11/25/2025
It was a real pleasure to join with the communities faith at Gordon Memorial and Peace United Churches this past Sunday. I wanted to share with you all the message I shared with them for Christ the King Sunday.
We are here today on the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year and we Celebrate the Reign of Christ as the year ends. We began last Advent preparing for the birth of Jesus, we were drawn to the Bethlehem by the light of star to be serenaded by Angels and we have journeyed through the lectionary to this Sunday where once again we come to Golgotha the place of the skull, a windswept hill where our Lord and Saviour met his end between two criminals, we are looking towards a New Year where tradition dictates we celebrate hope on the first Sunday of Advent. Like good United Church Folk that's where we want to go to a place that feels lighter to whistle past the graveyard of our present stress and problems.
I'm a Believer in Providence and I believe the lectionary sometimes is informative as we gather at Golgotha, at the foot of the cross we have an opportunity to have a come to Jesus moment an open conversation about who we are is God's people in this corner of the province but what our mission is but our hopes and our fears our anxieties because we are dealing with a lot as churches in this corner of the province especially liberal Main Line churches. I think there's a reason I'm here today and I think that reason has lined up with a difficult scripture that speaks of suffering and loss that demands we ponder what is dying and what that means but also what is emerging and what is coming. It Seems meet and right that the lectionary should bring us to the foot of the cross when we have so much to lay bare so much in need of redemption we need healing, grace and understanding because there's not only uncertainty and foment in the church; the place that should be a source of comfort; at times is uncomfortable. aA place where we have turned when the world has been uncertain and unsure we have leaned in on the rock of our faith and our religious institutions for both clarity and certainty, yet when we turn to the church we see a vision that's muddy and uncertainty. In a world where there is so much political division, and so much vitriol, and so much hate ,and so much misunderstanding ,misrepresentation, and preying on vulnerable people. We've just had a heck of a week here in Alberta hearing about how we're going to be vassals of a two-tier healthcare system and how we're going to start pick and choose who gets the rights of a Canadian citizen fully and unequivocally, we need now more than ever strong liberal Mainline voice, When we lean in on the church it seems a little smaller and diminished.
This is a come to Jesus moment and I have to tell you but I feel your fears and your anxieties about what you see when you look out at the world and when you look through the pews. The spaces that we occupy are fraught at times they are dangerous. We constantly wonder if we say the right thing or if there's going to be some new way to foment discord to punch down on the vulnerable, to complain. It feels very much like an order that we have been assured of for a very long time is breaking down and the ground and sand is shifting under our feet where we can't get a footing.
For years we have not recognized a mutual brokenness, nor have we found a way to foster a sense of vision to affirm that the way that the United Church is operated in congregational silos with have and have not churches, with 100 Years of History, with perceived and real slights, with not appreciating the gifts that each congregation and each and every person brings to our life and work together, there's a lot to grieve. In one of the Pastoral conversations I had this week with a new friend I've simply learned that that grief is hard. I also realize that the grief that I feel, the grief that you feel, the anxiety and stress in our systems that we we see presenting in this moment is just the tip of the iceberg underneath what have inherited what you have inherited are years and years and years of unresolved griefs and tensions and arguments and Church Life that have not been resolved,
One of my colleagues who I hold in high regard and who I admire and would like to think I could emulate is the Reverend David Holmes who is in Ponoka in 2024 at our regional meeting
In one of our times of worship he gave a moving reflection of his life and ministry that was deeply profound. He was talking about his ministry born in 1962 the year the church stopped growing statistically. Ordained in 1988 he grew up and into into ministry in the midst of institutional decline and foment and how he felt at least his corner of the church if he was good enough there may be a small seed of hope somewhere in the midst of the church and when that seed is dormant the inner voice is one of shame and questions about what's wrong with me what wrong with us. Here is what he said about that voice
“That shaming voice inside me, that shaming voice inside us, is not the voice of God. Its not Anything like the voice of God there's no love in it, there's no wisdom in it, there's no vision in it, there's no Grace in it, just fear and shame All These years I have been giving power to a voice within me that is not God And frankly isn't even even good And after 36 years I think I'm finally ready to let it go To listen instead to voice that is also inside me and speaks with very much love with wisdom, with vision, with Grace I think I'm finally ready are you?”
Today the gospel reminds us that Jesus was crucified between two criminals. The first criminal joins the crowds in telling Jesus if you are so powerful if you are the Messiah save yourself and us. The second criminal simply asks Jesus to remember me when you come into the kingdom. So my question as we think about the church in Southeast Alberta is which criminal are we. The first joining with the throng, the status quo pleading for what was begging for deliverance. Or are we the second, curious, calm, trusting, stating that which we desire and are waiting for. “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.” We get to choose but we know who Jesus tells “Today you will be with me in paradise” Friends we are not alone and God is calling us into something …. new
