Sun. Feb. 10, 2008 (Rosie Perera)

Rosie Perera noted that the first Sunday of Lent was also Communion Sunday in our monthly calendar, so she led us through a study of the ceremonial meal of the Christian church: "The Lord’s Supper", a.k.a. the "Eucharist". She reviewed the scriptural references such as the fact that it was a Passover meal in Luke 22:15 and she called attention to the presence of Judas in Matt 26:21,23, and that it signaled the New Covenant in Matt 26:28. The Mennonite tradion of "do this in remembrance of me" comes only from Luke 22:19. Rosie raised the tricky subject of the body and blood of Christ and discussed the spectrum of intepretations from spiritually literal (Roman Catholic transubstantiation) to symbolic (as we Anabaptists take it) with Lutherans and Calvinists/Reformed in the middle. She also talked about how the frequency of practice ranges from weekly (or even daily) in some churches to once a year (at Easter) in others. On the thorny subject of being careful not to partake in an unworthy manner, she made the point that it shouldn't be about arriving at the table without guilt or blemish, but to respect the unity of sharing the celebration that Christ instituted (rather than just guzzling the wine and wolfing down the bread). Some groups like the the Lutherans are strict about only allowing their own denominational member to participate, while we leave it up to the individual to determine their own worthiness in open communion. She analyzed the four verbs used during the execution of the ceremony with reference to the bread: took, blessed, broke, gave away. Rosie then constructed a list of ten elements to think about based on Gordon Smith’s little book A Holy Meal: The Lord’s Supper in the Life of the Church: Remembrance, Community, Forgiveness, Sacrifice, Covenant, Spiritual nourishment, Thanksgiving, Anticipation of the final Banquet, Mystery, and Mission. The full text of Rosie's sermon is available for download as a Word document. Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday Feb. 10th using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Feb. 3, 2008 (Janice Kreider)

Janice Kreider spoke on the last Sunday of epiphany, a midpoint in the tale told by the gospels, of the “between” of the transfiguration. This process was not something Jesus did to himself, but something that was done to him, we are told, by God. His white clothes, the companions Moses and Elijah, all bear enormous significance for Jewish listeners. Both Moses and Elijah may not have experienced death, were associated with mountains and clouds (in which this event took place), both were associated with rebellion and rejection, yet both upheld both the law of God. The tent of meeting, the feast of booths, and the internal dwelling of the righteous in heaven are all possible interpretations of the booths Peter sought to construct on that mountain in celebration of that event. He so obviously wanted to prolong the beautiful experience of the visit of these prophets in concord with his beloved Teacher, but it was not to be. Why was this passage included? It’s important to remember that this as part of the gospels, written so long after Jesus’ death, was written to emphasize the godhead of Jesus, as well as that previously-important Jewish law was to be superceded with God’s blessing, not on the whim of a teacher, no matter how divine. There are many parallels to the Gospel of John in this story, although John does not talk about this Transfiguration, and as an apocalyptic account, we are best served to look at how our Orthodox brothers and sisters look at this event. The unmitigated light of God, unrevealed to the intellect, but rather to the whole person, is a miracle never before and never since performed. We owe it our whole attention
and worship. [AP] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday Feb. 3rd using your browser's preferred media player.