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As we gather, we recognize that we live, work, pray, and play
in the traditional 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:
The words you have spoken are spirit and life, O Lord;
You have the words of eternal life.
John 6. 63, 68
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:
Almighty God,
You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless
until they find their rest in you.
May we find peace in your service, and in the world to come, see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
The Proclamation of the Gospel:
Luke 10.1-11
Sermon: The Venerable Brian Evans
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of
our hearts be ever acceptable to you, O Lord. Amen.
" “Who Is Your Neighbour?”
There was a time when asking that question the answer was simple.
In my instance, it would be Mr. & Mrs. Thompson, the Kaufmans, plus a few families who lived close by. Today, if I were to ask who your neighbor is, more than likely the answer would be: ‘I don’t know we never talk.’
At the same time, because of this device, (cell phone) we are more likely to identify with a very large group of people from around the globe. There are the leaders of nations, some we appreciate more than others.
With news releases from around the world, it reminds us, everyone is our neighbour.
Except.
Except, the message of the Gospel from today gets lost in the translation from 1st century Christianity, as well as in the day when most of us were children.
The old proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child” has, in most communities, been lost. I am sure, most of us can remember that being corrected by the neighbouring parent had similar effect to being your own parent. (I can see the heads nodding.)
Not to lay a guilt trip on society, at the same time, Amos does a decent job of it.
Amos has this great opening sentence:
“This is what the Lord showed me: The Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” and I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “See I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will again pass by them.”
This is followed by Amos getting to the heart of the matter. Amos was not intimidated by any level of authority. From this point on, Amos spoke his mind openly.
What we hear, is that God requires our attention and openness and a response of goodness, not unlike what we hear from the “good neighbour” gospel for today.
With hazard of repeating myself, Amos reminds us of what that great hymn reaffirms, 'If I Had a Hammer, I’d would hammer out truth, goodness, justice, mercy, and righteousness.'
This message has been constant for all followers of God since the beginning of time. And, and the same conditions continue today in society as they did in Israel are evident throughout the world.
Except, I believe there is one major difference: we are not all (always) prepared to speak out with courage and stand up with the same sense as plumb line keeps the walls of the temple straight.
Our human plumb line requires examination to determine if we are still standing plumb and true.
The introduction to the Letter of Paul to the Colossians reminds me of sage advice given to me during my internship and followed by my Curacy at St. Alban’s Cathedral in the Diocese of Saskatchewan.
I was offered the opportunity to have approximately 20 – 30 minutes each Sunday prior to the 8 a.m. service. That opportunity was to be with Retired Bishop Short was the celebrant at the 8 a.m. service. Each Sunday, his words, he would hold-forth with me.
It was like being an understudy in one of greatest tutorial I could have asked for.
Along with many words of guidance, was that of prayer.
Bishop Short would advise, we should begin each morning with deliberate prayer for the tasks of the day. In addition, to make sure you say a quick prayer as you walk up the sidewalk for a pastoral home visit, say a quick prayer for that person. The differences it will make in your life will be insurmountable.
It is in that spirit of prayer, we read from Paul’s letter today:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel
that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God.
Those words of wisdom from Bishop Short continue to reside within me to this day.
This tradition is affirmed in Colossians 3:16, we read:
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.”
This takes us to the Gospel for today, the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Key to this pericope of scripture are these words following the lawyer in cross examination of Christ when Christ responds:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength, and you shall love your neighbour as yourself.”
The lawyer, being a well-educated litigator, has a follow-up question: But who is my neighbour?
As is the custom of Jesus, instead of giving a direct answer, he teaches with a story.
There are four main characters in the story:
- The rich man, who is mugged on his way Jericho.
- The first passerby happens to be a priest.
In this case for the priest, it was a case of fulfilling his temple duties instead of the injured man, he passes by on the other side. Believing this may dispose of his guilt for not assisting. - The second passerby is a Levite.
Although being a person born to the synagogue, slows down, observes the scene, and passes by. After all, this is dangerous road, and his own safety came first. - The third person is a Samaritan.
In our modern language, we might say just an ordinary person.
We know his response. He administers first aid, treats the wound, bandages him up, and takes him to the closest inn.
Now comes the twist. In reality, the question is not, “Who is my neighbour?”
By this question, we are asking the wrong question. It doesn’t make any difference who your neighbour is out there.
The question is, who are you OR, AM I A NEIGHBOUR?
When we turn on the evening news, or open this thing, we need to understand for the person who has the love of God dwelling within them, compassion is not qualified by race, creed, status, or any other barrier society may erect as a barrier to living out the great commission.
There is no passing by on the so-called other side.
When the Pharisee asked Jesus: How can I love my neighbour if I don’t know who he is. Jesus responds, it is not about who the neighbour is, it is about – ARE YOU A NEIGHBOUR?
Here at St. John’s, we can answer in the positive, we are neighbours.
We are, as we reach out to Warmlands, Healthiest Babies, PWRDF, Threshold Housing, Food Basket Society, Christian Camping, House of Grace Pregnancy Centre, and Children Believe.
Thanks be to God. Amen.