Event Calendar

Watch sermon video here:

https://youtu.be/xOsV1Ur7usU

Hespeler, June 7, 2026 © Scott McAndless – Communion, Second Sunday after Pentecost
Genesis 12:1-9, Psalm 33:1-12, Romans 4:13-25, Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

The promise that God gave to Abram was amazing: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” It was a high calling – an exalted and holy mission not only to find the potential in himself but also to have a fantastic and positive impact on the whole world.

But apparently, this promise could only be activated in one way. “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” And, as Abram looked around him, that seemed a little bit easier said than done.

Reasons to Stay

He had lived here in Haran for a very long time. He had put down deep roots, had developed a circle of friends. He had business contacts and connections throughout the area.

And then there was his father’s house. His father, Terah, had recently passed away at the ripe old age of 205. You think that King Charles had to wait a long time for his mother to die and to get the job he’d been waiting for all his life? Well, Abram had had to wait several lifetimes to inherit this house. How could he just leave it behind now?

More than just the house, though, he had his country, his national identity, his gods and his kin to think of. These were all the things that he would lose contact with, maybe forever.

Vague Promise

He also had a family that depended on him. He and Sarai did not have any children (something that had always been a sore point), but they did have an entire household of slaves, freedmen and clients. They all looked to him to provide for them. Was he really supposed to disrupt all of their lives for the sake of a promise?

But worst of all, the promise wasn’t specific. God wasn’t even telling him where he was going or what to expect when he got there. He was supposed to give up everything he knew for something he knew nothing about.

All these thoughts ran through Abram’s mind in the moment he received the call from God to go. He had every excuse in the world to stay exactly where he was. But what did Abram do? Did he let any of those considerations get in the way of the adventure that his God was placing before him? No, he did not.

“So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot and all the possessions that they had gathered and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran, and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan.” And the world, my friends, has never been the same since.

Matthew’s Enterprise

Matthew had built up quite a business for himself over the years. He had been able to bid for the tax-collecting franchise around Capernaum. Basically, he had promised the Roman agents that he would extract a certain amount of wealth from tolls, tariffs and taxes. And so long as he delivered, they really didn’t care about anything else.

Anything he was able to raise above what he had bid for the franchise was his to keep. And he could use whatever methods he desired. Extortion, theft, threats to break people’s legs or to send them to sleep with the fishes at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee – the Romans didn’t care so long as they got their cut.

So, Matthew had done well. It was true that everyone hated him for it. They knew that he was part of a corrupt system that was designed to squeeze every last coin out of their pockets. But he had made peace with that. Let them hate him; he knew that he and his family would remain secure. And that was what mattered, wasn’t it?

Follow Me

At least, he thought he had made peace with it until one day Jesus passed by his collection station. Now, we’re told that when Jesus called the fishermen, Peter, Andrew, James and John, he had a quip that he used to refer to their jobs. “Follow me,” he said, “and I will make you fishers of people.”

But apparently the only thing he said to Matthew was, “Follow me,” which seems to me to be a great lost opportunity. Why not at least say, “You can count on me”? Why not say, “Follow me and even in the most off-balance-sheet activities, your deferred impact liabilities will be fully amortized into equity of change, ensuring a positive net present value on humanity’s statement of affairs.”

That’s how you talk to an accountant, am I right, Vern?!

A Response

But amazingly, all Matthew needed to hear was two words: follow me. Maybe he was less reconciled to being a mere leech sucking the life out of his countrymen than he had thought. Maybe he hadn’t quite given up on himself.

He had no idea where Jesus was calling him to go or what he would do. There were no long-term actuarial forecasts or business plans. He was just supposed to follow.

And did Matthew hesitate? He immediately dropped everything that had given purpose and meaning to his life up until that point. He left his tax records and lists of people who owed him money. He abandoned all of the people who relied on him to get them rich, and he followed Jesus. And the world would never be the same again.

A Rich History

The people of Knox Preston Presbyterian Church had invested so much into their common identity, their building and their sense of mission and purpose for generations.

They had so many reasons to hold onto what they had built. Their congregation had given them a sense of identity and a purpose. For many of them, the most significant events of their lives had happened in that place and among those people: their weddings, the baptisms of their children, their mourning for loved ones.

And then what happened a couple of years ago? God came along and said, “Go, go from your congregation and your church family and your ancestors’ building to the place that I will show you.”

Did God Call?

Now, I know that there are some who might dispute that and say that it wasn’t God who said that. It was the Presbytery who said that. Or it was certain individuals who were given a position of authority who said that. And of course there is some truth in that.

But you see, it is rarely immediately obvious when a message is coming from God. There are always other ways that you could explain it away. Perhaps, Abram might have explained to himself, he was just depressed following the death of his father. Maybe it was just his own wanderlust that he was hearing, not the voice of God.

And when Jesus came up to Matthew’s tax office, for all Matthew knew, he was a nobody. How could he know for sure that this Jesus was speaking for God? No, when God is calling, that is something that you have to figure out. And the people of Knox Preston, despite a great deal of grief and loss and a few other difficult emotions, did discern that God was calling.

And what did they do? They went. And they went above all with good will, accepting that this was part of God’s plan for them. They went not knowing what on earth they were getting into. I mean, they’d met some people who had made some promises, but that was it.

But still, like Abram and like Matthew, they got up and went. And they became a part of this new thing that God was creating – a new amalgamated congregation. And the world would never be the same again.

How God Does It

You see? That is how God does it. We may have our personal plans and visions. We certainly have things that make us feel comfortable and secure. And God, it seems, has a habit of calling people out of that comfort and security and into radical trust.

So I ask you all today where that call is coming into your life. And let me ask you first of all as a congregation. As I just said, there are several people here who recently went through that process of leaving behind what was familiar and comfortable to become a part of this congregation. They have demonstrated their courage and their faith to us all.

Call to St. Andrew’s

But, if they were called to become a part of this new thing, weren’t we all? Let’s ask what God came along and said to the people who were part of St. Andrew’s Hespeler before all of these conversations started. What did God ask us to leave behind?

“Go from your concept of a congregation that is totally based on things happening in this one place in the village of Hespeler. Leave behind your comfortable cliques and familiar ways of getting things done. Abandon the familiarity of a church that used to be to fully embrace this new congregation with the same courage and faith that those who have given up so much have shown.”

And do note that God is asking us all to do this even though we still don’t know all that this new congregation will be. All we have is a promise from God that God will let us know when we get there. It’s only the same promise that he gave to Abram and to Matthew, and look how those promises turned out.

It is a question that all of us have to ponder, and not just those who came from a particular place. It is a call that God places on congregations from time to time, and we definitely seem to be in a season when many congregations are pondering such calls.

Call to Individuals

But I would be remiss if I didn’t put the question to you as individuals as well. I think all of us have to pause from time to time and ask what new and courageous thing God may be calling us to do.

How might God be speaking to you and calling you to some new adventure of faith? Do not expect to hear some divine voice booming from heaven with instructions for what you are to do. I don’t think that happened for Abram, and I’m sure that it didn’t for Matthew.

Expect God to speak in various ways. Sometimes it is when we learn to quiet our busy minds through the practice of meditation that the voice of God (that has been speaking to us all along) can finally break through. With quiet whispers, God may direct you in a new course.

But God may also speak through the passions and concerns that drive us. Have you found in your heart a new concern for some disadvantaged group? Has your creativity been stirred with some crazy idea for how a problem could be addressed?

These are experiences of inspiration, and they can absolutely come directly from God. We do also have to practice discernment about them. We need to pray and meditate over them, and we need to talk to the trusted voices of the people that God has placed into our lives. God speaks through them too.

Stepping Into the Unknown

But do not dismiss the thought that God may be calling you to step out by faith into the unknown. God has done it before; why wouldn’t God dream of doing something amazing through someone like you – especially someone like you.

Abram was a nobody. God could have called many similar men wandering around Mesopotamia at the time. For all we know, God did. Perhaps the only thing that was unique about Abram was that he listened and that he went.

Matthew wasn’t unique either. The land was full of tax collectors. And, for all we know, Jesus stopped by the tax offices of dozens of them before Matthew dared to do what Jesus said and get up and follow.

God isn’t looking for people who have got it all together. God certainly isn’t looking for people who know how it’s all going to turn out. God is looking for people who are faithful. God is looking for people who can hear the words leave, go and follow as calls to adventure.

And, yes, God may be looking for you.

Watch Sermon Video Here:

https://youtu.be/eBEq0DBpx98

Hespeler, March 29, 2026 © Scott McAndless – Palm Sunday
Isaiah 50:4-9a, Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29, Matthew 21:1-11, Philippians 2:5-11

Christian tradition decided a long time ago that the first Gospel in the New Testament was written by a man named Matthew. This has made the Gospel particularly important to the church because it assumed that this was the same Matthew who was counted as one of the twelve disciples.

That meant that this Gospel was written by an eyewitness – someone who was there and saw almost all of it for himself. It certainly made it much more important than the Gospels of Mark or Luke, which were seen more as second-hand accounts.

Tradition and Text

But I want to stress that tradition is not the same thing as biblical text. The Gospel in the original manuscript was written anonymously, and the title, “According to Matthew,” was only added later.

Today, those who study the gospels generally agree that this Gospel was not written by somebody who was there. It is generally dated to about 90 AD, after the original Matthew would have died. It also never claims to be an eyewitness account and shows many indications that it was not written by someone who was there.

Copied from a Source

The most important indicator is that Matthew (and I am going to continue to call him Matthew because it’s the only name we have) copied many of his stories from one of his sources, which was the Gospel of Mark. Whole long passages are word-for-word the same. That can only be explained by somebody copying somebody else’s work. And why would you copy the story if you were there yourself?

Why, even the story of how Jesus called Levi to be his disciple is copied straight out of the Gospel of Mark with only one significant change: Matthew changes the name of the disciple from Matthew to Levi. According to tradition, this is supposed to be the author’s own story! So why wouldn’t he tell it in his own words?

So, the scholarly conclusion is that Matthew, whoever he was, wasn’t there. That doesn’t take anything away from the magnificence of this Gospel. Matthew did not need to have been there to do an amazing job of pulling together his sources and knowledge to write one of the most amazing pieces of literature in the ancient world.

The Desire to Be There

But man, you can tell from the way he wrote that he would have liked to have been there. He is always drawing from his sources to give extra details and pack them with as much meaning as possible. And I get that, don’t you? Wouldn’t you have loved to be there too?

Take the events that we celebrate this Sunday. Who among us wouldn’t want to have been in the throngs that turned out to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem? That’s why we still re-enact it year after year, to find all of the depths of what it was like to be there.

Matthew tried to do that too. As he wrote, he did his best to immerse himself in the scene. I think it must have gone something like this.

Mark’s Palm Sunday Story

Matthew looked down at the scroll of what would someday come to be called the Gospel of Mark. It was unwound on the table before him. He had drawn from it again and again as he wrote his gospel up until this point. But now, the book was building up to the great climax of its story as Jesus arrived in Jerusalem before Passover.

As Matthew read through the account, he was captivated by the description of how Jesus had obtained a colt and rode it into town to the wild acclaim of the people.

Now, Matthew knew that the choice of a ride was not an accident. The particular beast had been chosen quite intentionally. Mark, the gospel writer, had gone out of his way to include that detail because he knew that it meant something. Jesus himself had likely made the choice because he too knew that a colt would make an important symbolic statement.

Making the Reference Clear

But Matthew was worried. He was afraid that his readers might not be as smart as he was. (This is, of course, an irrational fear that many writers suffer from.) His readers might not pick up right away that the colt was a reference to a particular scripture – a prophecy in the Book of Zechariah.

And so, Matthew decided, as he had done so many times before in his writing, that he needed to include the quote. This was not as easily done as you might think. He could not just Google the Book of Zechariah and then copy and paste. He could not even reach for a bound copy of what we would call the “Old Testament” on his shelf.

Finding a Copy

Any scroll was rare and expensive. Matthew had already blown most of his budget for this Gospel by commissioning someone to painstakingly copy out the Gospel of Mark by hand. So he could hardly afford a scroll of Zechariah. There were no public libraries. Even in synagogues, scrolls of the minor prophets were rare.

Matthew headed out to visit all of his wealthy and learned friends until he found one who had a precious copy of the Greek translation of the Book of Zechariah. Then he had to scroll through it (and this was in the days when scrolling was not just done with fingertips!) until he finally found the right passage.

He took out his tablet and carefully scratched the verses into the wax with a stylus: “Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

A Problem

As he returned home, he kept mulling those words over in his mind. Matthew was certain – as many early Christians were certain – that just about everything that Jesus did, he did to fulfill the scriptures. That meant that the words of Zechariah predicted that, one day, Jesus would come and ride into Jerusalem just as Zechariah had said. So, if Matthew wanted to know exactly what it was like to be there, he could just read the description of the prophet.

But, as he looked down at the words he had scratched into the tablet, there was a problem. The prophet had said that Messiah would come riding, “humble and mounted on a donkey, / and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” How could that be, he wondered.

Hebrew Poetry

Ancient Prophets gave their oracles in poetry. And in Hebrew poetry, the lines don’t end in rhyming sounds. It was more like rhyming meanings. In one line, you would say something one way, and then in the next, you would say the same thing just using different words.

Matthew was a very smart man, but he probably didn’t speak Hebrew. And nobody had ever explained to him how ancient Hebrew poetry worked. So, when he read that verse, he didn’t realize that Zechariah had been writing in poetry and talking about the same donkey in both lines.

So, as far as Matthew could see, the prophecy said that the Messiah had to ride in on the backs of two beasts. And Matthew knew that the Old Testament was a reliable source for the events of the life of Jesus.

Fixing the Contradiction

There seemed to be a contradiction in his sources! Mark had clearly described Jesus riding in on the back of one donkey, but Matthew had just learned that there must have been two.

So what did Matthew do? Well, actually, it was the easiest problem to fix. Just because Mark had only mentioned one animal didn’t mean that there couldn’t have been more. So, when he sat down again to continue his Gospel, he just “corrected” Mark’s little omission.

He expanded Jesus’ instructions to the disciples when he sent them to get his ride. Surely Jesus must have actually said, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me.” And so that is what he wrote in his papyrus scroll.

Corrected Version

And then, when the disciples return, Matthew corrected Mark’s story to say, “The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.”

And, in between the instructions and the result, just so no one would miss the point he was making, Matthew wrote in these words: “This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet: ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, / Look, your king is coming to you, / humble and mounted on a donkey, / and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

Did Matthew realize how much trouble he would cause for readers with his little correction? Did he anticipate that people would find the image of Jesus riding on the backs of two beasts at once so ridiculous that their imaginations refused to picture it altogether?

Not Seeing Matthew’s Picture

The triumphal entry into Jerusalem is one of those stock images in Christian art. People have been painting and drawing it for centuries. But if you go through that history, you will not find images that depict Jesus riding on two animals.

What are we supposed to do with the fact that the Gospel of Matthew insists that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of two donkeys? The reaction of the church over the years has been to ignore it or pretend that the detail is not there.

Some English translations have even obscured what the Gospel says, like, for example, the King James Version that translates the verse like this, “And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.” That kind of obscures the fact that the original text says that Jesus was sitting on both animals.

Respecting the Writer

But I respect the writer of the gospel too much to pretend that he didn’t write what I know he wrote. If you are going to accept the whole of Scripture as being inspired by God, then you have to accept all of it, even the parts that seem to be based on a mistake, right?

It was a misunderstanding of the Old Testament text that led Matthew to tell it the way that he did. But if so, and if it was inspired, that simply means that it was God’s will for Matthew to make this mistake and so tell the story this way. God, after all, can inspire scripture in any way that God wants!

Finding the Message

And that means that there is a message waiting for us in this odd detail in Matthew’s story. What then are we supposed to learn by imagining Jesus straddling his legs over the backs of two beasts like a circus performer?

The message, to be sure, is that Jesus’ coming is a fulfilment of scripture. Matthew makes that explicit. But there is surely more to it than that.

Young and Old Together

I think it means something that Matthew insists that Jesus didn’t just ride the parent, but also the child. Surely there is a message for the church in that.

Sometimes we think that it should be enough to take care of the traditions of our foremothers and forefathers. Riding in on the back of our longstanding Presbyterian traditions alone should be enough to get people to turn out in droves and cheer us on in our mission.

But Matthew here reminds us that there has to be a role for a new generation, a younger donkey. We must be open to new ways of being. And that younger generation must not merely be there to spectate and cheer us on, but be allowed to carry this enterprise in new directions – maybe even down a few Jerusalem side streets. We need to respect the baby donkey enough to let it carry Jesus into the world in its own way.

Personal Message

And what personal message might there be for you in this odd part of the gospel story? Well, let me ask you. Which beast are you riding on your spiritual journey? Are you riding on the back of the steady, reliable forms of your faith that you have always counted on? Or are you perhaps always jumping on the back of the young donkey and riding after every new and trending idea and practice?

Most people tend to go in one direction or the other. Many of us believe that tradition should triumph over all, while others will get so lost chasing after the latest thing that they forget where they came from.

But what does Jesus, interpreted for us by Matthew, have to say to that? What if he is saying that the best way to proceed is to stretch your legs over both the donkey and her colt? What if that includes respecting the spiritual journeys of others and being willing to learn from them too?

Following Jesus

We enter into Jerusalem today with Jesus, “humble and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The road that lies before us will not be all palm branches and cheers. Following in the way of Jesus will include rejection, betrayal and taking up your cross to follow him.

But we will follow. We will gratefully climb onto the back of both beasts because we know what lies beyond the cross and the grave. But, for that, you’ll have to stay tuned, as we continue the story next week.

Watch Sermon Video Here:

https://youtu.be/_xnDCPgTHIw

Hespeler, February 1, 2026 © Scott McAndless – Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
Micah 6:1-8, Psalm 15, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, Matthew 5:1-12

This is an interesting time be a Christian preacher. There is so much going on in the world that is distressing, and much of it is deeply political in nature. We can talk about international politics that affect us deeply, such as the tensions in NATO over Greenland and questions of Canadian sovereignty.

And then there are the politics that may not affect us personally but that are still deeply disturbing. An outstanding example of that over the past little while has been the rising tension and violence in Minnesota and other parts of the United States over immigration matters.

As I watch these and other similar political developments, I, like most anyone else, have strong personal reactions. I go through feelings of shock, sorrow, anger and outrage. To deny those feelings would be to be inauthentic. So, the question becomes how I can be an authentic preacher in such times?

No Expert

I am not a political commentator. Nor should I be. It is not my job to tell people what party to vote for, and the church needs to be a place where we accept different political opinions.

What is more, I am no expert in politics or international laws and treaties. I do not have any special knowledge of immigrants, refugees or how their cases and claims should be handled. So, who am I to tell you what to think about such matters? If you want to understand those things, you should listen to those who have studied the issues, not me.

But what do I do when those who do claim to be experts on those matters step into my area of expertise? What if, for example, the American Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (commonly known as ICE) starts to tell us how to interpret the Bible?

Last month, ICE, which has been given a huge budgetary increase and a mandate to hire thousands upon thousands of officers, put out a recruiting video. Except it wasn’t just a recruiting video. It was a biblical commentary.

A Recruitment Video

The video showed images of ICE agents at work. Decked out in combat uniforms and employing all manner of high-tech equipment from helicopters to night-vision goggles. They are brandishing both lethal and less-lethal weapons.

Such images of ICE at work are themselves nothing new. They may be disturbing, but anyone who has been paying attention has seen them before. What caught my attention were the words – the only words – that were part of the ad.

They appeared in Gothic letters (and yes, there was a message in the font choice – there is an association with certain political ideologies). The words that appeared over the montage were taken directly from the English Standard Bible Translation of our reading this morning: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

Now, as I said, those are the only words in the whole ad other than the contact information at the end. So, you may wonder why I would call it a commentary. How can you comment on a text without, you know, commenting? But, as we all know, a picture can be worth a thousand words. The pictures that accompany these words speak volumes.

Aggression and Violence as Solutions

They are all images that convey aggression and hostility. No actual violence is shown, of course, but the potential for it seems present in every frame. And the aggressors are clearly the ones who are being called “peacemakers” in the video.

The soundtrack of the video is a particularly dark cover of the song “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” And that idea that there are bad people out there who want to take over the world seems to be the only justification for the aggression and violence of the so-called peacemakers. Their aggression is the only thing that can counter the evil of everybody else who wants to rule the world.

Enemies

So, all of this amounts to a clear commentary on this one verse from the Gospel of Matthew. It is telling us, in no uncertain terms, what Jesus meant when he spoke of peacemakers.

And what he meant, clearly, is that the world is full of people who want to rule the world to destroy it. These are the enemies; they are other. They are different from us. Given that this is a celebration of the work of ICE, they are overwhelmingly immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers and members of various minority communities.

And if that is the situation, then clearly there can only be one response. Such enemies and the danger to peace that they pose can only be defeated by overwhelming violence and repression. Therefore, a peacemaker is someone who engages in that kind of violence.

This interpretation is also saying that Jesus said that people who carry out such violence are blessed. They are endowed with special divine favour.

Sons of God

It also strangely implies that they are men. As I said, this ad uses the English Standard Version. And the ESV is the only major version that translates the final part as “sons of God.” They do this, as is explained in the preface to the translation, for dogmatic and not grammatical reasons.

The word in the original context of the Gospel of Matthew means children. Even the King James Bible translated it that way over 400 years ago. But the makers of this ad chose an outlier translation for a reason. They are also declaring that the kind of peacemaking they are talking about is a masculine endeavour. It is something done by big burly men.

And because of that, the purpose of peacemaking is to use all that violence to protect vulnerable and feminine women, most particularly represented by their boss, the Secretary of Homeland Security.

That is quite a lot of content to pack into a short video, but it is all there. And I don’t think that the makers and those who approved the ad would disagree with me that that is the message that they are trying to get across.

Is That What Jesus Meant?

But the question is, is that a good interpretation of the verse? Is that what Jesus really meant when he said it? Finally, all my years of training pay off, and I have something relevant to say! First time for everything. I don’t know if I can handle the pressure!

So, is that what Jesus meant when he spoke of peacemakers? Was he talking about people who use violence to eliminate those who are different and who disagree with you? Can you achieve peace by silencing dissent and suppressing those who resist? It may seem as if that can result in a state where there is no conflict. If that is not peace, then what is?

Pax Romana

Such an idea of peace certainly did exist in the time of Jesus. They called it the Pax Romana, or the Roman Peace, and it had been established by none other than Caesar Augustus.

Augustus had sent his legions all over the world, and using the latest in military tech, they had destroyed anyone who disagreed with him. And when no one can oppose what you want to do, there aren’t any wars. Augustus proclaimed that he had established universal peace, the Pax Romana. He even built himself a massive peace prize, which he called the Altar of Peace in Rome.

And that was the world that Jesus lived in – a world under the Roman Peace. In that world, anyone who opposed what Rome wanted to do or withheld what Rome wanted to take was brutally eliminated. So Jesus knew such a concept of peacemaking. He could have embraced it. But is that what he is referring to in this verse?

What Jesus Was Talking About

The answer, quite simply, is no. The peacemaking that Jesus was talking about was not something that could be achieved through the violent defeat of those who threaten the tranquillity that you want.

We see that in the very word that Jesus used. The word is εἰρηνοποιοί, and it has a dual meaning. It is as much about doing peaceful things as it is about bringing about a peaceful outcome. And that means that you can’t make peace without being peaceful – at least, not the kind of peace that Jesus is talking about.

This becomes clear when you see the same word used in the Letter to the Ephesians. There the writer declares that Jesus himself is our peace and that he made peace (that is the same word) by breaking down the dividing wall and bringing people together with God in a new humanity. Most importantly, it states that Jesus made this peace by sacrificing himself on the cross. (Ephesians 2:14-16)

So, the kind of peace that Jesus is talking about can only be made by bringing people together, not by exclusion or segregation. And it can’t be made by acts of war, but only by acts of peace. It cannot be made by insisting that everyone do things your way, but by acts of self-sacrifice and mercy.

A Bad Commentary

So, let me speak today with clarity and from my own area of expertise and declare that this biblical commentary made by American Immigration and Customs Enforcement is just plain wrong. Let me further suggest that federal agencies should avoid trying to interpret the Bible. It seems to me that such efforts will not only lead us to bad interpretations, but also to some pretty dark places!

But I can hear their objections from here – maybe even some of yours as well. The objection is that, if that is what Jesus means, well, Jesus must be wrong. The objection is that you can’t make peace without knocking a few heads together because that is just how it works in the real world.

Objection to the Passage

That is, in fact, the objection that is always made to just about everything that Jesus says in this entire passage that we read from the gospel this morning. None of it is practical; none of it seems like it would work in the real world.

The poor in spirit seem neither happy nor blessed because of their situation. The meek hardly seem to be poised to inherit the earth. On the contrary, the aggressive and violent seem to be actively taking it over right now.

And when people actually hunger and thirst for righteousness sake – when they stand up for someone who is being harassed or arrested because their skin is darker or because they are different – what happens. We’ve seen it. They are not blessed. They get shot down in the street.

Rejecting the Wisdom of the World

What Jesus says in this whole passage is contrary to all of the wisdom of this world. So, if you want to reject what he says, you are not going to be alone. I fully expect that the world will continue to try and make peace by violently attacking those who would oppose it.

But, for my part, I will continue to believe that those who try to create peace on earth using the weapons of war may be able to create, for a short while, a bit of space where they get to do whatever they want and no one dares to challenge them. And I will continue to acknowledge that the strong and wealthy will inherit the earth (or so they will think) by their exercise of power.

But I will know that they will ultimately fail. Their peace is never a lasting peace because Jesus was right. You can’t make peace that way.

Jesus came to announce a different way of doing things – a different kind of kingdom. And maybe if we could just get past denouncing his approach and declaring that it could never work, we could get the kind of peace that can last because it is the kind of peace that transforms the whole world from the inside out.

Watch Sermon Video Here:

https://youtu.be/yykiCWR_Bjw

Hespeler, January 11, 2026 © Scott McAndless – Baptism of the Lord, First Sunday after the Epiphany
Isaiah 42:1-9, Psalm 29, Acts 10:34-43, Matthew 3:13-17

If you read through the Bible from beginning to end. You will come to a moment when you turn a very significant page. You have just finished the prophecies of Malachi, and you flip over and there you see it, the first page of the New Testament.

And the very important job of opening the New Testament has been given to the Gospel of Matthew. This is not because it was the first book written. Many of the letters and at least one of the other gospels were written first.

But the church decided that Matthew had to come first so that it could be the one to introduce the all-important new main character of the Bible: Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus had been prefigured and prophesied in the Old Testament. But in the New, Matthew gets to finally bring this central character on stage. And Matthew absolutely rises to this task.

Matthew So Far

Over the past few weeks, we have read together the entire text of the Gospel of Matthew up to the passage we read this morning. And if you have followed along, you have already learned so much that is so important about this Jesus.

You have learned from his genealogy that he is descended from a line of kings and so is the rightful heir of the kingdom of Israel. You have learned that he was born of a virgin and that his birth means that God is with us.

You have also learned that he was recognized as king and honoured by foreign Magi, but that he was feared by the ruler of his own people, who attempted to kill him as a child. You learned that he was a refugee in Egypt who then found asylum in Nazareth of Galilee.

Main Character Hasn’t Done Anything Yet

Those are all vital things to know about Jesus. They are central to the Christian understanding of him. But I want you to note something. We have learned all of this without Jesus actually appearing in the story.

And that makes what happens in this passage we read this morning so important. In this passage, Jesus finally emerges onto the scene. After hearing all these things about Jesus, we finally meet the man. We have his first action and, even more important, his first words.

First Words

And you should always pay close attention to the first words of a new character. In fact, I believe that Matthew is such an extraordinary writer that he goes out of his way to pack everything we need to know about Jesus into Jesus’ very first line.

So, what is the first thing that Jesus does in the Bible? “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.” So, Jesus’ first act is to choose to be baptized by John.

And right there, actually, we have a problem. In fact, of all of the things that Jesus ever did, this first act proved to be one of the most controversial for the church.

Problems With the Baptism

Surely you can see the problems with this. For one thing, Jesus being baptized by John suggests that he is John’s disciple. And if Jesus was the disciple, well, then John was the master. In other words, John was somehow greater than Jesus, at least for a time.

In addition, John declared that his baptism was for the forgiveness of sin. So, Jesus being baptized suggests that he had sin that needed forgiving.

Well, the early church had major problems with both of those ideas. And so, they had a deep discomfort with this first act of Jesus, even though they could not deny that it had happened.

Problem Addressed

And we can see that discomfort in this passage we read this morning, can’t we? When John the Baptist says to Jesus, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” he is not just speaking for himself. He is speaking for the gospel writer and also for many other believers who have struggled with this incident.

But all of that controversy is merely setting the stage for the main event in this passage: Jesus’ first words. How will he diffuse all of the tension surrounding his first act? Well, despite all the buildup, Jesus doesn’t disappoint.

“But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.’” And let’s focus on that very important answer and what it means.

The Simple Response

First of all, these words diffuse the problems surrounding Jesus’ baptism by John. Jesus essentially agrees with John (and Matthew and most Christian theology) that he doesn’t need to be baptized by John. He is clearly not subservient to John, and he has done nothing that needs forgiveness.

That is the most basic meaning of what Jesus says. In the Good News Bible, which Jean read for us this morning and which tries to keep the language as simple as possible, this verse is translated as, “Let it be so for now. For in this way we shall do all that God requires.”

And that is the essential meaning of Jesus’ reply. He is saying that he is simply checking off a box on his to-do list. He is like a student who takes a required course, not because he expects to learn anything from the professor, but simply because the course is required to get the degree. He is an actor who is simply following a script.

So yes, on a basic level, Jesus is saying, “Okay, John, you know I don’t need this, and I know I don’t need this, but we’re going to do it anyway because the boss says so.”

The Complex Response

But as I said, the Good News Translation does go for the simplest and most straightforward interpretation. But the fact remains that Matthew did not write it quite as simply as that. In fact, the words that he chooses are not the words that you would normally choose to say such a thing, and that is surely not something that happened by accident.

Matthew is packing a bunch of keywords into this line, and he is doing it on purpose so that we, the readers, can understand exactly why it is that Jesus has shown up on the scene at this moment. So, let’s break down this line and try to understand what it is telling us about who Jesus is.

Let It Be So

Jesus doesn’t start by saying, “Let’s get this over with,” or “Let’s fulfill the expectation.” He says, “Let it be so now.” This is central to Matthew’s entire project of writing this Gospel. He is letting us know that his story is not just about a bunch of things that were done and said so many years ago. He is telling us that every act of Jesus may have happened in a particular moment, but the “now” of Jesus’ actions was always connected to his being.

His baptism, in other words, is not just a one-time event. It is about Jesus’ very being. It is about him inhabiting the whole of humanity, including what it means to be a disciple and in need of forgiveness. Yes, Jesus may not have sinned, but he chose to enter completely into the human condition.

Fulfilling

Jesus goes on to say, “for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” And that word, fulfill, is a key word for the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew is the one who constantly tells us that Jesus spent all his time going around fulfiFlling things.

And what Jesus usually fulfills, as far as Matthew is concerned, is prophecy. Again and again, he tells us that this happened or Jesus did that in order to fulfill some Old Testament prophecy, which he then goes on to quote. Only Matthew does this, and he does it all the time.

 And, since he usually says it in relation to some prophecy, it might be easy to assume that all he means is that somebody predicted something and then Jesus went and did that thing. But this verse makes it clear that it is a little bit more complicated than that.

The word he uses literally means to fill something up, like when you fill a cup with wine or a swimming pool with water. So, what Matthew is literally saying is that Jesus was going around and filling up holes and vessels.

Prophets and Prophecies

Old Testament prophets were not generally in the business of making predictions. Their task was to speak the Word of the Lord to people in their own time. But that kind of speech created holes – gaps between what God required and what the people actually did. When prophets did speak of the future, it was to outline the consequences that came from those gaps.

What Matthew is saying, therefore, when he says that Jesus fulfilled these prophecies, is that Jesus filled up that gap. Jesus, with his words, his acts and his ultimate sacrifice on the cross, filled up all of those holes that were between us and God. Jesus bridged the gap between God’s expectations and our abilities.

Fulfilling Righteousness

But, of course, in this verse, Jesus isn’t talking about fulfilling some prophecy. He is fulfilling something else: righteousness. On one level, that is a way of saying, “I need to do the right thing,” but it also means so much more than that.

Righteousness is the key thing that God seeks from humanity. God wants us to live in the right ways. The word also refers to justice. So when God asks for righteousness, it also means that God is requiring us to act justly, to create justice in the world and to destroy all systems that treat people unjustly or unfairly. God’s request for righteousness is a big ask.

The Gaps We Leave

And the problem is that we don’t manage to live up to that requirement. We fall into greed and oppression. We participate in systems that treat people unfairly. We misjudge, act cruelly, and sometimes we just fail to do the right thing.

Oh, we try. Some of us try very hard, but we are always going to fall short somewhere. There are gaps between what God requires and what we can do. There are even gaps between our best intentions and what we actually manage to do.

So, what is Jesus saying when he says that it is proper for him to fulfill righteousness? He is saying that he has come to fill those gaps between what God requires and what we can do. Jesus has come to make us acceptable before God despite those shortcomings.

Jesus Fills the Gaps

And here Jesus is saying specifically that being baptized by John is filling that gap. John’s baptism, as I said, was for repentance and the forgiveness of sin. But Jesus and John have apparently already agreed that Jesus requires neither repentance nor forgiveness.

And so, Jesus is declaring that he will do it anyway in order to enter fully into the human condition that made us require such things. The forgiveness obtained from his baptism doesn’t go to him, therefore, because he doesn’t need it. It is obtained for the sake of others – for the sake of you and me.

First Words Matter

But remember what I said about the importance of these being Jesus’ first words in the entire New Testament. This means that this is not just about Jesus’ baptism. Matthew has gone out of his way to make these first words of Jesus communicate to us that this is what the entire life and work of Jesus will be about.

Everything that Jesus will do, therefore, all of his words and his deeds, will be about fulfilling God’s call for righteousness and justice for our sake. In these opening words, we have the whole message of the Gospel.

We have fallen short. We have left that gap between God’s requirements and our shortcomings.

But Jesus has come to fill those gaps with his obedience, his grace and his unmatched demonstration of the love of God. Hallelujah, and thanks be to God for such love made real before our eyes.

It is all there, right in the first line. Not bad for an introduction to a pivotal character.

Watch sermon video here:

https://youtu.be/st0A82Ax2pY

Hespeler, December 28, 2025 © Scott McAndless – First Sunday after Christmas Day
Isaiah 63:7-9, Psalm 148, Hebrews 2:10-18, Matthew 2:13-23

King Herod was convinced that he was the greatest king who had ever ruled over the people of Israel. But he had been king for over thirty years now, and there was no way around the fact that he was getting older. He was already in his late seventies. Where had the time gone?

And he was starting to show his age. He was retaining fluids, he fell asleep in meetings, and his mind was just not as sharp as it used to be. At least, that’s what some people were saying. There were reports about it all over social media (by which I mean people talking to other people in social interactions).

Herod insisted that all of this was fake news. He was particularly upset that everyone was talking about such things rather than how great he was and how wonderful all his accomplishments were. This was not right. He had to do something to Make Herod Great Again®.

Truth^®

And so, Herod decided to employ his own private social media system to get his Truth® out. He had his slaves print out his thoughts on little slips of parchment. And then he sent them out in the hands of his servants to proclaim to the populace.

There were, to be honest, thousands upon thousands of these posts. Sometimes Herod would be up all night dictating them. But they were all thought to be lost to history. But recently, a few of these long-lost texts were discovered in a trash heap at Herod’s palace at Masada. And these texts have given us an incredible insight into the twisted mind of an ancient authoritarian.

Building Projects

Take this text for example:

“The people of Judea have never had such a hard-working king as me, your favourite king. I have so many building projects going on all over the place. I’ve built up the city of Caesarea Maritima with a HUGE new harbour. The kind of harbour that they’ve wanted to build for over 150 YEARS. I’m building the Herodium, the best palace/tomb combo anywhere in the world. And I’m finally fixing up the temple of that WOKE LOSER, King Solomon. It was in such sad shape. Everyone was saying it. But MY temple will have the biggest stones that anyone has ever seen. And yet, does anyone appreciate all that I do? The priests just complain about some wall that I demolished without getting the proper permits. I AM THE KING, I DON’T NEED PERMITS.”

Strange Visitors

Yes, the collected posts of King Herod the Great contained a great deal of similar material, so I won’t become repetitive by reading it all. But, in the years just before his death, Herod’s posts definitely took a more, let us say, paranoid turn. Take this post, for example:

“Some very important men showed up in Jerusalem today. They call themselves Magi. I hear they are dressed like you wouldn't believe and they have camels and tremendous gifts of GOLD and some other stuff. I am sure that they have heard about how great Herod is and all that he has accomplished. Probably have come to give me a PEACE PRIZE or something like that. That just goes to show that these Magi are pretty wise. Going in to bless them with my presence now.”

Magi Hoax

However, this original text was quickly followed up with another:

“It turns out that these so-called Magi are not quite so wise as everyone says. They came into my throne rooms and started spouting some wild HOAX about a king of the Jews being born – a king, mind you, who has nothing to do with Herod or his family. They have obviously been influenced by my many TREASONOUS enemies here in Judea. Going now to consult with my Department of the Law about who we can prosecute for this TERRIBLE CRIME against my kingdom.”

Lawyers Are in on It

But it seems that that meeting with the experts in the Law did not quite go as expected for only shortly afterwards Herod posted this:

“Well, it seems that even my Department of the Law has fallen victim to Herod Derangement Syndrome or HDS. They too have fallen for the Magi Hoax of a new king being born. In fact, they tell me that there is a prophecy about just such a thing happening. They say that this new king is supposed to come from Bethlehem, which is a very weak city – barely even a town – and yet they say a ruler would come from it. Anyways, as soon as I heard that, I knew that somebody was starting a new hoax, the Bethlehem hoax I call it. But Herod is too smart for these people. So I go into these Magi, these wise guys, and I tell them that they should go down to Bethlehem and report back to me on what they find. That’s why they call me GENIUS. I get them to do all the work of searching and then I can take care of this hoax and kill it in the cradle, as they say.”

Failure to Return

Sometime afterwards, the posts indicate that Herod felt disappointed by the Magi:

“Can you believe these so-called ‘Wise Men?’ They are a total DISGRACE! I told them, very clearly, “Go find the child and COME BACK.” Simple! But they GHOSTED me. Lied! They took their gold, oh, their beautiful gold, and ran off like cowards. Very disloyal. Very FAKE. They were supposed to help me ‘worship’ the child, but instead I hear that they listened to a DREAM. A dream! Not even a real person! Total setup. Deep state nonsense.”

Anger at the Magi

And then, well, I am sad to say that the posts take a very dark turn as Herod rages in his sense of betrayal:

“The FAKE MAGI betrayed me. Said they’d return with info on the so-called “King of the Jews.” Very dishonest. But Herod cannot just forget about this. Their fake story about a child born in Bethlehem, some kind of Messiah, is a dangerous idea and a threat to national security! We can’t allow radical elements to destabilize Judea. I’ve made this kingdom the hottest country in the world, made the Temple GREAT AGAIN — and now this? A baby uprising? I am consulting with my Secretary of War about taking STRONG action to protect the kingdom. No threats to the throne. No Magi-backed “kings.” We will RESTORE ORDER and CRUSH the chaos.”

Anger at the Children

But soon, Herod seemed to forget about the Magi. Perhaps they somehow managed to leave the country without him knowing. That is when he turned his attention to a new and unexpected foe:

“A lot of people don’t realize this, but the children of Bethlehem are a danger to our kingdom. I'm talking about the ones who are 2 years old or less. They bring absolutely nothing to this kingdom. In fact, they are little better than garbage. And, because they live in Bethlehem, they are probably victims of the woke idea that someone from there could be born a king. Something definitely needs to be done about this whole situation. And only the HEROD ADMINISTRATION has the courage to do what needs to be done to protect our great kingdom. Please stay tuned and thank you for your attention to this matter.

Innermost Thoughts

As you have probably picked up, there is no secret cache of lost posts made by Herod the Great that has been unearthed in Israel or Palestine. I made up all of it. But wouldn’t it be something to have some of that kind of information?

We live in a modern age of social media, which means that anyone, if they choose to do so, can share their innermost thoughts with the whole world. And some celebrities and some leaders do actually choose to do that. I suspect that some others don’t choose to reveal those innermost thoughts, but they do have a way of coming through their posts, whether they want it or not.

But with ancient people, you don’t get those deep insights. We don’t get them with a fascinating character like Herod the Great. We have to figure out what he was thinking and what was motivating him by reflecting on what he did.

The Slaughter at Bethlehem

And it is all that harder when it is difficult to know what he did. His slaughter of the children in Bethlehem is an example. We have good historical sources on Herod’s life and career, and there are good accounts of the atrocities that he did commit. But none of them mention an attack on Bethlehem. In fact, the archeological record indicates that hardly anyone was living there at the time.

So it is hard to prove that Herod committed that crime. But everything we know about the man indicates that he was quite capable of doing exactly that kind of thing. He never hesitated to wipe out anyone who stood in his way, and that not only included children, it included his own children.

So wouldn’t you like to know what makes someone do something like that? That’s why I wish we had this kind of post for Herod. And I suspect that, if we did, we would discover a man who might have seemed powerful and decisive on the outside, but on the inside was deeply insecure.

Those who have the power that enables them to lash out against anyone they choose and choose to use that power are afraid. They are afraid that, if they show a bit of weakness, someone will exploit that weakness. Most of all, they are afraid that, if they lose the power that they have, they won’t be anything anymore.

A Scared, Dangerous Child

I have no doubt, therefore, that, if we got that look into the psyche of Herod the Great, we would find a scared looking child staring out at us. A dangerous child to be sure, but a child none-the-less.

We seem to be cursed to live in a moment when authoritarian leaders like Herod are on the rise. This is something that is happening all over the world right now and it is disturbing. I hope that you might find a little understanding of what might have been going on in Herod’s mind helpful in such a moment.

Authoritarians Don’t Get the Final Word

But there is another reason why I focus on Herod at such a time. That is because the disturbing slaughter of children in Bethlehem is not the final word on him. The king that the Magi were searching for, the king that Herod so feared, did come. He had no more power to prevent that than if he had been trying to prevent an incoming tide.

You see, the tyrants, they don’t just feel weak on the inside. They are weak on the outside and their power is an illusion. God is taking history somewhere, and it is not towards the twisted goals of the powers of this dark world. That is the message of Christmas, and it flies in the face of all the tyrants of this world.

Watch sermon video here:

https://youtu.be/V0xug7t0bBY

Hespeler, December 24, 2024 © Scott McAndless – Christmas Eve
Matthew 1:18-25

I am pretty sure that, if the writer of the Gospel of Matthew had to summarize the entire message of his work with just one word, it would be the word that he introduces in his opening chapter.

It is a word that he pulls from the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah and, knowing that his audience does not speak Hebrew, takes the trouble to translate for them. That word, of course, is Emmanuel and, as Matthew so helpfully tells us, it means “God is with us.”

Sometimes, though, I think we may think that this word is just about what is happening in this particular passage. That is, it is only about the strange, miraculous conception of Jesus.

After all, Matthew tells us that Mary became pregnant through the action of the Holy Spirit in order to fulfill an Old Testament prophecy about a virgin conceiving. And the child in that prophecy is given the name Emmanuel.

But that Emmanuel idea is not just about how Jesus was conceived. It is, for Matthew, the essential meaning behind Jesus’ entire life and behind Matthew’s story of that life.

That is why Matthew doesn’t just open his Gospel by saying that the birth of this baby means that God is with us. He also ends his Gospel by giving, as Jesus’ final words, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” The entire book is about how God is and always will be with us in Christ Jesus.

For the story of Jesus’ Nativity is not about the mechanics of one particular child’s conception. Matthew isn't trying to explain how it happened or how the DNA of this man, Jesus, could possibly be both human and divine at the same time. If you try to understand that, you will never make logic or sense of it. (And believe me, Christians have been trying to make sense of it for two thousand years.)

Instead, he is inviting us to experience that presence of God with us in Jesus. As the Gospel progresses, we will meet people who are sick, disabled, struggling with poverty or social exclusion among a host of other issues. And at every point, we are meant to ask, what if God were present for that person in that moment? And, in the wonders, the healings, the affirmations that Jesus offers to those people, we are to see an answer to that question.

So, one thing that Matthew is telling you in this opening passage is that no matter what you may be struggling with this Christmastime, God wants to meet you where you are in Christ Jesus.

Jesus came into the world – became human just like us – so that God can understand what it is like to carry the pain that you carry in your body or in your soul. God became human so that God may know what that anxiety or fear that cripples you is really like. Jesus came so that God might know your frustration when you can’t make ends meet or when you feel completely frazzled by all you have to do.

So, Emmanuel, first and foremost, is meant to bring you comfort and joy as it lets you know that, no matter what you are facing, you are not alone.

Emmanuel is also a challenge to all of us – a challenge to see and know that presence. We all know how hard that can be when you are caught up in your worries, fears and troubles. That is why Matthew constantly reminds us that we need to have faith. It means that, as we learn to trust that presence of God with us in our troubles, we will be able to experience it more and more along with the healing, hope and renewal that comes with that trust.

But this Gospel also brings out a surprising meaning of Emmanuel as you read it through. Matthew is the only writer who includes one particular parable of Jesus; it is the parable that Jesus ends by saying, “for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” (Matthew 24:42-43)

I mean, this comes out of nowhere. All of a sudden, we discover that one of the ways that God continues to be with us to this very day is in the faces and the outstretched hands of the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the poorly clothed, the sick and of the people we write off as criminals!

These are the people we do our best to ignore as we pass them by in the street. These are the people that we post nasty things about on the internet and that we are afraid of. Yet Jesus is telling us that he is constantly trying to reveal the presence of God to us through them.

And I know this is a shocking thing to hear from a Christian preacher, but I think Jesus is right about that. I have experienced it myself, and I know that some of you have as well. When you get involved in offering food or clothing or your loving presence to people who are struggling, you will have undeniable experiences of the presence of God. There will be moments when you see Jesus in that person across from you.

So, that is what Matthew tells us that Christmas is about. It is not just about some miraculous birth that took place two thousand years ago. It is about how we continue to experience Emmanuel in our daily lives, and how that changes everything.

Watch sermon video here:

https://youtu.be/-EChpW88kzw

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

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

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

Why These Women?

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

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

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

Matthew the Storyteller

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

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

Ancestral Witnesses

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

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

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

Tamar

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

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

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

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

Tamar Saved the Nation

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

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

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

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

Rahab

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

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

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

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

The Power of Shame

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

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

Ruth

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

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

Having No Support

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

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

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

A Helper

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

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

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

Bathsheba

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

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

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

A Survivor

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

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

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

David’s Failures

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

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

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

Bathsheba Saves the Nation

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

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

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

Ready for the Angel Visitor

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

Never Discount Anyone

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

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

Watch sermon video here:

https://youtu.be/pvou1fAWNNA

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

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

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

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

The Return of Christ

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

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

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

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

Positive and Negative

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

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

Ambivalence Towards the Future

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

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

An Announcement

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

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

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

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

Am I Crazy?

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

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

Joshua Mhlakela

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

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

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

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

Not Getting Personally Sucked in

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

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

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

Damaged Caused

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

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

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

Fear of the Future

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

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

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

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

Exploitation of the Fear

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

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

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

Jesus Does Not Exploit Our Fear

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

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

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

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

Letting Go of Control

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

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

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

Facing the Future with Confidence

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

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

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

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