God Does Not Abuse Us        Lenten Reflections, 2008
Real Faces, Real Books and 'YourSpace'
St. John’s United and the “Easy Answer Squirrel”
Minister’s Musings: An Unusual Baptism
Just Wait...There's More       Linda's Sermons         lindayates@eastlink.ca

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On a more serious note...God Does Not Abuse Us. I would hope that if I drowned my children, injected them with cancer cells in order to make them have cancer or withheld from them the necessities of life like food and shelter, that Social Services would intervene and rescue them. Likely I would be criminally prosecuted. At the very least my behaviour would be seen as injurious and sign of a serious mental disorder. Those of us, who name ourselves as Christian, understand that the wounding, starving and killing of children is profoundly wrong , no matter how much it allegedly might build character or teach so-called valuable lessons . We Christians also understand that this sense of decency is connected somehow to our understanding of who God is and what a loving God wants for us. How then could we possibly believe that God would cause tsunamis, give cancer or allow starvation “for a reason”? The concept that a loving God could drown hundreds of thousands of people is not logical or possible. Yet, this is what I heard on the CBC Evening News early in March from an evangelical missionary doing Tsunami relief work in Indonesia. I can not imagine anything more sacrilegious than describing God as that – essentially a psychopathic child abuser/killer. The trouble is that people in their need for order and control would rather have an all powerful, all knowing God than a loving one. We can not have both. We can not say God is loving “Parent” and also that God does all this other nasty stuff. A God like that belongs in jail. We may have to say God is all loving and also God is not all powerful. Perhaps it is more complicated. Perhaps God is in partnership with human kind. Perhaps we have huge responsibilities for each other. If the Bible or the Qur’an are to be any guide, those humans who have more power and privilege have even more responsibility for the well being of others. Perhaps that message is too complex, too onerous and demands too much of us to be popular.

The need to describe God as abusive is endemic in these times. On March 5, 2007, the Bright Spot column of The Chronicle Herald featured some young people who were going to the Dominican Republic to build a medical clinic. Good enough. Even virtuous. What is not is the statement at the end of the column by one of the young men which said that people are poor because they push God away. What!? Clearly someone has not told them that there are more than 1000 references in the bible highlighting God’s concern about people living in poverty. All this concern and criticism is pointed toward the people who are NOT poor and the systems that they live within and support that allow poverty to exist. Never, are the people who live within poverty assumed to have offended God. Quite the opposite, in fact. However, it sure is a lot more work to be faithful when the message of human responsibility is taken seriously, particularly if we live in an affluent society. If we believe for example, that people are poor because they have pushed God away then we don’t have to ask ourselves the hard questions about why people are poor and why, in particular, the Dominican Republic along with many other countries in the Southern Hemisphere are suffering from unfair global economic practices that we, as Canadians allow our government to endorse. It is easier, to build a building in a foreign country (a good thing) than to ask those questions and agitate for solutions in partnership (an even better thing).

As a cancer survivor I am always amazed at the number of religious people who insist that God gave me cancer “for a reason.” I always wonder if they have ever cracked open their bible. If Jesus is to be any guide at all to who God is, he was always HEALING people. Never once, for any reason, did he give disease or kill a person or impoverish them. This is not to say that God is not active in the lives of all of us who suffer from disaster or disease. God works with us in the midst of these events, despite them to create something wonderful, co-creating life filled gifts in the midst of chaos and death. Often, people need quick answers and someone/thing to be in control of their lives at all times- even if that some one is abusive. It is dangerous to believe in an abusive God. If you believe God can create Tsunamis and dole out cases of cancer on a regular basis in the name of “doing good” or “the big plan” does that also not justify other equally nasty things like say, imposing crippling death dealing economic practices or dropping nuclear bombs on folks you have decided don’t fit into YOUR big plan?

What does God do? The question is answered for us, in part, by asking what Jesus did. Jesus Christ was so in tune, so open to the love of God, that when people left his presence they usually found themselves healed in some way. Some, however, found themselves disturbed. When people listened to his message they became inspired to risk and lose themselves in caring for one another and the world. Often this meant challenging oppressive systems. Those in power and authority found themselves so threatened by this openness to God that Jesus had to be silenced. The trouble and the blessing therein, is he just wouldn’t stay dead.

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Lenten Reflections, 2008. Religion, above all things, should be useful to both God and humankind. I have always believed this. So worship, study, sacrament and ritual should reflect things that really matter - to both God and humankind. Nothing seems to matter more these days than the havoc we are wreaking upon this planetary home we call earth. To that end, during Lent and Holy Week we will be reflecting on our responsibility toward Creation. What does it mean to live with respect in Creation?

Once a month, we Yates' have what we call "Yates Family Night Out." Our circle has now expanded by one, (Sarah), to our delight. It is amazing that we can all live in the same house and not see much of each other. We realized that in coming years we may not live in the same city, province or even perhaps the same country so we had better enjoy each other's company in a structured way now. So, before everyone scattered and it was too late to wish we had done it, we decided to periodically eat supper somewhere at a restaurant and then attend an agreed upon movie, once a month or so. On one of those YFNO we saw An Inconvenient Truth. I think it was a conversion experience for most, if not all of us. I have never thought about the planet the same since. I felt deeply ashamed at what my generation had done with this great gift God has entrusted us with - our very planetary home. After some prayer, I also realized that if we were to be faithful Stewards of Creation, as Christians we have a critical responsibility to reflect this in our worship life.

Worship and Music has decided that during Lent this year, Creation will once again be front and centre, literally. You will come into church and the garden of Eden will be in front of the pulpit, (minus Adam, Eve, serpent and fig leaves of course). Each week we will be removing some aspect of Creation as we think about how global warming, among other things, is affecting it. Some of the Kairos committee has worked to gather good information about how we can act and live in a more environmentally just way. You will find these in inserts and postcards in the bulletin. We have also visited the Ecology Action Centre to find out what they had to say about the most effective things we can do. I think they might have been a little surprised and also very pleased to hear that a church, of all things, is concerned about this. It gave them hope. (One of the other things religion is supposed to be about).

There is one good thing about global warming. Only one. It is this - almost all of humankind now knows that we share this fragile ball hurtling through space. For the first time in history, we know we have to work together. Put differently, we are acutely aware now that we are all connected to one another in the web of Creation. If I pull on one strand, your strand wobbles and visa versa. We stand on the precipice of this awareness and pray that humanity makes the right choices.

So, during Lent come and learn. Come and sing. Come and lament. Come and hope. Then go and live with respect in God's Creation.
Blessings,
Linda

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Real Faces, Real Books and 'YourSpace'. In the shock and horror of the immediate aftermath of the latest on campus shootings at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg Virginia on April 16, 2007, a friend of mine emailed me. She works in the world of television news and we have often had very deep meaningful conversations about the meaning of pain and suffering in this world. Her question concerned the spontaneous eruption of virtual “church” on FaceBook in the hours and days following the shootings. People, mostly young, were posting prayers, hymns and conversing about the meaning of life. What did I think of that, she wondered? My response was that for people who had no connection to a faith community in which they can sort this out, I was glad it was happening somewhere, even if it was just online.

I have been thinking a lot about online church ever since. It is true that more and more churches are sponsoring on line chat rooms, blogs and Face Book groups. It is also true that you can now download recorded services and sermons. Some churches are even podcasting. These provide a valuable service for those who are confined to their home. However, nothing beats are real face to face encounter. What is it that communities of faith offer that make it worthwhile to get up on Sunday morning and offer your care, concern, time, talent and even treasure to this motley crew of God’s gathered people when you could just stay in your pajamas, sip coffee and surf religious sites in instead?

Churches of real faces and real books offer: Connection to people who care that you are there. St. John’s United Church located in downtown Halifax is a “created” community. People come from diverse walks of life and they attend St. John’s in part because they wish to connect with an intergenerational group of people who seek to connect to one another, God and wrestle with the meaning of life. During my training I was surprised to encounter a man who was a regular attender at the church of my learning site who revealed he was an atheist. I asked him why he came to church and his reply was that he loved sitting next to people once a week who cared that he was there and who would notice if he wasn’t! I think that is an amazing compliment that says it all.

Connection with a community that takes the time to gather and deliberate about right and wrong and the “Meaning of It All”: Church is the time and place that a community comes together to listen to some ancient texts of wisdom (the Bible) and deliberates about what it means for us in today’s complex and sometimes frightening world. It is the place where we challenge each other to live better lives doing good in this same world. Church is also the place we regularly give thanks for the many blessings we experience in our lives, a practice that if habitual totally transforms oneself and the world. Our model for all of this is Jesus Christ. In leaving our homes and coming to this sacred space, YourSpace, we are strengthened for the other 167 hours in our week!

Connection to a community that challenges the powerful to do what is right: Whether it is becoming an Affirming Church (publicly declaring that St. John’s is a safe and welcoming place for Gays, Lesbians and Transgendered people), developing a Lenten worship series to highlight the wounds our planet is continuing to sustain or challenging governments and corporations to be socially responsible, we struggle together at St. John’s. Check out or Social Action programs for ways in which we seek to support the most vulnerable in our culture.

Connecting to a Church community is good for your overall health: A quick Google search on “religious beliefs and health outcomes” reveals that there are many reputable studies that confirm belief in God and regular connection to a faith community is good for your physical and mental health. I have often noted as I have sat by the bedside of dying people that those who have been part of a church community (not necessarily the one I belong to) tend to die well. That is, with more peace and preparedness leaving behind loved ones better able to cope with grief than those who have not connected with a faith community. Just like deciding to get in shape two weeks before you run an Olympic race won’t work, people who postpone or avoid thinking and working through these issues of life, death and meaning until the last weeks of their lives tend to find themselves in a panic. Making the effort to come and be part of a community that struggles with spirituality and the meaning of life mentally prepares you for the big transitions in life, including death.

Connection with the Power of the Divine through community: I have had many people tell me over the years that they don’t go to church but consider themselves good people and experience enough of God walking alone in the woods and through nature. While it is true that they are good people and they will experience the presence of God, (for God never leaves us) and God is resplendently expressed through nature, no faith is ever complete without connection to a faith community. It is within this community that we are comforted, challenged, changed and connected to the planet in ways we can not fully understand. It is within this community that the Divine Energy is experienced in a way that can never be felt alone. In every one of the major world religions whether you are Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or participate in one of the indigenous faiths, connection to community is assumed and is key to spiritual growth.

Since you are reading this online I invite you to check out more fully our website. Within it you will find the footprints of a faith community striving to be faithful to God through many programs and activities throughout the week. You will also find that we assume that the Bible is a text to be wrestled with, that we are radically welcoming and we assume we do not “know it all” and never will have all of the answers. We are on a journey of discovery. If you decide to worship with us you will find us gathered on Sunday morning at 10:30. You will also find that we have real faces, real books and 'YourSpace' waiting for you.

Blessings,
Linda

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St. John’s United and the “Easy Answer Squirrel”. So, you are seeking and searching. Life isn’t quite what you thought it would be and you have within you a deep longing. You need some answers and you need them quick. You won’t find them here – at least you won’t find them quickly.

Jesus is our model and the Bible is our guide, although you would probably be hard pressed to find anyone in our congregation who believes in the inerrancy of the Bible. We are the kind of community that debates, explores and wrestles with Holy Scripture. The new United Church ad campaign is designed to reach the un-churched, de-churched or under-churched 30 to 45 year olds who have the mistaken impression that we are bible thumping, hand waving zealots. The ad that has received the most attention is the “Bobble Headed Jesus.” (http://www.wondercafe.ca) (Note: check out the “media room” on the wondercafe website for all of the ads). However, my personal favourite is the ad which pictures a black Bible with all kinds of pages bookmarked with pink and yellow sticky notes. The text indicates “Yellow – agree” “Pink – disagree.” That would be us. The scriptures are important to us at St. John’s – important enough to study, ponder and struggle with.

Of all of ads, though, the most engaging surely has to be the
E-Z Answer Squirrel. It brilliantly depicts in 60 humourous seconds or less, the astounding breadth of the United Church ethos. (No, I’m not going to describe it – you must experience it yourself! Please go to http://www.wondercafe.ca/display_index.php?pageName=ezanswer&loadedFrom=Index). There are no easy answers with us, although there are some certain truths, the most important of which is – God loves you and always has. At St. John’s that is where we begin. God loves us and we love God. We try to love each other.

At St. John’s United Church you will find a collection of caring folks who come together, not just on Sunday, but sometimes on other days of the week as well to connect with God and with each other. We sing, we learn, we laugh and we struggle together to understand the meaning of life and what God calls each one of us to do and what God calls us collectively to do. We recognize that the world is complex and always has been. We were one of the first churches on the Halifax peninsula to approve same-sex marriage, something I thinks speaks well of the progressiveness and justice seeking nature of the people of St. John’s who worked faithfully through this complex issue. That is not to say, there wasn’t vigorous debate. Being inclusive and loving means sometimes we need argue about what “truth is” and what “sacred” means. Sometimes, being human, we also argue about more mundane things like who keeps leaving the door open to the inside of the church so that the warm air escapes from the Hall.

We are, in the end, a community that seeks to love and support one another and the world we inhabit. This always involves discussion and sometimes negotiation. Come check us out some Sunday. We can’t promise you E-Z Answers, but we can promise you an imperfect but caring community that attempts to “Seek justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God.” (Micah 6:6-8)

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An Unusual Baptism. We have experienced many baptisms this year at St. John’s United. On August 20th we had a couple of unusual ones. Two children, a girl two years old and a new baby boy, whose parents were of the same sex were baptized. As well, that day a baby girl of a heterosexual couple was baptized. It was a wonderful, joyous and amazing occasion. But it was unusual. What was unusual about it was that the children and the families are folks who have already been regularly coming to church and are participants in the life and work of the church.

When parents choose to baptize their children in the United Church of Canada, we understand that families are choosing to claim their child as a member of the world wide Christian faith. They make promises to God, to the congregation and to each other about how they will live, how their children will be brought up and what they believe. They commit to seeking justice and resisting evil. They also make promises to become part of the life and work of the local church, in our case, St. John’s United. They don’t have to have the nitty-gritty of their faith questions worked out. No one expects that. We all have doubts and many things to learn yet.

The congregation also makes promises to the family and the children during the act of baptism. They promise to support them in their faith journey. In a practical way they do this by providing a Sunday School and other Christian education programs, by providing ministers to be available for families during difficult times and by generally caring and praying for the children and their families. It makes congregations anxious when they have never seen families before they appear at the front of the church as their children are being baptized. There creeps in a worrisome component to the promises the congregation then makes – if the families never show up again how will the church be able to keep their end of the promise? So, when families who are regular attenders have their children baptized, it tends to be a time of great rejoicing for congregations. Nonetheless, it is the exception rather than the rule, in my experience.

That is not to say, that United Church congregations begrudge baptism. Indeed, our church of St. John’s has chosen to never refuse a child baptism, providing the parents take classes from the minister so as to understand the importance and meaning of the event. In my own life, I must confess that when my oldest child was baptized in Deer Lake, Newfoundland, 22 years ago, (although we lived in Halifax and rarely attended church at the time), my own personal faith was so weak that I doubt I would have ever stepped foot in a church again, had our request for baptism for our child been refused. I will be eternally grateful to the minister of that small church for seeing beyond my faltering belief and recognizing the seed of faith potential. It began a journey for me that eventually included a call to ordained ministry.

The act of baptism is one of the United Church’s sacraments (communion being the other). A sacrament is the visible outpouring of God’s grace. That’s what we believe happens; that in the pouring of the water over a person, in the praying and in the loving, things are transformed in this concrete earthly world. We also believe that something profound happens within the baptized person’s being and changes even somehow take place in the world of the Divine. An old scientist like me finds it hard to comprehend sometimes. However, I do believe it, strongly now.
Blessings,
Linda

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Just Wait...There's More is the title of Linda's book about her ordeal with breast cancer. It is available from Nimbus Publishing- you can order online by going to http://www.nimbus.ns.ca/.

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Linda's Sermons
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