Sun. Dec. 28, 2008 (Kevin Hiebert)

Due to the snow closure, Kevin Hiebert gave a "virtual sermon" by sending out the text of his talk (see link below). He reminded us that the 12 Days of Christmas only STARTS on Christmas Day, and that what we receive as gifts are often different than our expectations. He started by talking about the lectionary text from Psalm 148 in which all of God’s Creation is called to praise him. Kevin quoted Paul H. Seely's explanation of the Hebrew word raqia which is translated as “heavens”, “expanse”, “firmament” or “dome” -- NOT the same words as what’s used for the breathable atmosphere. There is a lot of debate about what the “waters above the dome” are, but the idea of a massive heavenly ocean held back by a transparent dam would nicely explain the source of rainfall to those not familiar with the evaporation/condensation cycle, and fully explain the blue colour of the sky during the day. Then Kevin moved on to Luke 2 verses 25-38, the story of two prophets: Simeon and Anna. Simeon was looking forward to the consolation of Israel and Anna was looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. God promised Simeon that he would see the saviour of both Jews & Gentiles before he died. Kevin provided a dramatic re-telling of the story of Anna and Simeon by Ralph Milton. He also quoted Fred Craddock: "Jesus will bring truth to light and in so doing throw all who come in contact with him into a crisis of decision. In that decision, rising and falling, life and death, result. Jesus precipitates the centrally important movement of one's life, toward or away from God." Some controversy was raised when Kevin asked what would happen if we saw each person as having role in the fulfilment of God's promises. [KJH] Read the full text of Kevin Hiebert's sermon from 12/28/08.

Sun. Dec. 7, 2008 (Janice Kreider)

On December 7th, 2008, Janice spoke on "The Book of Lamentations as Background to Isaiah 40". Isaiah 40 suddenly speaks of comfort and peace, using words that have become beloved through Handel's music. But why this sudden shift in the Book of Isaiah? Scholars now think that more than 100 years separated Isaiah 39 from Isaiah 40. There had been a brief interval of peace, during which King Hezekiah (foolishly) showed off all his treasures to an envoy from the up-and-coming city-nation, Babylon. Babylon soon decided that small Jerusalem was worth 'colonizing', and the sufferings began in earnest. The Book of Lamentations is best understood as being inserted into this historical gap (ch. 39--40) in Isaiah. Of the first two chapters of Lamentations, each verse begins with the next letter of the Hebraic alphabet (helping readers commit the poetry to memory). There are two voices, those of the narrator and the feminine voice of the Daughter of Zion. Lamentations is often ignored by evangelicals because of its inherent problems: (1) the downplaying of the admission of sins, (2) God is portrayed as an abuser who brings suffering on Judah, (3) the severity of the punishment ("is there any sorrow like my sorrow?") and agony which is only amplified by the lack of spiritual support, (4) the call to punish the enemy (also heard in the Psalms but not the New Testament), and (5) the lack of response from God, for God's silence in Lamentations gives even greater prominence to the book's complaints (unlike the Book of Job in which God has a voice). However, this book is useful to us. It sets up the second half of the Book of Isaiah and writings attributed to other prophets, it gives voice to suffering (the sort of strident voice we would appreciate if we really suffered), it reminds us that life is complex, and it raises serious questions about God's role in the world's suffering. [JEK] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday Dec. 7th, 2008 using your browser's preferred media player.