Alleluia, The Lord is Risen, Indeed!

Alleluia, Christ is risen, Christ is risen indeed! This past sunday we celebrated in our Churches the good news of the Easter message, that God in Christ Jesus has risen from the dead.  It's a message that brings opportunity for renewed hope, vision, possibilities, new beginnings. In the gospel of Luke(24:1-12), the women at dawn go to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body as was the custom to do at the time of burial.  As the beginning of Sabbath was near when Jesus' body was taken down from the cross, this could not be done before he was placed in the tomb, as it was not lawful to bury on the Sabbath.  A large stone had been rolled in front of the opening to the tomb and sealed.  When the women arrived there the stone was rolled away and when they went into the tomb, Jesus body was not there. Two men in dazzling white, standing next to them said, "why do you look for the living among the dead?" and then they said, “He is not here. He is risen.” The women perhaps unsure of how to take this, the men say to them, "remember", "remember when He told you in Galilee, that he would be handed over to sinners, die and on the third day rise again."  The women remembering that Jesus had told them exactly that, and that it was the third day, believed that Jesus had indeed risen just has he had said he would, and they go back and tell the others.  They at first did not believe, but then Peter rushes to the tomb, and like the women he finds nothing there but the linen grave clothes lying by themselves, and he too amazed go back to the others.  How hard it is to believe sometimes. The woman didn't believe at first, the men in dazzling white, had to remind them of what Jesus had told them.  The disciples didn't believe at first when the women told them, they thought it was an idle tale. Peter didn't believe at first, he had to go and see for himself.  What does it take to believe, does it require some factual evidence, that one can touch or see, perhaps Like Thomas, who said, he would not believe unless he could touch the marks where the nails had been driven in Jesus hands, or in his side. Whatever it might take for one to believe, the one thing we do know is that when they did everything changed for them, and that is the real good news in the message of the resurrection is that God in Christ Jesus has changed all things for all time.  Women who had no place in society, were in Luke's gospel named as the apostles to the apostles. Peter and the other disciples who were hiding out of fear of the Romans, suddenly everything changed when they knew Jesus was alive, suddenly there was new hope, new possibility. It is the same for us too, when we place our trust in the risen Lord, things change for us and we begin seeing life in a new way, with new hope, new possibility and promise; and so I pray you will find a renewed hope and peace trusting in the Risen Lord! Alleluia, Christ is risen, the Lord is risen, indeed!

Easter Blessings

Rev. Hannah+

"Rest for the Weary"

“Come unto me all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest”. (Matt 11:28)

Rest is something we all long for at the end of the day, but for some rest is not easy come by. There is always something more needing to be done that gets in the way of replenishing rest, having responsibilities that keeps one awake at night, or long-sleepless nights brought on by an overworked mind, or restless anxiety that come through the worry and fears we carry.  And yet often when the rest we need is made available to us we fail to take it.  Jesus in the gospel of Matthew, addressing those experiencing the anxieties of his day, says, “Come unto me all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”(11:28) The rest that Jesus offers of course is not just a nights rest of replenishing sleep, but a rest that restores the soul, lightens or calms the mind, and strengthens us physically. Jesus of course is referring to the rest that comes in knowing that we do not have to carry life’s burdens alone, Christ Jesus will carry them with or for us.  The poem ‘Footprints in the sand’ written by Mary Stevenson is a great reminder of how Jesus so lovingly carries us when the burdens of this life get too heavy for us to bear, “Lord, I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?” The Lord replied, “ My precious child, when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand, it is then I carried you.” What a wonderful image of a loving Saviour caring for his children that he would take us in his arms and carry us through the burdens of this life, even when we didn’t recognize him to be there. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (11:29). The yoke Jesus refers to is not one like we might imagine worn by a farm animal, worn for arduous labour, but rather the yoke of God’s enduring presence to lighten our load and carry us through the difficult times this life brings to us. “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”(Matt 11:30). May God’s peace be with you.

Blessings,

Rev. Hannah+

Are You Ready!

Over the last while you have probably heard the phrase asked of you or heard someone ask another, ‘are you ready’  or ‘I suppose you’re all ready’ and people are referring to being ready for Christmas. Do you have your shopping done, have you got your decorations up, your tree trimmed, and so on? And while that is not so unusual for this time of year, what is unusual about it is, it seems to start earlier and earlier each year. This year some of the stores had Christmas things out before the Halloween things were put away, and people putting decorations up in their homes before mid-november. As I reflected on this, I thought it’s as if there is a real urgency about all this, as if people can’t wait for Christmas to get here, and while that would be a good thing if it were for the right reason, for the most part it probably is not.  So why the urgency, probably for the joy and the excitement that Christmas brings, but we know that is only going to last for a time, so still why the urgency.  I am not so sure, but the real urgency should be in the anticipation, the anticipation of what Christ’s birth now points us to, His second coming. The time we live in now is the time between Christ’s first coming and his return, and so the question we should be asking ourselves at this time of the year as we reflect on our Saviour’s birth, is not have we got our trimmings all done for the holidays, but how ready are we for Christ’s return. What preparation have we made for Christ’s coming again? In the gospels Jesus speaks to the urgency of being ready for his return using the words, ‘keep alert’, ‘stay awake’,  ‘beware’, to indicate that this is something we should all be thinking about.  In the parable of the Ten bridesmaids (Matt 25:1-13), five had come with extra fuel for their lamps while the other five going with only what was in their lamps, when their fuel ran out having to to go look for more, they missed the bridegroom’s coming. The bridegroom, being Christ in this parable, begs us to ask when he returns will we have our lamps lit waiting and ready for his return, or will we be like the five foolish bridesmaids gone of on our own tangents seeking fuel to refill our lamps only to miss his coming, and be left outside the door so to speak.  In the gospel of Mark, Jesus speaking to his disciples about his return and the need to be ready, says, “about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, Keep Alert; for you do not know when the time will come” (Mk 13: 32-33). We are now in the season of Advent, Advent meaning ‘coming’ and while it is wonderful to be ready and waiting for Christmas with all our preparations, let’s not forget to think spiritually as well and set our minds to preparing ourselves for Christ’s coming that lasts not only for the seasons of Advent/Christmas but for all time. “Heaven and Earth will pass away but my words will not pass away” (Luke 21:33).

Blessings,

Rev. Hannah+

"The Hem of His Robe"

Been thinking about this spot lately and thought it was about time I got back to adding another bit of light on the Word. Been away from here way too long, hope you enjoy what I have written and may you discover God in the peace of your surroundings as you do, God Bless.

“The Hem of His Robe filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1b)

Have you ever been so amazed, so astonished by something that it felt as if your breath had been taken away from you, you stopped breathing in a moment of awe perhaps! In the reading from Isaiah (Is 6:1-7), the prophet in a vision is brought to the temple and there he sees, “the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. There are six winged Seraphs in attendance singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts. The pivots of the threshold shakes at their voices and smoke fills the house.” It’s a magnificent passage of scripture that speaks to the magnitude of our God, that all Isaiah can come up with to describe what he sees is that, “the hem of his robe filled the temple.” Now the hem of a garment is a very narrow piece of fabric, and if you let your mind grasp that for a moment, that it was the “hem” of His robe that filled the temple, not his whole robe, not God himself, but “the Hem”. I don’t know about you but that says a lot about the magnitude of our God, our all powerful, all loving God, that takes my breath away.

Isaiah’s breath too was likely taken away for Isaiah exclaims, “Woe is Me!” I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips.... yet my eyes have seen the Lord of hosts.” Woe is me, who am I, what have I done to be so privileged as to stand in the Lord’s presence. Isaiah soon learns that it is not about who he is, but about who God is that has made him worthy to stand before this awesome God. “A Seraph takes a live coal from the altar and touching Isaiah’s lips, with it says, “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed you and your sin is blotted out.’ (v.7). Now I don’t know if that takes your breath away but it should, for that is exactly what Jesus done when he gave up his life for each of us on the cross. “For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

What is it that takes your breath away? Recently I attended a celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the church in the community where I grew up, now that takes my breath away to be a part of something with such a rich history, but even more so to be a part of the Christian faith that have lasted over 2000 years now that really takes my breath away. Wow! What is it that takes your breath away? Think about that for a moment and you will probably find many moments when you have been rendered speechless, or saw that breathtaking view that just made you say Wow! Or Awesome! And you will see too, like Isaiah in His vision, the God whose “hem of his garment filled the temple”.

Rev. Hannah+

We Have An Everlasting God

“Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31)

Waiting is not something we do well, we want something we want it now, we don’t want to wait our turn, we want to get there first. We hate waiting for news that is coming to us, whether its good or bad we might be expecting, we worry, we fret, we get frustrated, and impatient in our waiting. Waiting creates anxiety in our lives, that create a whole mess of other problems for us because of our not waiting well. In the passage from Isaiah, the prophet speaks of waiting for the Lord, in the sense that it changes the way we wait, to wait for the Lord is to renew our strength, to mount up with wings of Eagles. An Eagle is a majestic bird, to see an eagle with wings outspread against the expanse of the sky is an image of beauty, it is also an image of power, strength and freedom; an image the prophet no doubt wanted to instill in the minds of the people of Israel that they might persevere in a time of great despair, great struggle.  They were living in a time of exile, captivity, and their longing to return to their homeland of Jerusalem while a long time coming was also compiled by the feeling that God was absent from them, they no longer felt God was with them, and they were losing hope. Isaiah wanted the people to have hope even in the midst of their waiting, that God hadn’t forgotten them, despite what their circumstances may dictate to them, God was there.

Throughout the gospels there are many stories where people’s circumstances may have dictated they give up, but instead they persevered despite what life had brought their way. In John’s Gospel (Jn 5:2-8) a man waited by a pool in Bethzatha for 35 years in hopes that someday he would make it to the pool at a time the water was stirred and believed to have healing properities that he might be made well, and because he waited, he was there when Jesus came along and he was healed. In Mark’s gospel “a woman suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years, it says, after enduring much under many physicans and spending all that she had, she was no better, but rather grew worse; hearing about Jesus she said “if I could only touch his cloak, I will be made well,” and upon touching his garment immediately her hemorrhage stopped(Mark 5:25-29).” In Luke’s gospel (13:10) another woman crippled for eighteen years when she encountered Jesus received healing. These people had waited in hope, persevered despite the odds against them, even despite the weariness of their situations, they kept going, hoping that someday things would change for them and it did. 

Do that mean if we trust in God, wait for the Lord, all that ails us will immediately disappear, our sickness will all go away, our troubles or trials in life will all be over? No, it doesn’t but it does mean that we look with renewed hope, renewed strength to face and deal with the circumstances of our lives in a way that we are not overcome by the crisis that come to us in this life, but that we will overcome despite them, for we know “our Lord is an everlasting God, He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable(Is 40:22)”.  

Blessings,

Rev. Hannah+

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Luke 2:11).

The Christmas story while we have been telling it from generation to generation for over 2000 years, in all its beauty and wonder with the angel chorus, the babe in the manger, the shepherds in the fields, wise men coming from afar…. It never ceases to amaze and capture the hearts not only of the faithful, but those who hear it for the first time the world over. God in Christ Jesus, had come down from heaven to be with us, that is the amazing thing about all of this, not that a baby was born, not that his mother Mary wrapped him in a swaddling cloth, not even that he was laid in a manger for his bed, for babies are born every day and taken care of by their mothers, and the world over many children have far worst places to lay their heads then the animals feeding trough Jesus was laid in. The wonderful news of Christmas is that this baby, born of a human mother,  was God incarnate, “Emmanuel, God with us”. God in the humblest estate of human life and the most ordinary of circumstances made his way into our world, not that we might have a holiday to celebrate as so many in the world are claiming it for themselves, “leave Christ out of Christmas” they say, we just want the Merry making and gift exchange. We can give all the material gifts we want, and host all the festivities, but nothing can do for us what only God could do through the gift of his son, as in the words of a Carol we sing from the old hymnal, “ Jesus came – the heavens adoring- Came with peace from realms on high; Jesus came for our redemption, Lowly came on earth to die: Alleluia! Alleluia! Came in deep humility.”

May you and yours have a most blessed and Holy Christmas,

Rev. Hannah+

The Confident Hope of Mary...

“you will conceive and bear a son, you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High.” (Luke 1: 31)

In this passage from Luke’s gospel we hear the story of Mary, and the angels visitation announcing she would have a child, not just any child, but the Son of the Most High, God’s own son was to be born to her.  Perhaps we can’t imagine the magnitude of what that announcement must have been to Mary.  A young unwed Jewish girl at that time to be found with child would have been trouble enough for her; Not only would it have meant great shame and disgrace for her family, but to claim that she was carrying the Son of God, would have been sure disaster for Mary, with the likely charges of heresy brought against her and probably a sentence of death by stoning. However when we read this passage in Luke’s gospel we don’t hear anything about the fear that Mary must have felt or the predicament she could possibly find herself in, only the pondering question of Mary asking “how can this be?” and then when the angel replies with  “nothing is impossible with God”, Mary’s response is “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Mary’s response while it may astonish us when we think of her being so young and the possible outcomes from what was being asked of her, we know however Mary’s response was not one taken lightly it was one made with a sure confidence and hope in a God she trusted. Mary’s story invites us to be more attentive to the message of Christmas, to listen for the angel voices, and hear what it is God is seeking to do among us not only at Christmas but all through the year.  Mary’s yes, changed the world for ever. In this final week of Advent, leading us  into Christmas, if we were to prepare for Christ’s coming as Mary did, with that same confident hope and trust that God still acts among his people, might we perhaps be a little more attentive to what God might be speaking to us and our response be a more confident 'yes' to making a way for it to happen in our world. Might we perhaps be a bit more attentive to the needs of the world around us, instead of being so involved with the consumerism of the day. And might we perhaps be a bit more effective in our efforts to spread the Christmas message of ‘peace and good will to all’, as the line from the Christmas Carol goes, “Let there be Peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”

Blessings and Peace, 

Rev. Hannah+