Category: Minister

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:

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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.

Watch sermon video here:

https://youtu.be/ROe1jsdpAk4

Hespeler, September 21, 2025 © Scott McAndless – Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Amos 8:4-7, Psalm 113, 1 Timothy 2:1-7, Luke 16:1-13

I am just going to go ahead and admit that I have a few problems with our reading this morning from the First Letter to Timothy. The problems are not with the text itself. Yes, I understand that there are all kinds of questions about who wrote this letter and that there are reasons for thinking that it wasn’t written by Paul.

But that is not my problem because this letter is in my Bible, and I committed a long time ago to accept the whole of Scripture as inspired by God. That doesn’t mean that I accept it all as factual or historically accurate. I believe that God can and does inspire all kinds of literature. And while some writings may communicate their truths with facts and data, others use less literal ways to get their truths across.

Not Ignoring Scripture

But what calling this letter scripture does mean to me is that I can’t just ignore it or pretend it isn’t there because I don’t like it. In fact, the more trouble I have with a piece of scripture, the more attention I need to pay to it. I believe that I am called to struggle with it and not let go of it until I can come to some sort of resolution. I have found that, when I do that, I always come to a deeper understanding of God’s truth.

But, like I say, I have some real struggles with the beginning of our reading from this particular letter.

Praying for Everyone

It starts out well enough. “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone.” That sounds just fine. We are asked here to be praying for everyone. And these are all such positive prayers. We are to pray for good things to happen for people, to be thankful for them.

Of course, such prayers are not always easy. There are always going to be people with whom we struggle to get along. There may even be people who hate us or do bad things to us, but Jesus did teach us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. It may be hard, but it is what we are called to do as Christians.

If the letter just left it there with a command to pray for everyone, I don’t think that I’d have a problem with it. But it doesn’t just leave it there. It goes on to be very specific about who to pray for and it makes some wild promises about what the outcomes will be.

Praying for Kings

Pray positive prayers, it says “for kings and all who are in high positions.” Okay, fine. I think that I can do that. In fact, I do pray for local, national and world leaders on a regular basis. Okay, maybe they are not always really positive. Like anybody, I do get upset, impatient and downright angry with the decisions of our leaders. There are times when I might secretly wish for God to smite a few of them. I am only human.

But overall, I do think that those who are in powerful positions can, because of those positions, do a lot of good for a lot of people. And if, whatever I might think of them personally, my positive prayers can nudge them in the right direction, I am willing to put in the prayer time on the chance that it might help.

Why We are to Pray

But it is the next part that gives me a real problem. We are to do all of this while looking for a very specific outcome. We pray for them, it says, “so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.”

Now, think for a moment what that is promising. It is saying that if we are just really nice to powerful people, they will leave us alone and let us live our lives in peace. It is saying that if we let them know that we’re praying for them and wishing good things for them, they’ll let us live out our faith with dignity.

It is certainly a nice thought. Wouldn’t it just be nice to think that our expressions of goodwill to the people who have enough power to destroy us and make our lives miserable will always be rewarded by them treating us exactly as we would like? But how practical is that really?

Christians and Roman Power

This letter was written at a time when Christians were a small and powerless minority within the Roman Empire. And the majority in many places looked upon the Christians with a great deal of suspicion. They were suspect, in particular, because they did not show the right kind of loyalty to the empire and to the emperor. Everyone else literally treated the emperor like a god and would even make sacrifices in temples dedicated to him. The Christians, of course, refused to acknowledge the emperor as a god. And so, they seemed to be dangerous traitors.

And so, when this letter was written, the meaning of this promise was clear. By offering to pray for the emperor and other officials, even though their faith meant that they couldn’t make sacrifices to them or treat them like gods, the church was trying to give the message that they were not troublemakers and didn’t mean to be disruptive. They hoped that the message would be loud and clear to the authorities who would just decide to leave the Christians alone.

But it didn’t work! The Roman authorities did sometimes benevolently ignore the Christians, but when it was convenient, they could be very handy as scapegoats. When Emperor Nero, for example, was trying to divert attention from accusations that he had been behind a devastating fire that destroyed the City of Rome, he tried to get out of it by saying that the Christians had done it. He rounded them up and coated some of them with pitch and burned them alive to provide lighting for his garden parties. “We may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity” indeed!

Other Places It Didn’t Work

And Ancient Rome is hardly the only place where such an approach didn’t work. Christians living under Islamic rulers at various times through history attempted to live in such peace and pray for their rulers. Sometimes they were allowed to prosper, but certainly not always.

In Nazi Germany, a group of Christians known as the Confessing Church sought to peacefully coexist and yet adopt anti-racist practices. But their peacefulness did not prevent them from being targeted by the authorities.

And it is also not a strategy that I see working in modern times either. We are living through a moment that is seeing the rise of authoritarian leaders in many places. And we have seen many examples of people who try to escape the wrath of such leaders by being nice to them and doing what they want before they are ordered to.

They hope that this will mean that the authoritarian leaves them alone and doesn’t ask any more from them, but it tends to do the opposite. Having seen them already back down in anticipation, the authoritarian leaders only demand more from them. Being nice and doing what they want doesn’t get you peace and dignity.

Promised Outcome

But actually, that is not the only thing that this passage promises. It goes on to say, “This is right and acceptable before God our Saviour, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

And what that seems to be promising is not only that if we are nice and pray for powerful people, they will leave us in peace. Our very niceness will lead to the Gospel spreading to everyone everywhere and turning them all into Christians.

Now we could probably say a lot about Christian evangelism and its complicated history, but I think that it is pretty clear that successful evangelism has never just come down to being nice and praying for powerful people. If it did, the world might look very different today.

Is There More to This?

Like I said, I’m just trying to be honest here. There are the things that I have a hard time with when I read a passage like this one. But as I also said, that doesn’t mean that I’m going to give up on this passage. There has to be more going on in it than just a teaching that, if we go along with the powerful, we will get along.

And there is. There so much is because, we are not done here. The letter goes on, “For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human,who gave himself a ransom for all.”

The Gods of This World

And that puts a great big limitation on everything that has been said up until this point, doesn’t it? If there is only one God, what does that say to the emperor who made himself a god? If there is only one mediator between God and humankind, what does that say to the powerful oligarchs and techlords of this world – the telecoms and the social media powers of this world – who say that they get to control every form of communication and mediation.

Most of all, what does that say about all of those powers in this world that promise us that it is only through their power and strength that your salvation will come? They tell us to trust them as they give massive amounts of money to military contractors and weapons manufacturers whose priority is not to make peace but to generate profits for their investors. This and only this, they promise us, will make us able to live quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and dignity.

Strength in Christ

And yet we believe that Jesus won salvation for us not through strength, but through willing weakness and sacrifice. He “gave himself a ransom for all.” That calls into question all of the violent powers of this world.

So, I see a clear rebellious streak in the approach advocated by this passage. Yes, let us tell the powerful of this world that we are praying for them. And indeed, we will pray for them in all sincerity knowing that they have the potential to create so much good.

But deep down, don’t we also know that we are praying to the one God who will not allow the powerful of this world to challenge God’s throne. We pray with confidence, therefore, that God will put them in their place and soon.

And we may pray for our techlords (who rule over us more effectively in many ways that our political leaders) too. We may even ask for them to be blessed, but we do it with an understanding that true blessing in this world does not come in the form of material wealth. If God is to truly bless them, could God not do that by taking their wealth away?

The Deeper Truth

Yes, we can find ways to live in peace with the powerful in this world – even those who would use their power in authoritarian and destructive ways. Who has the stamina, after all, to fight with them at every turn.

But deep down we know the truth, don’t we? They are not gods. They are fallible. They will fail. We may work with them for a season. We can seek their blessing on the temporary basis – because that is the only blessing they will find. But let us never lose sight of those eternal truths and blessings that we will cling to.

To live as Christians in this world is to live with all kinds of contradictions. We must often find ways to live in peace with those who think themselves gods. We must live lives mediated through lines of communication that are controlled by powerful corporations and yet we know that there is only one mediator who matters. We live in a world often shaped by violence, but we have a Christ who saved us by giving up his life in sacrifice and weakness.

The Foundation of Peace and Dignity

And so, you know what? I think that in the end I appreciate this passage in 1 Timothy. It meets us right in the middle of the ambiguity that we live in in this world. Yes, we would like to “lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.” And, sure, I am quite willing to pray for even evil overlords if that can help that to happen.

But let us never lose sight of the bigger picture. Our hope of peace and dignity will never be founded in the powers of this world. They are all, in God’s eyes, merely temporary.

Watch sermon video here:

https://youtu.be/tcj_VN_7kPQ

Hespeler, September 14, 2025 © Scott McAndless – Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28, Psalm 14, 1 Timothy 1:12-17, Luke 15:1-10

There is no denying that some of the biggest problems that people are dealing with today are economic problems. We could talk about housing and how it has become completely unaffordable throughout much of this country, especially for people who are just starting out. We could talk about inflation and how prices have gotten out of control for so many everyday goods. We could certainly talk about unemployment which, especially for youth, seems to have reached a crisis level.

These are problems that are affecting all of us. Even if you personally may be in a strong position and somewhat insulated from these problems, they are affecting your community, and the fallout is spilling over and affecting your personal life.

Answers We Can Relate to

So, I think that we can all recognize that there are some big and important economic problems. But, when the economic experts start to talk to us about what is causing these problems and what to do about them, what happens? They start talking about things like supply and demand and yield curves and lagging indicators and, for most of us, our eyes glaze over. We tune out. None of it helps us to understand why so many people are struggling or what to do about it.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have somebody who can relate to us – somebody who can bring the very wisdom of God to us – who could explain it all to us and tell us what to do? Wouldn’t it be nice if Jesus did that for us?

Jesus and Money

But unfortunately, Jesus doesn’t seem to have had much to say about money during his life. In fact, he seems to have been so unfamiliar with the currency itself that, once, when somebody showed him a coin, he had to ask whose face and title was engraved on it.

But there is at least one parable – we read it this morning – that is all about money. And I know that it is very short, but I’ve got to tell you that there is more wisdom about the use of money in that short parable than you might realize.

So let me tell the story to you – tell it in a way that might make you better realize how people in Jesus’ own time might have heard it when he first told it.

10 Silver Coins

She had ten silver coins. It was not, to be clear, a fortune. Just one of those coins would have been considered fair wages for an entire day of work. So, having 10 days wages saved up was hardly something that would have offered much of a buffer for her in the case of some catastrophe.

There were people out there, the wealthy elite in places like Jerusalem and Tiberias, who had stored up thousands upon thousands of these coins. Such hoards made them feel safe in ways that she never would be able to attain.

But, inspired by the successes of such people, she had managed to scrimp and to save and to set aside ten silver coins. It was an extraordinary accomplishment.

Most of the people around her never managed to set anything aside. If they were lucky, if they were fortunate enough to get enough work that paid well enough, most of them could only manage to break even on a day-to-day basis and there was never any surplus to set aside for a rainy day.

Security

But she had ten silver coins. Maybe they didn’t actually provide security for her, but they made her feel as if security was attainable. That’s why she was kind of obsessed with them. She always knew exactly how many coins she had and where they were. She literally counted them every day so that, if one went missing, she would know immediately.

And one fateful day, the one thing that she dreaded happened. She was there at her little counting table. It was actually her only table and she used it for everything from cooking to eating, but in her mind, it was the counting table because that was the most important thing that happened on it.

Counting

She took out her purse and poured out the coins and relished, as she always did, the satisfying clatter that they made. And then she took them and counted them one by one as she dropped them on the table. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9…

Wait a minute, that couldn’t be right. She was certain she had counted ten just the day before. She started over again counting very deliberately. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9… No, no, there was definitely one missing.

Robbery?

A sense of panic quickly settled over her. Her first thought, of course, was that she had been robbed. But that made little sense. Why would anyone steal one if they had the opportunity to steal them all?

What’s more, she knew that nobody had had the opportunity. She was certain that no one had been in her house since she had last counted. Nor had she taken the coins out.

Basically, out of a fear of this very possibility, she isolated herself from all of the people around her. She never had anyone over to her house and she never went out unless it was strictly necessary.

Frantic Cleaning

The only other possibility, therefore, suddenly came over her as a wash of relief. The coin had to be somewhere here in this house. It must have fallen and rolled away the last time that she counted.

And, with that realization, she was finally able to channel her panic and nervous energy towards something productive. She carefully secured the nine coins and then she lit all of her lamps and got out her cleaning supplies. She began to sweep and dust and scrub every corner of her entire house. She carefully cleaned under every piece of furniture and deep into every nook and cranny. Oh, the house had never been cleaned like this!

But, while this managed to channel the energy in her body, her panicked thoughts continued to race. As silly as it seemed, she began to question her own priorities. Had she really chosen to focus on the right things if it all led to such frenzied outcomes?

A Shepherd’s Tale

She had heard a story in the neighbourhood just recently. There was a local shepherd who had a hundred sheep in his care. He cherished his sheep much like she cherished her coins.

And of course, he would count his sheep regularly. And one day as he was counting – 1,2,3,4… –  always a difficult task, of course because by the time he got to 96, 97, 98, he could barely keep his eyes open. But when he hit 99, he was suddenly wide awake because there was no sheep 100!

From what she had heard, he immediately started acting crazy. He abandoned all 99 sheep out in the wilderness and started searching high and low for the one lost sheep.

She would never act so irresponsibly, of course. Hadn’t she been careful to bar all the windows and doors before she began to search? She was not about to risk the loss of her other nine coins. But she could not help but wonder whether her shepherd neighbour had learned something from that experience that she had not yet understood.

Strange Reaction

She had heard that when he had finally discovered the errant ruminant, he had been so relieved that he completely lost his mind. At least that was the only way that she could make sense of what he did next. He took the sheep and laid it on his shoulders and brought it back. Fortunately, it seemed, nothing bad had happened to the other 99 that had been abandoned in the wilderness.

So, once he had recounted all of them again (falling asleep several times in the process) the shepherd decided that the next thing to do was send out invitations to absolutely everyone he knew. He had them all come over to his house and he threw a great big party.

The woman did not go. She was not inclined to participate in such foolishness, and she had to stay home so that nothing would happen to her precious coin. But from what she had heard, the lamb stew had been excellent.

Beginning to Understand

That had been the one thing that she had never understood. Here was this neighbour who valued his precious sheep, so much so that, when just one went missing, he had dropped absolutely everything else in order to find it. But having found it, his priorities changed so radically. Suddenly there was something that mattered more than a sheep, and that was the opportunity to celebrate with all his neighbours. And he was even willing to sacrifice his precious sheep in order to celebrate.

She had never understood that. But now, perhaps, she might be beginning to. She had put so much importance into the preservation of her collection of coins, that she had missed out on everything including the party with the neighbours. And now that she had lost one, she was struck by the thought – what had she been saving it up for? What would she miss out on if she didn’t find it? Was she supposed to be fulfilled by its mere existence in her collection? Was that enough?

Her Strange Reaction

Her frenzied cleaning continued for at least another half hour, but in the end, she finally found it. It had rolled underneath a cover on the... piano. It was a welcome sight, to be sure, all bright and shiny in the lamplight. But now that she had found it, to have it was not enough. It was like it had no value on its own anymore. It only had value for what she could do with it.

And she suddenly knew what to do with it. She had to celebrate. She had to throw a party, and she had to invite everyone – all her neighbours, even the shepherd – especially the shepherd.

Soon her house was filled with music and dancing and laughter. Her neighbours joined in a veritable feast with wine and food. Why the party favours alone must have cost several silver coins.

Odd Twists

I have always puzzled over those two parables of Jesus – the lost sheep and the lost coin. Both include these frenzied searches that are deeply focussed on finding this valuable thing that has been lost. But, once the search is over and the object is found, the story takes on a strange twist.

They don’t end like you might expect them to. The endings are not about relief or taking steps to make sure that such a loss doesn’t happen again. That would be the responsible response, right? But no, the endings of these stories are all about gathering people and celebrating together. And the implication of that is that the celebration is of greater value than the object found.

What are we to take away from this strange twist ending? One lesson, the one provided by the gospel writer, is that this parable is about how happy God is when someone turns away from sin and comes to God. That’s a perfectly good interpretation but note that it is supplied by the gospel writer. There is no indication in the original gospel text, that Jesus said that part. So, I do think that there are other applications that we can make to life in this world.

A Lesson About Money

And I have come to think that Jesus may have told this story to make us think again about the things of this world that we have learned to value. In particular, there is a strong lesson about money.

The world is constantly telling us that money is the beginning and the end of what matters. We, like the woman in Jesus’ parable, hoard up money, worry about not having it and exhaust ourselves trying to get it. But the experience of losing and then finding the money seems to give this woman a different perspective. Money, she learns, has no intrinsic value in itself.

That is absolutely true, by the way. Money really only has any value because we have all agreed that it has value. If that consensus were just to go away, and that could probably happen easier than you might think, all of our money will have no value.

No, what the woman learns is that the value of money is only in what you do with it. And, if you save it as a goal in itself, it really is worthless. Jesus is saying that the kingdom of God is something that breaks out when we choose to use whatever we have to gather God’s people to celebrate.

Hoarding Coins

Did you know that there are a lot of people storing up money these days. It is not the ordinary folk. Many of them are just living day-to-day. But the billionaires are storing up unheard-of amounts of money, mostly, of course, in offshore accounts where governments can’t touch them. And corporations, they have record cash surpluses sitting around these days. In many ways that is the biggest economic problem that we are facing. There is just too much cash sitting around and not circulating. There are too many piles of 10 coins that no one is using.

Jesus told this story to change our discussion about money. It is meant to be used, and it is meant to be used for people and not to serve the needs of those who already have it or give them illussions of security. It is meant for celebration and joy. And when we learn that lesson, that’s when we will discover the kingdom of God among us.

Watch Sermon Video Here:

https://youtu.be/epnxtj3y7bI

Hespeler, September 7, 2025 © Scott McAndless – Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Jeremiah 18:1-11, Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18, Philemon 1:1-21, Luke 14:25-33

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Come, go down to the AI design studio, and there I will let you hear my words.” And so, Jeremiah went down to the place where the designers sat at their computers and each one was required to come up with hundreds of designs a day.

He watched as one of the workers typed in, “Okay, Midjourney, give me a design for a new style of ceramic pot.” And, while Jeremiah watched, the Artificial Intelligence went to work, surveying a million pictures and designs of various styles of pots from many different cultures and time periods in fractions of a second. It processed them all and projected certain trends and fads to come up with a design that was a homogenized mix of every other pot that had ever been made.

And then the designer looked at the result and declared, “No, I think the colour is a bit off, try again.” And, using vast amounts of electricity and other resources, the Artificial Intelligence program restarted the entire process.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying, “Am I not like the Artificial Intelligence designer with my people? But Jeremiah said, “No, no, that is not quite right.”

Ceramics Factory

Then the word came again to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Come, go down to the ceramics factory, and there I will let you hear my words.” And so, Jeremiah went down onto the factory floor and he observed the fabrication lines. He watched as the great machines mixed the clay until it reached a perfect consistency. And then the clay was slip-cast, injection-moulded, or perhaps dry-pressed into perfectly consistent shapes. Then the pieces were dried, glazed and fired in turn.

All along the line, the workers surveyed the process. If there were any pieces that contained any flaws or imperfections or if they diverged from the design in any way, they were removed and thrown in the trash. At the end of the line Jeremiah saw all the pots, bowls and vessels lined up, each one indistinguishable from the next of the same design.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying, “Am I not like the ceramics factory with my people? But Jeremiah said, “No, no, that is not quite right either.”

Amazon Retail

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying, “Okay, why don’t you just go online and order a nice pot from Amazon. And so, Jeremiah went on the website and picked out a pot that looked like it might do. He put it in his online cart and, with one click, requested overnight delivery.

An entire distribution system kicked into high gear with boxes flying through warehouses and pickers, sorters and distributors working long hours with limited breaks and no ability to sit down. The product was loaded onto a truck that went careening through the town and less than 24 hours after it was ordered, it showed up on Jeremiah’s doorstep. He opened the package, decided that it was not quite right and went back to his computer to click return.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying, “Am I not like Amazon in my ability to distribute blessings with abundance and speed? But Jeremiah replied, “No, no, that is not right.”

If God Made Pottery Today

No, none of those are right, are they? Those are the ways that most pottery is designed, manufactured and purchased these days. It is mass produced in ways that promote consistency, uniformity and efficiency. It is all done in such a way as to maximize profit, by giving people what they are used to at the best possible prices.

And I can’t help but think that if somebody said that God was like a maker of pottery today, we would be inclined to think of God in such terms. In many ways, I think that we do.

We look at many of the expectations that modern life puts upon us and just assume that God is looking for the same from us. When we look at ourselves, we often measure ourselves against the standards of the larger culture. If I am not beautiful in the way that an AI generator would define beauty – an amalgam of the most beautiful pictures ever taken – well,  then I can’t be beautiful. If my life does not look as fulfilling and uplifting as everyone’s pictures on my Instagram feed, well, then my life must suck. And if I just don’t make the cut in that and so many other ways, then how could God value me?

Productivity and Consumerism

The world tells us all the time that our productivity is all that matters – that we are all only as good as the last bit of work that we did. And so, when I look at my accomplishments, I just don’t feel like I am any good. It makes us prioritize doing over being and, once again, we transfer that thinking onto God and assume that we need to earn God’s love with our works.

And, above all, our world is constantly telling us that the way we exercise our freedom and the way that live out our success is by being consumers. The more stuff you own, the more expensive experiences you have enjoyed, the more fulfilled you are supposed to be. That is the constant drumbeat of our world!

And of course, there are so many ways that we turn our God into the patron of that ideal of fulfillment. The Prosperity Gospel, the teaching that God wants to make you rich and fill you up with many material blessings is quite possibly the fastest-growing Christian teaching in our world today. So, yes, we have definitely turned God into some sort of cosmic Amazon network where we purchase whatever we need with one prayer instead of one click.

Jeremiah Wanders into a Pottery Shop

But the Prophet Jeremiah lived in a very different world. And when he was kind of discouraged one day because the people of Judea were being foolish and they wouldn’t listen to him, he didn’t wander into an AI design studio or a factory or a warehouse. He wandered into the local pottery shop.

And after he had watched the potter work away at his wheel for some time, he said, “Aha!” He said, “I didn’t just happen upon this place at random. No, my wandering footsteps had a purpose behind them. God brought me here because God had something to show me. God is like a potter and we are like the clay.”

What did he mean by that? Obviously he didn’t mean it literally. He didn’t mean that we are just mud or that we are spinning around on a foot-powered wheel. He wasn’t saying that God is literally squeezing and pinching us with clay-covered fingers.

No, he was rather saying that God relates to us like a potter relates to the clay. And let’s explore some of the things that that means and that we sometimes miss in our frenzied modern life.

Uniqueness

First of all, let’s look at what it says about your uniqueness. One of the key differences between ancient and modern manufacturing processes is how unique each item that is produced is. The potter may work according to some basic idea while the wheel spins, of course, but since the clay is actually formed by human hands that naturally vary in position and tension, every vessel produced is absolutely unique.

Even more than that, ancient potters were artists and often gave to their vessels unique touches in terms of design. And I think I know a few things about artists. I am no potter, and I can’t draw worth beans, but I do consider myself something of an artist in the art of storytelling. And I have had people ask me which of the stories that I have told is my favourite.

I find it an impossible question to answer – like asking a parent which of their children is their favourite. And the best answer I’ve ever come up with is that my favourite story is almost always the one I am presently working on. That is what makes an artist, I think. It is when you love the work you are doing.

You are God’s favourite Vessel

And I believe that God works the same way with you. You are God’s favourite vessel because God is molding you. God loves every unique bump and twirl and flourish on you – both on your surface and in your inner being. God loves you because God is working on you and because you are unique.

And what a different message that is from the message we are constantly receiving from the world around us that we are only acceptable if we can measure up to some standard and if we don’t deviate from the norm. Never let anyone take away from you the joy in knowing that God delights in the uniqueness of who you are.

Dealing With Flaws

Now, none of that takes away from the truth that we do have flaws. We do often fail to measure up to the potential of who we could be. This is actually a central concern in what Jeremiah observes in the potter’s shop. He observes this as he watches, “The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.”

And I think that says a lot about how God deals with our flaws. Notice how different this is from the ways in which we deal with flaws in modern manufacturing processes. What happens to the bad pot or the cracked vessel on the assembly line? It is removed and unceremoniously dumped in the garbage.

And that is how we tend to deal with flaws and deviations in our world. You show your shortcomings, you get cancelled, rejected, thrown on the trash heap. Our modern and fast-paced world just finds it much more efficient to dispose of you than to give you the chance to improve yourself.

But the potter God that Jeremiah discovers is not like that. God is always going to give you a chance to start over, even to reimagine yourself. God doesn’t lose patience with you and is always ready to put the lump of clay that you are back on the wheel and start molding all over again. That is the promise of the God who is like a potter.

Not Just Personal

But there is one other thing that I do not want you to miss as you think of Jeremiah’s powerful image of God as a potter. The thing that provoked him to see that deep truth was not that he was discouraged about what was going on in his personal life. We are often tempted to make passages like this all about our spiritual journeys as individuals, but Jeremiah wasn’t thinking about that.

He was concerned about what was going wrong with the whole nation of Judah. The thing that he was imagining God balling up and putting back on the wheel was not him or any other individual, it was the Kingdom of Judah as a whole.

So, we should not leave this passage behind today without asking what it is saying to us about who we are together as a church. You may have come here today with an idea of who we are as a congregation. And, if you are like most Christians, you probably have an idea of who we are that is based on what you have experienced of the church in the past.

The Church as Clay in God’s Hands

But Jeremiah would remind you, me and all of us that, when it comes to the church, God is the potter and we are the clay. We imagine the church like clay that has already been hardened and fired. It is rigid, it can only take the form that it has always taken and be used in the ways that it has always been used.

But, in God’s hands, the church always remains the soft block of clay – always ready to be formed anew to face the challenges of a new time, always ready to be put back on the wheel and take a new form that God can use in a new situation.

We want to be the ones who chose our form, who tell the potter who we want to be. But that has never been how God has related to the church, so if we insist on that, we might just end up broken pottery shards lying on the ground.

God is the potter, we are the clay. It is an image that is meant to inspire and encourage us. It is meant to lead us into a deeper understanding of how we are related to the great Creator of the universe.

Watch Sermon Video Here:

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Hespeler, August 31, 2025 © Scott McAndless – Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 2:4-13, Psalm 81:1, 10-16, Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16, Luke 14:12-24

Earlier this summer, I was asked to perform a funeral for a man named Johnny. The family that requested this are not really connected to this congregation. But, whenever I am given the opportunity to minister to a family in such an important moment of their lives, I always agree, at least if it is at all possible for me to do so.

Making it Personal

But it is also really important to me that a funeral service be very personal. And so, if I never did know the person, I make a point of getting to know them by talking with the people who loved them.

So, I gathered with the family and learned about Johnny. He was a man who lived all of his life with severe disabilities. He was never able to speak. He could only walk with a great deal of help, and eventually he could not walk at all.

A Passage for Johnny

I believe that every person’s life has important things to teach us about the kingdom of God. It is with that idea that I approach every funeral. And so, I spent a considerable amount of time thinking about what Johnny had to teach us about Jesus’ idea of the kingdom of God. My reflections eventually brought me to our reading this morning from the Gospel of Luke.

I can honestly say that Johnny, this man that I never actually met in person, has taught me more about what Jesus was saying in this passage than all of the commentaries and sermons that I have read about it. It’s kind of amazing how often that happens. And I’d like to share with you today what I learned about this passage.

A Hot Dinner Guest

Jesus made a big splash wherever he went, and people often vied with one another to invite him to dinner in their houses. You know how it works. You invite the hottest local celebrity to come and eat at your house, then you invite all the most important people in town too, so that the celebrity’s fame and reputation rubs off on you. I’m pretty sure that the host of the meal that night thought that he had pulled off the social event of the season.

But at some point during supper, Jesus looked around the room and saw all of the rich and important people who were sprawling on the dining couches and he turned to his host. “When you give a luncheon or a dinner,” he said, “do not invite your friends or your brothers and sisters or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid.”

A Crazy Thing to Say

That was, to be clear, a crazy thing for Jesus to say. The entire point of this dinner party had been to enhance the host’s social standing. The whole point of it would be lost if he didn’t have all the “right” people there! So, I imagine that the host was upset when Jesus said this. But he was about to become enraged.

“But when you give a banquet,” Jesus went on, “invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you.” Now that was just ridiculous. It was one thing for Jesus to suggest that he should not invite people who would enhance his standing. But here Jesus was suggesting that he should actively invite those who would destroy his reputation in the town!

Marginalizing People with Disabilities

In Jesus’ day, it was generally taken for granted that if you were poor or disabled, it was basically your own fault. We still sometimes think of poverty that way these days, though we really shouldn’t. We often assume that if somebody is poor it must be because they are lazy or lack ambition.

But we generally accept that we can hardly blame people with disabilities for their limitations. They did. They just took it for granted that, if you had a disability, you must have sinned in some way.

Because of those false assumptions, they pushed people who struggled with poverty or with disabilities over to the margins of society. They certainly didn’t invite them to dinner parties and, if such a person were to show up, it would have had the effect of lowering the host’s social standing.

People Were Confused

So, I am sure that everyone present was kind of scratching their heads and wondering what Jesus could mean by saying such a crazy thing. And one of the people who was there thought he had figured it out. Such a thing made no sense in the real world, so maybe Jesus was saying something about another world – a world after death.

Maybe Jesus was saying that, if you performed insane acts of charity, like feeding the dregs of society, it would earn you a ticket to another life after you died. And so he shouted out, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

But that wasn’t what Jesus was saying at all. He wasn’t talking about another life. He wanted them all to understand that he was talking about encountering the kingdom of God in this life.

Jesus’ Picture of the Kingdom

But their minds were too small to imagine the picture of the kingdom of God that Jesus had in his mind – the picture of a feasting hall filled with the poor, people with disabilities and other marginalized folk. And so, Jesus did what he always did to expand people’s minds. He told a story.

Jesus was a master storyteller, so he knew exactly what to do to make them feel comfortable. He opened with a scenario that would have made perfect sense to them. He described a host who does what they all would have done. He plans a dinner, and he invites all the “right” people, all the people whose presence will enhance his reputation.

The Twist

Then, just when he had sucked them in, Jesus threw in the twist. As soon as the dinner is ready, it turns out that nobody – none of the “right” guests – can make it. Now this is a crisis because there is only one thing that is worse for a host’s reputation than having the “wrong” people at your dinner, and that is if no one shows up at all!

And so, the host panics. In desperation he implores his servants to drag in whoever they can find. And so it is that the end of the story sees the dining couches filled by people who are poor, people with disabilities and all manner of people who live on the margins of society.

What was the point of that story? I believe that the reason why Jesus told this story was all for the sake of the bizarre picture of the dinner party at the end of it.

Jesus was trying to impress on them that the kingdom of God is something that breaks out in the here and now and it breaks out when we give places of honour to those who are poor or disabled or otherwise on the margins of society.

Such a thing was so unimaginable that Jesus had to tell this strange and convoluted tale of a dinner party that went so disastrously wrong that the host was forced to invite all the wrong sorts of people. He told them this story just so they could get their heads around such a bizarre scenario.

Johnny

Yes, Jesus really taught that the kingdom of God worked like that. And many struggle to understand such a teaching; I always have. But, like I said, I was given a wonderful opportunity to reflect on what Jesus might have meant earlier this summer.

I never met Johnny, but I got to know him by meeting with his family and hearing from his friends and family at the celebration of his life. And yes, Johnny had disabilities. He could not speak. He could not walk.

Johnny did not live a marginalized life to the extent that such people would have in Jesus’ time. We have come a long way in terms of integrating those with such limitations into society. We probably still have a long way to go, but we are light-years ahead of how things worked in ancient times.

But some marginalization was unavoidable. Johnny did spend some time in institutions where he was mistreated in ways that I will not go into. His inability to speak also caused some serious medical problems as he could not tell the doctors what was wrong and so they often didn’t know how to help him and got his treatment wrong.

So. Johnny really does seem like a good example of the kind of marginalized person that Jesus would have imagined taking an honoured position in the kingdom of God. And, as such, his life taught me a lot about what Jesus was really trying to get people to realize when he spoke about that kingdom. I believe that Johnny has many things to teach us about what Jesus was really announcing

Defying Expectations

He has taught us, for one thing, that it is the nature of the kingdom of God to defy our expectations of what is possible. When Johnny was young, the doctors who directed his care confidently predicted that he would not live past the age of twenty. Well, when we gathered to celebrate his life, Johnny was just a little bit shy of his seventieth birthday. And we gathered to celebrate a life that had been full and meaningful.

But it was not just in terms of lifespan that he exceeded expectations. Johnny’s friends and family spoke at his celebration, as did some of the people who had supported him and given him care. They also counted him as their friend.

A picture quickly emerged of a man who, despite having suffered and despite many limitations, was able to radiate love and friendship. He was a man who could do little more than love you, but when he loved you, you knew it. It came to mean the world to you.

Advocate

I will admit that there was one thing that particularly took me by surprise as I listened to people share their love for Johnny. People spoke about how he would advocate, how he would argue for what was just and right and acceptable and act for those who were struggling.

I would ask you to think about that for a moment. Here was a man who could not speak, but he “spoke up” demanding action when needed. Here was a man who was confined to a wheelchair, but he “stood up” for what was right and just. Here was a man who could not walk, but he would regularly “step up” for others who needed help.

“Speak up – stand up – step up.” Have you noticed how so much of our language for activism and advocacy is hopelessly ablest? Hidden in the way we talk about it is the assumption that you have to be able-bodied in order to make a difference in this world.

How many of us excuse ourselves from taking a stand or speaking up for the injustice that we see in this world? “I’m no public speaker! I can’t take the risk of doing something! I wouldn’t know where to begin!” Johnny had all the excuses, and yet he made sure that the demand for rightness and justice was heard!

Laughter

One other theme also came up over and over as we celebrated Johnny’s life and that was laughter. He had a big belly laugh that everyone found to be infectious.

And I am pretty sure that laughter was a very big part of what Jesus was talking about whenever he described the kingdom of God. That picture of a big dinner party where the dining couches were filled with “the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame” was always and forever a picture of a room filled with laughter.

I know that, when we think of the kingdom of God or, as it’s often put in the Gospel of Matthew, the kingdom of Heaven, we often imagine another life that comes after this one. I am sure that that was a part of what Jesus was talking about, though probably not the main part.

So, while it is good to imagine Johnny today in a new kingdom where the voiceless speak and where those who wait upon the Lord can run and not be weary, they can walk and not faint, to take comfort in that vision of the otherworldly kingdom alone would be to miss out on the dream that Jesus was trying to put before us.

He was talking about a kingdom that can break out here and now and it will happen, Jesus assures us, when we are bold to give place and honour to those whom our society has left on the margins.