As we gather, we recognize that we live, work, pray, and play
in the traditional, unceded lands
of the Cowichan Tribes and Coast Salish People. 
We continue to commit ourselves
to the work of reconciliation and relationship-building
with our First Nations neighbours.     

 

Call to Worship:

Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom
and healed 
every infirmity among the people.

Matthew 4.23

O, Come.   Let Us Worship.

Gathering

Almighty God,
to you all hearts are open, all desires known,
and from you no secrets are hidden.
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the
inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ, our Lord. Amen. 

Collect for Today

Almighty God, 
You have broken the tyranny of sin 
and sent into our hearts the Spirit of your Son. 
Give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service, 
that all people may know the glorious liberty 
of the children of God; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord, 
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.    Amen.

Psalm 133

 ¹ How good and pleasant it is
    when God’s people live together in unity!

² It is like precious oil poured on the head,
    running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
    down on the collar of his robe.
³ It is as if the dew of Hermon
    were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
    even life forevermore.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be;
World without end. Amen. 

The Proclamation of the Gospel:

Matthew  15:10-28 

Sermon:  The Ven.  Brian Evans

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of
our hearts be ever acceptable to you, O Lord.  Amen.

"Faithfulness" 

My remarks today are a bit of a show and tell…a bit of something I picked up when I was recently on the Prairies, and an item that I got off Facebook in the last week, or so, along with some reflection on the Psalm today. 

When we were in Saskatchewan this summer (as I made reference last Sunday) I had the opportunity to celebrate in the Sacrament of Baptism. The service was held in an historic church, All Saints Laverna, Saskatchewan. The building is 101 years old…the Parish …in which the building is filled with that Spirit of God, the spirit of community and the spirit of blessing.

As we entered the church Narthex that Sunday, to prepare for the service, I first noticed something that I had seen before, but I have not seen for many years.

Hanging above the coat hooks was a writing—a bit of advice for the worshipping community as they would come to worship. At one time, this was very prominently displayed in many parish churches, as it was in the narthex of All Saints, Laverna.

I will share it with you:

On Your Way

On your way to the Lord’s House, be thoughtful, be silent, or say but little, and that little good. Speak not of other men’s faults. Think of your own, for you are going to ask forgiveness.

When you reach the Church

Never stay outside; go in at once. Time spent within is so precious.

In Church

Kneel down very humbly and pray. Spend the time that remains in holy thought. In prayer remember the awful Presence into which you have come. Never look about you to see who are coming in, or for any cause whatever. It matters nothing to you what others may be doing; attend to yourself. Fasten your thoughts firmly on the holy Service. The blessed Spirit will strengthen you if you persevere.

When Service is over

Remain kneeling, and pray. Be silent, and speak to no one until you are outside. Do not cover your head until you have left the porch. The Church is God’s House even when prayer is over.

 On your way home

Be careful of your talk. (Don’t be gossiping about your neighbour, or the preacher, or whoever.) The world will soon slip back into your mind. Love prayer and praise best. Preaching is but the help to that holy work.’

Wonderful words of advice that was created many years ago. I have no idea of the time, and place; but, it is wonderful, and so well placed out. It is sort of like the 10 Commandments. It is about how to live life, and how life is to be lived.

And so, in reflection of that, one of the issues we talk about, ever since 2019, is about Covid

-and when Covid will be over—and when will we be able to return back to “normal”?

Well, I think, we all agreed that we are discovering a “new normal” and a “new experience in life.”  But, at the same time, one of the things that I have some difficulty with is that we keep saying “well, in Covid” or even today, as we live in the midst of Covid—and we hear of another possible mutation of the virus, and how we need to get more vaccine; similar to how we receive vaccines each year for the flu, and other sicknesses that we live with, and other viruses.                                                                                

We need to be mindful, though, of what is our place, and “what about worship?”

One of the items we hear often talked about, among church leaders and church membership and people in the pew, is about attendance since Covid. How has attendance returned to our worship spaces?

The little item I am going to read to you shortly is about that. But I wish that the writer had not placed it in the context of Covid, because actually, church attendance is an item that has been discussed for many years—who attends, and who does not attend, who feels safe in worship, and who does not. In fact, a number of other social circumstances and issues in our society have made some people feel that the Church was at “odds” with their life, or their lifestyle.

But this is a little item picked up off the internet. I cannot tell you the title, or who authored it to begin with. All I know is that it has been passed on, likely for some time.

‘As church attendance numbers fade across the nation, and online services become very convenient, (one of the gifts of Covid—online worship and some learning to have enough technical skill to record worship services, which have been a blessing. But at the same time, in some ways, they have made it more convenient for people to stay at home, rather than to attend worship.)

And so, it goes on: “it’s important to remember why church attendance for you and your family matters so much.”

(Some people may take issue with the writer.)

But the writer says:

You cannot serve from your sofa. You cannot have community of faith on your sofa. You cannot experience the power of a room full of believers worshipping together on your sofa.

(And as I read that, I thought about the fact of two different baptisms I did this summer: both with a similar spirit about them.

Both were what we would call “private” baptisms.

I am not sure that there is such a thing, because I believe the community of saints is always with us, and present in the midst of our services.

But in the first instance, was in an historic church on Salt Spring Island. The child being baptized was from many generations who had been baptized in that church previously.

It was a wonderfully Spirit-filled occasion.

There was about 20 of us gathered in a circle, with the Font in the centre, and the responses, the sense of the Spirit’s presence, the sense of the people being there, and participating, was so empowering and so filled with the sense of the Spirit being present.

And then, just a few weeks ago, in All Saints, Laverna Saskatchewan (where I found the verses that I read to you earlier).

Once again, we had about 28 people who half-filled this very old church, in this small community or what once was a community and now is just a little above a “ghost town”.

And once again, we half-filled the church with the people who really wanted to be there. People who felt that they needed to be there to witness and to share in this “faith moment.”

So once again, there was that sense of a community gathered, and the sense of Spirit, and the sense of the people obligating themselves to these young children that were being baptized and being brought into the community of faith.

There was a sense of a room full of believers. The same sense that we share on Sunday morning, if we take the opportunity to come into this space, and to share in community and to be uplifted, and to be strengthened and encouraged, and how significant that is.

To celebrate in that sense of love and praise, as I read in that document.

And so, the writer continues:

We need to remember that as Christians, we are not consumers. As Christians, we are contributors. As Christians, we don’t watch. We engage.

(That to me is such a significant part of our Anglican liturgy—our Anglican liturgy is filled with engagement, filled with the opportunity to share, and worship together.)

The writer continues: We give. (Not in the sense that we just pass the offertory plate around. We give of ourselves. We give of our minds and our bodies and our spirit. As we often say in stewardship circles, the 3 T’s—time. Talent. Treasure.)

Then it says: We encourage.

We encourage each other in one way by just being present to each other.

Then it says: We pray by placing hands on the hurting. In other words, we pray by sharing in the healing strength of our Lord.

Then it says, in summary: We do life together.

We do life together.

And that theme is picked up in our psalm this morning: Psalm 133—that wonderful psalm when it says:

How good and pleasant it is
    when God’s people live together in unity!

I love the symbolism of the dew gathered on the mountains and coming down and watering the earth. I think of the many parts of the world where it is evening dew and the morning dew that provides the moisture for the crops. In some areas, they even have big screens that collect the dew in the morning, and it runs down through the netting and provides water for the community to survive.

And so, this whole idea in the Gospel today that great is thy faithfulness.

It is the hymn I have chosen that the people will sing on Sunday (though I am away).

Great is thy faithfulness for us to understand that morning by morning, every day, new mercies come to us. And that God can provide. God can provide in the writing I shared with you—the verses about how we gather in church, how we gather for prayer; how we leave church and go out into the community.

It says: The world will soon slip back into your mind.

And so, as the world slips back into our mind as we leave worship on a Sunday, we are strengthened in our observance, by our participation of being in worship, in the pew, with our neighbours, each and every week.

Thanks be to God. Amen. 

Let Us Pray

Confident that God receives
our joys, and concerns,
let us offer our prayers for the church,
those in need, and all of creation. 

O God, your Spirit gathers the Church.
Shepherd those who are newly baptized and
newly ordained in the proclamation of the gospel;
breathe life into ecumenical and inter-religious endeavors,
and support missionaries throughout the globe.

Hear us, O God:
For your mercy is great.

You created the earth
and all its inhabitants and declared it good.
Clean polluted skies, seas, and soil;
provide nourish-ment to plants and animals;
and make us aware of our impact on the environment.   

Hear us, O God:
For your mercy is great. 

You call leaders
to bridge differences and practice generousity.
Inspire all in authority to protect people in harm’s way.
Deliver those in bondage; support fair elections;
provide care for military personnel and veterans;
and show mercy to those for whom they have responsibility.

Hear us, O God:
For your mercy is great. 

You provide
for those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit. 
Embrace people who have been rejected because of difference;
heal trauma caused by racism or prejudic;
shield any who are persecuted;
console the dying, and heal the sick.  

In our parish we continue to pray for:
Roy & Gail; Daryl & Sue; Roy; Jay;  Sheila;
Yasmine; Roberta; David; the Dias family, as they mourn
the passing of Maureen: wife, mother, grandmother, sister.
Be part of those in our families for whom our hearts desire to pray. 

Hear us, O God:
For your mercy is great. 

O God, you journey with us
in all of life’s transitions.
Guide those preparing for baptism, marriage, and retirement.
Guide our church council and committees
in their visioning and ministry.
Safeguard those who travel.

Hear us, O God:
For your mercy is great.

We give you thanks for those
who now rest from their labours. 
Motivate us by their lives of dedication to the gospel,
until that day when we join them in our eternal home. 

Hear us, O God:
For your mercy is great. 

Into your hands, O God, we commend all for whom we pray,
particularly your servant Maureen.
Receive her into the arms of your mercy,
and into the eternal care with the angels and archangels.
These we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

As our Saviour taught us:
Our Father,
who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven. 
Give us today our daily bread. 
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive
those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us fom evil.  
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
forever and ever.  Amen.

Prayer after Communion

Eternal God,

We have received the gift of your spirit
as we have gathered in worship:
whether we gather here, online,
or gather in the pews of our churches. 
May we continue to live as faithful heirs
of your promised kingdom, 
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.  AMEN.

Amen. 

The Blessing: 

The peace of God,
which passes all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and
love of God, and of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

And the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be with you, and remain with you, always.  Amen.