Sermon Archive

Text: Jeremiah 31:31-34 Here’s an odd question for Anniversary Sunday… Do you remember your baptism? If you’re like me, chances are you probably don’t remember the event itself, but that’s not what I am after. Do you remember your baptism? Have we ever sat down and thought about God’s presence in our life? Have we ever looked toward significant events in our own history and wondered how it all came about? What went wrong? What went right? With it being anniversary Sunday, Baptism seems an appropriate metaphor. Each time a community participates in this sacrament, there is an opportunity to remember its significance. In this respect, Baptism transcends time. There is the event, the act of administering water, but there is also the act of remembering our own and how we are a part of this experience. Baptism is a one-time event in which the community outwardly affirms that each of us is a child of God —therefore part of that community. It is a testament to God’s love. Baptism did not mak...

Texts: Matthew 22:34-40 - Micah 6:1-8 It is the golden rule, the great commandment, that one thread that draws it all together. When asked “which of the commandments is the greatest,” Jesus replies with this now famous statement: “‘You are to love the Lord your God with all of you heart, and all of your souls and all of your mind.’” This commandment is first and foremost. And the second is like it: ‘You are to love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hangs everything in the Law and the Prophets.” This was part of the normal debates that one could expect inside the religious establishments. The Law was such a central part of the Jewish faith. The act of discussing and debating the Law as it stood was seen and understood as an act of prayer and study. In Matthew, we have this dialogue between skilled debaters and Jesus, one of many such discussions. Matthew seems to have a thing for them… But there’s more going on here than what we realize. Jesus is not being particul...

Text: Matthew 22:15-22 It has been said that there are two subjects that should never be talked about around the dinner table: Politics and Religion. Following this past thanksgiving, I can imagine that there might even be those who have reaffirmed it. My wife tells me of stories around her family table, between her father, her uncle, and her aunt. More often than not, if the taboo subjects come up, things would get quite heated. Who knew that passing the potatoes could so be filled with tension? Sarah tells me that the Irish temperament is alive and well in the Fanning clan. For myself, I’ve had a slightly different experience. While my second degree is in religion… my first had a great deal to do with politics. If one is not supposed to talk about these subjects in polite company, I wouldn’t make a particularly good dinner guest! I would really hope that it is not the case. I have learned that when it comes to talking about politics and religion, often those who say the most often k...

Text: Deuteronomy 26:1-11 It’s funny. We all have our thanksgiving traditions… but we often forget that Thanksgiving as a holiday is something that is almost exclusively North American. In the United States, the last Thursday of November is Thanksgiving Day… for us, well… it’s tomorrow. While they bear the same name, Canadians are far less concerned with stories of Pilgrims, Plymouth Rock, or how to grow corn. Instead, when the celebration “came north” it was moved earlier in the year because of an understandably shorter growing season, and was specifically oriented around the harvest. In Canada, thanksgiving has far less to do with the national identity as it does with simply being grateful that stuff actually grew in this harsh northern climate. My parents still valiantly try to grow Tomatoes in Calgary, and while they may claim some success… the reddish green marbles they start covering to avoid the August frosts would beg to differ… You may also notice that I’ve not mentioned anyth...

Text: Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 They are perhaps the ten best known rules out of the entire Bible… or at least in name they are anyway. They have two epic films named after them. They have been a source of recent controversy in the United States, as a touchstone in the debate around the separation of Church and State. They have been used inappropriately as a theological battering ram by some, dismissed as ancient and irrelevant by others. These days, any mention of them provokes a reaction in people, be it positive or negative… but when they come up people’s teeth are sure to be set on edge. Fortunately, living north of the US border, Canadians are somewhat removed from the politics of it, but as Christians, they are very much a part of our faith tradition. On this World Communion Sunday, it seems appropriate that the Ten Commandments come into focus, even if only briefly. This may come as a bit of a surprise to some, but the Ten Commandments appear twice in the Bible: first in this mo...

Text: Matthew 21:23-32 I have to have at least some sympathy for my parents. Raising children, as I am soon to find out, is never an easy task. My parents had two sons. Two sons who are quite close in age, being little more than a year apart. My parents had two sons with overactive imaginations, very creative when it came to our playtime, and yet very poor cleaning habits when it came to cleaning up the messes that we would make. It’s a wonder my parents can still walk after spending many years accidentally stepping on wayward Lego™ pieces in our basement. It was far too easy though, having a brother nearby made a convenient scapegoat. “John, who’s mess is this?” they would ask. Without looking up, I said, “David’s.” David, on the other hand, would also return the favour. Needless to say, my parents learned not to ask who the mess belonged to… because it belonged to us. The trouble is, they still had to ask us to clean it up. I would like to think of myself as the agreeable type. I’m t...

THAT’S NOT FAIR!! Text: Matthew 20:1-16 with Reference to Jonah 3:10-4:11 “That’s not fair!” Not exactly the kind of reaction that one would expect from listening to the teachings of Jesus. The parables that Jesus taught often provoked strong reactions in order to convey how truly revolutionary the kingdom of God is. These pushed people to think in radically different ways, to shake up their basic understandings, and to turn their world upside-down. Grain that produces far beyond its yield, seeds of weeds growing into vast trees they can accept… it may be a bit outlandish, but they are a bit easier to associate with God’s love. Even so, one of the most sacred things that we as human beings have developed is that sense of fairness; everyone gets what they deserve. It is why this parable, “the labourers in the vineyard” is so upsetting. Jesus not only walks all over that sacred ground, he stomps all over it and smashes a few tables while he’s at it. He tells this story, much like the o...