Mid-Week Message - September 17

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be always with you!

It's hard to believe that it was just a week ago that a group of us were getting ready to head into town to see the production of Come From Away (and I know that many of you, even if you weren't part of our church group on Wednesday saw it other nights).

I have not heard anything negative said about the production - it was spectacular. And because the acting and singing and dancing was so well-done, I could really let the beautiful story at the heart of the musical set into my heart.

If you haven't seen it, Come From Away tells the story of the planes that landed in Gander Newfoundland on September 11, 2001 when US airspace was closed for several days.  It tells the story of a community that opened their hearts and their lives to thousands of strangers who literally landed on their doorsteps.  It tells a story of both heartbreak and compassion, of fear and of gratitude, and most of all, of building authentic relationships that cross boundaries that we often put up between people.

As I said when I got home from the show, I laughed, I cried, I laughed again, I cried again. My heart is still fully of the joy that seeing this musical brought to me.

I was also thinking of Come From Away last night when we gathered for the first Asking the Big Questions of the fall. Our "big" question was "Jesus tells us to love our neighbours - but what about the people we don't like?" and at one point we were discussing Luke 6:27-28 - “But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you." (To me, this is maybe the most challenging thing that Jesus says anywhere in the gospels.)

In Come From Away, we saw love and good deeds and blessings and prayers that crossed cultural divisions, that crossed social divisions, that crossed religious divisions. We saw how love and good deeds and blessings and prayers could break down these divisions and lead to authentic care and compassion and relationship.

Last night, one of the comments that was made about Jesus's teaching in Luke was that this runs contrary to anything that anyone outside of the church would think or say. Jesus's teaching sounds downright weird if you can read it with fresh eyes. The way that the world works is that we love our enemies, if someone does us wrong, we do wrong in return.  Eye-for-an-eye or tooth-for-a-tooth mentality.  But repaying violence with violence only leads to escalating cycles of violence.

And Jesus wasn't just teaching empty words. When he was put on trial at the end of his life, he refused to fight back, and he called on the one whom he called Father to forgive the people who were crucifying him. And by refusing to repay violence with violence, Jesus was able to break that cycle.

Yes - that is contrary to the message of the world.  No - it isn't easy. But as Come From Away showed us, when we are able to break down the things that separate us, the love that emerges is beautiful.

Moving on to announcements this week:

• Worship on Sunday will be at 9:15 at Summerville and 11:15 at Westfield and on Facebook Live. Continuing in the Season of Creation, this week we will be looking at how we set our priorities. Jesus tells us that we can't worship both God and money (Luke 16:1-13) and Amos tells us that God's priority is always caring for the poor (Amos 8:4-7). Everyone is welcome! (And at Westfield, we'll be welcoming back Bertis and the choir!)

• Bible Study - there is no bible study next week (Sept. 24) as I will be leading worship at the Snow Centre that morning. We will resume on Wednesday October 1!

• Westfield Choir Concert Series - as I mentioned last week and Cindy announced on Sunday, the first concert is drawing closer on Thursday October 9! Concert Series Subscriptions can be purchased from any Westfield Choir member up until the first concert - after that, individual concert tickets will be available at the door. (Peninsula Folks - I am carrying tickets with me, so feel free to get your ticket when I'm there for worship or my office hours.) To see the poster with all of the concert titles and dates, you can click here.

• Confirmation Classes - After the picnic, I was talking to the parent of a couple of teens about confirmation, and a younger sibling asked, "What is confirmation?" I explained that when a baby was baptized (like at the picnic), the parents make promises on the baby's behalf, but when the baby grows up and wants to learn more about their faith, they have the opportunity to learn and then "confirm" the promises that their parents had previously made. With confirmation, someone becomes a full member of the church. Confirmation classes are a chance to explore our faith - questions like "What do I believe?"  "What does the United Church of Canada teach?"  "What does it mean to be a member of a church?" These classes are open to anyone - teens or adults who are ready to confirm the promises that their parents made at their baptism; adults who would like to become members of Two Rivers Pastoral Charge; people who have already done confirmation and are members, but who would like a chance to explore the basics of their faith from their current life perspective; people who don't necessarily want to be confirmed, but who are curious about their faith. If you (or the teens in your life) are interested, please let me know by the end of the month! Once I have names, I'll be figuring out the best time for us to meet.

• Welcome Back Steve! - those of you who were in worship on Sunday saw that we welcomed back our Student Minister Steve Harding for his second-year placement as he continues his studies at the Atlantic School of Theology. This year, the focus of his placement will be on pastoral visiting and leading an education program, as well as continuing to participate in leading worship (including preaching once in the fall and once in the winter). The pastoral visiting focus is during the fall term, so he is going to be contacting some of you to ask if you would like to have a visit from him; and the flip side is true too - if you would like to have a visit from Steve, feel free to reach out to him at worship or by email at  Steven.Harding@astheology.ns.ca. (As I sometimes say, mind reading isn't something that they teach us at AST, so neither Steve nor I is able to know that you would like a visit unless you ask!)
  

Thank You Corner - I can't let this week go by without echoing what I said on Sunday morning at Westfield. A huge thank you to Joan Small for everything that she has done in the past 4 months to support the music at Westfield. When Bertis first contacted me in April to let me know that he had been given an offer that he didn't feel he could say no to (ie a role in Come From Away), but that the rehearsal time conflicted with our worship time, we brainstormed a couple of ways that we could make this happen (because I agreed with him - there was no way he could say no to an opportunity like that!). Our ideal solution was to ask Joan if she would be willing to cover for him, and when she said yes, this meant that we didn't have to move on to Plan B or Plan C. Thank you, Joan, for all of your long Sunday mornings in the past 4 months, with no weekends off. You are very much appreciated!

For a closing thought, on Sunday several people asked me for my cake recipe, so I've written it out on my blog. If you want to access it, you can click here! (And as a reminder, I almost always upload my Sunday sermons to my blog, so if you ever miss a week or want to go back and review what I said, you can find them there.)

Blessings to you and yours, today and always!

Kate.

Rev. Kate Jones

Two Rivers Pastoral Charge

(506) 757-2201 (office)

(506) 343-1307 (mobile)

www.tworiverspastoralcharge.com

Pronouns:  she/her/hers

"Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the law?"

Jesus replied, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: "You must love your neighbour as you love yourself."

(Matthew 22:36-39)