July 27, 2008 (Paul Thiessen)

Paul continued our summer series of talks on the parables, those fascinating stories which invite us into another world in order to tell us a spiritual truth, yet leave us in sufficient doubt about the meaning so that we are encouraged to contemplate the stories from various points of view. Paul spoke on the parable of the great wedding banquet. In Matthew’s version (chapter 22), the king sent out the two traditional invitations (one asking you to clear your calendar, the other on the day itself saying it is time to come). In Luke’s version (chapter 14) people gave all sorts of lame excuses, which listeners assume to be outright lies, each of which lets folks engage in activities which are of secondary importance and get out of participating in the most important thing in life. Analysts have proposed that in the parable the king represents God, the servants represent the prophets, the bridegroom is Jesus, those who reject the banquet are the Jewish contemporaries of Jesus, and those brought in unexpectedly from the streets are the Gentiles, but other interpretations are also available. Since Matthew 22.7 is unusually harsh, some have wondered whether it was added by Matthew as a way of updating the story to encompass the disastrous destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Matthew 22.11 is also somewhat harsh, telling of one invitee being cast out for not wearing the proper wedding garb (presumably provided by the king). This reminds us that even though we are invited to the banquet by a very generous king, we should not assume that because God loves us as we are, we do not need to change anything in our lives. Instead, we need to put on the new wedding garb of patience, love, etc. The parable cleverly tells of an upside-down kingdom in which the wrong people unexpectedly get into the all-important banquet. [JEK] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday July 27th, 2008 using your browser's preferred media player.

July 20, 2008 (Ruth Enns)

Ruth spoke about the parables of humility. She reminded us that the rights and freedoms that our society provides us with can cause us to focus too much on self-reliance and competition. The mass media preach self-promotion in a "me-first" world where humility is stereotypically associated with humiliation and depression. The parables of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector demonstrated how admitting one's shortcoming was valued over pious acts. The parable of the banker and the much-forgiven debtors was used to celebrate the beautfil action of the woman who washed Jesus' feet in gratitude. [[ SPOILER ALERT: parallels made with plot elements of the movie "Sex and the City" are in the recording from mm:ss 12:15-13:15 ]] Parenting is a lesson in humility, as is caring for the aging or infirm. Humility is not an excuse with withdraw in a sense of lowliness, but to recognize our limitations and attempt to value and understand the people we encounter -- even in our busy and crowded world. [KJH] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday July 20th, 2008 using your browser's preferred media player.

July 13, 2008 (Don Teichroeb)

Don was grateful to be able to speak on generosity, and began by updating the parable of the good Samaritan to modern day Vancouver, enabling Don to point out how our modern social-justice attitudes are in reality not so far from those of the passers-by in the parable. Don succinctly translated the attitudes of those who afflicted the traveller as “What’s yours is mine” of the robbers; “What’s mine is mine” of the passers-by, or stinginess; and “What’s mine is yours” of the Samaritan, or generosity. Don then went onto the second parable of the vineyard owner, in the time of the great harvest. The vineyard owner hires the strongest workers in the morning at the promise of a living wage, and with repeated hires, the owner likely got less-able men whom he hired without promise of a living wage. Yet at the end of the day, each with the same denarius in his pocket, this unequal treatment appears unjust and unfair to men with mouths to feed, but there is no doubt of the owner’s generosity. And in the last parable of the sheep and the goats, Don points out the message is overtly about generosity to others, and submits that we are called to four attitudes: to be generous means to be responsive to need, respond with compassion, with practical help, and with follow-up help. There is to be no discussion of the merits of the recipients. Yet is this our first response? How often do we say “well they deserve it - they’re living a life made of poor choices.” And for ourselves we look down and say”There but for the grace of God...” But do we mean it? A tornado touches down and takes one house, and leaves the next. A farmer’s crop is destroyed and his neighbour’s is spared. There are as many reasons for generosity as for condemnation - which will you choose? Don is inspired by the many examples of generosity Mennonites have given to their neighbours through MCC around the world. [AP] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday July 13th, 2008 using your browser's preferred media player.

July 6, 2008 (Brian Burtchett)

Brian Burtchett, a Regent grad and wired-world-worker at UBC opened the summer series on parables with the Parables of Compassion, which Brian pointed out had more to do with “lost-ness” than anything else. The celebratory nature of the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin were contrasted with the very difficult news of the return of the Lost Son. It is easy to rejoice over the return of items or animals, but when the lost one plays a great part in their own “lost-ness” as does the Prodigal and his brother, it becomes much more difficult to celebrate the return. Brian updated the parable to modern times with some heart-wrenching examples of prodigals and their families, and without pointing fingers, allowed people to see how current attitudes to those on the Downtown Eastside are the antithesis of what Jesus calls us to. [AP] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday July 6th, 2008 using your browser's preferred media player.