Wednesday, May 29

“But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ, you are in direct relationship with God. Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Christ’s life, the fulfillment of God’s original promise.” (Galatians 3:25 -27, The Message Bible)

             Perhaps, the Church is not fading away as I sometimes fear.

The evil one certainly used Covid to do a lot of damage to Jesus’ Church but the Church has always had to resist the storms of forces rising against it from without and sometimes, sadly, from within. But it has always had remarkable resilience even in the face of challenges.

                On Sunday, we watched on-line as five youth were baptised during the service at Yorkminster Park Baptist Church in Toronto. Imagine that, five young people eagerly and willingly embracing Jesus Christ and his Church. Shout out to the faith nurturing abilities of our church. Five young people have publicly proclaimed Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Wow!!!

                I remember once in my church in Pointe Claire, Quebec, hosting a group of high school students from a nearby high school. It was as “school trip” during their religious studies period. When I showed them the baptismal tank in the sanctuary, there were several reactions – shock, amusement, curiosity, fascination, incredulity to name a few. The baptismal event represented an unfamiliar world to most of them. It was strange.

                And that’s okay. It is a symbolic act which makes us different as we pass through the waters. It’s not meant to be just ordinary or “normal”. We are imitating the death and resurrections of Jesus in a symbolic form. It causes a disruption in the ways we were living and sets out new and fresh guidelines for our future ways of living. It represents a new road map. A baptized individual has “put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.” (New Living Translation) It is a show of faith and self-understanding. It is both proclamation and profession. It comes with new expectations and fresh responsibilities. It should ascribe to a growing maturity and a resolve to follow Christ under whatever life has in store for us. “When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.” (1 Corinthians 13:11, NLT)

                Baptism doesn’t make us any better than any one else. It doesn’t mean that life will be all honey and roses. It doesn’t mean that we are experts on faith and belief. I see baptism as more of a doorway, one with a huge welcome sign over the top of the door. Jesus has knocked and we have dared answer. Once we step through that door, we are committed to walking in a new life. We are taking the first steps of a life’s journey. Baptism is but the beginning, our first steps of faith and practice.

                I have encountered a few people who wanted to be baptized but were shy of making such a public show of faith. They asked for a private ceremony. I tried to persuade them that part of the awesome experience is to do so in a public way. I have baptized youth who saw it as a ticket not to go to church any longer as teens. But maybe something has stuck that will do them well in adulthood.  I have baptized a person in her nineties. That was a thrill. I have baptized someone with a physical handicap. We adapted the tank. I have baptized someone in a back yard swimming pool. I have baptized one or two who were way bigger than I was. Every baptism is a unique, small miracle of sorts. Especially, once you know that I am terrified of deep water. For a while I had to suck up my courage to just get in the tank even though the water was only up to my waist. It sounds silly but it did get better the longer that I was in pastoral ministry.

                Baptism is not then for the faint-hearted. It is an action which defies worldly standards and secular norms. Just as the minister takes the candidate by the hands to lower the person into the water, so Jesus takes us by our hearts and raises us up to walks with him. We are making a bold statement – that we belong to Jesus Christ.

                Hallelujah!

Dale

Wednesday, May 22, 2024

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!” (Isaiah 52:7, New Living Translation)

“The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” (Mark 1:15)

             It is enough to give me heartburn or indigestion.

Every morning, while having my breakfast of toast and coffee, I watch the headline news on CP24 out of Toronto. Every morning, it seems to be a litany of shootings, stabbings, hit-and-run fatalities, weather disasters, wars and sleazy trials. Bad news is rampant.  I am just skimming the surface by only reading the headlines, but I’m not sure I want to hear or know the whole stories behind and beyond those headlines. After breakfast, I go on-line to Google News and CBC news and Peterborough Examiner. I must be a bearer for punishment as it is more of the same. I may read a couple of stories that pique my curiosity. I stick mostly to sports but even that is disappointing if one is a Blue Jays’ fan.

I need some Good News. More than just how a fireman rescued a cat stuck up in a tree.  Something that is real good news. Something that makes me pause and consider its truth and purpose. Something that speaks to me and sparks some hope, joy, understanding and invites me to live in a world which is under the guidance and purview of God, rather than overrun by sin, violence, hatred, evil, humanity’s foibles and failings.  I need some good news that resists those stories, that challenges those stories, that overcomes those stories, that promises me that there is way more to life than just these stories.

Then Jesus enters my world - your world.

Something begins to change. God is closer than we thought. The winds (i.e. Holy Spirit) of radical change are beginning to blow. There is an alternative to the bad news of the world. Jesus is now the supreme difference maker in our world. He gives you and me a real chance to survive in the midst of worldly chaos, confusion and disturbance. As the angel predicted at the very outset: “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.” (Luke 2: 10)

Throughout the book of Acts, which chronicles the activities of the early church the message about Jesus is always referred to as Good News. “This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.” (Acts 10: 36) But just for Israel but for all people everywhere and anytime. The world in those days was no better or worse than the world we live in, but the Good News rises above the din and invites us to share in its power and encouragement: “We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.” (Acts 154: 15)

The apostle Paul usually refers to the message about Jesus as Good News: “I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.” (1 Corinthians 9:23) This Good News which includes salvation, redemption, freedom, all because of Jesus Christ, separates us from the world, even though we should never give up on the world. “This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.”  (Colossians 1:6)

Good News for you and me – Jesus loves you and me. Good News – we are not alone. Good News – we are not abandoned. Good News – God is at work in this world, even against the powers and principalities who oppose him.  Good News – there will be peace and salvation.

Come, Lord Jesus, come!

 Dale

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

“Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” (Matthew 6:21, The Living Translation)

                I am not so much a techno-phobe as I am a techno klutz. Just ask my children. I get by with the basics on my computers and cell phone as long as it doesn’t get too complicated – which doesn’t take much. But generally, I am not too keen on getting whatever is the latest technological gadget that is out in the market.

                Which is why I am not interested in the gizmo they have been pushing on TV ads – a heart monitor that is linked to your cell phone. Just place you index fingers on a small pad and it will send your heart rates to your cell phone. Yikes! Just what I need (not) – something that will invite me to obsess about the condition of my heart. Am I having a heart attack yet? No? Ok, what about now? Wait. What about now?  Perhaps, if one has a serious heart condition, it might be helpful but people have their noses buried enough already in their hand-held devices. Do I really need another futile distraction in my day? Mind you, sitting in my big blue, comfy recliner, it may remind me that I, at least, have a pulse.

                Not that acknowledging that one has a heart condition is a bad thing.

                I am drawn to Jesus’ words about the connection between the heart and our desires.  Here’s the Message rendition: “Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” Jesus once challenged his critics for their hypocrisy: “For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.” (Mathew 12:34) Their hearts were bitter, judgmental, scornful. Jesus went on to say, “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart” (12:.35).

                In biblical terms, the heart was the symbolic source of one’s emotions, feelings, motives, character and passion.  Our hearts can turn on our neighbours or family and friends. ”Neighbors lie to each other, speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts.” (Psalm 12: 2) We can feel discouraged, forsaken, lonely, lost “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?” (Psalm 42:5) If one is apart from God, one has a heart condition: “Only fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!” (Psalm 53: 1) Or in Jesus’ words, “For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.” (Matthew 15:19)

                It is hard to change the desires of one’s heart. It can be hard to go from some bad thoughts to good thoughts. It can be a challenge to turn our hearts inside out from selfishness to loving kindness. It can be a test of our character to let go of all the unrealistic desires of our hearts and rediscover a different heart rhythm that embraces others, that seeks love, that seeks God in the goodness of life. “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.” (Psalm 51: 10)

                Jesus gave us his advice about the heart: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.” (John 14:1) It may sound somewhat sentimental to say, “I have given my heart to Jesus” but to connect our hearts’ desires based, not on or by the world’s standards, but based on the Love and character of Jesus is good medicine for the heart. Jesus’ heart encourages our hearts to beat with Love, forgiveness, mercy, compassion, justice and good works. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27)

                It is smart to do a heart physical check-up, so why not give your spiritual heart a check-up?

                “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

 Dale      

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

“Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.” (John 13:35, The Message Bible)

            Out of the mouth of babes or, in this case, a four-year-old. “We’re not Catholic; we’re Canadians.”  

Our grandson, Beckett, found himself in the unfamiliar environs of a Catholic church, this past Saturday. The occasion was for his seven-year-old cousin, Spencer’s first communion. How do you explain the pageantry of a Catholic service to a four-year-old, never mind trying to describe denominationalism and all its shades of differences and variances in practices and beliefs? One might, indeed, feel that one is in a different country when one steps from the familiar territory of one’s own preferred denomination into another.  And just as often, one can feel that there are boundaries, fences and borders that separate us from each other.

Many years ago, an unchurched man asked me why there were so many different denominations. He thought that it would be much better if we were all the same, acting in unity. He might have found some empathy from the apostle Paul. There were no denominations in his day when he wrote, “You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.” (Ephesians 4: 4 -6, TMB)

Paul was big on unity and harmony in the churches. “This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.” (Ephesians 4: 13) But Paul was also known for recognizing the diversity of gifts, talents and abilities in the people of his churches. We are not all the same. He did not have a cookie-cutter idea of what Christians looked like or how they came together to act as a church.

I think I told the man something to the effect that God appreciates variety and diversity, even in his church. People come to faith in a myriad of ways, so that there are also multiple churches or denominations to satisfy those different “tastes.” Look at Creation as an example. As beautiful as cardinals are, I wouldn’t want to live in a world in which all birds were cardinals, or all trees were maples or all animals were rabbits.  God celebrates variety throughout his Creation, so why not his Church?

The problem, of course, happens when one group of Christians think they are better or superior to another group of Christians, Sometimes, that has nothing to do with what denomination we are in but can happen in individual churches, cliques and factions stirring up conflict.  Once, I spoke to a church where those who were in prayer groups and bible studies were disdainful of those who worked in the kitchen and kept the church clean and tidy. The Corinthian church was full of divisions and factions, even as Paul tried to bring them together. “I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.” (1 Corinthians 1:10)

I am a very proud Baptist. But we are far from perfect as a faith expression. I try to be careful not to criticize or judge those who practice their faith in other denominations. When we don’t respect one another, we are a poor witness to the world. When we cannot work together, we discredit the Christion virtue of doing good works or bearing fruit. The banner under which we practice our Christianity is secondary as to how our text encourages us: the world recognizing us as Jesus’ followers by our love of each other. It is that love which binds us together, calls us into unity and sustains the true identity of Jesus’ Church.

“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.” (Colossians 3:14)

Now, how do I explain that to a four-year old?

 Dale

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

“Birds find nooks and crannies in your house, sparrows and swallows make nests there. They lay their eggs and raise their young, singing their songs in the place where we worship…   How blessed they are to live and sing there!”? (Psalm 84: 3 -4, The Message Bible)

               There are several advantages in worshipping on-line at home. The easy chair is way more comfortable than a wooden pew. Dress is very causal – even PJs. I can have a cup of coffee during the service. I can go to the bathroom without everybody knowing where I am going. (Probably shouldn’t have drunk that second cup of coffee.) I can converse with Susan. If I am feeling grumpy, I don’t have to inflict myself on others. If I had false teeth (I don’t) I wouldn’t have to put them in. Yes, as nice as it is to actually fellowship with others, live and in person, there are some benefits to the on-line worship experience.

                Recently, I have discovered another.

                Our bird feeder is just outside the front window of our living room. It didn’t get all that much use over the winter. I had purchased a squirrel-proof feeder and I feared that maybe it was also bird proof. But over the Spring, it has become a popular place. On the last few Sunday mornings, as we worshipped at Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, there were grackles, cardinals, chickadees, juncos and even a pair of purple finches. It was quite the entertaining sideshow – an affirmation of God’s beautiful Creation, and in some ways, just as much a part of some good worship as a good sermon or a poignant prayer, or wonderful choral music; birds singing their songs in the place where we worship. Sort of like living stained glass.

                Psalm 84 is a praise hymn. The poet is overjoyed in finding himself in the sanctuary of God. “I’ve always longed to live in a place like this; always dreamed of a room in your house, where I could sing for joy to God-alive!” (v.2, TMB) Although not used here, the word ‘sanctuary’ seems implied; a place of safety, beauty, peace, a protected space, a sacred and holy place. “How lovely is your dwelling place.” (v.1, NLT)

                Even the birds find safe refuge under its eaves. Perhaps, Jesus had this Psalm in mind when he said, “Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?” (Matthew 6: 26, NLT)

                The Sanctuary is a safe place for the smallest, the weakest, the most vulnerable, the defenceless, the most needy, the “least of us”. It is not the place where we get to vent our prejudices, voice our judgements, express our superiority over others, shut the windows and doors on those who seek our welcome and acceptance. Sanctuary should say to people, “You are safe here while under our roof. No harm can come to you.”

                Although I want honest and authentic worship, I don’t want to have guilt, shame and sin heaped upon me relentlessly. That is oppressive and falls short of the Good News of Love, Hope, Grace and Mercy. When I come to church with my warts, sins and perplexities, I need the Balm of Gilead to soothe the sores, the stings, the pains, the burdens. For the hour in which I worship, I am needing the compassion of God to rest upon my soul and spirit. I need to have my empty spirit and mind fed with the truth and nourishment of the Good News that comes with knowing Jesus Christ. I need to come under the church’s roof and  be invited to renew and refresh my relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

                If I actually showed up to be in church in person, in my PJs and slippers, a cup of coffee in hand, looking bedraggled and grumpy, my prayer would be that the sanctuary would take over, I would be welcomed, I would be fed with the Word of God,  and would leave the place filled with joy, peace and hope. “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40: 31, NLT)

                “God sees the little sparrow fall; it meets his tender view. If God so loves the little birds, I know He loves me too.”

Dale