By admin, on June 27th, 2011
June 26, 2011—Matthew 10:40-42
Last week, I preached on the riots in Vancouver, and the escalation of a mob mentality. Now we have the sequel. So the mood turned quickly — from commiseration, to shock, to anger. By Sunday, people were outing the rioters on Facebook, identifying them based on pictures that ran on the Internet. Some of the pictures, showing young people smiling in front of damaged cars and store windows, could inspire only our outrage. One young woman, who went into a store and stole two pairs of men’s pants — for a souvenir, she said — lost her job. A few parents turned their kids in to police, forcing them to take responsibility for what they had done. A 17-year-old delivered himself to the police station and owned up to stuffing a lit rag into the gas tank of a police car.
The reaction by citizens has been angry and hostile. Parents have reported getting death threats to their homes. One family has even moved out. People who participated in the riots have been attacked verbally online. Even those who were on the streets when it happened — and as one woman explained on CBC this weekend — and who could not easily escape when the riot began have been the subject of nasty critics.
There’s a line here, and we need to ask ourselves whether it has been crossed: have we passed from righteous indignation to self-righteous scapegoating? We want to think that this was the work of disenfranchised thugs, but it wasn’t: many of these people were youth who are from families that are stunned they would act this way. It could have been any one of us. As parents, it could have been any one of our kids. We want to believe otherwise. But those parents, the ones forcing their kids to own up to what they have done, also believed it to be so.
The gospel this morning gives us specific directions most importantly, in these words from Jesus: Whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple — truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward. We know our calling: to serve and tend to others, especially the little ones.
Continue reading Sunday Sermon: Pentacost 2
By admin, on June 20th, 2011
Matthew 28:16-20
This week, on the eve of Father’s Day, I am sad to say, we saw true evidence of man’s weaker nature – on display, in Vancouver, for the rest of the world to see. And I say man on purpose, because the pictures prove it was mostly men, and young men, trashing their own city after a hockey game. A hockey game which seems big until you start comparing it to the reckless damage they caused. On one Facebook post, a young guy – foolish enough to openly use his real name – bragged about punching a police officer and flipping cars – “smart” cars, especially, the environmentally friendly ones. In his post, he goes on to brag how he is going to be on the news: he writes one word – history!
But it was one video in particular that struck a chord with many of us. In the video, one man emerges to stand before an angry mob, throwing rocks through windows. He’s a regular looking guy – a regular looking dad kind of guy - a bit overweight, balding, wearing a Canucks hat. He stands in front of the mob and declares: “This is my city!” and orders them away. The mob pauses as one unit. They aren’t sure what to do. And then one person steps in and punches the guy, and the rest follow. The man eventually falls down, beaten and kicked. This video will go around the world in less than 24 hours. Not a proud advertisement for the Canadian hockey fan—or for the Canadian male, for that matter.
 Michael Fry plays a violin adaptation of Luther Vandross' "A dance with my Father"
And so, this morning, Paul tells us: Put things in order. And we have this horrifying and shameful example of how disorder trumps order so many times. This is an especially nasty one: how could a hockey game rank higher than the life and safety of even one person, let alone thousands? It is a concrete visual example of the power of mobs, especially ones with muscle.
By admin, on June 9th, 2011
 St. John Picnic, 1948 St. John’s annual picnic will be held on June 12 this year after worship. This year, we’re preparing a banner as part of the Kairos’ Banner Train calling on the Harper Government to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Hope to see you there!
By admin, on May 19th, 2011
Sometimes, in Canada, we make the mistake of looking with a long lens for poverty issues that require our attention. But in truth, we don’t need to look very far at all. In Canada, the two real divides in this country are not French and English or East and West. They are First Nations and non-aboriginal. The grim conditions on First Nations and Inuit territory taint every international standard on which Canada is measured. When researchers list the best places to live in Canada, reserves are always at the bottom. While we grumble about the quality of our classrooms, the children there go to schools where mucky water comes out of taps, if they run at all, or the buildings are contaminated with mold. While we are renovating our living rooms, their houses are crumbling around them because they were not built to withstand the weather conditions. They have the highest rates of poverty, addiction, school drop-out, and teenage suicides. This last is at epidemic proportions. First Nations men and women will crowd our soon-to-be-built super-prisons. And these issues build with each struggling generation: there are currently more aboriginal children in foster care – often far from their communities – than ever attended residential schools. Western provinces expect these numbers only to grow. And meanwhile, children who live on reserves receive significantly less funding for education and other services than our own privileged children.
We should be ashamed of this. Instead, too often, we are overwhelmed by it. Or we say it is the government’s responsibility. Or worse, we cast blame that borders on racism. We see only what is close up and not the big picture – the abject poverty, the mental health problems that linger from a history of persecution, the lack of opportunity. There are no easy solutions to this, but it’s hard to hear both our second lesson and our gospel today and not hear clearly that we should be doing something.
Continue reading Fourth Sunday of Easter
By admin, on May 19th, 2011
May 8, 2011
It is one of the failings of human beings that we put so much value on appearance and first impressions. A limp handshake makes you doubt a person’s strength of character. Attractive people are naturally assumed to be smarter and more intelligent. Even your name causes people to decide who you are before they even get to know you. The whole concept of speed-dating is based on the idea that we can learn all we need to know about a person in five minutes or less. In my experience, people are sometimes – but more often not – what they seem. And we often get in the quick-to-judge trap and miss out on friendships or romance.
Continue reading Mother’s Day
By admin, on May 19th, 2011
The day before an election is probably not the best time to be preaching on blind faith. If ever there was a time when we should be asking our leaders to put their cards on the table, to prove there promises are real, this is it. In fact, that’s actually our job as voters – to question and challenge, not to settle for hearsay and conjecture. It’s our job to be the doubting Thomas – and ask for evidence.
Continue reading Conformation Sunday
By admin, on April 28th, 2011
Easter Sunday—April 24, 2011
Christ is risen indeed Alleluia!
Alleluia is one of those magical words in the Bible. Like Amen, it needs no translation. It is impossible to say without feeling joyful – no matter the nature of your belief. It can mean happiness. It relates to the inspiration of discovery. It can refer to the end of a long journey. And all those definitions apply today. Directly translated, amen means “so be it.” It is the sign off to our prayer and leaves us with the sense that things now reside in the hands of God. Alleluia is literally a word of praise and embrace for God. But it runs so much deeper than that. We bury our Alleluias, so to speak, for Lent, not because we put on hold our praise for God. We are ritually placing ourselves in anticipation of Easter, putting ourselves in a state of contemplation for what is to come. Alleluia is a word that suggests celebration, but also abandon. It is a word that implies action, a moving forward, energy. Alleluia! What’s next? Alleluia! What now? Alleluia! Let’s get going!
Continue reading Christ is risen!
By admin, on February 27th, 2011
 The congregation at St. John celebrates a gift to Seminary This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Eastern Synod of the ELCIC–our larger Lutheran family from Sault Saint Marie to Halifax. It is also St John’s 115th anniversary and Waterloo Lutheran Seminary’s 100th anniversary. A few years ago St John gave Waterloo Lutheran Seminary a twenty-five thousand dollar interest free loan to help our seminary during a redevelopment period. With the good work of our seminary and the excellent leadership they have shown in becoming a relevant place of learning in this day and age, St John voted to forgive the loan as an anniversary gift to Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. What a great way to celebrate three communities of faith. Happy Anniversary!
By admin, on February 20th, 2011
Welcome to St. John, a small Lutheran Church that welcomes everybody. St. John has some exciting events planned for the next couple of weeks. Read on to get the low-down, or check out our calendar:
- May 15: Service at Gary J Armstrong Centre, 10:30am; Pastor Joel presiding; the Bible study group will meet to discuss the movie Monsieur Lazare, 7:00pm, at the home of Carol Christensen. Anyone interested is welcome-go to see the film before that evening then come and join in the discussion.
- May 20 ‘Food Cart Sunday’ for Partage Vanier.
- May 26 Spring concert given by the New Edinburgh Community Children’s Choir, in the church; 6:30pm. Everyone welcome.
- May 27 Pentecost Sunday and Confirmation Day at St. John. We are also celebrating the Eastern Synod’s Praise Appeal for the National Office of our ELCIC. We will be taking photographs for the new St John members’ directory. Please allow extra time after the service for this. If necessary, we will be taking photos on June 3 as well. We’ll keep you posted. Thanks for your co-operation.
- June 5 Ladies’ social circle meets, 1:30pm, at the home of Karen Wollenschlager, 3040 Mannering Court. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you need a ride.
- June 9 (7:00pm-8:30pm) The Ottawa International Drumming Festival In Collaboration with St.John Lutheran Church Proudly Present: ’Africa Night” Benefit Concert! Come celebrate an evening of great music and dance for a great cause Featuring:
* Afrobeat Project
Complex fusion of Jazz, Funk, psychedelic rock and traditional West African style percussion
* Thai Dance Troupe Of Ottawa
Traditional Thai dance of Thailand
* Drum 4 Life Rhythms of Afro-Cuban & West African
Where:270 Crichton Street,Ebinger Memorial Hall, New Edinburgh, Ottawa, Bus route # 9 Price: Admission by Donation All proceeds go towards the construction of a school in Liberia and to fund a medical clinic for homeless women in the Ottawa area. Bring the family, friends, and kids ! ottawaidf.com – 613-749-7840 stjohnlutheran.ca – 613-749-6953
- August 16-19 St John has a team of five youth attending the national youth gathering in Saskatoon, CLAY 2012. Please consider helping with costs through your regular offering.
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