the confrontation between Jesus and the man with an unclean spirit. We might wonder if such an outburst was a regular thing. Whatever the case, it certainly would be disruptive and far beyond that might have been expected.
• What was even more unextected was the way Jesus handled this incident. Rather than calling for the ushers to put the man out of the building, he met the disruption head-on. He cast out the unclean spirit, requiring the spirit to be silent.
• This second point is something specific to Mark's Gospel. Scripture scholars call this the “Messianic secret.” Whenever Jesus reveals something about his nature and mission, he requires silence on the part of those who know. When some of his disciples call him Messiah or Lord, he tells them not to tell anyone else. It is only the demons, the unclean spirits, and the Gentiles who are able to recognize Jesus for just who he is, and these must be considered the real outsiders of Jewish society.
• So here we are today – in this familiar place, doing quite familiar things, and expecting a familiar outcome. Who knows? Maybe there'll even be cookies.
• Have we become too used to the message of the Gospel? Do no longer expect to hear anything life-changing or even interesting? We are confronted weekly – if not daily – with the love with which the creator of the entire universe holds us and has redeemed us. We hear the Word of the Lord and we eat the Lord's Supper of his body and blood for our life and our salvation. It is astounding... and we don't know how to take it. It is beyond our understanding and so we don't think about it.
• Yet we are here, to listen, to pray, to support each other, and to gather strength for the week to come. And maybe that's really all we can reasonably expect.
• So let's be unreasonable. Certainly faith is not reason. Grace is beyond our reason and understanding. And those are the pillars of our lives as Christains.
• And what about this new teaching—with authority that the Capernaum congregation experienced? Is that here?
• It is. That authority is present. Just don't think it resides in the pastor alone. I speak with the same authority that you speak with – the authority of grace and faith. My training helps but what makes the difference each and every time is faith and our experience of the faithfulness of God and the love of God expressed to us in so many ways.
• Two weeks ago, I said that we were all evangelists and today I say that each of us has been given the authority to preach the Gospel by what we say and what we do. It has been said that the individual Christian might be the only Gospel that a person might hear. We can only hope that the power and love and mercy of God can be read in our lives by those who see us. For those who do not know the Gospel, it could well be their introduction to the presence of God in their lives that they hadn't been aware of before. For other believers, it would be a support and an encouragement. It might be exactly what they should have in a time of need.
• Wouldn't THAT be unexpected?

They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.