Sunday October 16

Today is World Food Day, a worldwide day to remember that many do not have enough on their tables.  Coming so soon after Thanksgiving, I found it particularly important for me to remember that not everyone has all the blessings I'm able to enjoy.  As I listened to Andrew read the readings from Proverbs, (19:17, 22:9, 29:7) I realised it wasn't going to be a pleasant, relax-in-your-pew sort of morning.  We were going to be called to action.

But listening to Andrew speak on Mark 3, it turns out that we don't have to be pushed or guilted into change.  The truth is that we have the freedom to change.  We don't have to be trapped by the old ways of doing things, the old institutions and the old traditions.  We are free to follow the better way.  Jesus has bound the "Strong Man" and he no longer controls us.

Right away, my mind was brought to the Occupy Wall Street movement.  Now there are some people trying to change the old, unjust, unequal ways of doing things.  These are exciting times when people are recognising that being the richest is not the best and only goal.  And there's even more we can do - we've been freed, remember?  What about some personal things that we've been called to change in our own lives?  What about the gifts we've been given that we can share with those around us?  We don't have to be afraid, we can choose to walk in the new way.

From the last hymn, Lord, you give the great commission:

Lord, you show us love's true measure:
"Father, what they do, forgive."
Yet we hoard as private treasure
all that you so freely give.
May your care and mercy lead us to a just society;
with the Spirit's gifts empower us for the work of ministry.

Maureen.

Thanksgiving - Sunday, October 9

A joyful thanksgiving to us all! I am so glad that we celebrate the harvest,that we celebrate the great abundance of living foods the Lord gifts us from the earth. Not only is it an opportunity to thank God for all that we have been given but also a keen reminder that it is from the earth, from farms and those who work them, that we are kept fed and healthy. Thanks be to God, and thanks also to those who dedicate their living and working to harvesting food.

The hymn we sang immediately before the sermon made me pause, particularly the final verses:

Give thanks, my soul, for riches
of wood land, mine and hill
but know that gold and timber
are the Creator's still.
God lends to us, as stewards,
abundance we might share,
and thus provide earth's children
the blessing of God's care.

Give thanks, my soul, for labours,
that strength and days employ;
but know the Maker's purpose
brings toil as well as joy.
Show forth, O God, your purpose;
direct our will and hand,
to share your love and bounty,
with all in every land.

I, like so many other people, have been following the current protest on Wall St. which has spurred protests in other cities as well. Talk has begun that Ottawa may soon see a similar protest in our downtown. While the sentiments and goals of those occupying Wall St. and elsewhere may be varied or even disorganized, the voice of dissatisfaction and discontent is clear. Many people are not happy with the way things are. As the we sang in the hymn, we are called as stewards to share the bounty of this world. Policy prescriptions aside, the crowds massing in cities across the continent suggests that we are failing to do so: something is very wrong.

It leads me to wonder what we, as Christians can do to better fulfill our role as stewards. Are we playing things too safe, fearing that we will offend? Jesus was very clear with His disciples that the world would not always be kind or accepting to them. As Andrew noted this morning, Jesus was very honest and forthright about the cost that came with choosing The Way. In John 15 He said "I have chosen you out of the world—therefore the world hates you." Drawing the ire of the rest of the world has little appeal, but I find myself considering more and more if that is precisely what Jesus needs us to do in these days.

And then today we find ourselves at a time we have appointed for the specific purpose of celebrating and giving thanks for the bounty of another harvest. Andrew made the point this morning that our emotions can follow our actions: it need not always be the other way around. We live love and thus we feel love. We live thanksgiving and so we feel thanksgiving. In a time in which there is so much focus on what people lack, in a time of recession and war and discord, such a prescription seems more apt than ever. We need to live and embody thanksgiving. We need to reach out in the spirit of gratitude and generosity to remind not only those we encounter, but ourselves as well, that God is indeed gracious and we are truly, very blessed.

Darlene

Sunday, October 2

As we celebrate the sacrament of the Lord ’s Supper today, it seems appropriate to pause to consider the idea of intentionality.
Micah’s minute for stewardship this morning at the 9:30 service started me thinking of this. His story about intentionally making a commitment and then accepting the unintended opportunities to give more was a great reminder that on commitment Sunday, we are making a minimum contribution of our time, money, talents and energy; but there is no rule against increasing them.
Our continuing study of the Gospel of St. Mark continued the theme of intentionality – Jesus made a choice to eat publicly with those who needed His presence the most. I found Andrew’s sermon on this story very challenging. Jesus was “eating publicly with the fallen” and if we are to live like Christ, then how do we do this in our daily lives? How often do our judgements create barriers that prevent us from a fuller embrace of our fuller society?
I know that it is far easier for me to look the other way or cross the street when presented with people who may or may not pose a perceived threat. It is easier to mail in a donation to the Mission or the Shepherds than it is to devote the time and the energy to work with these organisations. Perhaps this is the larger unintended contribution that Micah spoke about, or the ‘wilting from comfort” that Andrew mentioned in his prayer. If grace invites us all to share at the Lord’s Table, then our obligation is to invite others to share from our table.

Geoffrey

Sunday, September 25

Today was a beautiful day!
Bright sunlight and warm wind filled the church and, as it often seems to at this time of year, light cast rainbow-coloured shadows on the pillars in the sanctuary. Looking at their colours made me think, as Andrew talked about the many years during which St. Andrews has been a church in the same place as the city has grown around it, about how the shadows have, do and will fall the same way each fall, and that the rainbows will most likely to appear each anniversary Sunday. Regardless of the advance of time, the season will bring the same direction of light. Coming to church this morning, after opening our daughter's birthday presents (because St. Andrew's birthday is her birthday too!) and watching the police memorial parade, especially when listening to Andrew talk to the children about lost gifts, lead me to reflect upon all of the imperfect and heartfelt contributions of those who have acted for the common good.

Ottawa's police, to whom I waved today, and to whom I feel a great deal of gratitude, are in a lot of trouble right now for a series of ostensibly unrelated assaults and misconduct allegations. These allegations speak to systemic problems. As a one time defence lawyer, I am both grateful to and wary of police. I am deeply ambivalent about the militaristic pomp of the police memorial. Thinking about my daughter's birthday made me wonder what my parents gave me on my seventh birthday: I don't remember. I have ambivalence about that too, thinking that everything I have done for my children, my parents worked hard to do for me. Hundreds of years of church history at St. Andrews are a legacy for which I feel deep gratitude, and with which I feel somewhat disconnected, being a relative newcomer to this city with no roots in Ottawa, with all of the family names celebrated on the church windows and walls that belong to another time also being unfamiliar to me.

It is a lot of things pulled together, like the wind rushing into the sanctuary when the doors opened after the service, like the rainbow patterns on the walls, a swirling of many things, and greatest among them for me today gratitude. I am grateful that others built this church: grateful that my family has been welcomed into St. Andrews' church family and hopeful we can for many years become part of its history. I am grateful for the contributions of the police to my safety and that of others. I am grateful for my own family. In the paradoxical way that it is possible, I am grateful for lost and forgotten gifts. They may be gone but a legacy is left by the intentions of justice, love and peace in their giving.

Rebecca.

Sunday, September 18

Today's passage from the gospel according to Mark described the beginning of Jesus' ministry in Galilee. Calling Simon, Andrew, James and John to follow Him, they obey immediately and follow Him. In his sermon, our Andrew talked about Bonhoeffer's interpretation of this passage as an example of the absolute authority of Jesus Christ. Because it is Jesus who calls them, the first four disciples obey and follow without question, without reason. Andrew went on to talk about how our faith follows our obedience. We obey and follow not because we have faith, but have faith because we have obeyed Jesus' call. He also noted that our call is not personal but corporate: Jesus Christ calls us all, all humankind, to put down our nets and follow Him.

This seemed the perfect passage for the beginning of the Sunday School season. The gathering of children to hear the good news and learn how we, as Christians, are called to live, but also because our children do not take themselves to church: they are brought. Before they are old enough to understand why, we teach them the truth of Jesus Christ. They learn of our collective devotion to God and His devotion to us long before they can begin to understand what such devotion means.

As I was contemplating the message in today's sermon this morning, I wondered: where does love fit in? If we obey God's call first and then understand what that means and develop our faith afterward, when do we apprehend the love of God? If we follow because we perceive the power and authority of Jesus Christ, when do we perceive His love and His faithfulness? As I sit writing this post, however, I'm struck by the thought that perhaps God's might is made manifest, in part, in His love. Is it in His love that God's authority declares itself? Admittedly, my personal bias and lens is that of a parent and mother, but I see a similarity in my relationship with my children - one founded on love but also authority - and the manner in which Andrew described our collective response to Christ's call.

People often talk of wishing to have "the faith of a child". Obedience without understanding. Following without questioning. Believing without reasoning. We are called to emulate this, to cast down our nets, our preconceptions, our goals and priorities and follow Jesus, not for some wise or clever reason, but simply because He is LORD.

- Darlene

Sunday, September 11

This morning, I'd walked into the church emotionally charged. The anniversary of 9/11, little Kienan was returned to his family, stuff going on at home... I'd packed extra kleenex and prepared myself for more emotions.

But it was the musical approach that drew my mind to where it was supposed to be:

Day by day, Dear Lord, of thee three things I pray:
To see thee more clearly,
Love thee more dearly,
Follow thee more nearly,
Day by day.
(St. Richard of Chichester)

It reminded me that that's what is important. Our macro-vision is not the whole story, and I may not understand why things happen, but I can "Follow thee more nearly" every day.

I'm looking forward to continuing on as Andrew teaches through the Gospel of Mark. The beautiful autumn morning, the celebration of baptism, (and enjoying the soft baby noises during the service), the whole worship service made me ready for a fresh, new beginning. Especially with news so important as this: Jesus the Christ has come to humankind.

What about you, what did you bring home from church this Sunday? What spoke to you?

Summer Break

The Sunday Lunch blog will be on hiatus until the fall. We'll be working on our spiffy new look over the summer, but in the meanwhile the links in the right-hand sidebar are still active and the St. Andrew's Ottawa website is always updated.

Church services in July and August are at 10:00 a.m. on Sundays, and we'll see you back here on the blog after Labour Day.