Church at Home Fifth Sunday of Easter, 10 May 2020

AnnouncementsWelcome to Church at Home for Sunday 10 May 2020, the Fifth Sunday of Easter.It is also Mothers' Day, and while you are probably not getting the lunch or expressions

of love you hoped for because of this pandemic, I want to offer my best wishes to everyone who has had a positive influence on the raising of a child, no matter how small. Serendipity is waiting a long time for the recognition or rewards of the seeds we plant today. Parenting, particularly motherhood, is like that, but keep planting positive seeds anyway!

There is a lot of talk now about re-opening provinces and the country. Different provinces have started to publish their best ideas about reopening their economies, and it gives me pause.

Now that the weather is improving permanent residents of cottage country are concerned that summer-time visitors will overtax their hospitals and grocery stores, but biggerthan that, there seems to be an attitude that economies should reopen because some just want to return to what they think of as normal and buy stuff!

Some peoples' behaviours are going beyond extreme: . a Michigan man was shot dead for asking someone to put on a mask at a dollar store. A dollar store!. When Mcdonalds employees in Oklahoma City told a woman the dining room was closed she went to her car for a handgun and returned, opening fire and wounding them!

The thought of these people so on edge makes me shake my head at the protests against gun bans in Canada.

Canada is founded on the principles of Law and order and good government. Even the Supreme Court confirms that we have no explicit constitutional rights to guns.

But when I listen to news from our southern neighbour, the United States, I have to scratch my head. Their constitution begins with “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. Thevery first word is “life” - but it is not just your life, it is your neighbour's life, too - so I cannot understand how anyone can take the position that some lives may have to be sacrificed in order to reopen the economy, let alone that some would wantonly sacrifice another's life for such nonsensical reasons as closed dining rooms or face masks.

As society begins to reopen it is time for patience and understanding. This virus will not be turned off like a tap. Instead of looking at others for what they can do for you, please do what you must to see, and respect, the dignity inherent in everyone you meet.

Thank you again for your continued support for Trinity. Please continue to mail in cheques, or drop them off in the church's mailbox, or make your donation either through PAR or through the Donate button on the church's website, at www.trinitylutheran.ca.

Thank you. Now to worship.WorshipThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all! And also with you!

Prayer of the day:Almighty God, your Son Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. Give us grace to love one another, to follow in the way of his commandments, and to share his risen life with all the world, for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

First Reading: Acts 7:55-60Psalm: Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16Second Reading: 1 Peter 2:2-10Gospel Reading: John 14:1-14

Homily1 Peter 2: 2Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation.

In Peter's letter there is a lot going on. Peter, the apostle Peter, the one who denied Jesus three times1 yet with his clumsy and imperfect faith became the “rock” upon whom Jesus said his church on earth would be built2 has written this letter to followers in five areas. Scholars say that the letter was written some time between 70 and 90 AD, after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple that started this diaspora of Jews and Jesus followers to whom Peter is writing, and following Paul's missionary journeys to welcome Gentiles into this new Jesus-following movement. Not only was there uneasiness between Jews and Gentiles as Jesus followers (see Paul's letter to the Galatians), there was also uneasiness on the part of Roman society being accepting of new, 'foreign' religions, which they generally believed would bring insubordination in the household and sedition against the state. So Peter has a lot of work to do in this letter, part of which is some theology and explaining what it means to followChrist.

Theologians like to use a lot of big, “ten dollar” church words and their debates can sometimes become confusing, and often boring. One is triggered at the very start of this passage, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation”. When I think of salvation I immediately think of Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”3. God loves us radically. God forgives us when we don't deserve it. Whether you subscribe to various substitutionary atonement theories or you believe Christ on the cross was a sacrificial gift of God's deep love for humanity – not to change God's mind about us, but to change our minds about God – salvation is a gift God has already offered. Paul writes “Everyone who calls on thename of the Lord shall be saved”4. And who can forget, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life”5. Yet Peter seems to be talking about a process. He offers spiritual milk that we may “grow into salvation”. I believe he is talking about what we today would call 'sanctification'.

When I think of sanctification, I think of the work of the Holy Spirit that gradually, with little nudges here and there, grows us in faith. I say gradually because we seem to keep

1 Mark 14:66ff2 Matthew 16:183 Ephesians 2:84 Romans 10:135 John 3:16

standing in the way of the process, both personally and socially. When the Spirit wants us to be generous, we hoard our resources, locking them away. When the Spirit wants us to be inclusive we shut out various groups – those in poverty, those differently-abled, those living non-heterosexual gender identities, those with different skin colour, those in a different religious groups, and on and on. When the Spirit urges us to boldly proclaim God's love in our lives we shy away in fear.

Part of the reason we get in our own way is because we will not do the work we are called to do. We will not pursue the 'spiritual milk' that Peter talks about in his letter. First we must read Scripture. God's primary way of talking to us is through God's Word, our Bibles. As we read we should be asking questions as this is how our understanding grows.

Second is prayer. Children often treat prayer as a wish-list for themselves. As they grow their prayer life begins to mature as they ask God's blessings on those they love. Many grownups struggle with the idea of prayer as somehow telling God what God is doing wrong and the sooner God listens to them, the better off everything will be. Aswe continue to mature we begin to see that prayer is not aboutus changing God, but us opening ourselves up to what God hasin mind for our lives. Prayer changes us! Henri Nouwen writesthat when we pray we “are standing with our hands open to theworld”, confident that God will become known to us in the naturearound us, in the people we meet, and in the situations we runinto. “Prayer creates the openness in which God is given to us”6.

Third is letting go of fear. After learning what God has in mind for us and the world by reading scripture and studying the life Jesus lived while on earth, and after our on-going pursuit of a healthy prayer life has revealed to us what God has in mind for us next, we are called to act, but fear stands in our way. We are afraid of change, we are afraid to be open, we are afraid to show our vulnerabilities, we are afraid of ridicule and rejection, and so we do not act as boldly as we might.

I was asked how it could be that oil pricescould go negative. Here is a picture, from late inApril, that shows all the oil tankers which were atsea. Normally the tanker would dock, empty its oilinto a storage facility, which would then beprocessed in a refinery, and then would find itsway to airplane jet fuel, diesel fuel, or gas foryour car. As planes are not flying very much, andGreyhound has suspended its operations and youand I are not driving around very much at all,those storage tanks are not being emptied so theoil in the tankers has nowhere to go. Whilewhomever owns that undelivered oil is not beingpaid for it they are still paying captains and crewsto keep those tankers out at sea. The situation became such that they were willing to pay someone else to buy their oil, hence the negative price.

6 Henri Nouwen, meditation 20200503

My real estate friend once explained to me that selling a house was great, but until the house sold all its value was potential, and the costs of listing that house still had to be paid. Our capitalist system attaches value to something when money changes hands.

But there are other ways to measure value. My house has great value to me when I can enter a place that is warm and cozy and close the door on the inclement weather outside. My house has great value to me every night when I lay my head on the pillow for a good night's sleep. It would be absurd to say my house has no value until I sell it!

We look to Jesus as the image of what God intends humanity to be, and we also look at the type of community Jesus inspired. Based on Jesus' teaching and fleshed out through the book of Acts we find a social organization based on friendship, distribution and partnership. I would also add humility and forgiveness. This is in direct contrast to the society we live in today, based on domination, exploitation, accumulation, and force.

When I think about what some of the motivations must be for those protesting against continued shutdowns, and their calls for opening up society, what percolates to the top are people who want to go out to eat, to shop, to recreate, without any thought to the people theyare insisting must go back to work to serve them. There does not seem to be any consideration given to whether those workers might not feel safe, indeed might even not be safe. When one insists that another perform a function against their will, that seems to me a form of slavery. For those who are so anxious to reopen the economy I suggest that there are plenty of open jobs for them to apply for as grocery clerks, shelf-stockers, hospital janitors – alengthy list of jobs these very people would balk at because those jobs are currently dangerous.

Another shocking development is the idea of flaunting the idea of contagion. I have read news stories of people who have wiped their faces on the sleeves of the store personnel who ask them to wear a mask; stories of people gathering, ignoring physical distance recommendations, with the express purpose of giving each other COVID-19 so they can fight it and (hopefully) become immune. Such reckless disregard of not only the science, but also ofthe health of one's neighbour, saddens me. Likewise the refusal of some to wear masks in crowded situations, knowing that asymptomatic spread is possible, is another selfish trait of a society based on inequality.

In a Jesus-inspired community responsibility is mutual; dignity and respect are two-way streets. People are committed to care for each other as much as they care for themselves. Thecurrency of such a society is not hatred or violence or force, but love – love for one another that begins from the love you first experience from God. A love that that reaches out in compassion, that forgives, that uplifts. A love that is so deep and ever-lasting that Jesus demonstrated it by going to die on the cross. A love that shows itself stronger than death when Jesus is raised to new life.

History shows that times of crisis, like the one we are in, can be crucibles of new birth for societies – an opportunity to leave behind harmful bondage; be it economic, racial, hateful or xenophobic, and usher in systems that are compassionate, caring, equitable, and fairly balanced. On our path to sanctification in the Holy Spirit, may we rise above our egocentric, selfish worldviews and may we work toward a more inclusive, Jesus-inspired community today.

Amen

Prayer Requests, 20200510

Good and gracious God, give us courage to build a better world. We thank you for your son Jesus, who shows us the way, and for these blessings,

which we name out loud or in our hearts... { pause ( count to 20 silently ) }in gratitude, (hear our prayer)

--- --- --- --- --- ---

--- --- --- --- --- ---Leading God, we praise you for guiding your church on earth. This morning we pray for our fullcommunion partners in the Anglican Church of Canada, and their bishop of Huron, Rev. Todd Townshend.

Lord, in your mercy, (hear our prayer)--- --- --- --- --- ---

Loving God, you lead us in truth and life. This morning we ask your blessing on the Lup, Maerzluft, and McGuin families,

Lord, in your mercy, (hear our prayer)--- --- --- --- --- ---

Healing God, you desire us to work together for the good of all. Be with all those health and support workers dealing with Covid-19, and help us to each patiently and steadfastly do our part to limit the spread of this Coronavirus,

Lord, in your mercy, (hear our prayer)--- --- --- --- --- ---

Graceful God, your presence helps all those in need, especially:

In Residence: Joe; Margaret; Therese; Maria; Stan; Ida; Katie; Cordelle;Needing our prayers: Cheryl; Peter; Joe; Brenda; Doug; Lloyd; James, Michelle & Tucker;

Dorothy; Bill; Kurt; Bev; Lidia; Brett; Grace; Ed; Marilyn; Debbie; Audrey;recovering:Ed; Donna; Gail; Robin; Andrea; Bill; Bruno; Katherine; Regina; Carol; Susan;

George; Betty; Denna; Betty;Home-bound: Augusta;

And all those we name in our hearts, { pause ( count to 20 silently ) }Lord, in your mercy, (hear our prayer)

--- --- --- --- --- ---Lord's Prayer{ Lord, remember us in your kingdom, and teach us to pray}

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread;and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us;and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen

Benediction (from Holden Evening Prayer)

May God, Creator bless us and keep us, May Christ be ever light for our lives,may the spirit of Love be our guide and path, for all of our days.Amen

Go in Peace, Redeemed by the Resurrected Christ!Thanks be to God!