Author: Scott McAndless

Watch sermon video here:

https://youtu.be/-EChpW88kzw

Hespeler, December 7, 2025 – Second Sunday of Advent, Communion
Isaiah 11:1-10, Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19, Romans 15:4-13, Matthew 1:1-6

I am hardly the first person to notice this, but in his genealogy of Jesus, the author of the Gospel of Matthew includes the names of four women apart from the name of Mary, Jesus’ mother.

This unusual inclusion has raised many questions down through the centuries. Why would he mention any women? It was not normal to do so in ancient genealogies.

Why These Women?

We also have to ask why he names those women in particular? There are a few things that they have in common. They all appear to be foreigners. Tamar and Rahab were Canaanites. Ruth was a Moabite. And Bathsheba was married to a Hittite.

They also seem to all have had somewhat questionable sexual histories. Tamar and Rahab acted as prostitutes. Ruth seduced Boaz on the threshing floor. And Bathsheba was famously raped by David.

Given all of this, many have reflected down through the years on what Matthew is trying to say by including these specific women in his genealogy. And many of those reflections have brought out some of the deeper theological meanings of this Gospel.

Matthew the Storyteller

But Matthew was not just a theologian. He was also a master storyteller. So, I was thinking that maybe he didn’t just name these women to make theological points. Maybe he is going out of his way to bring them in as characters.

By opening his Gospel with a genealogy, Matthew summons all of these ancestors of Jesus to witness the story he is about to tell. They are not there as silent witnesses or theological signifiers. They are part of the story. And, with that in mind, what did these four women have to bring to the story that we are being told?

Ancestral Witnesses

Well, here are some things to think about. They are all mothers. What’s more, they are all mothers who became mothers under somewhat murky circumstances. They had to struggle to have their children, and they had to deal with disapproval by others for their struggle. They also each saved their nation in their own ways.

And yes, I think that that means that they have a great deal to say to the story that begins the gospel of Matthew, the story of a man named Joseph, who is struggling to know what to do when he finds out that the woman he is engaged to is already pregnant.

So, here’s a question for you. What would these ancestral witnesses say to Joseph in his troubled sleep as he considers what to do about Mary?

Tamar

“Dear Joseph, I am your great, great… I think maybe forty times great-grandmother Tamar. And I know you are feeling somewhat torn over the marriage that your parents have arranged with this young woman, Mary, especially since you’ve heard the rumours that she is already expecting a child that you know you had nothing to do with.

“Well, I know a few things about that whole situation, because I was in it. I had been married off to the son of Judah, Er. But Er died, and so I was given to his brother Onan. But Onan did not want to do the right thing and give me a child who would claim his brother’s inheritance, so he died too for his disobedience.

“So, there I was – a widow twice over. And did my father-in-law Judah take care of me? No, he didn’t. As far as he was concerned, I was responsible for the death of two of his sons already. He was afraid of me – afraid to give me his last remaining son for fear that he would die too.

“So, he sent me to my father’s home and left me destitute. For who would marry a woman suspected of causing the death of two husbands?

Tamar Saved the Nation

“It was bad enough that Judah had abandoned me, but he also abandoned something else – his responsibility to assure a future for his family. Because he was afraid of doing the right thing for me, he was risking the entire inheritance of his family.

“So, I had to step in to save not just myself, but to save the entire tribe (and ultimately the nation) of Judah. And yes, the way I did that was questionable to say the least. I disguised myself as a prostitute, and I did get a child off of my own father-in-law.

“And that is how I ended up in a position much like your Mary’s. I had been put into an impossible position. But I acted decisively and not just to save myself – to save the nation that would eventually come to be. I saved the future that you are now living in.

“And in the end, my father-in-law Judah had to admit that I was in the right and that he was in the wrong. So, Joseph, I guess I’m just saying that you need to look past a situation that appears bad or shameful. Don’t judge someone’s action without taking time to understand the person behind it.

Rahab

The spirit of Tamar departed from Joseph’s troubled sleep, but soon another ancestor came to speak to him. Rahab had never been a woman who had hesitated to share her feelings, and she didn’t hold back with Joseph now.

“I hear you are worried about shame, o my great, great, great, great, great, great… grandson,” she began. “Well, let me tell you something about shame. My family and I had been rejected by the people of Jericho, my city. We had been left to live in the worst place – in a house built into the great walls.

“We had lost any social supports, and so I was given no choice. If I were to be able to support my family, I would have to enter into the world’s oldest profession, which meant, of course, that I would became even more rejected and maligned.

“But I never gave up. I dreamed of a better life for my children and even to set up a rope-making operation so that they could have a respectable job.

The Power of Shame

“But the shame heaped upon us affected all of us. That’s why I know the power of shame. And it is not a good power. Far from keeping me in line, it made me rebellious. When an opportunity came to betray my city, I didn’t really hesitate.

“Oh, Joseph, shame is so very damaging. It destroys relationships and even whole cities. It never really makes anything better. You’d better think twice before you join in the chorus that would pile shame on the head of poor Mary and her child.

Ruth

After Rahab had departed, her granddaughter-in-law Ruth arrived. (Although, of course, it is possible that the Gospel of Matthew skipped a few generations, and she was a more distant descendant than that.)

“Joseph,” she began without hesitation, “it is Ruth. And as your ancestor and the great- grandmother of King David, there are a few things I think you need to know about Mary and her situation.”

Having No Support

“She is all alone now. Because of this scandal that has come up around her and this questionable pregnancy, she doesn’t really have anyone to turn to. I know exactly what that is like.

“When Naomi and I came back from Moab with both of our husbands dead and no children, we only had each other. And, yes, that woman meant the world to me. I loved her as I loved my own life, but the rules of our society were that women were not allowed to support one another.

“Joseph, I know that you’re thinking that to send Mary away quietly is the right and decent thing to do because at least it will not subject her to public scorn. However, you need to understand the world of isolation you would be sending her into.

A Helper

“Naomi and I were at our worst. We were teetering on the edge of starvation, and I had to go gleaning in the fields at harvest time – a situation where women like me were often attacked.

“We almost didn’t make it, but someone helped us. And yes, I did kind of have to go and find Boaz and he took a little bit of persuading. But he became our redeemer. And, with his help, Naomi and I and he and our son became a family together.

“But it almost didn’t happen; if no one had helped us, it wouldn’t have happened. And if it hadn’t happened, there would have been no king David, no nation of Judah, and there would not have been you lying here trying to figure out what to do about Mary. Just think about that, Joseph.

Bathsheba

There was one more visitor who came to disturb Joseph’s sleep and prepare his mind for the angelic announcement that was on its way. Her name was Bathsheba.

Now, here was an ancestor of Joseph that everyone had underestimated. Even the Gospel writer thought little enough of her that he didn’t even name her – just referred to her by her husband’s name, Uriah.

But Bathsheba had a few thoughts about that, and she didn’t hesitate to share them with Joseph.

A Survivor

“Everyone thought of me as a helpless woman,” she declared, “but I am a survivor. When David spied upon me while I was bathing in my husband’s home, when he used his high position to invade my private space, I was helpless.

“When he summoned me, I had no choice but to go to him. When he directed me into his bedchamber, I could not resist him. But I survived the devastation of that night.

“And then, when I fell pregnant, David did not care about me. He only cared about himself and his position.

David’s Failures

“In his efforts to escape accountability for his actions, he did terrible things. His destructive impulses not only fell upon poor Uriah, who had only acted with honour, but also sowed a spirit of destruction that would continue to warp David’s family and children for the rest of his life.

“The death of our firstborn child shortly after his birth, David made even that all about himself. It was all about his grief, his loss. It was as if he didn’t even realize that I had also lost a child.

“But through it all, I survived. I navigated all of the intrigues of a family that was more dysfunctional than you can imagine! And somehow, I managed to teach my second son, Solomon, to be wise enough to rise above it all.

Bathsheba Saves the Nation

“And then, when David was so old and addled that it seemed inevitable that the entire kingdom would explode into anarchy and chaos, I was ready to act again. This time, it wasn’t just about my own survival but the survival of the Kingdom of Israel itself.

“I could see it so clearly. As soon as everyone realized that David was no longer the man he had once been, a civil war would erupt, and it would destroy everything that David had built. And so I moved quickly. With the help of Nathan, I persuaded David to fulfill an old promise. He let go of his power and placed my Solomon on the throne.

“I did that – me. Not too bad for someone whom everyone had written off as a helpless woman that they could use however they wished. Never underestimate the power of a survivor. And I’ve seen this Mary of yours, Joseph; she is a survivor.

Ready for the Angel Visitor

And so, Joseph slept on. Each of his ancestors had brought a little bit of wisdom for him to consider. And that was why, when his final visitor, an angel from the heavenly court, came to bring him a message, he was prepared to receive it. He realized that he had underestimated the strength and courage that was in this woman, Mary. It turned out that she was indeed full of surprises.

Never Discount Anyone

The Gospel of Matthew says that the visit of an angel to Joseph in his dream was what persuaded him not to put Mary aside. But I can’t help but think Matthew is suggesting that Joseph could have found some strength and wisdom to create a new possibility from his extraordinary female ancestors as well.

Certainly, they, together with Mary, ought to teach all of us never to discount anyone, least of all a woman, because their circumstances have put them into what looks like a bad place.

Watch sermon video here:

https://youtu.be/pvou1fAWNNA

Hespeler, November 30, 2025 © Scott McAndless – First Sunday in Advent
Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122, Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 24:36-44

The verse we read from the Gospel of Matthew this morning has caused no end of trouble for the church over the years. I’m speaking, of course, about the verse where Jesus says, “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

I’m not talking about the trouble that that has caused for our Trinitarian Theology. If we confess that the God we worship is one God revealed in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – we can’t help but wonder how one of those “persons,” the Father, can know something the another, “the Son” doesn’t.

That problem has generated endless discussion among Christians over the centuries, but I don’t think that is the biggest problem we have with this verse.

The Return of Christ

It is a reference, of course, to the second coming of Christ, which is the promise that human history is moving towards some great conclusion where God will finally intervene.

Humanity has, collectively speaking, made a bit of a mess of this world. That seems clear enough.

You may speak about spiraling violence made more destructive by ever more powerful weapons. You can talk about environmental devastation and the destruction of animal habitat. Or you can take note of the economic forces that push millions into an existence of unrelenting poverty, while the wealthy few hoard the abundance of this world.

These and other problems have made people of faith long for God to intervene and finally set things right since ancient times.

Positive and Negative

This can definitely be seen as a very positive thing. Just a couple of weeks ago, we read a beautiful image from the Prophet Isaiah of God creating a new world that is a joy and delight for all – a world where people actually get to enjoy the work of their own hands.

But there is no question that there is also a dark side to it. We see that in this very passage we read this morning. It is also an extraordinarily destructive event where those who are opposed to God’s rule are wiped out, like in the story of Noah’s ark. The destruction is also described as indiscriminate. With two in the field, one taken, and the other spared, two women grinding grain, one taken, and the other left.

Ambivalence Towards the Future

So there is a promise and a threat as we look towards the future. And that is, I think, a perfect reflection on how we actually feel living in the world these days.

As we look forward, we certainly hope that God is at work creating a better world. But, at the same time, how can we help but be worried that the road from here to there will be terrible and filled with horror, destruction and violence? The future, as has always been the case, is a place that provokes in us very contradictory feelings.

An Announcement

And given all that we cannot help but feel as we contemplate the future, what would you think if I came in here this morning, stood before the church and made an announcement?

“Hey everybody, I know that you are all worried about the state of the world, but I have good news for you. Jesus is coming back. I have studied all of these obscure Bible passages and made these intricate calculations, and I know exactly when he will arrive. He will be here on Sunday December 14, at 11:00 a.m. local time.

“Now, it is true that, between now and then, things are going to be very dark. There will be wars and rumours of wars and terrible signs all over the earth. But don’t worry. So long as you all do exactly what I say between now and then, you will be okay, and you will be received in God’s kingdom.

“Unfortunately, I can’t say as much for the people of that other church down the road!”

Am I Crazy?

What would you think if I came in and said something like that? I know you would probably not accept what I said. You would conclude that I am either mistaken, lying or going crazy. And I am kind of glad that that would be your response. That demonstrates that you are smart, that you are capable of critical thinking.

But can we say that everyone would respond to all preachers who said something like that in the same way as you smart folks? No, we cannot. We know for a fact they won’t. Certain preachers, with the right amount of charisma and speaking to the right audience and using the best media can definitely get people to believe them.

Joshua Mhlakela

It has happened repeatedly throughout history. You may recall that it happened again just a couple of months ago. South African pastor Joshua Mhlakela prophesied that Jesus would take true believers to heaven before a global tribulation on September 23^rd and 24^th of this year. Many of people believed him.

His message went viral on TikTok, with videos amassing millions of views. It was amazing how many people believed him and acted according to what he said. Some even continued to believe him when that date came and went without Jesus’ arrival.

That’s right. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you if you didn’t hear, but the world didn’t end on September 24. And then Mhlekela revised his date, admitting only that he had made a mistake by using the Gregorian Calendar instead of the Julian Calendar. And some even continued to believe and follow him then.

Jesus then also failed to show up on the new date, October 6-7. I’m not sure what Mhlekela said next because people stopped listening.

Not Getting Personally Sucked in

Now, I know that we might be tempted to laugh at people who fall for this kind of message. It makes us feel superior to think that we would never get sucked into this kind of prophecy.

It is good to inoculate ourselves personally against being taken in by this kind of thing, of course. We can do that by reminding ourselves that people have been predicting the end of the world and the coming of Christ for a couple of millennia now.

There must have been literally millions of date predictions that have come and gone at this point, and every single one of them has failed. At this point, it certainly does take someone with a very big ego to think, “Hey, they were all wrong, but I am the one who finally got it right.”

Damaged Caused

However the danger of these predictions extends beyond the individuals who fall for the message. They can do a lot of more generalized damage. In particular, they can give a lot of power to those who make them.

There is no question that fortunes have been made and empires and religions have been built around such predictions. Churches such as the Seventh-Day Adventists and the Jehovah’s  Witnesses got their start and built huge followings based on predictions that they were able to exploit.

In both of those cases, when the dates of their predicted ends came and went without anything happening, they adapted and changed so that the modern expressions of those faiths are quite different. But the initial leaders of the movements leveraged those predictions to become extremely powerful. In their pursuit of wealth and power, they caused significant damage to many who believed them.

Fear of the Future

The future is frightening. It is full of something that we naturally fear: the unknown. And fear is a powerful emotion, as anyone knows who has ever dealt with a phobia.

If you have a deep-seated fear like a fear of heights, or flying, or spiders, your logical and rational mind can be absolutely no help to you. Your rational mind may know very well that that railing is secure, that cars are much more dangerous than airplanes and that the vast majority of spiders are actually beneficial. None of that does not help you one tiny little bit when you find yourself face to face with something that terrifies you.

Well, to a certain extent, I think we are all naturally futurephobic. So, when somebody with a little bit of charisma comes along and promises to make the unknowable known, our response may not be entirely rational. Our emotions may take control of the situation.

So, it is not all that surprising that people do respond irrationally when someone comes along offering a clear path through future events.

Exploitation of the Fear

And people have been exploiting that human tendency since forever by offering clear predictions of what is to come and when. It doesn’t even matter whether their vision of what is coming is positive or negative. Anything that can give a sense of certitude will always seem less scary.

And Jesus understood that about us. He understood how vulnerable the fear of the future can make us. And Jesus abhors the very idea that anyone should use fear to attempt to control us. Jesus came to show us perfect love and, as the apostle wrote, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” 1 John 4:18

That is what Jesus is talking about when he says, “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” It is not that Jesus cannot know about future events. It is certainly not that he isn’t in the Father and the Father isn’t in him. (John 14:11) It is more like he chooses not to know.

Jesus Does Not Exploit Our Fear

It is his way of saying that he will not use the fear of the unknown to manipulate or exploit his people. And if Jesus won’t do it, neither should any of us.

But this is not just a rebuke to those who would set dates and use them to feed their own power. I believe it is a general rebuke to any church or any organization that tries to use fear to keep its people in line.

And that is a rebuke that falls very broadly. Fear is a tool that Christianity has employed again and again throughout its history. We have used the fear of hell and damnation, the fear of expulsion from the community, and even at times the fear of physical punishment to keep our people in line. We have used it to make people fear having the wrong thoughts as well as engaging in incorrect behaviour.

But just as Jesus refused to wrest control of what happens next from God, the church must refuse to take control over people’s salvation, thoughts and actions unto itself.

Letting Go of Control

Let us learn to say, “We don’t control who will be saved, that is only in the gracious hands of God.” Let us learn to say, “Our doctrines do not define for all time who God is; God defies all human definitions!” Let us add these and other understandings to the teaching that “the knowledge of the future is in God’s gracious hands alone.”

What I mean when I say that this verse in the Gospel has caused no end of trouble for the church over the years is that it will be tough to let go of what has been the church’s most effective tool. Fear works. It can motivate people like few other things can.

However, the history of people making predictions about the date of Christ’s return reveals that such motivation will inevitably lead us to a dark place sooner or later.

Facing the Future with Confidence

I know that many of you, as you look around at the state of the world today, find that there are many reasons to fear what may be coming at us. I understand that fear; I often feel it too. All I’m going to say is that I am not going to try and make you feel better by telling you how it is all going to go and when the end will come.

Such an answer might make you feel better in the short term, but I don’t believe that either of us will find that helpful in the long term.

Instead, I will seek to encourage you by telling you that the future is unknown, but that it is in the hands of God. And the God who holds that future is the “Father” revealed to us in Christ, who is compassionate, forgiving and full of grace.

Believing that, I promise you, will free us all up to build new possibilities for the future that defy all of the troubling signs that are in the world today.

Watch sermon video here:

https://youtu.be/s-6x2o0sYz4

Hespeler, November 23, 2025 © Scott McAndless – Reign of Christ
Jeremiah 23:1-6, Psalm 46, Colossians 1:11-20, Luke 23:33-43

There is something strange that caught my eye in our reading this morning from the Gospel of Luke. It is a familiar enough passage – one that we have all read many times before. It is Luke’s account of the crucifixion of Jesus. And as he is nailed to the cross, Jesus is repeatedly mocked, but he is mocked for one thing in particular.

King and Messiah

The Jewish leaders mock him for claiming to be Messiah. Messiah is a word that means “anointed one.” And it was historically a word that Jews used to describe the king or some other person that God had appointed to lead or save the nation.

The Roman soldiers who are carrying out the execution don’t understand the subtleties of Jewish concepts, so they just mock Jesus for claiming to be the King of the Jews, which means about the same thing. And the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, agrees because he has ordered that a mocking charge be posted above Jesus’ head on the cross: “This is the King of the Jews.”

But that is not all. Even the criminal who has been crucified beside Jesus also mocks him with the same Jewish jibe that he has claimed to be the Messiah. Meanwhile, the one on the other side (perhaps because he is a Gentile) joins the Romans in assuming that Jesus has claimed to be a king. But he accepts this claim and assumes that Jesus is about to come into his own kingdom.

It is not surprising, of course, that all of these people have heard the rumour that Jesus has made such a claim. That particular idea about him seems to have spread widely.

Assumption About Kingship

So, I get that they want to make fun of Jesus for claiming to be a king. What is somewhat odd, however, is that they all make the same assumption about what that means. They all know what makes a king a king. They know what a king or a Messiah’s first job is. And their reason for thinking that Jesus is a failure is that he had not done that one thing.

So, what is that one thing? What has Jesus failed to do? Has he failed to establish an effective bureaucracy? Is the problem that he has not managed to pass any legislation? Has there been some public relations gaffe?

No, it is none of that. They know he is not a good king because he has failed at the number one priority of a ruler. He has not saved himself.

Priorities of Leaders

And it made me wonder. Is that really true? Is that what leaders are supposed to prioritize? Are they supposed to make sure to cover their own… back first and everything else comes after that?

So, I looked around at what leaders do today. And guess what, it turns out that the Jewish leaders, the Romans and the first criminal were right. The evidence is clear. The first job of a leader is to save themselves.

We see it in Ottawa these days. Our country is led by a minority government at the moment. And minority governments can fall at just about any moment, and the people in charge could cease to be leaders.

Primary Motivation

That’s why it seems as if everything the government does these days is motivated by one of two things. Either the government wants to avoid an election that they might not win, or it wants to make sure that any election it goes into will create a majority, which will mean that their position is safe for a long time.

And it seems to me that everything they do – every budget and piece of legislation is undertaken with that calculus. Sure, they hope that these things might do good for the country. Maybe some of it even does. But all of that takes a back seat to the number one priority – to save their own skin.

Across All Parties

I do not say this as a particular criticism of the ruling party. I know that any other party in the same position would do the same thing. It is how the system works. It is set up so that all who aspire to be leaders will always seek to save themselves first. And the justification often goes like this: if we are not in charge, we can’t save the country. So, we have to save ourselves first; everything else comes after that.

As is often the case, much of this is seen even more starkly in the United States right now. You may wonder sometimes why Republicans these days do not challenge their own president, even when they do not agree with his policies. So many of them have been so controversial that they cannot simply agree with all of them.

The reason they don’t challenge him is because they know that if he wishes to, he can remove them from power by backing someone else against them in a primary election. They know that their first priority is to save their own jobs.

And the opposition party is no different. Every move they make seems to be calculated to save their own seats in Congress first.

Mockers Seem to Be Right

So, I guess what I am saying is that, if we look at leadership and how it works in our world to this very day, the critics and mockers in our Gospel reading this morning are absolutely right. Jesus is a failure as king. He has proven it by failing to save himself.

And if we are going to buy into the way leadership works in our world, it seems that we need to join in the mockery. Let’s point our fingers and laugh at Jesus, the worst king ever!

Claiming Christ as King

Ah, but I know that you haven’t come here to mock Jesus today. In fact, you are here on the day known as Christ the King Sunday – the day when the church has, for centuries, gathered to celebrate the kingship of Christ and to pray for his kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.

Perhaps, if we want to claim Christ as our king, it is time for us to embrace a new understanding of what it means to be a leader.

Learning from Jesus

I realize that our political leadership is not listening in today. Our renewed understanding of leadership may not change what happens in the parliaments, congresses and legislatures of the world today, but perhaps if we start following the example of Jesus in our lives and in our churches, something new could spread from there.

So what can we learn from Jesus in this passage that may give us a new perspective on leadership today? What traits do we see in him that may help us to understand how his failure to save himself is the essence of true leadership?

Forgiveness

Well, the first thing that stands out to me as I read this story is this. His immediate response, even as he is crucified, is to say “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,” instead of concentrating on saving himself.

Now, the very idea of forgiving your opponents – especially when they are in the process of attacking you – is something that seems unthinkable to modern leaders. Instead, we see the opposite. Your critics attack you, what do you do? You double down. If your political enemies make some mistake or gaffe, you are absolutely going to capitalize on that.

You will mock them relentlessly, but you will never ever forgive them. But Jesus does. What does that teach us? It teaches us that resentment and holding on to grievances against your political enemies does have power. But it is mostly a power to prevent true leadership.

How Lack of Forgiveness Affects Us

In fact, it tends to mean that we get stuck. The fact that so much of our politics today is bogged down in endless studies and negotiations and produces so little change for the better, probably has a great deal to do with how hard our leaders cling to their grievances and enmities.

But the power that Jesus unleashes here – the power of forgiveness – always opens up new possibilities. Here, on the cross, Jesus creates a whole new reality with the forgiveness of his enemies. It is the new reality of the kingdom of God; it will transform the world.

I would encourage you to embrace this power of forgiveness. As you let go of whatever resentments you have been carrying, you may find yourself becoming unstuck. You may find yourself set free to embrace change and new beginnings. That is the kind of leadership that Jesus demonstrates to us on the cross.

Service

Beyond forgiving his enemies, Jesus does something else that is supremely unleaderlike. He serves. Far from saving himself, he literally sacrifices himself before their eyes. That is something that we see rarely in a leader in our age.

We’ve already discussed how leaders seek to save themselves first. But let’s pause for a moment to consider why they seek to save themselves. It is often not the reason that they tell themselves – that they have to remain in charge in order to do the good that no one else will do.

Knowing Our Worth

Usually, the reason has much more to do with the fact that they begin to associate their worth and their identity with the power that they wield. To let go of it is to let go of everything that makes them them. So, they refuse to let go.

But Jesus can do that because he knows his worth. He knows who he is better than anyone who has ever lived. That is precisely why he can give himself up when the time comes.

And that is true strength. Those who cling to their power or position because they need it to feel right about themselves are the ones who are displaying a deep weakness.

The strength that Jesus shows in this is something that all of us can tap into. For we have an identity that no one can take away from us. We are children of God, and we have worth that we carry with us precisely because of what Jesus has done for us in this very scene.

That is why you don’t need power or position to matter. And ironically enough, that is the very thing that can make you a good leader. We need the kind of leaders who are confident enough in themselves to put the good of the people or of the church or the institution first, before their desire to keep their position.

Confidence in the Future

And finally, the thing that makes Jesus the kind of king we need is that he can look to the future with hope and confidence. When the criminal on one side of him is the only one to defend Jesus against his mockers, and declares that he has done nothing wrong, he turns to Jesus with a request: “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.”

And Jesus doesn’t hesitate. He doesn’t get caught up in the questions that might weigh us down. He doesn’t seek to define the kingdom and when it will come. He doesn’t worry about that even though he himself has said, “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father.” Mark 13:32

None of those details worry Jesus because he knows the future is firmly in God’s hands. He doesn’t need to control it or even understand it personally. So he can reply to the man, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

True leaders don’t need to control everything and everyone to feel secure. They know the power that is found in placing trust – trust in God and trust in others. We need leaders like that.

Jesus, King of This World

Jesus is the king who brings us to the reality of the kingdom of God. It is not just an otherworldly reality like the one that the criminal on the cross went to that very day. The kingship of Jesus is meant to teach us all how leadership can better work in this world.

I hope that we can all take his lessons of forgiveness, self-sacrifice and hope to heart. If we can embrace that sort of leadership, it can really be the start of new possibilities for our church and far beyond our walls.

Watch sermon video here:

https://youtu.be/n78JN8YrMkg

Hespeler, November 16, 2025 © Scott McAndless – Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 65:17-25, Isaiah 12, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13, Luke 21:5-19

The gospel of our modern age, I sometimes think, could have been taken from our reading this morning from the Second Letter to the Thessalonians: “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.”

It is the gospel preached, not by the church (or at least not by all churches), but by governments all over the world. As they cut their budgets and impose their austerity, the justification is often exactly that: “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.”

Welfare Reform

It is part of our political history in Ontario and Canada. Many years ago, when people fell into a situation where they did not have sufficient income to live, they would be enrolled in programs such as Unemployment Insurance and Welfare, and the government would step in to support them.

But then governments all over the world found that those kinds of programs were getting too expensive and carried out major reforms. Here, as a result, Unemployment Insurance became “Employment Insurance.” Welfare became “Workfare.”

Those name changes were not just window dressing. The programs were reformed in ways that pushed people into work. You had to be actively engaging with the working world in order to qualify. You had to be actively searching or training or moving towards gainful employment in some way to access those benefits.

Putting up Barriers

And there is a lot to be said for that approach, to be sure. There is a lot of wisdom in that maxim of “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.” But if you ever have to navigate such programs, you quickly learn that they don’t assist people towards work as well as you might hope.

They are often more about justifying denying somebody benefits because they fail to jump through hoops than actually helping them get work. It is enough to make you wonder whether the reforms were more concerned with cutting budgets than getting people working.

But, despite such problems, the campaign has continued ever since. It certainly has in the US. The system that covers Americans who simply can’t afford medical insurance there is called Medicaid. And the Medicaid system was designed to cover people, including children, who can’t afford insurance in any other way. Now, they may be working, but they do not have insurance offered by their employer, and they are not paid enough to afford it themselves.

Medicare Cuts

 Recent legislation passed in the United States has cut funding to Medicaid. But the way they cut it is telling. In fact, the government argued that it reduced the budget without cutting coverage because they only introduced work requirements. So, rather than, “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat,” it has become “Anyone unwilling to work should not get health care.” That is how it has been sold.

But this is a little bit different from the creation of Workfare programs. In those programs, there is an attempt to assist people in finding and preparing for work. They don’t have any of that in the cuts to Medicare. It is simply a matter of them introducing all of these hurdles that you have to go over or through in order to prove that you are employed enough to get Medicaid.

These hurdles mean that, even if you are employed, you might be denied because you can’t prove it. In some cases, people may not have the time to jump through the hoops of getting it because they work too many jobs. And the simple fact that they believe that the introduction of this work requirement will mean that they can spend less on it kind of gives away the game. They are simply using these requirements to create reasons to deny people the coverage they need.

So, while I do see wisdom in the teaching that “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat,” Ifind that there are a lot of problems with how it is turned into policy.

A Biblical Principle

But, of course, this connection between working and eating is not just some connection that politicians have come up with. It is an idea that comes from the Bible. So, as a good Christian who believes that the Bible is a gift given to us by God, I have to deal with this passage. I can’t just throw it out because I see some problems with the way it has been implemented.

So, let’s ask the question, what was going on in that church in Thessalonica that led to the imposition of the rule that “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat”?

Assumptions about Laziness

We may read it today with our modern assumptions about who is lazy. Whenever I hear people talking about those who are lazy these days, they always seem to be referring to those who are poor. If people are poor enough to need to access food banks or other support programs, the assumption that many people make is that they somehow lack initiative or a work ethic.

They will assume that, mind you, without knowing anything about such people. They may actually be working very hard. Perhaps they are caregivers, perhaps they work two or three part-time jobs because none of their employers give them enough hours. They may be doing vital work that just doesn’t pay. But it’s just easier to assume they’re lazy than to examine any of that.

Those are the assumptions – often false assumptions – that we make in our society, driven by decades of political rhetoric. But did people in New Testament times make the same assumptions?

Ancient Assumptions

It the ancient world, they thought about work very differently. Work was something that was done by slaves and by poor labourers. But it was actually considered a shameful and embarrassing thing if you were upper class and you were caught working.

For example, in order to be in the Roman Senate, you could not work. Anyone who was involved in trade or manufacturing in any way was automatically excluded. The only way to get in was if you owned enough land that was worked and managed by slaves. But you didn’t do any work yourself.

The vast army of slaves and labourers who kept the Empire running really had no choice but to work hard all the time. The people who didn’t work were the rich and what’s more, they were proud of not working.

Communal Meals

The context of the comments we read this morning from Second Thessalonians has to do with communal meals. It was common in the Early Church for the people to gather on a regular basis for a meal to which all would contribute according to their means.

There were many slaves and poor folk in those churches who could contribute little to these meals, but it was not because they were lazy. Their status in society meant that their work was unpaid or poorly paid.

But there were at least a few in those churches who did have the means to contribute more. And their contributions probably meant that these communal meals were the best meals that the poor folk had all week. But these richer members were far more likely to be the people who did not work because they did not need to.

Labourers Get Priority

So, in that context, what does it mean to say that “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat”? It means that, when the communal meal is served, those who have spent their days labouring should get priority, while those who contributed so much of the food should hang back because they have not spent the day working.

The letter goes on to say, “For we hear that some of you are living irresponsibly, mere busybodies, not doing any work.” This is also directed at the wealthier members of the church. They are busybodies – that is to say that they think that they get to tell everyone else what to do. They figure that that is their privilege. Because they have leisure and because they provide so much to the church, they get to control what everybody else does. They are busybodies.

Paul’s Clashes

These are the people that apostles like Paul clashed with all the time – the wealthy supporters of the church who thought that, since they would often feed any visiting apostles and have them stay in their houses, they should be able to tell the apostles what they should preach and teach.

Paul resisted this and mentions his resistance often in his letters. And it was one of the reasons why he insisted on working and earning his own bread in order to remain independent. That’s what it means in this passage when it says, “we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labour we worked night and day.”

Rich Busybodies

So to be clear, the problem in Thessalonica was not that there were too many poor people who were too lazy to work and earn their living. The problem was that there were some rich people who thought that, since they didn’t have to work for a living, they should be able to tell everyone else what to do.

And the rebuke that is given to those people is this: “Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.” But that is perhaps a deceptive translation. What it literally says in the original language is this: “We exhort them… to be quiet about what they do and eat their own bread.”

In other words, they should not be going on and on about all they do for the church and, since they have lots of their own bread at home, they need to let others go first for the communal meal.

Wisdom for Today

So, if you are taking this verse from 2 Thessalonians as a biblical justification for modern policies that seek to punish or limit benefits for poor people because they are assumed to be lazy, I do think you need to have a closer look at the situation that the letter was addressing.

But that is not to say that this letter doesn’t have anything to say about our modern poverty issues. When you look closely at what it is saying, it is trying to value and honour those who labour for their living.

We are not actually all that good at honouring those who work for a living. That is why, though productivity has risen greatly over the last decade, wages for those who labour have not kept pace.

Instead, we have seen that those who do not do the labour are able to benefit the most from the work that is done. CEOs in particular are the ones who have seen their compensation soar.

Modern Busybodies

And sure, I’ll admit that the CEOs do work for that money. But on average, they are paid 200 times as much as the average employee in Canada. 200 times! Do you really think they work 200 times harder? Is the average employee 200 times lazier? No! The CEO may bring other things to the company, like connections or strategies, but not multiple times more work. And so, the money paid has become unhinged from the amount of work that is done.

But even more disturbing, the overpaid wealthy have become busybodies. They have become the ones telling everyone else how they ought to live and setting the priorities of the entire system. A rebuke may be needed.

Isaiah’s Vision

In our reading this morning from the Book of Isaiah, the prophet is imagining a perfect world – the coming of God’s kingdom on Earth. “For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth;” God says through the prophet, “the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating, for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy and its people as a delight.”

But note how he describes what it is like to live in such joy and delight. Does he say, “Nobody will have to work anymore, that we’ll just receive a basic universal income and we can just laze around all day? No, he doesn’t see it that way at all.

Instead, he says this: “They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat, for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain or bear children for calamity.”

Working in the Kingdom of God

Wow! Isaiah’s ideal of a perfect world is not one where nobody works, but it is of a world where those who do the work actually get to enjoy the fruit of their labour. And yes, now that I think of it, that does sound like a pretty amazing kind of world.

Too bad we seem to be working so hard at building a world where (to make an example of just one company) thousands upon thousands of Amazon employees work long hours and yet don’t earn enough to own houses or have enough to eat. Too bad we are working on building a world where Jeff Bezos and folks like him are the ones who seem to enjoy most of the fruits of the labour of those who work long hours.

Watch sermon video here:

https://youtu.be/jxG3AHRAGUw

Hespeler, November 9, 2025 © Scott McAndless – Remembrance Sunday
Joel 3:9-12, Micah 4:1-5, Psalm 98, Luke 20:27-38

Imagine for a moment that you are a peasant living in the fifth century BC in Judea. You spend your days working hard to take care of your little plot of land.

In order to do that, you have just a few pieces of precious equipment that have been passed down in your family for generations. You have a long pole with a metal hook on the end. You use this to prune the branches of your olive tree and your fig tree so that they are able to produce fruit.

Your Equipment

You also have a plowshare – a little bit of metal that you attach to the end of your plow so that it is able to dig into the earth and create furrows to plant your seed.

But that is about it. There are no other metal tools on your farm. These ones should ideally be made of iron. I mean, this is the fifth century BC, and the Iron Age started centuries ago!

But have you seen the price of iron these days? So, maybe you envy your neighbour’s iron plow and pruning hook, maybe you borrow them whenever he’ll let you, but yours are unfortunately only made of bronze.

A Call to War

So there you are, just managing to get by and feed your family using the tools that you have. But one day all of this is disrupted by a call to war. Some enemy has been identified, and they must be defeated and so the call has gone out to all the people. “Proclaim this among the nations: Consecrate yourselves for war; stir up the warriors. Let all the soldiers draw near.”

Except there is one problem. The nation doesn’t have any warriors or soldiers sitting around and waiting for that call. It is a simple agricultural nation; there is no standing army. The call for warriors is a call to you! “Let the weakling say, ‘I am a warrior.’”

And the standing army is not the only thing lacking. There is also no military budget. (You think Canada underfunds its military; well, you have no idea!)

No military funding in ancient Judea means no supplies, no weapons, no war infrastructure. So, what are you supposed to do? How are you supposed to prepare yourself to stand on the battlefield? Well, you are expected to “beat your plowshare into a sword and your pruning hook into a spear.”

Abandoning Your Family

So let me get this straight. You want me to abandon my family and farm. You want me to leave them to fend for themselves while I go and risk my life on the field of battle, from which I may never return or may only return severely wounded.

And you also want me to take the only tools that I have, and take a great wooden hammer and beat them against a rock until they are somewhat straight and useless for farm work, but are poor substitutes for proper weapons. And you want me to take those tools away from my family so that they can’t even work the land while I am gone?

Dealing With the Call to War

That is the situation that is described in our reading this morning from the Prophet Joel. We do not know what particular battle the prophet is summoning the people to or when. But when you receive that call, you may not even care where you are going. Your country is calling on you, and you are going to go even if you have to provision yourself and even if you go at great risk.

Reading Joel’s prophecy today does feel fitting, doesn’t it? Today and on Tuesday, we are certainly remembering many who responded to that very sort of call. They put their lives and careers on hold. They left families and loved ones behind and went at great personal cost because their country needed them and had called. We have nothing but gratitude and love for those who have done that.

Ambivalence

And yet we also feel somewhat ambivalent on these occasions because we recognize that loving and appreciating warriors is not the same thing as loving or appreciating war.

And I think that Joel’s call recognizes that ambivalence. Not only does he highlight the fact that families are left destitute, that farms are left to go to weed, and the tools for working them are destroyed. He also calls the nations to a specific place called the “Valley of Jehoshaphat.”

War is Hell

The Valley of Jehoshaphat is a deep valley on the east side of Mount Zion in the old City of Jerusalem. It is also called the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom, or Gehenna. As you may know, Gehenna was the word that Jesus used when he spoke about hell.

That’s right, Joel is not talking about the physical valley near Jerusalem, he is using it as a metaphor. He is calling the nations of the world to Hell because he knows that war is hell. And here you thought that U.S. General Sherman was the first one to say, “War is hell.” Well, as is true of many things, the Bible said it first.

Micah’s Call

On this day, we do thank the warriors and recognize all that they and their families have sacrificed. But we don’t celebrate war itself. We pray for peace. We pray for a world where that kind of service and sacrifice is not needed.

And that takes us out of the Valley of Jehoshaphat to the top of a nearby mountain. Another prophet, the Prophet Micah, heard the call of Joel and he asked, “But do we really have to go to the Valley of Jehosphaphat – the Valley of Hell?” And he decided that the answer to that question was no. He decided that God might be calling us to a mountain instead.

“In days to come,” the Prophet Micah declared, “the mountain of the Lord’s temple shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be raised up above the hills. Peoples shall stream to it, and many nations shall come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.”

Which Mountain?

The mountain he is talking about is just a little bit to the west of the Valley of Jehoshaphat. It is the one called Mount Zion. The Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel stood there in that day, but it is where the Islamic Dome of the Rock stands today.

But he is not really talking about that literal geographical spot. He is talking about an idea. The mountain he is talking about is the opposite of the Valley of War and the Valley of Hell. It is rather the symbol of another possibility for humanity.

New Possibility

For on that mountain, a new possibility comes into focus. “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more.”

The promise is that no more shall the tools of this world be beaten out of shape and used for mutual slaughter. The war machine will no longer claim the bodies of our youth to feed its insatiable appetite. The tools will be repurposed to what they were always meant for, to till the land and to build up the strength of our families.

That is the promise of the mountain. It is not a particular place. If it were a place – if it were that particular mountain in Jerusalem which, to this very day, remains a piece of land that people are willing to fight and kill for, that would only lead us back to the Valley of Hell, where we cannot escape eternal conflict. It is the idea of a mountain where we can seek another possibility.

Our Choice

And my point today is simply this. Both of those calls are there in the Bible. We have the call of Joel, who calls us to the Valley of Jehoshaphat and to use all of the creative power of this world to slaughter one another. But we also have the call of Micah, who calls us to the mountain where we can use the creative power of this world to build up our families, where war is so unthinkable that we don’t even need to learn how to do it anymore.

The Bible lays both of those possibilities before us. God lays both of those possibilities before us. The message is clear, isn’t it? We must choose which call we are going to answer. Will we go to the valley, or will we go to the mountain?

The fact that both of those prophecies are there in the Bible is important. That tells us that neither is inevitable. We are not fated to go to either the valley or the mountain. It is up to us to choose. That is the reason that the calls of both of these prophets have been preserved for us. But which one will we listen to?

The Lure of the Valley

The answer should be obvious. The devastation of the valley is clear. Yes, there are deeds of bravery there. Yes, there is much heroism there that we can celebrate. But the wastefulness of the valley is terrible. It sucks up so many plowshares and pruning hooks that are meant to be used so that the earth may thrive. We should choose the mountain.

But we also know that humanity has chosen the valley again and again throughout its bloody history. In fact, the valley is often the easier choice. It is easier to be led by the desire to dominate, the impulse to hate someone because they are different and the thirst to possess the land.

Judgement and Arbitration

So, if the valley is constantly drawing us in, how can we choose the mountain instead? Well, Micah tells us what it will take. He tells us that it takes the hard work of judgement and arbitration. “He shall judge between many peoples and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away.” In the Bible, judgement and arbitration always include the hard choice to not simply defer to one party because they are strongest or wealthiest.

Too often in our world, we look at the party that has the most weapons or the most economic leverage, and we decide that it is easier to let them have their way.

If we let Russia have land in Ukraine because they want it or if we let Israel build luxury resorts in the Gaza Strip because we don’t want to challenge them, that is not judgement. That is simply a way of bowing to tyranny and it will always and inevitably lead us right back into the valley.

Sharing of Resources

The second thing that Micah says will draw us to the mountain is this: “They shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid.” That is the key promise that God gave to the ancient people of Israel. And it is a simple one.

It is a symbol of having enough. If you were able to sit underneath your vine as it produced your grapes and your fruit tree as it produced your figs, you had enough.

What it is not, however, is an image of inordinate wealth and prosperity because if everyone has their own vine and fig tree, then there are no huge disparities of wealth between the rich and the poor. It is not that I get one fig tree to sit under and Elon Musk gets a trillion.

What then do we need to construct on the mountain? We need to construct a more egalitarian society. We need to offer ways to those who have more to share it.

The Dangers of Inequality

What, do you suppose, does that have to do with peace and with making sure that the swords get beaten into plowshares and the spears into pruning hooks? Much more than you may think. At its root, so much of the violence of this world is driven by that deep drive to have more than somebody else.

And it is often those who are seeking to build up their investments and turn their profits who drive us into the wars, though they are not the ones who fight them. They are only too happy to let the poor peasants beat their pruning hooks into spears and their plowshares into swords.

The choice for this world could not be starker. Will we go to the valley or will we go to the mountain? Let us pray, and let us work our way towards the mountain. Let us not give in to the strong pull of the valley. The ancient prophets of Israel understood the choice. I hope we do too.

Watch sermon video here:

https://youtu.be/aUihCM1BGlw

Hespeler, November 2, 2025 © Scott McAndless – Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4, Psalm 119:137-144, 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12, Luke 19:1-10

Jesus came to the city of Jericho and was passing through it. This would have taken some time. Apart from Jerusalem, Jericho was the largest city that Jesus entered in all the gospels. It sprawled over a large area, including the old city within the legendary walls. It also included several new surrounding districts that had been constructed by Herod the Great.

Built overlooking one of the most important trade routes in the ancient world, many people who lived there had done very well for themselves by feeding off the trade. There was also an army of Tax Collectors that was there to make sure that the Roman government got more than its fair share.

And of course, this wealthy elite were supported by a multitude of slaves and poor labourers who actually kept the city running smoothly day by day.

Everyone Was There

Jesus was well known. As far as we can tell, he had not been to Jericho before, but his reputation certainly preceded him. Accounts of his incredible preaching and storytelling, not to mention the miraculous healings that took place wherever he travelled had spread far and wide.

Even more astounding, people were saying that that very morning, as he approached the city, Jesus had healed a blind beggar by the side of the road. It was said that the man could now see perfectly, and he had joined in the crowd of disciples who followed in the man’s wake.

And so, as you can imagine, as Jesus passed through the gates and into the old city, large crowds turned out to try and get a glimpse of this phenomenon. Everyone was there – rich and poor, slave and free.

Jesus’ Choice

Jesus could have chosen to single out anyone in the crowd that day. He could have healed this one of his affliction. He could have offered good news for to one who struggled in her poverty. There were also a few people who were quite comfortable in their wealth or standing that he would have been quite able to put in their place with a few choice words about camels and needles’ eyes. But he doesn’t seem to have done any of that.

Instead, we are told that among all the people in that vast crowd, his eye fell upon one figure. And Jesus apparently decided that this was the one person in all of Jericho that he needed to spend time with on this day. But why? Why out of everybody did Jesus choose Zacchaeus?

Zacchaeus’ Small Stature

Most Christians know a few things about Zacchaeus. The main thing they know, of course, is that he was short. “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he!” But Jesus mentions nothing about the man’s stature. His height is only mentioned in passing in the story itself.

I’m sure that there are a lot of people throughout the centuries who have been disrespected or even mistreated because they are small or because their bodies do not fit the ideal standards in some other way. If you have ever felt like that, then take great comfort from the knowledge that Jesus took notice of a short person. But I do not want to focus today on that reason for why Jesus noticed him.

An Outsider

Well, what about the fact that he was a Tax Collector? As someone who collaborated with the occupying Roman government, Zacchaeus was hated and despised by everybody. He was a social outcast. And Jesus seems to have had a big heart that was open wide for outcasts and outsiders.

So perhaps Jesus recognized him as such an outsider, and that is why he insisted on inviting himself to Zacchaeus’ house. If you have ever been made to feel like an outsider, you should take comfort from that notion as well, but again I think that there is another reason that I would like to explore today.

Something Else

I believe that there was one thing in particular that made Jesus want to engage with Zacchaeus that day – one thing that marked him as different above everything else. The crowd was full of people who were trying to connect with Jesus in some way.

Some were greeting him, giving him high-fives and cheering. Others were looking for something from him, asking for healing or a word of wisdom. And, yes, I do not doubt that there were also some who had shown up because they had taken offence to what they had heard about him. They were calling out insults and disputing his teachings.

But amid all of the noise and conflicting reactions, there was one figure who was different. He was balancing precariously upon the branch of a sycamore tree and peering out between the leafy branches. It is remarkable that Jesus could see him at all; he was well hidden.

Withdrawn

The thing that stood out about Zacchaeus at that moment was that he was not there to engage. He had withdrawn to the fringes of the crowd because he was there merely to observe. He had been curious enough to want to come out and see Jesus, but he was not looking to attract his attention.

Had he wanted to, he probably could have. His small stature would have allowed him to slip to the front of the crowd, much like children always seem to be able to make their way to the curb when a parade goes by. Certainly, no one would have complained that he was blocking their view.

But he didn’t do that. He chose to withdraw and find a vantage that allowed him to see everything, but not to be seen. Zacchaeus was there as a voyeur, an intentional spectator of the most important event that had happened in Jericho since another guy named Joshua came to town.

(And, by the way, if you don’t get that reference, the name Jesus is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name, Joshua. So, there are really two stories in the Bible of the time that ‘Joshua’ came to Jericho.)

Spectator Christianity

So, I greatly suspect that the thing about Zacchaeus that caught Jesus’ attention was the fact that he didn’t want to be seen. He didn’t actually want anything from Jesus. And so Jesus, perhaps to Zacchaeus’ initial frustration, decided to engage him.

The Christian faith can very easily become a spectator sport. And when you think about it, it is not really that surprising. We set our churches up like theatres with less comfortable seating. We point the pews in the same direction. The not-very-subtle message we are giving to everyone who enters this space is that you are here to watch.

Some traditions are much more interactive, of course. In Black churches, the congregation is expected to call back to the preacher. In Pentecostal Churches, the people join in the prayers in ecstatic speech and reaction. But we would feel pretty uncomfortable if any of those things happened in our church.

Yes, many of our churches have fallen into the habit of thinking of the worship service as a show that you go to see. And the churches that are seen as the successful ones just happen to be the ones that put on the best show, with their bands and special effects and talk-show style messages.

Goes With Consumer Society

I can understand the allure. We live in a consumer society, and so we tend to think of anything that enhances our lives as something to be consumed. If we want to improve our health, we purchase a retreat at a wellness spa. If we want wisdom, we buy a book or pay for a seminar. It is hardly surprising that we tend to approach spirituality in the same way. When we want to encounter God, we go out to watch a worship service.

Spectator spirituality is safe. You can listen to the message or the songs and just choose to take away from them what you will – a bit of comfort or encouragement, whatever wisdom you need. But then you can just go home and go on with your life and not worry about anything changing.

Jesus Doesn’t Leave Him Alone

But Jesus, clearly, has a little problem with that. When he sees Zacchaeus merely spectating, he doesn’t leave him alone. “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down,” he cries, “for I must stay at your house today.” Notice how Jesus doesn’t just want to talk. Nor does he ask for Zacchaeus to do anything specific. Jesus asks for a sleepover. He asks for an invitation to Zacchaeus’ table. He’s asking for the most intimate kind of social contact that took place in that world.

That is because Jesus doesn’t merely want you to hear his message. He doesn’t want you to be a spectator. He isn’t even just asking you to study his words and seek to apply them in some way. Jesus is seeking to connect with you on that intimate level. Jesus wants a sleepover. Jesus wants you to invite him to your table.

Seeking Transformation

And why does Jesus want that? He wants that because he is seeking your transformation. He is not simply interested in shaming Zacchaeus over the things that he has done wrong. Jesus knows that shame only creates bad feelings, but doesn’t create transformation. Jesus isn’t merely asking Zacchaeus to donate from his extraordinary wealth, obtained in shady business dealings; he is looking to transform Zacchaeus. He is looking to transform you as well.

And that is exactly what Zacchaeus was trying to prevent. That’s why he was hiding in those leafy branches. It is why he chose to spectate rather than engage. He wanted to be in control of what he did with what he observed of Jesus.

Jesus Transforms Zacchaeus

And he was right to be wary. Because what happens when Jesus does the sleepover? At some point during the night (or perhaps it was over Froot Loops at breakfast), Zacchaeus stands up and says, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”

And let us understand what that is. Those are not just the words of someone who recognizes that he did some bad things and wants to try harder. That is not a promise to make amends for some of the evil he has done with a few flashy donations. That is Zacchaeus recognizing that he has been living in a way that is not just, not honouring of God, and realizing that he can no longer live that way. These are the words of a man transformed.

Where Are You Today?

You are all here today. And I know that you are here because you have heard the word that Jesus is passing through this city. And he is. Jesus is present here in our gathering today. He promised that he would be.

And you are curious, as you should be. You are looking for some word from him that will give you comfort, healing or encouragement. And you should look for that because Jesus does offer that. But I would encourage you not to settle for those things.

Where are you in that quest for what Jesus can offer you today? Are you holding back? Are you up in the sycamore and peering through the protective screen of sycamore leaves because there are some things in your life that you don’t want to let Jesus get his hands on? Are there attitudes, riches, grudges, bitternesses or identities that you are just not willing to let Jesus get his hands on?

Well, the story of Zacchaeus is a reminder that if you have merely been spectating in the Christian faith, Jesus sees you up in that tree. He knows you are there, and he knows why you are holding back. The good news is that he is reaching out to you to invite himself in. “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”

Watch sermon video here:

https://youtu.be/kOxy_4Lqu4s

Hespeler, October 26, 2025 © Scott McAndless – Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Joel 2:23-32, Psalm 65, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18, Luke 18:9-14

Jesus’ Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector was first spoken two thousand years ago and a world away from here. But it has never felt so current – never felt like such a cutting commentary on our modern society as it does today.

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.”

Now I know that we don’t have literal Pharisees today. Nor do we have the kind of tax collectors that they had back then. Our tax collectors work for a government that, at least in theory, is supposed to be working for us and spending the money that they collect for our good. Theirs worked for a hostile occupying government that was actively plundering them.

We Recognize the Dynamics

So, we may not have those specific characters, but I think we can immediately recognize the dynamics at work in the scene. They are in the temple – the most central institution in society. It was the place where people competed with one another for honour, attention and likes. You went to the temple to be seen and to display your virtue publicly.

This is an activity that we recognize today when people post memes and criticisms on the internet or when they engage in political discussion or activity. We are still very much in a society where we compete with one another to get attention and likes. And I think that we can also recognize the way that at least one of them attempts to do that.

Where He Starts

When the Pharisee comes to stand before God and all the people to make his argument for why he is a good person, how does he begin? Does he start out by carrying out acts of goodwill? Does he make rational arguments for what is right or good? No, he does not.

He starts out by listing all of the people he thinks are so bad that they make him look good by comparison. “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” And that sounds awfully familiar to me.

We may not say it in exactly those terms today. We may not couch it as a prayer of thanksgiving to God. But, apart from that, it reminds me of so much of our public discourse.

Signalling That You Are Better

These days, it is all about signalling how we are somehow better than others for whatever reason. Somebody puts out a tweet to the world that may have different wording, but when you examine it, all it really communicates is, “God, I am so thankful that I am not like that woke mob who are destroying America.” Meanwhile, somebody else over here is signalling, “God, I thank you that I am not like those QAnon conspiracy theorists.”

Those are the messages that seem to proliferate all of our communication these days. “I’m thankful I’m not MAGA.” “I’m thankful that I’m not liberal.” “I’m thankful I’m not an anti-vaxxer.” “I’m thankful I’m not woke.”

Content-Free Discourse

And, just like in the prayer of the Pharisee, there is no content behind that message. There are, of course, many meaningful debates that we could have over various political, economic and fairness issues. But we don’t seem to be having those debates these days. Instead we resort to name-calling. We resort to tactics like trolling and owning others because their position is different from ours.

It’s not entirely our fault. This kind of discourse has not arisen from nowhere. Part of the reason behind it is that so much of our communication has become dominated by social media. The companies that own social media have decided that engagement is more important than meaningful discussion. And they have learned that people become more engaged when they are more enraged.

Algorithmically Driven

That is why they have created algorithms that promote certain kinds of communication. If you make a cogent argument full of logic and reason about how society might operate better, that’s not going to enrage very many people. That doesn’t get promoted.

But when people post things that tear others down because of their identity or their position, that’s going to upset everybody on every side of the issues. Those who agree will take a savage glee in their enemies being put down. Those who disagree will post back in rage. That is why that message will get promoted to the moon.

So, it isn’t that people aren’t trying to have reasonable discussions. They are. The problem is that those reasonable discussions are being drowned out by all the hostile noise on social media.

But, whether it is all our fault or not, we seem to have readily taken to this new way of engaging. We, like the Pharisee in the temple, take great comfort not in our virtue, not in our accomplishments or the people we have helped, but in being at least marginally better than those people, whoever those people may be.

A Canadian Thing

And, if you will allow me to say it, perhaps Canadians are particularly good at it in at least one way. Have you noticed how, whenever you bring up any negative aspects of our country – our history of racism, for example, or our long-term treatment of the indigenous people, you are bound to get a particular response? People will say sure, but we are not as bad as the Americans.

Or what if you dare to point out that we could do a better job of ensuring that every Canadian has access to the medical care and the doctors that they need? What if you suggest that there may be ways to reduce violence against vulnerable people and get money out of politics? How will people respond?

You will hear a litany of all the ways in which Americans are so much worse. You will hear about the half a million Americans who declare bankruptcy each year because of medical bills. They will tell you about the mass shootings that occur, on average, daily down there. They will tell you all about “Citizens United” and how it has put politics in the U.S. up for sale to the highest bidder.

“God, I thank you that I am not American.” That is all that such responses amount to. I am absolutely someone who is proud and thankful indeed to be a Canadian. But, if the best we can muster to celebrate that today is to say, “At least we’re not Americans,” or if we cannot ask more for our people because at least we’re not as bad as them, that is not patriotism. That is just the Pharisee’s prayer.

Religious Observances

To be fair, the Pharisee doesn’t just talk about how bad everyone else is in his prayer. He does say two things about himself: “I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” It is telling that he doesn’t point to any actions of kindness or justice.

These are religious duties that he is fulfilling. The “tenth” he speaks of would not have gone to the poor. These are actions, like the public praying in the temple, that are simply meant to boost his standing and reputation – to make him look good before others. So, this also is not about engaging in any worthwhile discussion about how the world could be better.

Our current level of discourse, therefore, has a lot in common with this Pharisaic prayer that Jesus described and condemned. Jesus says explicitly that this man left unjustified. And I have to say that I often feel equally despairing when I look at the present state of our discourse.

Descent to Pettiness and Despair

As we continually seek to make ourselves look better by putting other people and their ideas down, we only seem to spiral ever downwards. We find no justice for our world; we find only increasing pettiness and despair.

So Jesus, in telling us this story, seems to put his finger on a problem that plagues us to this very day, maybe even more now than ever. The Pharisee is not meant to be a typical Pharisee (by all historical accounts, they did not promote themselves by putting others down). He is a representation of this deep-seated human tendency.

Jesus’ Twist

But if I know Jesus, he is going to do more than just show us what the problem is. He is going to point us to a better way – a way that will be a sign that the kingdom of God has drawn near. And he shows us that better way in the person of the second man who prays in the temple.

Jesus loved to throw unexpected twists at his listeners – to make heroes out of the most despised people that they could think of. And this character is no exception. Everyone despised Tax Collectors because they worked for the hated Roman occupiers.

This is a typical teaching of Jesus. He was always saying that the most marginalized people imaginable would show us the way to the kingdom of God. He was constantly scandalizing people by speaking well of the disabled, prostitutes, Samaritans and Tax Collectors.

Looking to the Wrong People to Save Us

And there is his first answer to the problem we are having with the level of our discourse. We keep expecting the elites to fix it. Why can’t the government do something? Why can’t the billionaires who own all of our communication systems and social media do something about the algorithms? Why can’t the media just highlight the positive stories?

Jesus is telling us that we are looking to the wrong people to save us. After all, they are getting rich off the way things are. Why would they want anything to change?

No, Jesus is saying, we need to start paying attention to the ones who are on the margins – the unhoused, the addicts, the underemployed, the sexual and racial minorities. Surely those are the people that Jesus would populate his stories with today. He would once again insist that they have something to teach us about the kingdom of God.

An Expression of Humility

So, the person of the Tax Collector is part of Jesus’ answer to what ails us. And so, of course, is his prayer. Perhaps he has no other choice, given his extremely low status in society, but his prayer is an expression of pure humility. He cannot play the game of making himself look good by putting other people down. There is no one of lower status that he could point to! So he speaks with perfect honesty.

That is the alternative that Jesus offers, therefore: humility and honesty. How can you practice humility and so show the world that there are better ways? Here are a few questions you can ask of yourself as you engage with people in the world.

Ask How You Are Being Manipulated

First of all, whenever you receive any sort of message that provokes in you some kind of emotional response, ask yourself why. Is someone (or some algorithm) manipulating you to provoke that response? If so, why? What are they trying to get you to do?

Simply become more aware of the words, messages and conversations that come before you. They are not coming from nowhere. Someone has been engineering the discourse we are having, and if you are aware of what they are doing, you will find more freedom not to participate in it.

Consider Your Discourse

Secondly, consider carefully how you respond to people. If what you say makes you feel good because it is true or because it is just, that is wonderful. But if it makes you feel good because you are putting someone else down or demonstrating your superiority, you really ought to ask yourself whether it needs to be said.

If you approach every conversation with the humility that allows you to be yourself and not put someone else down to feel good about yourself, you will change that conversation. That’s the humility we are going to need.

Yes, this parable of Jesus comes to us from a long, long time ago and a world far away. But do not miss the wisdom that Jesus has for us today. It will save us and transform us.

Watch sermon video here:

https://youtu.be/gPRMLUAbP9A

Hespeler, October 12, 2025 © Scott McAndless – Thanksgiving Sunday
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-9, 24-32, Psalm 66:1-12, 2 Timothy 2:8-15, Luke 17:11-19

ur reading this morning from the Book of Jeremiah tells the story of something that happened a long, long time ago and in a place far, far away. Because of that, there are some elements in the story that are not going to be familiar to you. They might take a little bit of explaining.

Letters

For example, the people in this story are exchanging something that they call letters. You see, once upon a time, when people wanted to communicate with others who were a long way away, they would take a sheet of parchment, an animal skin scraped smooth, and they would take something called a pen. It worked kind of like when you take a stylus and use it to write on the screen of some kind of portable computer, except this thing called ink came out of the end of the pen and made markings directly on the parchment.

And so, you would write with your hand what you wanted to say to those other people instead of typing it. Then you would roll up this letter and give it to a messenger or put it into something that used to be called the Post Office, and which apparently has now disappeared forever. And that messenger would take it to the other person, they would read it and then write their response to you on another piece of parchment.

And so, you could have a conversation with people who were far, far away. Except of course, this could take a long time. Sometimes it could take a whole day for a letter to be delivered or, if it was a long way, it could take weeks or even months.

Why Didn’t They Text?

And I know what you are thinking. Well, why didn’t they just text instead? Why didn’t they use Zoom or Snapchat? Or, I don’t know, something antique like email? Well, that is just one of those mysteries about ancient times that perhaps we will never understand. For some reason I guess they just preferred these letters.

So, yes, there is a lot about this passage we read this morning that is strange to us. Also, of course, the fact that it is set at a moment when the Kingdom of Judah had been attacked, many people had been taken away to live in Babylon against their will, but Jerusalem was not yet destroyed and many people, including a prophet named Jeremiah, were still living there.

You may well be asking, therefore, what this strange passage has to do with us who live in a very different world with different ways of doing things. But I think it has a lot to do with us. So let me tell it to you in a way that you can relate to. Let me tell you the story of what was going on.

Jeremiah Sends a Group Text

Jeremiah the prophet was just hanging out one day in the Christian church of, let’s say, a decade ago. He was hanging out in the church that existed before the pandemic, before the mass retirement of huge amounts of our clergy that were not replaced by new students coming out of seminary.

And Jeremiah was wondering how the church was faring in that strange new world that was to come. He took out his phone and texted a few of the friends he had in the church of the future.

“Hey guys,” he texted, his fingers flying across the screen. “How are you all doing out there in Babylon? Having a good time?”

The Response

He didn’t have to wait long for a response. It was, more than anything, a litany of complaint. “Oh, you wouldn’t believe how bad it is. Everything is different out here. It is like the world has changed so much and so quickly. It is like they speak a completely different language. They stare at us blankly when we talk about chancels and litanies and Christology. They have completely different styles of music. No one seems to think that our ways of doing things are relevant to anything.

“We are miserable. And the only thing that keeps us going is the knowledge that this is all short-term. There is a prophet among us here named Shemaiah. He has told us that soon God will let us out of this strange place. Soon things will go back to the way they used to be and then everything will be alright.”

When Jeremiah received the text, he frowned. He didn’t know who this Shemaiah was, but he had to be wrong. He took his phone and sent back an immediate group text to everyone he had a number for in Babylon.

Response to Shemaiah

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all of those whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.

“You need to build up your family and your fellowship in the strange place where you find yourself because there is no going back. You need to find ways to thrive where you are because that is where God has put you. But more important than that, remember that God has something for you to do in that strange place.

Seek the Welfare of the City

“You must seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

“I know that you might be tempted to hate everything about the city where you find yourself. They might seem hostile to you and the ways you like to do things. They might have strange ways of doing things that you don’t like. But never forget that God has put you there because God has something for you to do there. And God hasn’t sent you there to judge them or condemn them. God hasn’t sent you to merely survive there in misery. Your job is to make sure that your presence there is a blessing to them. So, get busy figuring out how you can be that.

Don’t Listen to Their Dreams

“For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let the prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to your dreams that you dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, says the Lord.

“There will always be those among you who tell you to just give up and dream about how things used to be. They will tell you that you don’t need to be a blessing because it is just too hard and will encourage you to be bitter and blame everyone else. You need to not listen to them.

“And you yourself will be tempted to dream of how things used to be, but do not let those dreams consume you.”

Shemiah’s Indirect Message

Jeremiah typed furiously until his thumbs were sore. And once he was done, he rather expected that his phone would blow up with responses. He hoped, of course, that people might react positively and thank him for giving them the word of the Lord. But he was equally prepared for angry responses and for people to tell him off.

What he wasn’t prepared for what he got, which was absolutely nothing. Nobody texted back to him at all. What he didn’t know was that, no sooner had he written, than somebody forwarded the group text to Shemaiah, the prophet who had promised the people that God would let things go back to the way things used to be.

Shemaiah was outraged that Jeremiah would say such things about him. He paused not a moment to reflect on whether Jeremiah might be right, and he was just caught up in nostalgia. No, he said to himself, it was Jeremiah who was wrong, not him.

Text to Zephaniah

But he didn’t do the mature thing. He didn’t write back to Jeremiah and talk it out. No, he decided to use his contacts back in the past to punish him. He took his phone and texted Zephaniah, who was in charge of the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem.

“The Lord himself has made you priest instead of some other guy. And we all know that the whole point of having a religion is to make sure than nothing ever really changes. Your job is to make sure that anyone who even upsets people by suggesting that things need to change gets shut down.

“So now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who plays the prophet for you? For he has actually sent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘Things aren’t going to change back; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat what they produce.’”

Forwarded to Jeremiah

Well, when Zephaniah the priest received that text, he didn’t much appreciate being told what to do by the likes of Shemaiah. So, he just forwarded it directly to Jeremiah. And when he got it, he had his phone out in a moment and was firing off another group text to everyone in Babylon.

“Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, though I did not send him, and has led you to trust in a lie, therefore thus says the Lord: I am going to punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants; he shall not have anyone living among this people to see the good that I am going to do to my people, says the Lord, for he has spoken rebellion against the Lord.”

How We Handle Change

What am I trying to say here today? A lot of things may change in this world. Technology certainly changes – especially, in our times, the technology that we use to communicate. But one thing never changes at all and that is human nature.

We don’t handle change well. We resist it. When we find ourselves in a place where we live with it, we dream of everything going back to how it used to be. We become negative, defiant and obstinate because we don’t really want things to work where we are; we just want to go back.

That is what Jeremiah was dealing with in his communications with the exiles in Babylon. They were sabotaging their lives there, and he knew that there really was no going back for them.

Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving. And I think that we all agree that thankfulness is a positive trait. We all appreciate it when people say thanks and when they are truly grateful for what we do for them.

But does thankfulness end once we have said thank you or have shown our gratitude in some other way? We often seem to assume that it does. But Thanksgiving is not a word, it is an attitude. And it is an attitude that is particularly needed when we find ourselves dealing with change that leaves us in a place that we don’t like.

A Different Attitude

If you just resist and dream of going back to what is familiar, you miss out on the opportunities that God has prepared for you in this strange place where God has placed you. But if you are truly thankful for what God has sent you or where God has put you, you will have a very different attitude.

And it is an attitude that will allow you to... “Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce.” A thankful heart allows you to invest in this new situation. You believe enough that you are willing to put some work and some risk into making it work.

It also allows you to... “Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.” A thankful attitude means that you will look for opportunities for growth in that strange situation and you will be open to working with partners to create that growth.

Seek the Welfare of the City

But, more than anything, true thankfulness means that you can... “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” It allows you to act with generosity towards the strange world where you find yourself and the kindness that you practice there will rebound to your own welfare.

So, on this Thanksgiving, can we practice true thankfulness and not just let it end once we have said thanks?

Watch Sermon Video Here:

https://youtu.be/RCHhFkkrvek

Hespeler, October 5, 2025 © Scott McAndless – World Communion Sunday
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4, Psalm 37:1-9, Matthew 18:15-20, Luke 24:13-35

How many times, do you suppose, does the word church appear in the Gospels of the New Testament? It is an interesting question because we often assume that the only reason Jesus came was to establish a new religion, and, specifically, to establish the church. So, you might think that he would have talked about the church all the time.

Jesus Didn’t Talk Church

But he didn’t. In fact, the word church does not appear at all in three of our four gospels. It only appears three times in the Gospel of Matthew, and two of those occurrences are found in our reading this morning. In addition to those two usages, Jesus also speaks about building his church on the rock of Peter’s confession in the sixteenth chapter.

But that is it. Those are the only three times when the word church appears on the lips of Jesus during his life. And really, that is not all that surprising when you think about it. The church didn’t exist during Jesus’ life. He was constantly announcing the kingdom of God, not the establishment of some church institution.

Rethinking What Jesus Had Said

But after his death and resurrection, his followers wanted to remain faithful to his message. Some way of organizing themselves was necessary, and the church came into being – birthed, we are told, by the action of the Holy Spirit.

But of course, the early Christians looked back on the sayings of Jesus to guide them as they tried to set up an organization that was faithful to his teachings. And what little the gospel says about the church are likely words of Jesus that had more general application that the gospel writer took and applied directly to his experience within the church.

Experiencing the Risen Jesus

A key concern for those early Christians was the question of where and how they would experience the presence of the risen Jesus in their shared life within the church. I believe that is still one of our key concerns. And so let’s ask what these sayings of Jesus tell us about that vital experience for the church today.

Today, when we imagine what the church should be and how it should properly live out the vision of Jesus Christ, what are the things that we focus on? We often focus, don’t we, on large assemblies of people? We focus on things like power and influence.

Finding Jesus in Big Gatherings

When we think about experiencing the presence of Jesus in the life of the church, we often imagine that happening in our experience of large-scale worship, like when large congregations lift their voices in harmonious song or when we are held spellbound together by the words of a skilled preacher.

It is very similar, isn’t it, to the experiences that we have in the world outside the church. Who among us hasn’t gone to a concert, a sports game or a political rally and just got completely caught up in the spirit of the crowd? When people start chanting, singing or cheering as one, there is a kind of ecstasy to it. It takes you out of yourself.

We can have the same sort of experience in the church, especially in the larger gatherings. That is why we often even assume that a certain scale is necessary for us to experience God. Jesus seems to be more present in large and busy churches.

And I completely understand where all of that is coming from. I, too, have had that experience of finding myself in the direct presence of my God in the midst of corporate worship. I, too, have seen how we have encountered Jesus in our community when we have the resources that allow us to offer food and clothing to those who don’t have enough.

They Don’t Talk About Large Gatherings

But when the early church spoke about encountering Jesus in the church, they didn’t talk about any of those things. Oh, they knew that he was present when they met, but they also knew that that didn’t depend on there being a large group.

In fact, the only thing they remembered Jesus specifically saying about finding him in the life of the church was this: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” So, let’s talk about that for a minute. Let’s talk about how we encounter the risen Jesus and the power of God among us in small gatherings.

Big Groups and Small Groups

It is not the same thing. Meeting with a few people does not have that same power to sweep you up in the feelings of a crowd. There is no mass hysteria or enthusiasm. But you can encounter Jesus in such gatherings and, I would argue, such encounters have much more power to transform you.

Getting caught up in the spirit of a large group often involves setting yourself aside, if only for a while. When you are chanting or singing at a big event, you tend to forget about the little worries and cares that are with you all the rest of the time. There is a kind of anonymity to being in a large crowd that can make it easy to pretend to be someone else.

That can be a liberating experience, of course, and I do think that it is an experience that we need from time to time. But once the big event is over, you also know that all of those things that make up your personal day-to-day life are still there waiting for you.

A Place to Be Yourself

But small groups are different. They can offer you the chance to be authentically yourself in them. Now, that is not necessarily something that happens quickly or easily. When you first gather with a group of two or three or four people, you may not know them. You don’t know if you can trust them enough to talk to them about your worries, fears or anxieties. What if they don’t understand you or are impatient with your flaws? You also may not feel like you can share your passions, stories or accomplishments because what if they belittle them?

But when you put in the time and energy to really get to know people – something that is so much harder in a large group or assembly – something amazing can happen. You discover that you can trust people with the things in your life. You discover that they don’t laugh at your failures or shame you for your mistakes. You experience them taking joy in your successes. And so, you learn that you can truly be yourself with this small group of people.

A Difficult Path

I don’t mean to suggest that this comes easily because it often doesn’t. There are so many things that hold us back and make us fearful of the judgement of others. And there are problems and roadblocks that arise as we try to get there.

We see that very thing in our reading, don’t we? Before it affirms that Jesus is present in our small groups, it does talk about how our fellow believers may sin against us. It is not always intentional, of course, but we do sometimes say or do things that hurt each other. And there is always a risk of that kind of thing when we drop our defences and start to really get to know one another.

And our reflex, for many of us, when that does happen, is to protect ourselves from further harm. We withdraw or hide ourselves. For others, their reflex is to hit back and spread the harm around. Both reactions prevent our personal growth.

Engaging in Loving Ways

But Jesus urges us to give in to neither of those reflexes. Rather we should engage in loving and respectful ways. There is a lot of good advice about how to do that. You start off privately in a one-on-one setting, and you include others when that is unsafe or unhelpful. You only bring it to the whole church if it can’t be worked out otherwise.

But the bottom line is that you don’t give up. You work as hard as you can to get to the place where you can truly trust one another enough to be yourselves with each other.

A Level of Commitment

Now, I realize that that sounds like a lot of work. And it can be. Let me underline that it usually isn’t. God often blesses us with a group of people that we connect to quickly and learn to trust painlessly. But whether it is easy or it is hard, Jesus is asking us to approach with the same level of commitment to making those relationships work.

But he does not ask you to do that without making a promise. “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” That is a promise that, as you learn to trust one another in your small group, as you feel comfortable sharing more and more of yourself, you will begin to experience more than just mutual friendship, love and support.

I mean, you will experience those things, and they are truly wonderful.  Too many people go through their entire lives without them. But Jesus promises even more. He promises that, if you do this in his name, you will also experience his presence in your small group.

Happens in Many Ways

This can happen in a multitude of ways. As you get to know your fellow believers and they get to know you, there will be times when Jesus speaks to you through them. There will also be times when you see the love and power of Jesus in their actions and kindnesses.

But more than anything, you will be built up into a mature Christian. By being honest with others, you will come to know yourself better. You will be affirmed and built up, and become more aware of what you need to work on for yourself.

All of this will build your faith and form you more into the image of Jesus Christ. Christ will be more present and powerful in your life. That is not just a prediction. That is not what I hope will happen for you. That is Jesus’ promise to you.

Small Group Sunday

That is why Joni and others have put so much energy into creating this Small Group Sunday for us all. We believe that, as we find more and more ways to connect with each other in small group contexts, we will find the presence and power of Jesus compelling us towards a strong and mature faith that will transform us, that will transform the church and will help to transform the world.

With all of that being said, I would encourage you to consider carefully where that might fit into your life. Not every group is for everybody. It is always easier to connect with people when we share the same passions, and there are particular groups that will help us to do that. I also know that we all have a great many demands upon our time, and we have to choose where to make our commitments and what fits into our lives.

Why We Do This

Small groups are vital to the life of the church in many ways. They are what enable us to do much of our work, including our vital outreach, but also simple things like keeping our facilities clean and in good shape. Some are essential to our organization and mission, while others are focussed primarily on fellowship or learning. All are needed in our shared life in the church.

But I want to make clear that I am not encouraging you to do this because we need your labour. I’m not asking you to do this for the sake of the church. I am asking you because it is the best way that I know to accelerate your growth as a Christian. It is one of the very best ways for you to encounter Jesus in your life.

Watch sermon video here:

https://youtu.be/MTbhMrgBaoA

Hespeler, September 28, 2025 © Scott McAndless – Sacrament of Baptism
Acts 16:6-15, Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16, 1 Timothy 6:6-19, Luke 16:19-31

I have been so looking forward to this Sunday morning service. Ever since I heard that Ruhaan had been born back in the middle of May, I have been entranced by the possibility that we would get to celebrate his birth, his baptism and his initiation into the Christian Church.

As you well know, we have been richly blessed by the presence of Ruhaan’s family in our congregation over the past year. His sisters have often shared with us their wisdom and enthusiasm during our services, and they have been a wonderful addition to our Sunday school. We have also been blessed to get to know his father, Arasalan, who has been here so faithfully, even though his mother has often been understandably tied up with other things.

A Gift to the Church

But today we get to celebrate the gift of this family to the church of Jesus Christ, and, in particular, the gift of this particular child who comes to us with a message from God. That’s what we always celebrate whenever we baptize.

So, I gave a lot of thought to what scriptures would speak to us on this special occasion. And I finally landed on our reading this morning from the Book of Acts.

That might seem like an odd choice. It is a strange little passage in the accounts of the travels of the Apostle Paul that doesn’t seem all that important at first glance. Paul and his companions are travelling around the Anatolian Peninsula – the part of the world we call Turkey today.

Paul’s Travel Difficulties

They try to go to one place and then to another and another in order to preach the word about Jesus Christ. But it doesn’t work. In fact, it states that they are prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching in those places. Somehow (and this is never really explained) they keep trying to talk to people and start churches, but the Holy Spirit intervenes to let them know that they cannot.

They finally end up in a place called Troas, where they seem to be somewhat frustrated with all of these restrictions. But there, Paul has a dream of someone asking them to come over to Macedonia. So, they go there and there they meet some people, especially a woman named Lydia who is open to hearing them.

The end. It doesn’t sound particularly important, sort of like when someone comes back from their vacation and they start telling you about the problems they had at the airport or the time when they almost lost their bags. You might listen and nod your head sympathetically, but it really doesn’t matter to you at all.

A Major Transition

So why should we care about Paul’s travel woes? I’ll tell you why. This passage is symbolic of one of the most significant transitions in the history of the Christian Church. Why? Because, even though they are only a few miles apart, Troas is in Asia, and Macedonia is in Europe.

 Christianity, like all major world religions, began as an Eastern religion. It was born in Galilee and Jerusalem. It started out as a sect of Judaism, which traces its origins to a man named Abraham who came from Mesopotamia. But we don’t really think of Christianity as an Eastern religion today, do we? In many ways, we think of it as the premier Western religion, the one that has been essential to the creation of Western institutions and thought.

The Church Moves West

So, when did that happen? When did Christianity become a western religion? Well, in many ways that is what this passage in the Acts is talking about. The author is recounting the first time the Christian message passed over the Bosphorus and entered into the Western world. This is a moment that really did change Christianity.

I’m not saying that it changed Christianity in a bad way. I believe that Christianity was enriched by its encounter with Greek philosophy, Roman organization and European innovation among other things. But, good or bad, the changes have been significant. And this little passage in the Book of Acts is a symbolic exploration of that very significant moment of change. And we have a wonderful opportunity to reflect on that transition today.

Ruhaan’s Family

We have that opportunity because Ruhaan’s Family has come to us from Asia, specifically South Asia. So let me tell you a little bit about this extraordinary family.

They come to us from Pakistan, where Ruhaan’s great-grandfather was a Presbyterian minister and where his mother studied to become a Christian minister in another denomination. Pakistan is a majority Islamic country, but the Presbyterian Church is the largest Christian denomination in that country.

The Presbyterian Church in Pakistan exists because missionaries, specifically American missionaries, took the Christian message and the Presbyterian way of doing things to what was, at that time, part of India. Those missionaries took a Western form of Christianity, and they planted it back in the east – they kind of did the opposite of what Paul does in our reading this morning.

The Strength of the Pakistani Church

But, when Pakistan became an independent and Islamic state, it was not going to tolerate foreign religious influence. So, the Pakistani Presbyterians took control of their own church. And their Presbyterianism became a uniquely Eastern expression of the faith. The Pakistani Christians built a strong and resilient church. In part, they did so because they knew that, if they did not find that strength, their church would not survive.

For example, as Arsalan has explained to me, they know very well that, if their children, even from a very young age, are not grounded in their faith and do not have a clear understanding of why they are Christian, they can very easily become caught up in the dominant Islamic culture. The connection of children to the church and their formation is a life-and-death matter for them.

God is Re-enacting the Story

And now, God has sent Ruhaan and his family from South Asia to us in the West. And I see in this that God is re-enacting for us the story that we read from Acts this morning.

Like the Apostle Paul, this family had a good life and had done well in Asia. They were part of a vibrant church. But, like Paul in our reading, they knew that the Holy Spirit was restricting them. There were certain things that they were not entirely free to do.

And so, the Spirit sent them to the West where, by the power of the Spirit, they would find new freedoms to explore. In particular, they wanted the opportunity to raise their children to experience new possibilities in Canada.

The Holy Spirit is Key

And notice how the Holy Spirit is key to all of this. They have named their son, Ruhaan, in recognition of the Holy Spirit’s guidance. In Persian and in Urdu, Ruhaan means “from the Spirit,” and it is indeed from the Spirit that he has come to us.

So, the Spirit has led them here. He has sent them here for their own sake. And they have been willing to listen to the guidance of the Spirit and to the dream (like Paul dreamed) of the possibilities offered to them in the West.

This has been a costly decision for them. They have chosen to leave much behind and there has been a financial price to pay. And we pray today that they know much blessing in their lives here.

But today is not just about celebrating what the Spirit has done for them by bringing them here. Today we celebrate what the Spirit has done for us by bringing them here.

The Church in Canada

The Christian Church in Canada has so many advantages that the Pakistani Church does not. We may not live in an explicitly Christian country. Canada does not have an established church or any approved religion, but our culture is still dominated by the vestiges of a Christian past. Christmas and Easter are national holidays. Churches have tax advantages. We have legal protection for our right to worship. Ontario even has a publicly funded religious school system. These are advantages that Christians in places like Pakistan do not have.

I have noticed that, when we are feeling particularly vulnerable as churches, we often speak fondly of the past, when the church actually enjoyed more advantages and our society was more explicitly Christian. We bemoan the loss of a time when society reserved Sunday mornings for the exclusive use of the church or when retail stores would play religious carols at Christmas time.

Truly Strong Churches

But I’m not convinced that going back to such times is what we need. The true strength of the church has never come from us trying to force the society into something that looks more like the church. True strength for Christians comes rather from a strong sense of who we are and an understanding of who God has called us to be. That is the only thing that will make us resilient, no matter what the shape of the society that surrounds us is.

Ruhaan’s parents have brought him here today because they are truly committed to raising him and his sisters within the church. They make that commitment because their experience in Pakistan has shown them just how important it is to give their children a strong foundation so that they can be free to choose their own course in life and not merely allow the larger culture to conform them to its ways.

A Message About Our Children

And God is definitely speaking to us in and through them. God is speaking to us about our own children. I am a strong advocate for children to be free, as they grow up, to choose their own paths in life and to adopt the beliefs and thoughts that nourish them in positive ways. But Ruhaan reminds us that, if we do not give our children a good grounding and ways of appreciating how our faith applies to their lives, they will not be truly free to choose. They will simply absorb the ideas of the society that surrounds them.

So, here is an opportunity for us all to recommit ourselves to our Christian Education priorities, to support our Sunday School teachers and to never stop thinking about how we can make all of this relevant to the challenges that young people are facing in the world today.

But it is important to add that this is not just a concern about our children and youth or their parents. It doesn’t start with them; it starts with all of us. Our children and youth can only embrace a Christian identity if we all have a strong sense of who was are as Christians in this time and place.

Embracing Our Christian Identity

That is why the work we are doing on our identity right now is so important. For too long, Christians in North America have relied on incidental things to anchor their identity. We think it’s all wrapped up in our buildings, in locations and in long-standing traditions that may no longer be relevant. We need to embrace an identity that is founded in who God is calling us to be.

What’s more, we need to get to the place where we can express that understanding of our identity to anybody. In a few words, in an image or an idea, our sense of identity in Christ must become something that is always at our fingertips, never too far from our minds.

If given the opportunity, can you communicate to someone else what it means for you to be a Christian? Can you demonstrate to somebody else that you are a part of this congregation and that this congregation is a part of you? I hope that you can, but if you can’t, work on that. That, more than anything else, is what will make us resilient in the midst of our secular and multi-faith society.

We are honoured to welcome Ruhaan into this congregation and into the Christian church today. We are glad to officially welcome the whole family as friends and companions on our journey of faith. But most of all, let us be thankful that God has spoken to us a message in and through this child – a message meant to breathe new life into our church.