Blessing (Anita) / God's Story at NPMC (Patrick)
May 3, 2015 | Anita Retzlaf, Patrick Preheim
"Blessing" (Anita)
The first Sunday service in this building took place on April 4, 1965. I would like to begin my short reflection with a prayer from that service 50 years ago. Let us pray. “God, make the door of this house we have raised to Thee, wide enough to receive all who need human love and fellowship and a Father’s care; narrow enough to shut out all envy, pride and hate. Make its threshold smooth enough to be no stumbling block to childish, weak or straying feet; but rugged enough to turn back the Tempter’s power. God, make the doorway of this house the gateway to Thy Eternal Throne. AMEN”
The language of 50 years ago does seem significantly different for us today. The official dedication of our church took place on June 13, 1965, ten weeks after the first worship service. At the dedication Rev. J.J. Thiessen spoke, probably in German, on the text from I Kings 8 hearkening back to the dedication of the temple that Solomon built. I felt that text to be a little over the top for what we celebrate today and so chose a few verses from that same chapter with a slightly different focus: blessing the God who has remained close to the people through all things.
That is what we celebrate today; blessing! We bless God and give thanks and praise for 50 years of service and worship. God blesses us for what we have tried to do in honesty and good faith. God’s promises have been central to our mission and worship prompting us to respond with lives of discipleship and an ongoing ministry of inclusion and encouragement. It has been 50 years – 2 generations of people have come and gone. Not many of us have seen all 50 years of this church’s life. I would like those here today who are charter members or their children to stand. There are others who are still alive today who could not be here for health and other reasons.
The world has changed phenomenally in five decades. Driven by the explosion of technology communication here at home and around the world has been altered so decisively and at such a rapid rate that we have lost our “predictability” moorings. We can no longer plan for 10 years down the road because the road keeps shifting under our feet. We can but only look through a glass darkly when it comes to the future. But that’s OK. We have not lost our faith moorings or our social conscience. In fact, these days of uncertainty are pushing us to forge ahead and re-focus our energies. Our mission in the world is no longer focused on foreign souls far away but on the needs much more locally. We have poverty and racism and equal rights and ecology and community-building to work on right here at home. Of course, we have a responsibility to assist in areas of need around the world, like Nepal today, but we are changing our ideas of what mission entails.
We are also changing the way in which we understand and interpret the Bible. That is a huge deal in our world and in this congregation today. 50 years has seen a significant shift in the way in which we read and use the Bible and I will be bold enough to say this morning that I believe that shift has not happened fast enough. The church has lost many of our siblings, children and grandchildren because we weren’t quick enough to rebut the negative aspects of evangelicalism and fundamentalism. God’s heart is love not condemnation, not eternal hell-fire. And you know what? It’s not as easy to offend God as some of us have been trained to believe. If you reflect on the text from 1 Kings you will note that Solomon is confident that God has not abandoned him or his ancestors in spite of all of the trouble that has come and gone. Those of you who have read significantly from the Old Testament know the blood and guts and drama that characterize the sin of God’s people. And God did not forsake His Own – that’s us.
So we can take courage as we turn our sights toward the next 50 years in our desire to be faithful. We know by now that God doesn’t care whether we have installed pews to replace the chairs that originally seated our faithful. God does not care whether we purchase an organ or a grand piano or put on a new addition to our building; these are our little systems that assist in our work and they mean a lot to us. God does care that our witness is loving and a reflection of the Divine Creation. Solomon prays that: “all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.” The world will only know this if they see it in us. So, we may make some errors in Biblical interpretation, take the risk of preaching in the English language or disagree about which fixtures to install on our premises. Our primary fear should not be that our innovations turn God away from us but rather that we refuse to offer our hearts and lives to the God of love so that others can see. In faith we give our lives into God’s service, today and throughout all our days. We ask the blessing of our God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Happy Anniversary! AMEN
"God's Story at NPMC" (Patrick)
A few decades back I had the privilege of taking a course from David Schroeder. He had just retired from official duties at Canadian Mennonite Bible College and was a guest professor in central Kansas. It must have been in one of his lectures on a book of the Old Testament that Herr Doktor Professor Schroeder went on rant. Well, a rant for Dr. Schroeder amounts to him speaking more quietly, annunciating each word in his English tinged with German accent. “We tell our history all wrong. We make books which detail our family accomplishments, our exploits, our successful migrations. These books are primarily about us. This is not what we see in the biblical texts. These tell history differently. They are the story of a God who redeems a flawed and failed people. Are we so much better than these biblical characters? Who do we think we are?” (paraphrased from David Schroeder’s biblical survey course at the Great Plains Seminary (N. Newton, Kansas) winter 1994). I have never thought of family history or anniversaries the same since that quiet rant.
Psalm 136 was one way1st century Jewish communities told their congregational history. Psalm 136 was nicknamed the Great Hallel (praise)—the Great Psalm of Praise. It was sung responsively as the culmination of the morning worship during the three great festivals (William Holladay, The Psalms through Three Thousand Year, p. 142). A priest, Levite, or choir would have intoned the first line of each verse with the congregation singing the refrain (Robert Bratcher & William Reyburn, A Handbook on Psalms (in the UBS seris), p. 1107). I suspect Psalm 136 achieved this honoured place in the festival liturgy because it so clearly synthesized the faith journey of the community. It links God’s saving acts of the past to the present faith community. And by extension, it places the unknown challenges of the future in the hands of the God who has loved us, chosen us, saved us. Three times a year they would sing this salvation history. And in so doing they would once again dedicate their future to the God who redeems a weak and wayward people.
On this 50th anniversary of Nutana Park Mennonite Church, how shall we tell our story? The way we choose to tell our story says much about our world view. Are we the movers and shakers of this world who have shaped this community and country for the better, or are we agents of God who out of abundant grace has seen fit to use the likes of me and you? We are creatures, not the creator. Our existence as God’s people is tied to God’s steadfast love, not any great Spiritual aptitude on our part. It vital we remember that our way forward as a Jesus people rests on our reliance on Jesus and his father who art in heaven, not our own understanding or strength. These sentiments are the overarching themes of Psalm 136, and it makes me wonder how the story of NPMC might go if told in the style of Psalm 136? Let us give it a try.
I will read out a line and I invite the congregation to respond with the refrain, “for your steadfast love endures forever”. I will prompt you with I this signal.
We give you thanks, O God, for your care of those who have dedicated their lives to you, this congregation, and service to their neighbours. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
When they signed over their homes as a guarantee to finance this building, you became their security. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
You went before them to the edge of town as they left 1st Mennonite, friends and family. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
You multiplied their numbers as you drew people unto yourself in this place. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
You did not let divisions fragment your people: (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
Divisions over budget, bursaries, or building expansion, (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
differences over pastoral leadership, program, or politics. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
You have blessed those from here called to help plant Wildwood Mennonite Church. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
You have cared for those whose grief and pain have led them to other congregations. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
You have accompanied those sent far for education and employment. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
When our children and grand-children have turned away from you, you have not turned away from them. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
When we have neglected our relationship to you, you have pulled us back to you. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
When we have hurt a brother or sister, you have sought healing. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
You have sheltered those who still call this place home (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
You have tended the cycles of life in creation and this congregation. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
In weddings, baptisms, births, and child dedications you have been made known. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
In mourning the deaths of our friends and family you have been felt. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
You have given our living and our dying meaning. (R) For our steadfast love endures forever
You gave this congregation imagination and compassion to marry divorced persons. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
You strengthened this congregation as they called women to lead. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
You guided this congregation to the gift of ecumenical and inter-faith relationships. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
You have abided with us in our journey to embrace non-heterosexual Christians. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
In all this you have shielded our spirits and kept our hearts in Christ Jesus. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
You have made this congregation a refuge for many. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
O God, parent of the whole human race, & Jesus Risen Christ- we place our future in your hands. (R) For your steadfast love endures forever
On this we trust and rely. In the decades ahead, O God, receive our worship, use us for your glory and for our neighbours good. To these ends we ask that you bless us and keep us.
Amen.
