Sun. July 31, 2011 (Walter Bergen)

We were delighted to have Walter and Janet Bergen with us again, members from our very earliest days 25 years ago. Walter continued our summer series of talks on women in the bible by recalling the stories about Hagar (Genesis 16 and 21). Abraham obtained the slave girl he called "Hagar" during one of his visit to Egypt. Sarah and Abraham are portrayed as believing God's promise that they would conceive a son, but as time passed, they took matters into their own hands by using Hagar the slave-girl as a concubine [she is called "wife" in Genesis 16.3, but still referred to as "your slave-girl" three verses later; concubines could be used as surrogate wombs and their children could be fully adopted if the master so decided]. However, Hagar's success as a surrogate womb only made matters more difficult, for Hagar is not portrayed as being loved or rewarded by either Abraham or Sarah, nor as loving in return. She had merely been a tool to be used for their purposes. Hagar and Ishmael were unexpectedly expelled from the protection and support of the camp--against all local customs and practices--and left to die, being somehow sustained by God. Walter portrayed Hagar's life as a story of sexual abuse, of treating a woman as an object rather than someone to be respected, and of a woman being discarded when she was no longer useful to the 'real' family. How would the story have differed if either Abraham or Sarah had ever shown love to Hagar? This sordid tale shows "Father Abraham" and Sarah as spiritual and ethical failures before they finally developed into people of faith. Are there any Sarahs in our lives, any Abrahams who need to be guided, or any Hagars or Ishmaels needing love and protection? [JEK]

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, July 31st, 2011 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. July 24, 2011 (Rosie Perera)

Rosie Perera continued our summer series on Women in the Bible by speaking on Joshua chapters 2 and 6 which tell the fascinating story of "Rahab the prostitute". Moses had recently passed away and Joshua had emerged as the new military strategist. He decided that his first conquest would be the fortified city of Jericho. Rahab openly ran a brothel/inn, possibly as its madame, possibly as a retired former concubine of the king, and possibly because her family had rejected her and would not support her. She most certainly was not merely your ordinary inn keeper. She lived "in" the city's wall, which placed her on the edge of Jericho's society, protected yet vulnerable as a prostitute. We surmise that she was wealthy because she had enough flax drying on her roof to hide grown men from the king's police investigation. Hers is a story of deception, which was considered acceptable in war then, as now. Yet her story is also one of an emerging faith in this Yahweh, whose followers were enjoying unusual success. The writer of The Book of Judges concluded that Rahab was saved physically because of her open expressions of faith, and notes that she saved all of her family (even if they likely had possibly not helped her because of her work) and that she saved all of the working women in her establishment. Rahab through her daughter-in-law Ruth, became the great grandmother of King David, and therefore an ancestor of Jesus. [JEK]

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, July 24th, 2011 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. July 17, 2011 (Chelle Stearns)

On July 17th, Chelle Stearns (Theology Professor) spoke on "The Un-named Woman" (Matthew 26.6-13), the second in our summer series on women in the bible. It had been a busy week for Jesus, with the 'triumphal entry' into Jerusalem got things rolling. The morning's s story took place while Jesus and students were being hosted at the house of "Simon the leper", who is otherwise unknown to us. Chelle approached the story through a painting by "Arcabas" (Jean-Marie Pirot) who has been working primarily in Saint-Hugues-de-Chartreuse but also in Ottawa. His paintings are often inspired by biblical stories, as is true for "L'Onction de Nard" ('The Nard Ointment', but Catholics would also read "extreme-onction" into the title, as in Last Rites). In this work we see the faces of Jesus and the woman at the moment at which she is pouring out the costly nard perfume (from the Himalayas) on the head of Jesus. Jesus is portrayed as accepting this unusual gesture or "anointing". The woman is shown wearing the garb of an early-20th-c. nun, suggesting that she is declaring herself to be celibate, possibly (like nuns) being 'married' instead to Christ, and that the very expensive perfume represented the marriage dowry which she was forgoing in order to work with the poor (an interpretation added by later tradition). Her otherwise ridiculous act is portrayed by the gospel writer as being a prophetic anointing which proclaims the Jesus is the Messiah, something she was possibly led to do by the Holy Spirit. We, too, are called to be like this woman and name Jesus. [JEK]

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, July 17th, 2011 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. July 3, 2011 (Laura Eriksson)

Laura Ericsson began our series on Women of the Bible. As she researched her message, conversations with other women she knew about “what makes a good story?” inspired Laura to see in the story of Ruth and Naomi many reflections of her own experience, and evoked an inquiry into God’s moving in mysterious ways. Her curiosity is piqued by Ruth’s inclusion in Jesus’ lineage rom Matthew - how did she, a Moabite woman, get into Jesus’ background? The four hundred years of the judges were dark days for Israel, and the death of Naomi’s husband and two sons made her sojourn in Moab fleeing famine in Israel, an unhappy one. Her decision to return home to Israel to Bethlehem, to be redeemed by family relations and feel closer to God was sensible. So too was her daughter-in-law Orpah’s decision to remain in Moab. Ruth’s decision, however is magic, and rewards Naomi’s grace and blessing of her daughters-in-law with Ruth’s loyalty. Did Ruth see in Naomi’s love for her God a blessing for her own life too? We are not told. Her return to her hometown as the barley harvest was beginning evoked in Laura of the times of harvest on the farm on which she grew up. Ruth fits right in and contributes to the community, the extended family; and God and Naomi begin to bring about a future for her. As Boaz’s attention is drawn to Ruth, his obligation to “redeem” must be properly done, and celebrated in land and covenant. Thus through Boaz, a son to Ruth - Obed - became a father to David in the line of Jesus. Laura identified three themes. God’s kindness overshadows our bitterness, seen in Ruth’s loyalty, Naomi’s blessing and chesed to her daughters, and in Boaz’s treatment of the foreigner Ruth. Two: A kind of dignity is present in distress, and Laura told stories from her own past about the kindness of strangers giving her dignity. Three: Grief turns into gratitude. God’s mercy gives us the grace to go on in our grief, and gives us a chance to redeem our lives in gratitude, and Laura read from Psalm 116, which she noted could be Naomi’s Psalm. This great story of redemption and grace and chesed rejuvenates our faith in God, who asks us to do the same. [AP]

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, July 3rd, 2011 using your browser's preferred media player.