Posted by stpauls on December 12, 2010 under Sermons | 
There are two things preachers like to do in the seasons of Advent and Christmas:
First, they like to bemoan the emptiness of churches during the year and exhort those who only attend for the high holidays that church is a year-round thing and that our relationship with God needs more than an hour once a year on Christmas Eve.
And secondly, preachers love to bewail the hectic business of the time.
I have to admit I have done this. I have preached about these two points. I have preached about these, because I believe that connecting with the Christian community beyond Christmas and Easter is helpful to one’s spiritual life. We might live in an age that claims to be spiritual and not religious, but in contemporary parlance, all that this might means is this: Religious and spiritual issue are viewed as highly personal, left only between me and whatever I perceive God to be. Unfortunately, this can lead to a rather selfish approach to spirituality, which doesn’t allow for spirituality to become a source for good in the world.
Furthermore, an overly individualistic approach might avoid the important function of community as a corrective, when we go off the deep end. And finally, there is a danger that a spirituality without community might feed into the root cause of all sin: idolatry. Idolatry is everything that tries to replace God with something that is created by us. Whenever the created becomes the Creator we lose it and we get lost quickly. And whenever we think God is how we conceive the Divine to be, then we not only limit God to our rather narrow and limited understanding, but we also ignore that God is the totally other, is abstract, is beyond our control, is larger even than the combined human perceptions and assumptions throughout the ages. So, yes there is a need for engaging the Christian community on a regular basis.
But do we really think that pointing a finger at those who do come during our holiday season is going to make them want to come back? No! I know of people who have stopped going to church all together because they are just sick and tired of being abused on Christmas from the pulpit. And chastising those who interrupted their lives for a Christmas service is nothing but abuse.
Rather, we should rejoice in every single one who comes and we should welcome them with a smile, not because they might learn a think or two, might be converted, might be potential new pledging units. But we should welcome those who come – even if it is once a year or once a decade or once in a life-time – because they might teach us something. They might bring good tidings to us. Through them, God might reveal something new to us. And we must remember, that as fellow humans, sisters and brothers created in the image of God, everyone who enters our church carries Christ into our midst. So, let’s not alienate those who join us for the holidays. The church’s history has been too dark, too bloody, too exclusive already.
And, yes, I have to admit that I have preached about the second topic, which is popular for Christmas sermons. I have preached about the busyness in our lives, because far too often we give in to secular society around Christmas in the way we spend our time. The demands on our date-book can only be summed up with one word: crazy!
We run around like headless chickens. There might even be a plan for how to get the best bargain and how to find the cheapest gift. But do we really know what we are doing? Is it really healthy for us to become hyperactive, in a time when most of nature returns to a state of sleep and hibernates? Is the search for the perfect present really the ultimate Christmas experience? Is Christmas only perfect if we are physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted at the end of it? And of course, these are rhetorical questions and you all know what my answers will be. Yes, we must stop being ruled by the only seemingly-almighty dollar and we must slow down. Unfortunately, living into the answers to these questions is not as easy as the answers suggest.
I have to admit that very often clergymen and clergywomen of all sorts and types preach about the idiocy of our stressful lives – only to then embrace a stressful lifestyle themselves. It is easier to preach at others than to fix one’s own short-comings. Yes, clergy very often are the greatest offenders when it comes to embracing the season in the spirit of Advent and Christmas. This is one of the busiest times in my calendar, yet, I speak of quietness and stillness. I barely make it through all the mandatory appearances, yet, I ask people to intentionally do less and find moments of stillness and peace.
Too often, we clergy-types preach water, but drink wine. Or better: we preach wine and drink water: We speak of the profound awesomeness of God’s birth among us in a stable bathed in God’s love, a truth that is sweet and profound and complex and rich and life-giving. Yet, we turn this into a tasteless sip of water that we swallow quickly between running errands and writing sermons. We have no time to take care of our own souls, to incorporate the stillness of the moment into our own spiritual life. Too often, we fail to be still and listen to God’s gentle voice.
My suspicion is that clergy busy themselves not just because of the demands of the job. There is that too. But I also have a hunch that we are as prone to fear as everybody else: We are as prone to be afraid of the stillness, where we might discover the unknown that waits for us, where we might have to face our wounds and hurts, where we have to embrace the depth of our being, and where loneliness lurks to remind us of our broken and pained selves.
A couple of weeks ago, I came across a quote by Jean Vanier, son of former Governor-General Georges Vanier and founder of the L’Arche Community, an ecumenical organisation spread around the globe that offers community for those dealing with developmental disabilities and those who assist them. The quote is from Jean’s book The Broken Body and reads like this:
“Our brokenness is the wound through which the full power of God can penetrate our being and transfigure us in God. Loneliness is not something from which we must flee but the place from where we can cry out to God, where God will find us and we can find God. Yes, through our wounds the power of God can penetrate us and become like rivers of living water to irrigate the arid earth within us. Thus we may irrigate the arid earth of others, so that hope and love are reborn.” End of quote.
This is a deep truth revealing not only the futility of our stressful busyness, but revealing also God’s ever-loving, healing presence, which waits for us in the stillness, in our brokenness, in the places where we hurt most. And I believe this is exactly the sentiment expressed in today’s reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom,” the prophet reveals.
The wilderness of the world as much as the wilderness of our hearts and the dry land of our souls will be made glad. Our own deserts will rejoice and blossom. Yet, this will not be achieved by a loud force, or by abuse from the pulpit, or by hectic business, or by perfectly planned itineraries. But our brokenness will be healed only through a little babe born not in a perfect palace, but born among ox and donkey, born into the messiness of human lives, born into the darkness of our night.
There the babe is waiting, is waiting where it hurts most, is waiting with love, with healing, and with life.
[The Reverend Markus Duenzkofer delivered this sermon on December 12, 2010.]
Posted by stpauls on under Bible Readings, Webmaster Blog |
Isaiah 35:1-10 ~ Bible Reading for December 12, 2010
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.”
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God’s people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Posted by stpauls on December 5, 2010 under Staff Blog, Webmaster Blog |
The people of St. Paul’s Anglican Church commemorated the life and death of Dr. Peter Jepson-Young, subject of the “Dr. Peter Diaries,” with a plaque that was dedicated on December 5, 2010 at the 10 a.m. celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Dr. Peter’s mother unveiled the plaque on the people’s behalf.
The text of the plaque reads as follows:
To the glory of GOD and in loving memory of
Dr. Peter Jepson-Young
(1957-1992)
From 1990 to 1992 CBC-television chronicled Peter’s life in the “Dr. Peter Diaries.” Peter’s prophetic courage opened the eyes and hearts of many to the horrors of the AIDS pandemic and to the sin of homophobia, while celebrating the beauty of life.
May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
This plaque was given by Dr. Peter’s parish family in December 2010. “How beautiful upon the mountain are the feet of the messenger who announces peace”(Is. 52:7)
Dr. Peter’s parents and his partner were present for the occasion.
Left to right: Bob and Shirley Young, Andy Hiscox, and Father Markus Duenzkofer
Posted by stpauls on under Sermons |
It wasn’t the script for a hit, for a success story. No, I don’t think, John the Baptist really had in mind to be a mass entertainer.
First of all, consider his diet: He ate all kinds of things that would gross people out. Locusts and wild honey? Yikes! If you think locusts and wild honey are normal Middle Eastern cuisine, don’t be fooled. Why do you think the author of the Gospel according to Luke would mention it if he didn’t think this highly unusual? No, this was not normal.
Furthermore, think about where this is all taking place. John obviously had not heard of the realtors’ credo: location, location, location. He had uprooted himself into the desert, beyond the edge of civilisation. This was not Harrison Hot Springs. And it wasn’t the West End of Vancouver, either. The desert was a clear choice that placed John in contrast to what many were striving for in their lives. There was nothing about fortune and fame in what John had set out to do.
And finally, there was the very obvious thing that would repel many: Body hygiene. Think about it. Here was a man living at a time when running water was a long shot from being invented. He couldn’t just start his day as a hermit with a hot long bath, followed by a shave, a manicure and a pedicure. John was pretty unkempt to say the least. And his clothing didn’t help. Camel’s hair isn’t known for its rosebud scent. John probably smelled pretty terrible, pretty disgusting even. John’s presence was not pleasant, was not attractive, was not something you would choose for company at afternoon tea. John’s appearance really was not conducive to socializing and I can see the distorted faces of people when they first met… when they first smelled John. For many, it was just too much.
As I watched some of the “Dr. Peter Diaries” on the CBC’s website, which chronicle the final two years of Peter Jepson-Young’s life and his struggle with HIV/AIDS, I wondered if Peter’s experience wasn’t somewhat similar. When his skin started to be marked by Kaposi’s sarcoma, when his beautiful face and eyes started to fall in, when his body stopped controlling bodily functions in ways we accept as normal, it was probably not easy to be around him. For many it was a sight hard to bear, even too hard to bear. And if TV could broadcast more than just pictures, could broadcast more than what affects our sense of sight, I wonder how many people would have been willing to stay with the program. No, in his last days, Peter wasn’t somebody many would want to invite to parties or would like to hang out with either.
Of course, John the Baptist’s biggest problem wasn’t so much his body odour. It was the language he used: the harsh, disarming, and piercing words that came from his lips. John could see right through your shell into your inner core. He could make out what was wrong with you. And he wouldn’t have any problem pointing this out to you either. He knew that we all fall short of the glory of God, and that things are not right in our lives, and he had no problem confronting you with this truth. John would call us on our crap, would not shy away from being as direct and as brutal as this four-letter word implies.
We might like to think there is no higher power than our own abilities and our own strength. But John would over and over talk about the Creator from whom all life and all blessings flow. We might like to run our own show. But John would remind us that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will have none of our selfish schemes. We might think that we are the masters and mistresses of our own lives. But John would speak of the One born in our midst to reveal God’s almighty power as much as God’s abundant love for each and every one of us. John insisted on proclaiming the hard-to-hear truth: Without God, there is no future. We are doomed without following God’s way, without embracing God’s love, without repenting of our violations of God’s will, and without proclaiming and living into God’s radical peace and God’s radical justice for all.
Of course, this makes John an uncomfortable prophet today as much as it got him into hot water with the authorities of his time. The powers in state and religion had developed a system to keep everything in balance and everybody in their pocket. They thought they could control all, could even control God. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and the priests, the business elites, the community hot-shots, and the political powerhouses had worked hard to keep things in check, to not offend the Romans, to not rock the boat, to not get things out of whack, to keep a strict rule of what goes and what doesn’t. There might have been some well-meaning members of those elites, who really tried hard to contain it all for the sake of peace. But a charismatic, tradition-crashing prophet without the proper pedigree who showed them the truth as in a mirror, who challenged their ways of doing business, and who called people back to God without first checking with them – this kind of prophet was just too much. John offended these people. John offended the system. And John had to be stopped.
I bet Peter offended many in position of power too. Somebody like Peter, who could celebrate his sexuality without apology and who could invite people into his HIV-affected life so publicly surely must have more than startled people. How could this gay HIV-positive man speak so clearly, so loudly, and so proudly of his life? How could he even dare to celebrate life and celebrate it with such gusto? The “Dr. Peter Diaries” raised questions that had not been asked before and that some really didn’t want to hear. It challenged tradition and it rocked the boat.
I suspect that there were some, from within the power-elites, who tried to stop Peter. The Sadducees of our day and the Pharisees of the modern-day church were probably busy plotting against him. And I suspect there were some not at all pleased by Peter’s courageous and prophetic witness even from within the gay community – if there is such a thing – and from among those affected by and infected with the dreadful, evil Human immunodeficiency virus.
Yes, somebody like John who revealed so clearly God’s radical claim on our lives and somebody like Peter who so profoundly celebrated the awesome beauty of life in all its diversity upsets all those who seek to control our lives, who seek to shut up God, and who seek to establish themselves as door keepers and power brokers. John’s and Peter’s words and actions add colour to the greys of the world, and the powers of this world cannot bear it!
But still people would come to these prophets – and they would listen. They would come and listen, because they recognized in John’s actions and words a truth more powerful than all the insights of the cosmos and they recognized in Peter’s courage genuineness stronger than the conformity that seeks to compartmentalize our lives. Both John and Peter challenged the way we go about our lives, the ways we shut our ears and hearts to God, and the ways we fail to take care of one another.
Yet, both John and Peter also affirmed that in the midst of the hectic busyness of life, in the midst of our struggles and pains, in the midst of judgments and human limitations, in the midst of frustrations, fears, and failures, and even in the midst of our dying, there is a still small voice, God’s voice, that continues to speak love-poems into our hearts and continues to sing love-songs into our souls. On the shores of the Jordan some two millennia ago, people were embraced by the One, who loved us into being, who loves us now in every fibre of our being, and who will continue to love and care for us even after we have breathed our last. And on the screens of our TVs some two decades ago, people embraced the eternal truth that life only matters if we love, love with gusto who we were created to be, and love without discrimination our neighbour as ourselves. God’s still, small voice is a gentle voice, a prodding voice, a voice seeking healing and intimacy. But it is also a persistent voice that keeps affirming the profound and awesome beauty of each and every one of us, whoever we are and wherever we find ourselves on the journey. And God’s voice is a voice that cannot be silenced, not by Sadducees and Pharisees, not by HIV or AIDS, and definitely not by anything with which we try to crucify it.
[The Reverend Markus Duenzkofer delivered this sermon on December 5, 2010.]
Posted by stpauls on December 1, 2010 under Contributors, Webmaster Blog |
Feel a grand tradition unfold as “Making Spirits Bright” – the Vancouver Men’s Chorus’ most popular concert series – opens its doors on December 9th for a five-show run in the cozy setting of the West End’s historic St. Paul’s Anglican Church.
Evening performances start at 8:00 PM on Thursday, December 9, Saturday, December 11, Sunday, December 12, and Monday, December 13; a matinée performance begins at 3:00 PM on Sunday afternoon, December 12. Tickets for “Making Spirits Bright” are once again $30/General Admission, $25/Student & Senior, and $80/Reserved Patron Seating (includes $50 tax receiptable donation) and are available through the VMC website (below) and in person at Little Sister’s Bookstore.
Posted by stpauls on under Contributors, Webmaster Blog |
Roberts Community Choir Proudly Presents “A Community Christmas” Tuesday, December 8th 7:30 p.m. at St Paul’s Anglican Church. Admission is free (cash donation or donation for the food bank is kindly requested). The choir includes members of the community and students. The program is a delightful mix of holiday music from a variety of cultures, along with traditional carols.
Posted by stpauls on under Staff Blog, Webmaster Blog |
Today is World AIDS Day, a day of remembrance, an acknowledgement of support, and a reminder that we are a far cry from having overcome this pandemic. As we think of those who have died from this dreadful disease, we must continue to reach out to all infected and affected by HIV and we must support those working to find a cure.
Please pray for the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit tomorrow and throughout the year:
Oh Gracious God, who has given your church the mission to restore all people to unity with you and one another in Christ, make our life together in this congregation and diocese a sign of Christ’s love to this world, especially to those broken in spirit and body by AIDS, that unity may overcome estrangement, forgiveness heal guilt, and joy conquer despair; all of which we ask through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(from: The National Episcopal AIDS Coaltion)
We will commemorate World AIDS Day this coming Sunday at the 10:00 a.m. service by unveiling a plaque for Dr. Peter Jepson-Young.
