HERE I AM, LORD
Luke 10:1-11
Rev. Gary Paterson
June 24, 2012
Imagine… there he is --Jesus, by the
lake, ready to begin his journey south… down through Samaria ,
and along the Jordan valley,
almost to the Dead Sea, over to Jericho , and
then across the Judean wilderness, up to Jerusalem
Christianity has always been a “sending” faith – at the
very beginning, with Jesus himself being “sent,” and then feeling empowered at
the moment of his baptism; a bit later, the twelve disciples sent throughout
Galilee; then the seventy; and at the very end, the resurrected Christ sends
his disciples into the whole world. They
were sent to heal, to confront the demons, to teach the way of compassion and
love, to preach the good news of God’s inbreaking kingdom, a new reality, a new
way of seeing the world, of living in the world.
Disciples are sent because Christianity is a partnership
faith, where God works with us and through us.
St. Augustine Avila
He
needs you
that’s
all there is to it
without
you he’s left hanging
goes
up in dachau
is
sugar and spice in the baker’s hands
get’s
revalued in the next stock market crash
he’s
consumed and blown away
used
up
without
you
Help
him
that’s
what faith is
he
can’t bring it about
his
kingdom
couldn’t
then couldn’t later can’t now
not
at any rate without you
and
that is his irresistible appeal
Sent; partnership. Exciting, challenging, life-fulfilling… and
yet, whew… a lot of work.
But, then, this
sending, partnership business is more than an ethics for living, a new
commandment… it is that, to be sure. But
it’s also an invitation into an encounter with holiness; one of the paths that
leads to God. There is the God within,
found in silence; the interior spirit, sitting quietly, deep in prayer. There is God without, who, especially here
on the Pacific coast, is met in the natural world, daily present on the
seawall. And there is also, in this
disciples-sent-forth-partnership, the God who is found in the in-between…
between two people, in moments of love; as if the spiritual energy in an
individual leaps to complete the circuit with the spirit energy in the other,
completed through relationships of care, kindness, compassion, given and
received.
Which might explain what I’ve asked some people to do
this morning, people from our congregation, people who have been sent, who have
responded to Christ’s invitation to be his partners in caring for the
world. I’ve asked them to talk about
where they have met God in the ministry they have found themselves in; don’t
tell us all about your ministry, but tell us where you have encountered the
Holy in that ministry.
I’ve asked
Christine to speak with us. Christine is
one of the teachers and leaders of our children and youth, one of the people we
said thank you to, earlier in the service -- like Shirley, Missy, Camille,
Nicole and Lauren. Christine helps teach
our young people on Sunday morning, and at least once a month, organizes a
Youth Group adventure. I’ve asked her to
talk about where she has encountered God…
I had a whole
list of things go through my mind -- Where is God in the midst of our youth
group? Where is God in the midst of our Sunday School class? And what first
came to mind was the sheer joyfulness of everyone when they get together… like
puppies in a basket, where everyone is so full of joy, laughing together and
sharing with one another what happened during the week. It happens in the same way when we’re
reflecting on Scripture, though pillows are being thrown, and everyone is
running around the room. It happens when
we’re at a sleepover and there’s a screen door that doesn’t survive the night;
or the lawn has footprints all the way around Jen’s house. It happens when we go for a movie and are reflecting afterwards sipping on our Slurpies
-- the conversations are happening and this energy, this uncontainable energy
is finding its own way to leak out -- there is such holiness in the freedom of
that relationship, just to be who you are. We were at a youth conference last
November and the guest minister who was there, Mark Yaconelli, he said, “The
church is a space where we remember we can have the freedom to be as children,
even as we get older; in a youth event we have the opportunity to let it fly,
like nobody’s watching – so you can “dance like nobody’s watching.” If you come to a youth event, if you come to
the youth room on a Sunday morning -- it’s like nobody’s watching; and nobody’s
judging; -- and that is so incredibly
holy!
Thank you… and will all of
you join with me as together we sing, “Thuma Mina”…
Thuma
mina, thuma mina
Thuma
mina, somandla.
Here
I am, Lord, here I am Lord,
Here
I am Lord, fill my heart.
Send
me Spirit, send me Spirit,
Send
me Spirit, send me Lord.
Now, Pam and
Emily will be leaving Vancouver in a few weeks,
heading back home to Australia Guatemala Guatemala
City
When do we feel God's presence in our
lives? Emily and I talked about this question and without hesitation agreed
that our time in the Church helps us think about reaching out to others less
fortunate than ourselves. During the past 4 years, Emily and I have spent our
summers in the slums of Guatemala Safe Passage
School
We have also felt God's presence recently when we had a garage sale. As many of you know, we are leavingVancouver and going to
live in Australia Mission
We have also felt God's presence recently when we had a garage sale. As many of you know, we are leaving
There are many other times that Emily
and I have felt God's presence. It often happens when we reach out to those in
need. As we continue along our path, we will continue to be disciples--spreading
goodness, compassion and love to others. We will miss you all! Thank you for
all the wonderful memories.
We would like to finish with a poem.
Emily recently wrote this poem and it was published a few weeks ago.
Each and Every One of Us
Emily Grills- 12 Years Old
Grade 8
Like diamonds
on a rainbow
Like stars in
the sun
Each and
every one of us
A new life
just begun
Like leaves
that flutter endlessly
Like silver
stalks of corn
Each and
every one of us
Our hearts
and souls reborn
Like loving
the untouched
Like laughing
through the rain
Each and
every one of us
Our choices
and our pain
Like words
strung together
Like pieces
of the past
Each and
every one of us
In love we
all contrast
Like lights
that cast no shadow
Like waking
in your sleep
Each and
every one of us
This life is
ours to keep
Like flowers
that never bloom
Like secrets
kept inside
Each and
every one of us
Rejoice in
life-take pride!
Emily, we give you
this Prayer Shawl, to hold our prayers close to your heart as you travel to Australia
Thuma mina, thuma mina
Thuma
mina, somandla.
Here
I am, Lord, here I am Lord,
Here
I am Lord, fill my heart.
Send
me Spirit, send me Spirit,
Send
me Spirit, send me Lord.
Let me pause for
a moment, before asking the next person up.
I don’t want you to get caught in that… “Oh aren’t they wonderful,
amazing; I could never do that” kind of feeling. Sure, there needs to be a willingness to say
yes to the invitation into partnership, to agree to being sent, responding,
“Here I am!” But the other side of the
equation is how God is at work in this relationship – or rather, how is that we
access the holy, spiritual power that
makes it all possible. To be church is
to be in the energy business, searching for ways to be open to the Spirit, for
it is the Spirit that empowers us, that fill us with energy.
I’ve just recently finished reading a book lent to me by Tom Baerg… yes, he read the Scripture this morning. It’s called Mary Magdalene (written by Margaret George). I resisted reading it for a while, thinking it might be another Dan Brown clone, where Jesus and Mary become an item. I should have known better, ‘cause I know Tom. Turns out, it’s a fine historical novel, that faithfully follows the gospel story and fleshes out Jesus’ ministry in wonderful detail. And let me tell you, after having spent a couple of months in Israel Jerusalem
Jesus said gently, “The Kingdom has indeed been inaugurated, the new age ushered in, by my new life. … You stand on its threshold, you open its doors. He looked tenderly and possessively at each one of them…. “Now you must share this treasure. You are witnesses to all these things.” … Then, taking them in turn, he held each face in his hands and looking directly into the person’s eyes, he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you.” Then he took a breath and breathed directly on them, murmuring, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” When Mary[Magdalene] took her turn and he clasped her face in his warm hands, she felt weak with joy and the mystery of it. He blew his breath gently across her face and nostrils, saying in a low voice, “Mary, receive the Holy Spirit.” He held her face in a tight grip, then let it go. He was telling her she must make way for the next in line.
It’s Mary’s yes and God’s energy that together create a partnership. Which is what is possible for all of us.
I’ve asked Mae Runions and
John Pratt-Johnson to speak to us. Seven
or eight years ago they sensed a call to offer a hot, free lunch to seniors in
the neighbourhood… a good meal, for those who found it hard to stretch their
budgets; once a month, on the Wednesday before cheque day, when everything was
getting tight. But it wasn’t just a matter of feeding people; what Mae and John
and all the volunteers they coordinated were trying to do was create a
community, a place and a time when people could simply gather, share a meal
together, and connect with other people.
As an aside, the Vancouver Foundation recently released a research report
about what people in Vancouver see as the most pressing social issues; lots of
surveys, interviews… you know how it goes.
The researchers were expecting issues like homelessness, affordable
housing, the economy to be the top concerns; oh, they were up there, all right,
but the biggest concern of the people in Vancouver was… get this … isolation. Lack of connection, partnership; being
alone. No wonder something like eighty
to ninety people came last Wednesday, for a great lunch, and lots of
conversation, and some music at the end.
For over seven years Mae and John have organized these lunches… ordered
the food, called up the volunteers, greeted the guests, cleaned up the
kitchen. And now they need a rest… and
who knows what new callings. I’ve asked Mae and John to talk about where
they have encountered God.
Where have we
encountered God in this work?
This is a very
good question to suddenly have to ask yourself, for although we pray and give
thanks, where do we actually find God in it?
I would say
first of all in our faithful volunteers.
Many of the folk who have been helping with this work have been with us
from the beginning. I see God, there, in
them.
Then I would
mention the generosity of our food supplier, Marcus, at Mava Foods. We have been known to feed 100 people with
food ordered for 80. A certain dance
goes on in the kitchen, in the serving.
I see God there.
Then I would
mention the folk who walk in, our guests.
I see their humility and gratitude.
One dear lady comes early regularly and plops herself down with relief
and says, “I love coming here because it’s so beautiful.” I see God there.
Then I would
mention our Finance Committee that takes seriously the scriptural call to care
for the poor. I see God present there.
Then I would
mention our ministers. Gary
And I guess this
is only the beginning….
And then John came
to the microphone, leaned in, while looking at Mae, his wife, and said very
gently, “And I see God in Mae.”
Mae and John… we thank you for all that you have done… for music,
the Alpha Course, End Homelessness, fabric art… this stole, this communion
table hanging of the Blue Heron Spirit… and for this ministry of the Seniors’
Outreach Lunch. And before we sing, I
would like to ask all those you have shared in this ministry… would you please
stand? Thank you… and now, let’s sing:
Thuma
mina, thuma mina
Thuma
mina, somandla.
Here
I am, Lord, here I am Lord,
Here
I am Lord, fill my heart.
Send
me Spirit, send me Spirit,
Send
me Spirit, send me Lord.
Another story… this one from
Curt Allison, our minister of Urban Outreach, the Gospel Choir, the Word is
Out. He’s down in New York Bob
Jones University
Greetings from North Carolina New York City
I do want to share with my ministerial
colleagues a very significant event for me in my life occurring this weekend in
NYC. I am on the board for BJUnity (we just launched our website this past
Monday www.BJUnity.org). This is the association
of LGBTQ former students of Bob Jones University
in Greenville , SC. New York
Taken from our website, "BJUnity
provides a safe harbor—a network of people and resources—for lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and straight affirming
people affected by fundamentalist Christianity.
BJUnity affirms and empowers lgbt+ from Bob Jones
University
So I go to NYC for this
reason. I cannot tell you how significant this organization is. Already we've
helped many alumni and current students who are LGBT. I've co-led 2
tele-sessions with members to discuss our coming out stories. Powerful stuff.
BJU is the most homophobic institution in Christianity today. Our website has
already been blocked from access to students on campus. But so many people are
contacting us for help as well. I fully believe that being a part of BJUnity is
a big reason I am here on earth - to take the devastation I experienced from
fundamentalism and to use it to bring healing and hope to other gay people
devastated by the evils of fundamentalism as well.
So I share this with you
as co-labourers with Christ that you hold us in prayer this weekend as we march
and that you celebrate with us as we continue to speak words of hope, healing,
and liberation to thousands of BJU gay alumni as our ministry continues to be
made public.
Blessings to you! I love serving in
ministry with each of you. XO
Powerful stuff, eh? A man who feels sent, who knows he’s in
partnership with God, dealing with demons, working for healing, preaching good
news. And, perhaps at this very moment,
walking in New York
I want to invite one
final person to share with us -- Michael Dobbin, who for three years has been
our Minister of Stewardship and Development.
This has not been an easy calling, for most of us have quick and prickly
defenses when the topic of money comes up.
But with determination and skill Michael has taken on the challenge of
being our “Minister of Money,” helping us talk about faith and finances. He has helped us understand that money is
really our energy in portable form, and that it is part of what enables all the
other ministries that you have been hearing about. He has helped us understand that we have a
need to give… not just to meet budgets and bottom lines, but because our souls
need to give. And now, Michael’s time in
this role is coming to an end, although he will continue to be part of the
congregation, finding new places and avenues to share gifts and
enthusiasm. But it felt important to
mark the ending his time with this particular Stewardship responsibility… to give
thanks, and to acknowledge that his work has made a big difference in the life
of our congregation. But …. I asked him
to speak, not about the specifics of his work, nor to give us an ongoing
challenge, but, once again, to talk about where he has encountered the presence
of God in what he has been doing.
Michael…..
Three and half years ago, I was living in Thailand Charity
Village , and there, right at the top
of the Vancouver
God was with me that moment, the spirit
moved me to apply. It was, I believe, a providential calling, for me to join
the leadership team here.
My time as your Director of Development has
been a hugely rewarding experience and I have encountered God almost
everywhere, and on every day of my time in this post.
At the start, I saw God in the eager eyes of
Alan Lowe and cautious look on Carol Acton’s face when they first
interviewed me. (I did not take my earring out)
I saw God in the faces of the large group of
congregants and staff who interviewed me a second time—and there was a gang of
them, about 12 or more if I recall….not an interview panel, more like a posse.
And God was there.
I encountered God in my relationship with
our church Treasurer, Sue Parker as I grew to know and respect and love her
over these years. Neither one of us is an easy person to truly “understand” but
I can assure you that my work, especially at the beginning, could not have been
done without God-sent-Sue and her obsessive dedication to her work here at this
church.
God was revealed to me when, shortly after I
started my job here, I spent an hour or so with Jim Ferguson and listened to
him speak about this place, the financial realities of this church, the
history, and the challenges that were met over all the decades he served this
place.
His voice, as you may know, has a lovely
Scottish lilt which is actually not at all like my Dad’s voice but, in the face
of Mr. Ferguson, and the words he spoke, there, in front of me was, for all the
world, my own Father. When Jim left that meeting I closed my door and wept for
some time—I truly knew that God was with me in this task when I was working in
the footsteps of a man-of-God as dedicated to the financial workings of his United Church
We all know
that God lives in the hearts, minds, and the very space occupied by the
ministerial staff here – especially when they are all together in one place.
Most of you may never have that opportunity but it is extraordinary. I feel
blessed to have seen the face of God in this remarkable group of preachers and
teachers, and artists.
I encounter God every Sunday in your faces –
in the potent energy that zaps up and down the pews while we share in
worship…in smiles of our most senior members and in the faces of these
children, in the honest hearts of the old guard and the earnest hopes of
the newcomers in this church family – God, in each one of you
.
God was in the moment when I decided that
even I, a man of a certain age, could
mount a campaign electronically and create an entire month-long
stewardship event ON LINE…it is the first time I have ever truly felt that God
is, indeed, within the technology that we use… Now I know why smart phones are
smart!
GOD is in the progress we have made in
stewardship development in the past four years and I know that many newer,
regularized givers have come to understand the rewards of sharing their money
with the church. There is joy for me in knowing this to be true! (I would be
even more joyful if a few more of you joined that roster!)
I have repeatedly encountered God in the
Interfaith Work that we are doing… and it was a miraculous gift that we were
able to get money from the Government to continue and deepen that work.
I say Hallelujah for that. And can only pray
that EmbraceBC will continue to see us as worthy in the year ahead.
I find God in Darryl Nixon and his openness
to new and different and sometimes radical musical ideas. I hear God in the
voices of our singers, especially Rachel Landrecht who, I believe, sings with
the inspiration of the angels.
God is in delicious home-baked cookies,
In the re-creation of the chapel,
In the compassion groups, like the one I am
part of,
In warm hand-made socks,
In quiet private chats about the pain of
change,
In the warm
Hugs and
The Parades
and Festival tents … and
My list could go on and on…
Because when one is at the centre of this
place called St. Andrew’s-Wesley---
and
YES, it is true that it is often bewildering, it can be exceedingly frustrating,
the glacial pace and way church works is often irritating, and
sometimes church people can be so weird but—
it is
ALWAYS, at the core, (as we say) “spirit led, and spirit fed”. And that
is God.
I have been guided by the holy spirit as I
have attempted to move our church from the old ways and the old days
of silence and secrecy regarding money-matters to a place where we can
talk more openly about stewardship, money, spending, financial planning, legacy
giving and can even celebrate together over dinner with those who have included
the church in their Last Wills and Testaments. (Have any new ones joined that
roster this year, I wonder??)
True, the work has just begun but I
think I have done all I can or want to do in this role. As I step aside, I feel
I have been guided by spirit: to make room, create a new space where there will
be other structures, other people, and another approach taken ----- building on
the progress we have made together over the past 3 or 4 years.
I am not leaving the congregation. I will be
here for worship, I will be here as a member of the Property Committee, and… I
am likely to be here in more ways that either you OR I can imagine… as the days
and months roll on.
Michael…
thank you. And I am so glad that you are
not leaving, but will remain as a member of this congregation. Will you join me in singing….
Thuma mina, thuma mina
Thuma
mina, somandla.
Here
I am, Lord, here I am Lord,
Here
I am Lord, fill my heart.
Send
me Spirit, send me Spirit,
Send me Spirit, send me Lord
You know… we have to finish… but there
are so many other people who could be up here, talking about how they have
encountered God in their partnership ministry… like Lois Keebler, who for the
past ten years has led the St. Andrew’s-Wesley Book Club; or Mike Lewis, who
has just published his 14th book, The Resilience Imperative –
it’s a challenging read for someone like me who loves poetry, novels and
theology; a lot of economics… the
sub-title says it all: Co-operative Transitions to a Steady State Economy;
but it’s good… and it’s important; or Olive Swan, who has painted a second
icon… in a few weeks St. Andrew, over there on the wall by the prayer candles, will
be joined by an icon of Mary. Called, sent, partnership; empowered, willing
to say, “Here I am, Lord.” And we are
grateful; and each one of us is invited to listen carefully, discerning where
the call comes for us, how we might partner with this One who needs us, who
asks us to go forth, into the whole world, ready to spread good news:
Thuma
mina, thuma mina
Thuma
mina, somandla.
Here
I am, Lord, here I am Lord,
Here
I am Lord, fill my heart.
Send
me Spirit, send me Spirit,
Send me Spirit, send me Lord
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