Sermons
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For this service, the scriptures will be sprinkled throughout the sermon time and are as follows: Old Testament Genesis 1:1-2, Genesis 15:5, Genesis 32:24-28 Exodus 12:13, 1 Samuel 3:1-10, 1 Kings 8:12 New Testament Luke 2:8-12, Mark 14:17 & 22-24, Luke 23:44-46 John 12:24 This service also included the reading of "God’s Holy Darkness" by Sharei Green and Beckah Selnick in between the Scripture. Think about the way light and dark are used symbolically and metaphorically around the world. Light often represents everything from knowledge, to purity, goodness to happiness and dark often represents fear, ignorance, and even evil. This is true in the Bible as well. Isaiah 9:2 says “The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined”. Often in the Bible darkness is seen as the antithesis of light, with light being the symbol of God’s purity, glory, and wisdom. Even in the movies the bad guys - the Darth Vaders of this world are dressed in black and the good guys the Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia are dressed in white - not to mention their white skin. Even though these are metaphoric, they still have an impact. Imagine having black or brown skin and hearing those references that many of us have never had to think about. Adele Halliday, the anti-racism and equity officer for the United Church of Canada still remembers conversations from a church she attended years ago. The congregation constantly associated whiteness with purity and goodness, and darkness with evil. They talked about people being “washed white” from the blackness of sin. Language is an important part of Christian worship traditions, whether in Scripture, song, liturgy or prayer. But when this language is unexamined, the result can be alienating—or worse, perpetuate longstanding prejudices, Halliday says. The inspiration for God’s Holy Darkness was to remind people of the beauty of darkness as portrayed in the Bible, disrupting the negative thinking about blackness. For God did a lot of work in darkness even blessing it as a time of rest and renewal. Let’s read the book and the scripture that inspired it and celebrate God’s Holy Darkness. Cue: Creation began in the dark Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Genesis 15:5 (God speaking to Abram): 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring[a] be.” Genesis 32: 24-28 (Jacob wrestles with the man of God) 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. 28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[a] because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” Exodus 12:13 (God speaking to Moses of striking the firstborn dead of the Egyptians who held them captive) The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. 1 Samuel 3:1-10 The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. 2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. 6 Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8 A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 1 Kings 8:12 (Here God appears as a dark, holy cloud in the temple where the ark holding the commandments was kept) “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud. Luke 2:8-12 (Angels appear to shepherds) 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Mark 14:17, 22-24 (Last supper) When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. “This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. Luke 23:44-46 (Death on a cross) It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”[a] When he had said this, he breathed his last. John 12:24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. I want to conclude with a reflection on Martin Luther King, Jr. from Pastor Steve Garnas Holmes from his Unfolding Light Website: He would have been 95 on Monday. He would have stirred us more, pressed us more. And we still would have resisted. Or he might have been killed another day. Still, we have to decide. Maybe he nudged us these last 56 years no less than when he was alive, because love and justice don't die, the dream doesn't disappear, the march doesn't stop. The trouble with heroes is that we wait for them. Yet what he was saying the whole time was “You can do this. We all do it together. Don't wait for me, or the next one. We are all marching.” We march against those whose tools are violence, hate and poverty. We march to block the streets of habits, even our own. We march against our fears, singing, always singing. Martin is still calling, still marching. And something in us even without our knowing, is singing, still singing. Our challenge is to figure out how we continue the march, how we continue to seek justice, how we can change expressions and actions that even unknowingly cause people of color to feel othered or less than. We are called to celebrate God’s holy darkness, just as God does. Let us consider what forward motion God is calling us to in order to live God’s message of inclusive love through Jesus Christ in our community and world. Let’s answer God’s call to justice saying, “Here I am Lord.” Amen. Pastor Michelle Fountain
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