Sunday, December 4

Poor Joseph. As Andrew said at the beginning of the sermon, Joseph often gets short shrift at Christmas time. And yet, as Andrew went on to point out, Joseph has a key part in the story. Although he had set out to leave Mary, he acts – with much faith – on the advice of the angel in his dream. He sticks with Mary, and with Jesus. Andrew said that Joseph “becomes part of God's unfolding purposes of humanity”(or something along those lines...) :).

Andrew went on to describe how we are like Joseph. We have received messages from God, through Jesus, that seem crazy and sometimes even impossible. But, like Joseph, we are called to have faith and to pursue good always.... To think of faith as a verb so that God can work for the good of others through us.

I found myself thinking about how pursuing good can be difficult, exhausting and overwhelming. In the Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession, right after the sermon, we prayed for the community of Attawapiskat, for world leaders discussing climate change in Durban this week, and for the election taking place in Egypt. It can be overwhelming, in these types of situations, to think of listening to God's call to work for the good of others, to pursue good always. How do we answer God's call to care for our sisters and brothers in Attawapiskat, for example?

I liked the connection that Andrew made with the Communion part of the service – we take the bread and wine to give us strength to continue pursuing good in the midst of darkness, in the midst of being overwhelmed or being shown an easier way. I tend to see worship in general this way. Throughout the week, we try to live as God instructed us through Jesus... even though it is can be difficult. On Sunday, we come together for encouragement so that we are renewed in our commitment to pursue good.

Huda's Prayer of Approach this morning started the service with “Come, Lord Jesus,” praying that God would be present in our midst as we worshipped. The last verse of the final hymn, “Lo! Christ comes with clouds descending,” repeated over and over - “Come, Lord Jesus.” We want God to be with us not only in our worship, but as we go out from worship – out to live in the world, to pursue good, to play our parts in God's unfolding purposes of humanity.

Laura