The Joy of Freedom and Forgiveness (September 2021)
It is my observation — in the midst of a hot summer, with much troubling,
unsettling news — that people are carrying many heavy burdens. Some of
those burdens are unavoidable — illness, financial challenge, care for
family. The list could be longer. Yet the burdens we carry are often made
heavier because we add another: resentment against those who contribute
to them.
That resentment often stems from having sensed — rightly or wrongly — that someone has failed us.
Someone did not come through for us, and left us to pick up the consequences. Sometimes the
“someone” might be self — or God. The sense of having been let down adds to the burden that we carry
— whatever it is.
In this context, the central truth and gift of Jesus Christ matters most of all. Jesus came — and comes —
to us to offer the greatest gift of all — forgiveness.
Psalm 32, given by the Spirit of God to David, centuries before the coming of Jesus, announces this
wonderful, freeing life-empowering
gift:
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose
sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones
wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my
strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up
my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” — and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
(Psalm 32:15,
NIV)
Here is good news — and the good news that makes all the difference in lifting the burden. Forgiveness
means God does not count or hold our sins against us. He cannot — because Jesus took them. God says,
through the prophet Isaiah, “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6, NIV) This is
the real reason Jesus came — to take away the sin of the world, and open the door for God to forgive us.
Jesus taught, however, that to experience and to enjoy that freeing forgiveness, we also need to forgive. If
God forgives, and God comes to live in you and in me by His Spirit, who are we not to forgive? Jesus
taught his disciples to pray, “Forgive us our debts (sins) — as we forgive our debtors (those who sin
against us).” He goes on to say, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your
sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15, NIV)
The weight of our burdens — life-sucking,
crushing burdens that add loads and loads of stress to our
lives — often stem from carrying the consequences of others’ sins, of our sins, and what we perceive to
be God's sins. Because we have been “wronged” — or believe (rightly or wrongly) that we have been —
we resent the one or ones whom we believe have wronged us. We can let this burden go when we forgive.
The joy of being forgiven celebrated in Psalm 32:1 “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven”
leads to the lifegiving
testimony in verse 6 “Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you
may be found.” This forgiveness is too great not to share! By the end of the psalm, David is singing,
“Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!” (Psalm 32:11,
NIV)
Forgiveness — both received and given — will restore the voice of the Christian to sing — to sing praise
to God, and to share in the songs of others.
“Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Colossians 3:13)
May the freeing gift of forgiveness be ours to both receive and to give, in a world filled with people so
much in need of lifegiving,
liferestoring
forgiveness.
In Christ, forgiven, and forgiving,
Your pastor,
James T. Hurd
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A place to live? The challenge of housing (October 2021)
It is ironic — and instructive — that when Jesus came to live on earth, He owned no house. Jesus as the
Son of God, through Whom all things were created, and Who is Sovereign Lord over the entire universe,
came to dwell among us, and experienced life as a refugee and a nomad. The Son of God incarnate —
God who is Spirit — was of “no fixed address”. Even when making arrangements for the greatest and
most important meal He ever served — the Last or Lord’s Supper — He had to direct His disciples to
borrow an upper room in someone else’s house.
In the context of (a) current concerns (some would say the “crisis”) over affordable housing in Canada
and in many other places, (b) the need for reconciliation between settlers and original inhabitants of the
land we share, and (c) amid scenes of widespread migration and deportation along the southern border of
our neighbour to the south and elsewhere in the world, Christians would do well to reflect upon guidance
the Lord Jesus Christ gives us with respect to what we need to do to address these matters and what
witness we are called to bear to the governing authorities in our time and place.
I would submit that one starting point is contained in the concept of Jubilee as designed for the ancient
Hebrews when they took “possession” of the “promised land”.
Leviticus 25:10, 23-31: Consecrate
the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its
inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his
own clan. … The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and
my tenants. Throughout the country that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption
of the land. If one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells some of his property, his nearest relative is
to come and redeem what his countryman has sold. … If a man sells a house in a walled city, he retains
the right of redemption a full year after its sale. During that time he may redeem it. If it is not redeemed
before a full year has passed, the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to the buyer and his
descendants. It is not to be returned in the Jubilee. But houses in villages without walls around them are
to be considered as open country. They can be redeemed, and they are to be returned in the Jubilee. (NIV)
Recognizing that ancient Israel was a theocracy, that the covenant was in some senses unique, and that
our present society is both far more urban than rural and far more easily mobile rather than rooted and
tied to the land, there are nonetheless some things which reveal God’s mind and design for how people
are intended to live which may be considered for application in our time and place.
-
Land, and houses built on rural land, are to be held in trust for those who come after us. We have an
obligation to be good stewards, and to be ready to pass along to others what has been loaned to us for our
short time on earth.
-
Families have a responsibility to aid relatives, even extended relatives, who encounter difficulty with
respect to housing.
-
Property is not intended to be the means by which some become infinitely rich while others are forever
destined to poverty.
-
Permanent residence in cities is not forbidden; and at the same time people may move and migrate.
-
Holding private property in a city with “walls” (i.e. common, shared protection) is not wrong.
The issues around housing to be faced in modern Canada and throughout the world are complex.
Christians are called to contribute constructively to our communities. We need to call upon elected
representatives at all levels to formulate sound principles and to act.
We know that there are people who are part of our community at Parkwood who have inadequate or
unaffordable housing — or none at all. We give thanks for those who provide shelter and help — including
families striving to care for relatives, and individuals offering help to neighbours or even strangers. At the
same time, we need to raise the consciousness of our elected officials to set needed and appropriate
priorities to address structural issues.
Without commenting on politics and the reasons for or against our recent election or its outcome, one
could observe that the stated estimated cost — 610 million dollars — to return a very similar group of
representatives to our federal House of Commons might instead have built more than 1200 houses at a cost
of half million dollars each, or considerably more housing units at less expensive prices in different
locations across the country … or resolved some of the challenges to provide clean, safe drinking water to
communities living without it.
The time of Jubilee is past — but the call and need for righteousness, justice, and mercy remain. If the
Jesus we love and honour as Saviour and Lord had no earthly fixed address, those of us who thankfully do
surely are called as His disciples to strive to witness to and labour for such righteousness, justice, and
mercy in our time.
Your pastor, praying for the Spirit to move among us and through us,
James T. Hurd
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Relations (November 2021)
Before the word RELATIONSHIPS there was the word RELATIONSHIP.
Before the word RELATIONSHIP there was the word RELATIONS.
Before the word RELATIONS there was the word RELATION.
The root of the word RELATION is the word RELATE.
Many people struggle with relationships. Some of those struggles have been made more difficult or
complicated as a result of “social distancing”, which took hold early on in the pandemic. The term “social
distancing” was changed to “physical distancing” along the way, when some began to recognize that
human beings are social beings and that distancing might be physically necessary to prevent or reduce the
spread of a virus dangerous to physical health, but we have come to recognize that social separation is
equally dangerous to mental and emotional health.
The plural of “relationships” implies that we can have more than one relationship — but highlights the
fact that one is fundamental. There is no one who invented oneself. Every single one of us was born in a
relationship. Formed (“knit together”, as Psalm 139:13 puts it) in a mother’s womb, each of us was in a
gestational relationship before we could see, hear, touch, taste, or feel, and certainly before we could sit,
walk, run, or think, or speak.
This means that we were born into, and designed to be in, relationship.
One or more relationships implies one or more relations, which means that we are intended and called to
connect with others. In an age of increasing isolation, in part brought on by increasing emphasis on the
“individual” in an individualistic culture, we will do well to remember that no one is an island and none
are intended to be hermits. We are relational beings, and we have relations! Whether by birth, blood,
adoption, or marriage, we are related to others. In communities small or large, neighbourhoods defined
by distance, or employment or education defined by job or school, we are connected — in relation — to
each other. This means that we are called to “relate” to each other.
When I was young university student, I remember a very animated meeting of the leaders of the “college
and careers” group which I attended. The purpose of the meeting was to design a simple brochure to
advertise our group to other new students and to invite them to join us. One of the others argued strongly
— up and down, and all around — that we needed to print prominently on the front of the brochure these
words “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.” I argued, also strongly, that we needed to do
no such thing — but to simply print attractively the name of the group, and state where and when we met,
with an invitation to come. I won the argument, but have never forgotten the deep truth to which the other
leader was pointing.
The words which he wanted communicated come from 2 Corinthians, and form the heart of the message
Paul proclaimed in Jesus’ name to the church and the world:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is
from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has
committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God
were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
(2 Corinthians 5:17-20, NIV)
Jesus’ coming was all about God relating to us — wanting to establish, cultivate, and sustain a personal
relationship with each of us, and wanting us to establish, or reestablish,
relationships with one another.
In the beginning, God originally designed us to relate to God. After failing to maintain that relationship,
our first parents were separated from God. All the wandering and isolation that they and we have known
and suffered is derived from that separation. All the potential and reality of restoration is rooted in a new,
reconciled relationship with Jesus and with others who are being so reconciled.
As we look to a restart after the “circuit breaker” of separation, may we recognize the new creation,
which is who each believer and follower of Jesus is, and may we relate to each other as relations or
relatives in Christ, and pursue our relationship with Him and — so far as it is within us and led by the
Holy Spirit — the restoring of our relationships with each other.
Your pastor, relation in Christ,
James T. Hurd
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Water (December 2021 - January 2022)
Water is the basis for life. The account of creation in Genesis 1 tells us that at the very beginning —
before the earth had form — “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”. (Genesis 1:2, NIV) God
interacted with water to effect the rest of creation.
After the creation of light, we are told that God created the atmosphere; He “separated the water under
the expanse from the water above it” (Genesis 1:7). Then, when God arranged that the waters under the
sky to be gathered together, “dry ground” (Genesis 1:9) appeared.
Water is the basis of life. On average, a human body is sixty percent water. Without water, none of us
would or could live. Jesus tells us that we are born of water: “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the
kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” (John 3:5, NIV)
God supplies water to all, though we are undeserving, and whether or not we acknowledge its source. He
“sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous”. (Matthew 5:45)
Having paddled many streams and crossed several lakes again this summer, I have seen much water and
the life it sustains. Plant life and animal life in a myriad of forms are a great sight and delight to behold!
Even though water is life-giving, it can be life-destroying. In many parts of the world, and significantly
here in Canada, both east and west, we have witnessed floods that have taken life, isolated whole
communities, and disrupted the basis of travel for people and goods.
In the days before God’s life-renewing
covenant with Noah, God’s judgement caused a great flood to
engulf the earth. Thereafter, He promised that such a flood would never be repeated:
And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living
creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will
be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the
rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living
creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the
rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all
living creatures of every kind on the earth.” So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I
have established between me and all life on the earth.” (Genesis 9:12-17,
NIV)
In these days of serious but limited floods, let us be reminded of God’s promise.
In Canada, we have a greater share of the earth’s fresh water than any other nation. Yet we have been
reminded this year that there are many descendants of the first peoples and continuing inhabitants of this
land who lack access to clean water. We have also witnessed how quickly chemical cargoes on ships that
navigate the seas can pollute waters.
Clean water, channelled water, lifesustaining
water: this is the water we have inherited and of which we
are called to be stewards.
The first disciples — Andrew and Peter, James and John — lived on the water, as fishermen, and were
called from the water’s edge to follow Jesus to bring life to people.
Jesus walked on water. He demonstrated that He is Lord over the waters. Jesus stilled the storm —
commanding the waves to be calm.
Jesus underwent baptism in the water, and instituted the sacrament of baptism, commissioning the first
apostles to make disciples of all nations — “baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of Holy Spirit”.
Water is both an agent of physical cleansing and a sign of spiritual cleansing.
Let us remember the water, and give thanks. Let us pray and work for clean water for all. As we as the
church celebrate the birth of Jesus, let us recall that “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.” (Ephesians 5:25-26)
Water is both substance and symbol — both sign and sustenance.
Jesus said, “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my
disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42)
Your pastor, drinking and washing, cherishing and sharing water,
James T. Hurd
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Prevented (February 2022)
“Prevented from doing so …” (Romans 1:13)
What has the present pandemic prevented you from doing?
The answer to that apparently negative question has surprisingly
positive consequences. If we take to heart a lesson from the Holy
Spirit, brought to us through the life of Paul the apostle, we learn that being prevented from doing
something can bring huge, unforeseen benefits.
In all likelihood, we would not have the letter to the Romans today as part of our blessed and treasured
Holy Scriptures, had Paul not been prevented from visiting the church in Rome when he had planned to
do so. He tells the church in verse 13 that he “planned many times to come”, but had been prevented
from doing so.
As we reflect on the many trips and visits we may have planned to take or make during the past two
years, there is undoubtedly much sadness and frustration that we have been unable to fulfil our intentions
and realize our plans. Yet have we considered what might be the unintended, unforeseen outcome of
having been “prevented” from doing so?
Had Paul been able to visit Rome when he first intended, or on several occasions when he planned to do
so, he would not have found it necessary nor perhaps possible to write the letter that he did. Much of the
wise, rich, and profound teaching about God’s plan and design for the church and the world would have
been conveyed orally, in person, to the Christians in Rome, rather than communicated and preserved in
written form — for them, and for us.
Consider how blessed we are to be able to read such things as these — and all of them written while Paul
was prevented from visiting Rome:
“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
“Righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” (Romans 3:22)
“Since we have been justified through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ.” (Romans 5:1)
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in
us.” (Romans 8:18)
“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called
according to his purpose.” (Romans 8: 28)
“Christ Jesus, who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also
interceding for us.” (Romans 8:34)
“I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,
nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from
the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”
(Romans 11:36)
As I write this reflection at the end of January, I have just attended (online) a “Day of Encouragement”
organized by The Renewal Fellowship within The Presbyterian Church in Canada. We were blessed to
learn a new song, written by a music leader in a sister congregation during the pandemic, affirming that
our hope is “always, only” in Jesus. I was also blessed to be reminded by a retired veterinarian in another
congregation that the provision of the technology embodied in Zoom was a gift given to us in advance,
before we realized we might need it.
I ask therefore: When in future days we look back upon this period in our history, what will we see that
having been “prevented from doing” we have instead been enabled to do? What songs will we have to
share, having received them in the midst of the trials we currently face? What will we have written while
in isolation that will live on to bless others now and in future, because we communicated in a more
permanent form than simply saying them casually in face-to-face
conversation? What projects may we
have initiated or completed that otherwise we might not have had or taken time to conceive, start, or
finish?
If we cherish and treasure such gems as Paul’s letter to the Romans, written while he was hoping and
dreaming and planning to visit the church in Rome but was “prevented from doing so”, may God give us
the perspective on present plans as yet unrealized because we are “prevented from doing so” that God’s
greater good will yet come to pass.
P. S.: Paul did (eventually, in God’s good time) get to visit Rome, and the book of Acts concludes by
telling us: “For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to
see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus
Christ.” (Acts 28:30-31)
Your pastor, prevented from doing some things but thankful for being able to do others — and hoping for
blessings to come — in God’s time,
James T. Hurd
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Proving Identity (March 2022)
In an online world, and in circumstances where many interactions are “remote”, it is increasingly
necessary to prove one’s identity. We have passwords for this and that, and we are encouraged to change
them regularly, even when not required to change them because an account has been hacked or data has
been leaked. Two-factor
authentication is becoming a requirement for access for certain important
transactions.
Many of us have suffered a cloning, or are the subject of impersonating messages. Phishing scams attack
us by telephone or email
several times a week, if not several times a day. Invitations from false
“friends” attempt to lead us astray and take from us time, money, and identity. The prevalence and use of
false or fake ID is rampant in our technically interconnected
world.
Amid all the challenges of ensuring accurate and authentic communication, there are spiritual truths to
consider. How do we connect and communicate with God, Who is unseen? How do we ensure that we
are real in our relationships — with God, with others, with self?
Jesus said, in the Sermon on the Mount: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me
on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and
perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you
evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23,
NIV)
God knows who each of us really, truly is. He cannot be deceived. We cannot deceive Him.
Jesus also said, "I know my sheep and my sheep know me — just as the Father knows me and I know
the Father." (John 10:14-15,
NIV) There is no masking, no falsifying of identity, when we come before
our Lord and our God.
It is therefore both necessary and helpful for us to be real with ourselves. David, after being aided by the
prophet Nathan to come face to face with his sin, is real with himself: “For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.” (Psalm 51:3, NIV) Jesus commends the tax collector — not the selfrighteous
Pharisee —when he observes the two of them making appearance before God in prayer in the
temple: “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his
breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went
home justified before God. (Luke 18:13-14,
NIV)
John reminds us in his first letter that truth begins with Jesus — in recognizing and acknowledging Jesus
for Who He is — the Son of God. “I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because
you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that
Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist — he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies
the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. See that what you have heard
from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is
what he promised us — even eternal life. I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to
lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need
anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not
counterfeit just
as it has taught you, remain in him. And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when
he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. (1 John 2:21-28,
NIV)
Here is the key to navigating life in a world filled with false identities. Jesus is real — not false or
counterfeit — and calls us to acknowledge and identify with Him. Paul says, “Since, then, you have been
raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set
your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ
in God. … Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put
on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Colossians 3:110,
NIV)
We are therefore called to be real with each other, as those who are in a real relationship with God through
Jesus. Each of us has a new identity in Christ, and we live in the freedom and truth of that identity.
Let us live and rest in the assurance that God knows us — better than we know ourselves — and let us
strive to be real in all our dealings and relationships with each other.
Thankful that the only password needed to access God is the blood of Jesus, freely given to us, and
accessible to all who are willing to receive,
Your pastor, in Christ,
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Spring -- clouded by war but lighted by hope (April 2022)
One of the most enduring images rooted in my mind was planted by William Cowper in the hymn, "God
moves in a mysterious way".
The words "Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face" suggest that what we see in the
world around us is not the whole reality. Nowhere is this more evident than in the season called "spring".
One day dawns cloudy and cold, but by mid-day the clouds part and the sun is seen brightly shining and
warming the earth. The truth is that the sun was there all the time, shining in its brilliance, but
temporarily hidden by the clouds. We, living below the clouds, were simply not able to see and feel the
sun.
As this is true in the physical realm, there is a parallel in the spiritual realm, to which Cowper points. In
the providence of God, our outward circumstances may appear very dark indeed, but God s hidden
disposition toward and purposes for His chosen, beloved, and adopted children are filled with goodness
and mercy and love.
The prophet Isaiah expresses this best. God chides those who are prone to seek strength and help from
other sources:
"This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it."
"You said, No, we will flee on horses. Therefore you will flee! You said, We will ride off on swift
horses. Therefore your pursuers will be swift!" (Isaiah 30:15-16, NIV)
This well describes the condition and predicament of many believers today. We think especially of those
whose lives are pushed and pulled in so many directions as a result of challenges to health and wealth,
safety and security, or education and employment. Forces affecting climate change, economic and social
restructuring, and geo-political events changing peace to war have uprooted and displaced millions of
people the world over. Where and to whom will we turn?
Isaiah brings the reality of God s word and presence to bear:
"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of
justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no
more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.
Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be
hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your
ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it"... He will also send you rain for
the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that
day your cattle will graze in broad meadows... The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will
be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his
people and heals the wounds he inflicted." (Isaiah 30:18-21, 23, 26, NIV)
Here are words that draw back the curtain of mysterious providence to let us see into the heart and mind of
God. He is disposed favourably toward His people, and promises that the longings of His heart will be
realized in the experience of His people -- in His due time.
As we shift through the shifting days of spring, in another year in challenge and change, may the image
and truth that the sun still shines behind the clouds bring us comfort and hope. Rain and even snow may
dampen our atmosphere, and strong winds may well blow dark clouds across our paths, but the sun is still
shining and the warmth is still coming. God has ordained good gifts yet to give His children. Jesus lives to
give us life abundant and eternal. The Spirit sustains and equips disciples for faithful and fruitful service.
We go forward in faith, because our God is forever faithful.
Looking up, and knowing the sun still shines and the Son still reigns,
Your pastor,
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Busy Builders (May 2022)
The adjective busy is the most common word applied to the noun beaver . A busy beaver is an apt
description for an animal that for much of each day or more correctly, night, since beavers are
nocturnal is on the move, and hard at work.
From an early age, beavers learn to sharpen their teeth, chewing and digesting the bark of trees, which
when gnawed down are not discarded but carefully pulled and pushed into position to form either lodges
for homes or dams for high-level water protection for their assembled habitats. Three photos, recently
taken on outings via canoe in and around eastern Ontario, illustrate (a) baby beavers beginning to chew
on branches as ice recedes from their pond; (b) a well-constructed beaver lodge; and (c) a beaver dam
holding back much of an abundant spring water run-off.
At the Christian camp in northern Ontario where I worked as a teen and young adult for several
summers, one of the first maintenance tasks after breakfast each morning was to go on a walk to do
business with the beavers. There was a stream that connected the lake on which the camp was located
with the next lake to the north, and the flowing of that stream was essential to ensure that the water level
on the first lake (where our campers wanted to swim) was low enough that we could maintain at least a
small level of beach. The beavers, however, were busy every night, and tried to maintain a series of
seven beaver dams between the two lakes. There were some summers when I would clear out each of
seven dams each and every morning, only to return the next morning to discover that the beavers had
rebuilt each dam during the night.
Although to the best of my knowledge beavers are not mentioned in the Bible, the concept of animals
busily finding food and building and maintaining homes most certainly abounds. Such examples are also
used as the basis for directing our attention to important spiritual lessons.
Consider the following:
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! (Proverbs 6:6)
The wise author of Proverbs, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, directs the attention of the lazy to
the lowly ant hard at work, busy reclaiming its environment. We are called to work!
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. (Psalm 42:1)
The psalmist, also under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, affirms that deer pursue water, essential for
sustaining and renewing life. Further, as a deer eagerly seeks and longs for the valuable and refreshing
life-giving water, so the psalmist is reminded to eagerly desire spiritual communion with the living God.
Jesus builds on this when he encounters the woman at the well who although recognizing the importance
of water for Jacob s flocks and herds of animals, is directed to give attention to her greater need to find
the water of life: Jesus says, the water I give will become in [you] a spring of water welling up to
eternal life. (John 4:14)
Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her
young a place near your altar, O Lord Almighty, my King and my God. (Psalm 84:3)
Finding and building a home sheltered in the presence and care of the living God is a blessing for birds
and animals and leads the psalmist to affirm and celebrate how much greater is the blessing for the man
or woman who seeks and finds a home in the presence of the same living God.
As spring and summer afford opportunities to hear and see the creatures of the world around us all part
of God s creation let us ponder and take heed of the examples which they give us. Like the beavers, let
us seek from an early age and throughout our lives to receive with thanks and eagerness the food God
provides, to prudently and industriously build homes, and to shelter and protect the spaces and places
where we may flourish in community together.
Your pastor, thankful for busy beavers who inspire, even though they may frustrate,
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Expectations (June 2022)
I suspect none of us expected the consequences of the storm that blew through much of central and
eastern Ontario and western Quebec on May 21, 2022.
Certainly, those who found themselves with downed trees and without electrical power some for
several days were not planning for some extended in-place camping adventures and especially not
on or near Merivale Road, in the geographical centre of the capital city of Canada!
The challenges of impeded travel and communication have had a major impact on what things have
occupied our time and energy.
Such change and upheaval in our lives leads us to examine our expectations. All of us have expectations
even if we do not consciously identify them. We have unspoken assumptions as to how a given day
may likely unfold.
In Psalm 5:3, the psalmist prays, In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my
requests before you and wait in expectation. This prayer has long resonated with me, as I offer each day
to the Lord, recognizing that whatever I may plan or purpose to do, the outcome is not in my hands or
subject to my control. A modern translation of Proverbs 19:21 says, The human mind may devise many
plans, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established. (NRSV)
It is good that we lay our plans before God. It is even better that we prepare for the Lord to disrupt those
plans, and visit us with His intentions. The prophet Isaiah celebrates that God is the God of surprise:
For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled
before you. (Isaiah 64: 3, NIV)
Through the same prophet Isaiah the Spirit of God reminds us: For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9, NIV)
As we struggle to make sense of changed and disrupted plans, it is good that we affirm that God s ways
are as superior to ours as the heavens are above the earth. Where those ways meet, and intersect, is in the
life of Jesus, the One who was both God and human. He understands and respects our humanity, but at
the same time He visits us with His divine power, truth, love, and holiness. Conscious of this, we can
face our challenged and, at times, our disappointing circumstances, with confidence and hope.
My prayer is that the daunting and disjointed fragments of our changed plans may be redeemed by God s
surprising and gracious power.
Your pastor, with plans challenged and changed by the God of providence and power,
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