Pulpitations: "Changed and Ever-Changing"

(Today's sermon from our 12 th anniversary as an Affirming Ministry) In addition to today being our twelfth Affirmiversary, it is also Reformation Sunday. It was late October in 1517 when German priest Martin Luther nailed his “95 theses” to the church door in Wittenburg in opposition to Catholic positions of the day. This sounds more inflammatory than it really was – they didn’t have social media, so literally tacking stuff up on church doors was the first type of “posting.”

It ended up being inflammatory anyway, with Luther getting excommunicated after refusing to recant his positions on things like papal authority and plenary indulgences (the idea of paying cash for atonement for yourself or others). The founder of Protestantism had other religious leaders calling for him to be burned as a heretic, and this schism was the first major change in the broader Christian church – but far from the last!

At the end of the day, God is perfect and eternal, a bulwark never failing as we heard. Humans are anything but perfect, which might explain why there are so, so many differing perspectives, even within Christian denominations.

There is a saying in Latin: ecclesia reformata semper reformanda est - “the church reformed is the church always reforming.” And it’s true!

Prior to 1977 there were no ordained women ministers in any mainline denomination.

The United Church of Canada ordained its first gay minister in 1992.

Before either of these things happened, even the Catholic church held Vatican II, its second ecumenical council in the early ‘60s, which Pope John XXIII called aggiornamento, or bringing up to date. And he was no young reformer; he was three months into his mandate and 76 years old when he announced it.

As a guy who turns 60 next year, it is encouraging to see examples proving we are never too old to change.

I haven’t actually run the numbers, but I am still probably a relative newcomer to St. Albert United Church, having only attended services here for about a quarter-century. Median attendee tenure at best! But think of all the change we have been a part of here in just that time, especially through the lens of our Affirmiversary:

• When we hosted deliberative dialogue around the sanctification of same sex marriages
• When we voted strongly in favour of sanctifying those marriages, despite having some of our friends decide that was too much change for them
• When we called a male minister who was married to a man
• When we voted overwhelmingly in favour of becoming an openly Affirming Ministry in 2014
• When a family with same-sex parents openly worshipped with us
• When a transitioning woman and her partner walked through our doors and felt welcome enough to stay

As tough as it can be for an institution to change, or a congregation, it can be just as hard for us to change as individuals.  Which, to be honest, is not good.

Being a Christian has always required a high degree of reflection and self-evaluation, and re-evaluation.

Change is hard. I struggle with it personally and have described myself as change-averse in some contexts. But I try.

I try because of the necessity of it, something that is easier to recognize as I get older even while some of my own attitudes calcify and crystallize. But the other thing that change is besides necessary is constant. Ecclesia reformata semper reformanda est - the church reformed is the church always reforming - but also Homines mutati semper mutantur - changed people are always changing.

We have to constantly re-assess: what is true? What is good? What aligns most with the way God wants us to live and the teachings of Jesus?

We have tools to help us, thank goodness. We have the scriptures themselves, like what we heard from Jeremiah, reminding us that God’s law is not just written there, but written in our hearts.

We have this faith community, a place and time to come together and hear the word and reflect on what it means to us, each of us, collectively and individually. In an increasingly divided and antagonistic world, I think we understate the value of such a place. It may not look like it, but St. Albert United Church is a bulwark. It is a mighty fortress, not because it is supremely defensible – way too many corners and blind spots, to be honest – but because our ideals can be defended here. We have a space dedicated to making praise and asking questions and making room for people to join us and creating opportunities to share perspectives; a space where everyone has room to grow. And there is no growth without change!

It is important to be welcoming, because the world is not always that way. It is important to be radically inclusive because more and more the world seeks to exclude, to divide, to set us against one another. 

What’s a good example of this? Oh, I dunno – has anyone heard anything about a troubling and unnecessary referendum that has pitted provincial residents against each other, as well as against the immigrants that two years ago our government begged to come to our province?

Or while our public schools struggle with having their funding diverted to private and charter schools, often with exclusionary recruitment criteria as well as agendas, that same government has made it a priority to make sure that treaty flags have strict limitations on when they can be flown (on treaty land, no less!) and pride flags can’t be flown at all?

A symbol meant to let some of society’s most vulnerable kids know they are safe and respected apparently has no place in our halls of learning.

Let me give you another example that I will try to keep intentionally vague: earlier this year, here in the capital region, a discernibly marginalized individual went to an event held in what professed to be an inclusive space. Maybe they sported a jersey from the visiting team or a hat from a political affiliation, maybe their skin colour stood out, maybe they held hands with a person of the same gender expression, maybe they wore symbols from a less-familiar faith, whatever. Another attendee at this event talked to this person in an ignorant and disrespectful way. This person found themself belittled and mischaracterized in a way that made them and the person they attended with feel increasingly uncomfortable and unwelcome. The two of them did their best to ignore the jabs, but it was tough, because it was hurtful, even though that was very likely not the intention of the person addressing them.

It’s like if I am not paying attention and am holding a cup of water when someone asks me the time, and I end up inverting my glass. Regardless of my intention, the water is not staying in that glass. The floor is getting wet. The damage is done. And I am grateful to the people in this story showing such tremendous grace when they shared it with me, their care that the other individual not be maligned unnecessarily.  But the sad truth is this: this hostility they felt, this exclusion they experienced, was nothing unfamiliar or new to either of them, just unexpected in that context.

And the real kicker? This interaction did not take place in Churchill Square or Tim Hortons or Lions Park or Commonwealth Stadium or the legislature - it took place here.

In this building.

In this room.

...

Let me be absolutely clear: I am not sharing this example to shame anyone. It is not meant to make the people who maybe recognize themselves in it or perhaps witnessed it feel bad. I honestly and truly do not want to embarrass or guilt anyone who perhaps didn’t realize it was happening or feels somehow that they should have, even if they couldn’t.

I am presenting it as an opportunity; a chance to pause and reflect. In the written psalms you will often see a Hebrew word meaning exactly this: Selah.

And if you do see yourself reflected in this story, or it reminds you of a different time or interaction where you wish you had done better, where you might have inadvertently enabled oppression or accidentally let injustice pass without being called out, hear this good news: “they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.”

We always have the choice to change, to become better. To more accurately reflect our faith in Christ and his teachings in the way we live our lives.

What does this look like?  It can look like a lot of things, but much of it stems from what Paul teaches us in Corinthians – “clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.”

Be kind. Support good causes both financially and verbally. Food banks, books for schools, supporting refugees, your faith community.

Show up. Speak up. If necessary, act up.

Look after those who have difficulty looking after themselves.

Give everyone the opportunity to live in respect and dignity.

Call it out when people minimize or joke about sexual assault.

Acknowledge the harm governments do when they pass abhorrent anti-trans and anti-gay legislation that further marginalizes at-risk populations.

Be radically inclusive and welcoming! It is not enough to simply leave the door open. Recognize that many people you encounter have been taught to think of themselves as outsiders, and they need you to explicitly invite them in!

Rid yourself of “all such things: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth.”

When people make mistakes, and they will, because they are human, try to find it in your heart to forgive them.  

And when it is you who has made the mistake, ask God to forgive you, and when you realize that They do, do the hardest part – find a way to forgive yourself.

In the end, Jesus’s new covenant makes it clear: we need to love one another. “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

Upon reflection, we can all change. We can find what is right, because like we heard in Jeremiah, God has written it in our hearts. Selah.

We have come a long way, sure, but have so much further we can go.

Can you imagine a world running on love instead of hatred or jealousy? A world built on inclusivity not exclusivity? On community instead of division? Make no mistake, the world is likely to call us deranged, with these crazed notions that every individual has value and that love can conquer hate, but we are not irrational, we are trans-rational – we have a different rubric for what is important.

And we aren’t alone, either! Right here in St. Albert, a former Christian Reformed Church denomination has disaffiliated from their denomination and changed their name to Gardens Community Church. Part of the reason for this was the CRC’s Human Sexuality Report that came out in 2020, which opposes same-sex marriage and classifies homosexuality and transgender identities as “contrary to scripture.” They also made these positions binding beliefs, making change or even discussion virtually impossible. So these folks are breaking away to start their own community, and I wish them God’s blessings and all the luck in the world.

God calls us to community. ALL OF US. White, black, brown, red, yellow, puce, green whatever. Rich, poor, capitalist, socialist, gay, straight, trans, bi, queer, other, introvert, extrovert, innies, outies, briefs, boxers, Mac, PC, Coke, Pepsi, Marvel, DC, every one of us.

Let us continue to worship together here, loved and protected by God, thanking Them for both the abundances and challenges  in our lives, learning the lessons Jesus has laid out for us, and looking for the Holy Spirit to embolden us when we are called to action, as we were 12 years ago, when became an Affirming Ministry.

Amen!

(embedded video jumps to sermon at 40:46 (15 min))

SCRIPTURES

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should quake,
and the mountains fall into the depth of the sea,
Though the waters of the sea rage and foam,
and the mountains tremble at the tumult.
Reprise: A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing.


There is a river, whose streams make glad the city of God,
sanctifying the dwelling of the Most High.
God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
God will help at the break of day
The nations are in tumult, empires are shaken;
For God speaks and the earth melts away.
[Reprise]

Come and see what God has done,;
the wonders wrought upon the earth.
God makes wars to cease in all the world;
God breaks the bow and snaps the spear;
and burns the shields in the fire.
Be still and know that I am God,
exalted among the nations, exalted in the earth.
The God of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
[Reprise]


Jeremiah 31: 31-34

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.


Colossians 3: 8-14

But now you must get rid of all such things: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, enslaved and free, but Christ is all and in all!

Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Guest Pulpitations: The Work Continues

Last week, Fenya delivered the sermon for our congregation's 11th anniversary as an Affirming Ministry. Our Affirming Team put the whole service together and Fenya was working on her reflection right up until the day before. This is similar enough to my own process that I was unconcerned, but I was also unprepared for just how good it was, as well as the conviction with which she delivered it.

She also achieved something that made me a bit jealous - someone found her content a little bit too much, or too political, and walked out. Achievement unlocked, I say!

Compliments from those who remained were effusive and sincere. Many people shared personal stories of bad experiences at churches in the past, and how much they appreciated Fenya's forthright declaration of what being inclusive and welcoming actually means. The title referred to how much work still needs to be done by affirming ministries, from the recent apology by the United Church of Canada to 2SLGBTQIA+ peoples and communities, to the need for support for trans people impacted by the Alberta government's use of the notwithstanding clause to shore up their unconstitutional banning of gender-affirming care.

I can't say what part of it compelled that one fellow to leave, but I know his spouse or partner stayed, so I am hoping there was perhaps a discussion at home later.

If you would like to see it for yourself (and I highly recommend it!), here is a link to the start of it (about 20 mins). Her speaking notes appear below, and you will just have to imagine it delivered with righteous conviction and matching intensity!

So proud.

THE WORK CONTINUES

When I agreed to deliver the sermon for affirmiversary Sunday, I thought I had a pretty good understanding of what it means to be an affirming ministry, but I wanted to learn more about how we got to where we are today. We became affirming back in 2014, when I was 15 years old. I was attending St. Albert United Church at that time, but at 15, much of my time was spent downstairs in the youth room, and I wasn’t nearly as in-the-loop about the goings-on upstairs.

Fast-forward to now, and I have become a fully-fledged member of the Affirm committee, so when the opportunity came for me to preach this Sunday, the other affirm committee members were more than happy to fill me in on the important St Albert United Church history that I missed. And now I get to share this information with all of you! I thought it might be helpful for those who have joined the church post-2014  in case you, like me, did not realize the amount of work it took for our church to become affirming. And for those of you who have been here since before 2014, hopefully you enjoy getting a brief review!

St Albert United Church's affirming journey spanned a total of around 9 years, starting in 2005 with the deliberative dialogue process. This involved 7 sessions of intense discussions examining the sanctification of same sex marriages, and at the end of those discussions, a resolution was presented to the church council for an inclusive marriage policy, which is one of the requirements to become an affirming ministry. The resolution was passed at the 2006 AGM with ⅔ of those present being in favour. 

Then in June of 2013 a group was assembled to finish the journey started in 2005 and to complete the application process for our church to become an affirming ministry. This process built upon the extensive work that had already been done while allowing for further necessary discussion and education. This part of the process was a lot of work and effort, and required the participation of the whole congregation. The Affirming ministry program offered educational activities and ideas to help the ministry explore issues of sexual orientation and gender identity, engage with the bible, plan activities to support justice for lgbtq2s+ people, and write an affirming ministry vision statement (which you hear every week when we welcome all regardless of age, race, gender, gender expression sexual orientation, belief, economic circumstance, ability, or background.) 

These conversations and activities challenged peoples’ way of thinking, and when reading some of the activities suggested, I can imagine they were not always the most comfortable experiences or easy conversations to have. And that makes me all the more proud of my congregation for doing them. 

Some of the discussions involved bringing in guest speakers. One of these was the late Dr. Lorne Warneke, a psychiatrist who specialized in helping trans individuals work through gender dysphoria. There was also a panel of lgbtq2s+ individuals and their families who shared their perspectives.

Some of the educational material provided by the affirming ministries program explained how some of the passages cited as arguments against homosexuality also condemn other behaviours we consider acceptable, such as creating images of people, birds, or animals (Romans 1:22) or eating foods such as shrimp that are deemed to be unclean-a practice that is also called an abomination in the Bible (Leviticus 20:25).

One suggested workshop included an activity sheet where people had to indicate how closely they obeyed different bible passages, such as:

(luke 18:22): Sell everything you have and give the money to the poor 

(1 corinthians 14:34) Women should keep silent in the church  

(obviously I’m not following that one particularly closely)

And other passages like:

(Deuteronomy 23 19-20) Do not charge interest on loans, except loans to foreigners

(deuteronomy 22:19-20) If a man claims the woman he married is not a virgin and her family can’t prove her virginity, she should be put to death

There was another activity exploring the concept of texts of terror - biblical texts in which women experience abusive male power - and how the story of sodom and gomorroah can be a text of terror for lgbtq+ folk, used to condemn all lgbtq people when it is clearly a story about multiple perpetrator sexual assault. The activity explored how developing a theology of blessing for lgbt folk also meant coming face to face with the horrors found in the bible. 

When the educational workshops and discussions came to an end, the congregation took a vote at the AGM in June 2014 to officially become an affirming ministry, with 98% of those present in favour.

Now like I said, this process was a lot of work. It required people to face some really horrific things in the bible and things done to people in the name of christianity. But why was it important? Someone might wonder, “you know, we were already pretty welcoming before, why did we need to do all this extra work to become an officially affirming ministry?”

It’s important for a lot of reasons. It’s important because as we heard from our non-scripture reading today, the assumption that we are already welcoming enough hasn’t been the case for much of the church’s history. It’s important because we might think we were welcoming enough before becoming affirming, but members of the lgbtq2s+ community have had enough experiences indicating the opposite that it is understandable that that welcome is not assumed to be guaranteed. And that welcome is still not a guarantee in many churches today. 

Becoming affirming is important because open-mindedness is necessary, even if others around us might disagree. It’s important because in 1988 the United Church put out a report recommending that the church welcome lgbtq individuals in all aspects of the church, including the ministry. A poll came out later indicating only 28% of church members were in favour of this, and many conservative members of the United Church ended up leaving. It’s important because in the 4 years following that report coming out, the United Church of Canada lost over 78,000 members. Our decision to become affirming is important because St. Albert United Church lost members after passing the inclusive marriage policy and becoming an affirming ministry.

It’s important because Jesus didn’t tell us just to love each other. He taught us to love each other radically. He didn’t call for us to be “welcoming enough”. He calls us to give all our money to the poor. He calls us to wash each others’ feet. To give the shirt off our backs. “Already welcoming enough” just doesn’t cut it.

Becoming affirming is important because the church has homophobia and transphobia in its history, which has caused substantial harm to members of our community. It’s important because there is a lot of work to be done to make amends for the harms that have been perpetrated towards the lgbtq community. And that work starts with each and every one of us. We have a responsibility as individuals and as a congregation to not just say we are welcoming, but to show it in our actions. And one of the most important actions we can take is to put in the work to educate ourselves and learn how to do better.

In the story of Jesus healing the centurion’s servant, the centurion talks about how he can give an order and it will be done. His faith in Jesus operates in the same way, where Jesus himself doesn’t even need to go to the centurion’s house, but he only needs to speak the word and the servant is healed. We have faith that Jesus need only speak, and his will will be carried out. And when it comes to what Jesus has and has not spoken about, I want to point out that there is not a single time in the bible that Jesus ever condemns homosexuality. But you know what he is quoted saying?

 

Do not judge. 

 

Love your neighbor. 

 

Like the centurion commands his servants and his will is done, so too does Jesus command us, and it is through us that his will is done.

And the work to live out that message of love continues. Just because we became affirming in 2014 doesn’t mean that was the end of the journey. In fact, that was when a lot of the work actually started. Once we had put in the work internally to become affirming, it was time to share our affirming message with the rest of the world, that there are Churches and Christians who love the lgbtq+ community for exactly who they are. 

We have a pride flag flying outside for all to see. We are present in pride events and  parades and have hosted a ton of fantastic events like drag shows, film viewings, and educational panels with guest speakers. Most recently, we helped sponsor St. Albert's Pride in the Park this year, donating $3,000 from a community grant we applied for. And we have built a reputation for ourselves. I’ve heard us referred to as “the gay church on the hill”. 

(…to be honest, when we were called that it was actually done with the intention of being offensive, but I kinda love that as a nickname because that’s what we are known for. *And I also kinda love not letting bigots win at name-calling*). 

 

We’ve also had queer organizations ask to partner with us or use our spaces because they know we support them and that we exist as a safe place for them to be themselves. It’s a reputation I am incredibly proud of.

This reputation has also incited some reactions of opposition. We’ve had angry letters detailing how upset our love of the lgbtq+ community makes people. How disapproving they are of our pride flag. We’ve even had people storm into the church to harass individuals engaging in bible study, arguing that flying that flag means we are promoting pedophilia. Which we know is absolutely not true. And our response to that incident was deciding to fly that flag even more than we had been before. 

Sometimes speaking out can be scary. … Sometimes it can be hard. … But that’s why it’s important. 

 

Oppression thrives in silence. And doing nothing only benefits the oppressors. 

 

Those who are discriminated against fight back in part simply by existing. But allies have to do it consciously. … Allies have to make the choice to do it. 

And it can have consequences. We might not make everybody happy doing what we do. It might make some people uncomfortable or angry. … But the safety of my queer siblings to live lives free of violence and fear is more important to me than people being comfortable. … And you know what? Jesus rubbed people the wrong way all the time. Doesn’t mean he was wrong.

We became affirming back in 2014. … But 11 years later in 2025, our affirming mission is even more important today.

 

It’s important because we are still seeing a rise in hate crimes based on sexual orientation. … It’s important because sexual and gender diverse youth are twice as likely to consider taking their own life. … It’s important because even though lgbtq+ individuals only make up 4% of Canada’s population, they make up 13% of all individuals currently experiencing homelessness.

 

Being publicly, intentionally, and explicitly affirming is important because earlier this year, the Alberta government passed 3 discriminatory laws that prohibit gender affirming care for minors, restrict students from using chosen names and pronouns without parental notification and consent, and ban trans women and girls from participating in sports. … These laws restrict access to health care, limit freedom of expression in schools, and curtail protections against discrimination.

 

And now that these hateful, discriminatory, unjustifiable laws are facing legal challenges, the government plans to use the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to advance these policies and circumvent the legal process entirely, shielding these laws from constitutional scrutiny. … This deliberately undermines the rights and dignity of trans people and sets a dangerous precedent for all Canadians. And that last sentence isn’t from me. … That’s a direct quote from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association condemning these decisions. … The CCLA warns that invoking the notwithstanding clause to advance discriminatory policies threatens the integrity of Canada’s constitutional democracy.

This is why our visible allyship is important. It’s important because the pronoun restrictions have left some trans youth with an impossible choice: to be outed at home or remain closeted at school. … It’s important because gender affirming care saves lives, is backed by decades of evidence, and is supported by every major Canadian Health Organization. It is important because the canadian medical association says that the healthcare law “requires doctors to disregard clinical guidelines, the needs of patients and their own. conscience.”. Our support of trans youth is important because this legislation is denying them the ability to access gender affirming care in schools and the medical system, which may be the difference between them surviving to adulthood or not.

Like I said before, … sometimes speaking out can be scary. … Sometimes it can be hard. … But that’s why it’s important.

As followers of God, speaking out and working against discrimination is not a choice, …it is a responsibility. … It is a core tenet of who we are and what we believe. 

In the reading from Isaiah, God’s people come to her, saying, “why have we fasted and you have not seen? Why do you take no notice?” and God proclaims that while they have followed specific religious practices, they lack sincerity because the true fast that she desires is not merely a religious act, but a lifestyle of love and justice.

We see from the reading in Isaiah that we can engage in all the religious practices and rituals we want, but if those actions are not alongside action towards liberation and justice, they ring hollow, …and lose almost all meaning. 

I want you to understand that I still believe these practices hold value, but coming here and being here is not the work that God calls us to do. 

Here is where we find community, where we recharge for the week ahead, where we find inspiration and feel God's presence. But the work … is out there. …God’s work is being done more by people of all faiths and no faith in food banks, at protests, and in the volunteer-run queer suicide hotline than it ever will be by any of us simply going to church.

Uplifting and supporting any of God’s cherished and beloved children is a form of worship. … As Christians, this is the fast that we have chosen. To bring the homeless poor into our house, …to cover the naked. … To loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the straps of the yoke, and let the oppressed go free.

God calls us to action. … Jesus calls us to love one another, and like the centurions servants, he need only speak and it will be done. 

And we learn from the reading in Isaiah what happens when we answer this call:

“If you remove the yoke from among you,

the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,

if you offer your food to the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,

then your light shall rise in the darkness

and your gloom be like the noonday.

The Lord will guide you continually

and satisfy your needs in parched places

and make your bones strong,

and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water

whose waters never fail.”

Thanks be to God.

Pulpitations: Healing Tears

(This is the reflection I delivered on Jun 15, 2025, as part of a service led by our Living In Right Relations Committee.)

Gestalt is a great word. It is a German term that expresses the idea that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

It is more than math; I can tell you with confidence that the numbers one, four, nine and two total up to 16 without surprising you, and the order doesn’t even matter, but if I were to day “Do Do So So La La So,” very few of us would be likely to pick up on the fact that these are the notes that make up “Twinkle Twinkle.” A list of tones is not the same thing as a melody.

I mention gestalt because I initially agreed to preach today knowing it was Father’s Day. Afterwards I learned that it is also Indigenous Day of Prayer, which I thought was a week later. And then I learned that my daughter Fenya and my friend Troy were going to be singing a Gregorian chant associated with Epiphany.

As I reflected on all these things, along with the three scriptural readings we heard, I thought to myself, “surely there must be some sort of through-line here, some unifying element.”

Looking back over my notes this morning, I am no longer so sure, but I will let you be the judge!

Let me begin by admitting that reconciliation has not been a lifelong ambition or goal of mine, and I am eternally grateful to this church, and its leadership, past and present, who have made such efforts to educate me on the need for reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous peoples.

Prior to this education I would never have thought of myself as racist, and in fairness I probably wasn’t, but I certainly hadn’t recognized or come to terms with my own privilege as a white, Christian, settler person. I had never thought about how much advantage I, personally, had drawn from social structures and laws and political systems born out of colonialism, nor the stark disparity between my own experiences and someone born at the same time but on a reserve.

My Indigenous counterpart was far, far more likely to have experienced poverty, food insecurity, diminished educational opportunities and less access to clean drinking water, as well as a much higher chance of incarceration. Indigenous people make up about 5% of Canada’s population, but 32% of Federal inmates identify as such. Since 2022, Indigenous women have accounted for half of all female Federal prisoners.

And this is before you even get to our own church’s involvement in residential schools, including here in our own community. Facing our complicity with a cultural genocide is no easy task and not for the faint-hearted.

It was with these disparities and this history in mind that I took my entire family to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission event in Edmonton in April of 2014. I wanted to learn more, but more critically, I felt it was important to have white faces there in the crowd, in acknowledgment of our involvement in those problems, whether covert or overt, explicit or implicit.

With the best of intentions, I suggested we watch a film called “Rhymes for Young Ghouls”, starring Devery Jacobs long before she appeared on Reservation Dogs. The room was packed, with well over a hundred people in attendance, and perhaps slightly more indigenous than non-indigenous viewers.

The movie depicts a teenage Mi'kmaq girl in the 1970s who uses the money she earns from her uncle’s grow-op the pay a ‘truancy tax’ to the corrupt Indian agent so she can stay out of the local residential school, St. Dymphna’s.

But eventually Aila’s stash of money is stolen and she is brought to the school she has hated her entire life, and in a scene at once both mundane and so shocking that it borders on the traumatic, her long braids are cut off by the nuns at the school.

Now, for those of you who don’t know, long hair is a powerful symbol of wisdom and maturity in many aboriginal cultures, so when those heavy shears start sawing painfully away at Aila’s braids, and you are forced to watch the tormented face of this helpless, angry young woman, the response from the audience was profound.

Gasps.

A ragged, shuddering intake of breath.

A low moan.

Sniffling.

A muffled sob.

We had been warned that there was some violence in the film and that many of the scenes could be triggering for survivors of residential schools, so they had passed around boxes of tissues beforehand. I took two or three, maybe four, but still ended up having to use my shirtsleeve, which I am sure comes as no surprise.

Most interestingly though, they asked us not to dispose of these tear-soaked clumps of paper in the garbage, but to place them into paper bags to they could be burned in the sacred fire burning outside the conference centre, as a sacrifice and offering to Creator.

After adding my own tear cloths to the collection after the movie, I reflected on the wisdom of imbuing them with such significance, the humble sincerity of being joined together by empathy and sadness, and recognizing the importance of this shared catharsis. And I felt salved by this, and realized I was encountering God - epiphany.

And I wasn’t the only one. The movie had become much too intense for 11 year-old Glory well before this scene, so Audrey had taken her out of the viewing room, which, I have to tell you, did not make me feel like a very good father at all. An Indigenous woman saw Audrey comforting Glory and asked to speak to them.

She revealed that she was a residential school survivor and had also found the movie too much for her to take. But she also looked directly at Glory and told her how proud she was that someone so young would come to the TRC to see what she could and to show support and to be seen. Out of this seemingly random connection between a family and a stranger, more tears were shed. And when I heard about it afterwards, I thought - yet another epiphany.

Epiphany, sometimes called theophany, means the showing of God in the world, and it is most commonly associated with the visit of the Magi to the newborn Jesus, the first recognition of Christ’s divinity by Gentiles. The feast of Epiphany also recognizes Christ’s baptism and the wedding at Cana where he performed his first miracle by turning water into wine. In all three of these events, the presence of God is inarguable, while in my own experiences it is far more subjective, but no less definite in my mind.

God, though unknowable and undefinable in many ways, is undeniable in others.

Paul’s experience in our reading from Acts illustrates this pretty well. In the preceding verses which we didn’t hear today, it is established that Paul and the Athenians approach spirituality (and perhaps life itself) from drastically different perspectives. Paul is dismayed by the idolatry o n display in the massive Greek city, and while he debated with Epicureans and Stoics, others said, “What does this pretentious babbler want to say?”

A sentiment some of you may be experiencing at this very moment…

Paul goes to the Areopagus, a prominent hill in Athens whose name means ‘Hill of Ares’ (the Greek war god). Biblical scholars are unsure as to whether Luke is referring to the hill geographically or to either of the Athenian councils that resided there at times. Regardless, Paul gets a chance to make his case, telling the Athenians that God does not live in any shrine, and that the altar inscribed ‘to an unknown god’ might well be referring to his own deity, the creator of the world and everything in it. He reminds them that God lives within each one of us, and how even their own poets have claimed to be His offspring.

Paul underscores his argument by explaining how God has raised humanity’s ultimate judge from the dead, and if you press on to verse 32, you hear how some of the Athenians scoffed at this - but not all of them.

Some others said “We will hear you again about this,” and some even ended up joining Paul.

I don’t believe the excerpt from Acts 17 is there because of the promise of judgement or event he conversion of some Athenians, I think it fits today because of the notion that God does not exist solely among one group or tribe or race of people - God exists within every one of us.

Those of us fortunate enough to recognize this are both proud and humble and grateful for it, as we hear in Psalm 103. He is compassionate and merciful, which is reassuring when we reflect on the wrongs we have done to others, both collectively and individually, often in His name.

How good to hear, “He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. “ But when we hear how “the Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly,” it is not enough to sit back and just wait for it to happen. Furthermore, it is not enough to wallow in guilt about the sins of the past if you are unwilling to work on solutions in the present.

Which brings us to our reading from Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth, where he urges everyone to look forward and not back. “The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of he who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”

The past wrongs must never be forgotten, but there is a chance they can be forgiven. I can’t think of a better example of this than a residential school survivor telling an 11 year old white girl that she is proud of her for coming to bear witness, to participate in reconciliation.

Reconciliation comes from the Latin, and literally means, ‘to bring back together’, to restore friendly relations. It implies that people with differences were not always, and certainly do not need to remain, separate and apart. The 2nd Corinthians passage is actually referring to the reconciliation between humanity and their Creator, but there is no reason it can’t apply to the mending of earthly relations as well.

And so, on this Indigeneous day of prayer, this is my prayer for us:

That while we acknowledge our involvement in the wrongs of the past, including residential schools, we do not remain paralyzed by it.

That our interactions, both collectively and individually, with Canada’s first peoples is guided by the knowledge that the damage done by those wrongs echoes on, and that healing will take the work of generations.

That while injustice still pervades the relations between settlers and indigenous peoples, we work to address it, starting with the 94 Calls to Action given to us by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

And that the gestures of reconciliation that we have adopted, such as the land acknowledgement that opens every service, never be allowed to devolve into rote recitations but remain an opportunity for sincere reflection.

When we do these things, I am confident of the resulting Epiphany. God will be shown to us, just as They were shown to the Magi. Just as They were revealed to those who saw Christ baptized in the Jordan, or who witnessed His miracle at Cana. Just as my family felt God’s presence while weeping in the presence of strangers.

And make no mistake: there will be tears yet to come. But by God’s grace, they will turn from tears of anger, and frustration, and shame, and sorrow into tears of gratitude and tears of joy, and those tears will heal every one of us who weeps.

Amen

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    Readings

ACTS 17:22-31 God who Made the World and everything in it.

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely spiritual you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all peoples to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps fumble about for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,‘For we, too, are his offspring.’

“Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Psalm 103 vs 1-13 God fills life with good things

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and all that is within me,
    bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and do not forget all his benefits—
who forgives all your iniquity,
    who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the Pit,
    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good as long as you live
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord works vindication
    and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
    his acts to the people of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always accuse,
    nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins
    nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
    so far he removes our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion for his children,
    so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.

2 Corinthians 5:16–21

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be 

sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.