Sun. Oct. 26, 2014 (Thomas Bergen)

Thomas Bergen spoke on "Liturgies of the Stadium" as part 2 of 3 in his sermon series. Cultural institutions like the Mall (Sept. 28), the Stadium (today) and the University (Nov. 23) have intercepted humanity's spiritual longings and use rituals that promote idolatrous versions of religious worship. A religion is more than a set of beliefs, it is more about what it makes people do, and what does for them. As we saw during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Futbol in Brasil is not just a national pastime, it looks more like a religion in that society! Liturgies capture our imagination and direct our hearts towards an object of love and worship: idolatry is about the things we love. Beyond the superficial resemblances like saints & shrines (Hall of Fame) and houses of worship (arenas and fields), sporting events reveal their religiosity in three ways:

1. Intensity of devotion. Our culture glorifies professional spectator sports, with fans (short for fanatics) showering top talented athletes with attention and compensation. Athletes too have bought into a whatever-it-takes attitude, sacrificing their health for the game.
2. Social cohesion. Like praise choruses in church, a chant of "GOAL" celebrates a collective triumph, and wearers of team jerseys feel an instant affinity for each other. Football sanctifies specialization and pushing over (or running past) your opponents to gain territory. As a substitute for ancient war-preparation exercises, sports are now associated with patriotism, starting with the singing of national anthems.
3. Suspension of the normal rules of morality. Sports builds character, but what kind -- only the characteristics that fit with the competitive imperative to win the game? The "killer instinct" must be nurtured to arguably psychopathic levels in order to win by ruthlessly out-competing your opponent without guilt. 

Can we imitate the playfulness that God demonstrated in creation? Like sports, the rules of the game of life (love God and love your neighbour) give us the sacred bounds within which to play in our lives. How can we as Christians redeem sports and resist the idolatrous liturgies of the stadium? Play sports with joy, in the image of God. Unlike a sports celebrity, Jesus will never let us down. [KH]

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, October 26th, 2014 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Oct. 19, 2014 (Heather Pauls Murray)

Heather Pauls Murray, in her first time public speaking at a church, told stories of the heart. When first at the Menno Simons Centre twelve years ago, she, in the insignificance of her life, was confronted by an important figure who noted that ‘this is one of many important times in your life’ and is to be lived fully.  Life at the residence reinforced that view in discussions with fellow residents on the meaning of life, consideration of agonizing questions, all of which strengthened her spirituality.  The searching for knowledge typified by university was set in its proper place by her reading of Ecclesiastes 8:16, noting the search after knowledge was fruitless. The living of life instead - dinners, talks and hikes with friends - instead determined the growth of her spiritual life.  Once married and with family (a new stage with equal value), Heather noted her spiritual life remains heavy with feeling and emotion, immune to the searching for knowledge, until suddenly the lived life illuminates Scripture.  1 Corinthians 13's passage on Love conflicted with Heather’s understanding of knowledge as eternal.  But as she lived her married life, she came to realize how much more eternal and transforming was love, compared to knowledge, which seems to change with every stage and generation.  So too did her understanding of John 15:12-37 on sacrificial love also transform her once she had a family.   Stories of neighbours caring for parents and friends sacrificing their schooling for others reinforced this view for Heather. ‘Why should we sacrifice? is the answer of the head full of knowledge.  ‘Why should I not sacrifice?’ is the answer of the heart, informed by Scripture.  God as father now also stands out for Heather in a different way from her early life.  The un-understandable fears of her parents on a long trip to the Yukon now find meaning for Heather as she watches her own children meet life’s challenges.  Heather is always reminded that there is a time for everything - a time for study, travel and adventuring; a time for pouring everything into her marriage; and now is a time for sacrifice for her family.  At every stage, there will be a passage of scripture to illuminate itself for her that was previously hidden.  So too is it for each of us - young, old, working, retired, in school, at home, out in the world - and every stage is to be lived fully.   [AP]

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, October 19th, 2014 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Oct. 5, 2014 (Veronica Dyck)

Dr. Veronica Dyck took us from a harvest of luscious wine and sweet grapes on an Okanagan winery tour to "A Harvest of Sour Grapes" in a series of lectionary texts.  In 8th-century BCE Judah, King Ahaz and his yeoman’s army faced the professional army of King Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria.  Isaiah used this invasion to deliver oracle after oracle, using images of food security (a bounty of grain, olives and grapes) to recall the people of Judah to justice under God’s hand.  In Isaiah 5:1-7, the image of a vineyard, carefully planted and lovingly tended, yields a harvest of rotten fruit.  In the last verses of the passage, the camera pulls back to reveal God the gardener, the people of Judah the bitter harvest, and the oracle of destruction was pronounced upon the vineyard for the sins of greed, seizure of land, and refusal to honour God’s covenant law. This juridical parable, like the one Nathan spoke to King David of the poor man’s lamb, condemned the rich and powerful in strong language. Veronica then turned to Matthew 21:33-46 in the passage of the owner of a vineyard and his tenants, to illustrate Jesus’ commitment to God’s justice was no less than Isaiah’s, and his language no less effective. In evading Pharisaical traps, Jesus used images of vineyards and harvests to turn the Torah’s old stories against them, reminding them that Judah’s fate under Assyria was also to be theirs under the Romans for their failure to honour the covenant of mercy and justice. Veronica then reminded us, with Psalm 80, that these intentionally-sung responses to the OT readings were meant to honour God with a changed heart, a transformed life, and that Bruggeman reminds us that though life is not pleasant even under God’s law, it is meant to be lived as it is, not as the pleasant lie we would wish it to be.  Our proper response is to allow God to transform our lives through his word, so that our fruit is not sour and true evangelical faith may be lived out in our lives. [AP]

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, October 5th, 2014 using your browser's preferred media player.