Sermon – Renovations

The text of the sermon for Sunday, October 11.

They did not build in vain
who founded here a church
as witness to God's love
amid a world of pain;
for still to those who wish to see,
this place proclaims God's mystery.
(Hymn 302, Common Praise)

As we have said many times – the renovations we’ve been able to do over these past couple of years is the result of a gift given to us from the estate of Eleanor Mary Mitchell. Eleanor Mary grew up in PEI and was, without a doubt, an Islander, through and through. She was a journalist and she often wrote about her little friend, who is better known to us today as Tom DeBlois. She met her husband David at a youth event in our Parish Hall. After they married they lived in England. Eleanor Mary missed PEI and needed extended stays here throughout her life. She has a deep connection to this Parish; her grandfather had the contract to build this Church building. That’s why we thought it was appropriate to use her gift to renovate the building.

We give thanks for the life of Eleanor Mary Mitchell, for the ways she touched the lives of those who knew her, and for the gift her estate blessed this parish with.

I knew a man who hated blue jeans, or at least hated seeing kids wearing jeans in Church. He thought of jeans as something people worked in or that were worn by bikers and hippies. I used to ask him to calm down and to remember that it’s not what people wear that matters, it’s that they are here and God doesn’t care what we are wearing, it’s the quality of our hearts that matters. Nothing could convince him; he just felt that it was wrong to wear blue jeans in Church. Then one day it dawned on me – I said to him that the kids aren’t just wearing jeans, they’re wearing their best jeans. It still didn’t convince him, but at lease it got me thinking – people wear their best jeans.

This applies to the Churches we build too. Some people think that we have wasted our treasure on buildings – but, if we are going to offer something to God, why not offer our best? This Church represents our best; we offer our best to God. And we celebrate the fact that this Church building is not just another building – it is the best of ourselves, it is the best of ourselves that we offer to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

As is often heard around the table when the renovation committee is meeting, “If it’s right to do, let’s do it right.” Let’s offer our best.

With this gift from Eleanor Mary we have renovated the Narthex of the Church – that’s the porch at the entrance of the Church. The doors have been refurbished and now have panic hardware on them, making them acceptable to the fire code. Windows have been put in the doors. New, clear thermal-pane windows have been installed in that area too, that will help conserve energy. The floor in the entrance has new tile. The walls have been painted and there are new lights inside the narthex and outside the Church, over the entrance. The missing and damaged molding has been replaced and repaired. The old, dark cupboards have been removed and the vestments are now kept in a newly constructed box in the nave. By the way, the box is constructed of B.C. fur, which is the same wood that was used for the wainscoting in the Church and in fact, was cut during the same period that the Church was built. The washroom has been re-done, made bigger and is now wheelchair accessible. The doors between the narthex and the nave (the main body of the Church) have been refurbished and new clear glass has been put in them.

The two choir rooms have been refurbished, the floors have been repaired, the walls repaired and painted and there’s new carpet on the floor. Also new thermal-pane windows have been installed in both rooms. The sound-system has been fully updated with a new console and speakers in the nave, chancel and choir rooms. We hope to sell the old sound system and recover some money. A new computer desk and area for the console have been built and installed.

In the nave, the main body of the Church, we removed the old, ugly carpet and the linoleum. We temporarily removed the pews to allow for the sanding and staining of the floor. The stone plaque showing that there are remains in a crypt under the Church of a former governor of the Island has been restored and is a subject of great interest to many visitors to the Church. Many people worked very hard removing and replacing the pews. On the day the pews were taken up, we were standing around trying to figure out how to do this when one young man, I think he was twelve at the time, just started taking up pews and put the rest of us to shame with his hard work.

An act as simple as removing the carpet has done wonders for restoring the excellent acoustical qualities the architect William Harris intended for the building. Every professional musician that has played here in the last year wants to return. Every professional musician who has attended a concert here in the last year wants to return to perform themselves.

In the Chancel area of the Church we have installed new flooring and a new communion rail, which by the way, is removable. The choir stalls have been removed and chairs have been purchased for the choir. This dramatically increases the flexibility of the area.

At the height of these renovations Parish Council decided that the Church building would be out of commission for a couple of weeks. Then Eleanor Lowe passed away. She was 107 years old. She was the daughter of Samuel Lowe, the man who was contracted to build the Church, and she was also the aunt of Eleanor Mary Mitchell. It took some effort, but amidst the hammers and saws and dust we held her funeral in the Church built by her father.

There is work yet to be done. Perhaps the most dramatic improvement we’ll make is to the lighting of the nave. We are going to install new lights for the Church and at the same time upgrade the electrical. Light switches will be installed so that we won’t have to turn the lights on at the breakers.

The new Communion rail is slightly higher than the old one and will need new kneelers. In fact, there will be new kneelers for both the top and the bottom rails.

In the Vestry there will be repairs to the floor. It will be carpeted and perhaps re-arranged a bit.

In what was formerly known as the Men’s Choir room we will need to furnish it, and new cabinets will be installed along with a sink and a fridge.

The other three exits will have new doors – with panic hardware. Actually, we will receive a $ 4000.00 grant to help with that work.

Over the life of this project, some of the work has been contracted out to professionals, but you have done much of the work, people have volunteered so that we could make the money we’ve receive stretch further. We are thankful today for the gift of brawn that we’ve needed from time to time, and for the gift of brains for the planning and the more skilled work that’s been done.

Form time to time people have complained that the project has been too slow, okay, perhaps it’s been me that’s complained the most, but as it has been said so often by the members of the renovation committee, “If it’s right to do, let’s do it right.”

It is a good and joyful thing that we celebrate today; think about it; we are thankful for the renovations we’ve made to this building and how it’s brought many of us together; we are thankful for the blessing God bestows upon us and the bounty of the harvest; and we are thankful for the love God shows us in the person of his son Jesus Christ and his presence with us by his Holy Spirit.

They built a Church, our ancestors did, a building and a community, a people commissioned by God to proclaim the Good News:

They did not build in vain
who founded here a church
as witness to God's love
amid a world of pain;
for still to those who wish to see,
this place proclaims God's mystery.
(Hymn 302, Common Praise)
Amen.

Sermon Thought for Sunday, July 27, 2008, 11th after Pentecost

Genesis 29:15-28 - Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, "I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel."

Psalm - He has always been mindful of his covenant, the promise he made for a thousand generations:

Romans 8:26-39 - … nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 - The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed - The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took - The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field - the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea

Initial Thoughts

It’s a couple of weeks before I preach again (July 27), so here are my initial thoughts on the scriptures appointed for the day.

The lesson from Genesis continues the story of Jacob and the establishment of the nation of Israel. This is a story that I have not been focusing on over the last few weeks except in the broader themes that impact Paul’s letters and Matthew’s Gospel, such as knowing and accepting God’s will. Of course the “covenant” referred to in the Psalm is the one established between God and Jacob’s grandfather Abraham (and Abraham’s descendants forever, that’s us). The covenant is about the relationship with God and us and particularly God’s promise not to leave us, to always be present with us. One of the ways this can happen is through prayer. The section of Paul’s letter to the Romans that we read is about prayer. I might like to look at the four parables in Matthew’s Gospel and see what they tell us about prayer. You may have also noted that the book I recommend (on this site) and the book I am reading are both about prayer.

If anyone has any thoughts about this please leave a comment or e-mail me. I understand that some people have been having trouble leaving comments. I don’t know what to do about it. Google manages that, not me. So, I welcome e-mails too, anything that might improve a sermon.

A Sermon in Progress - for July 13, 2008

The Readings

Genesis 25:19-34 - Esau said to Jacob, "Let me eat some of that red stuff, for I am famished!" (Therefore he was called Edom.) Jacob said, "First sell me your birthright." Esau said, "I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?"

Psalm 119:105-112 - Your word is a lantern to my feet and a light upon my path.

Romans 8:1-11 - …but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 - Listen! A sower went out to sow.

This is a sermon in progress. I welcome input.

Some people will think that it is rather dumb of Esau to sell his birthright for a bowl of stew. But his question is a good one, what good is a birthright if I am dead. It is generally agreed that this passage from Genesis is not about Esau’s hunger for food or even Jacob’s hunger for power, it is about what God wants. Much could be made about Esau’s strength (in the flesh) and Jacob’s strength (in the Spirit) thus tying this passage in very nicely with Paul’s letter to the Romans.

I think that some people argue that Paul has a dualistic view of the world and that this passage is a good example of his worldview. I am not convinced that this is true. Paul is really acknowledging that his will is sometimes different from God’s will. The struggle for Paul, and he presumes for us too, is that we need to let God’s will be our will. That is "life and peace."

The connection between the two readings therefore is not that the flesh is bad and the Spirit is good. The connection is that the assumption made in both readings is that when it comes to conflicts between God’s will and our will, God’s will should and does prevail.

That brings us to the Parable of the Sower. A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, some seeds fell on rocky ground, some seeds fell on good soil. The seeds that fell on the path and on the rocky ground failed, but the seeds that fell in the good soil brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Matthew’s Gospel tells us that the seed represents the Word of God.

The other day I went strawberry picking with one of my daughters. The rows were all straight and the paths were easily walked upon, clear of weeds. As we drove to the farm we drove past lots of other farms with straight rows of potatoes and corn. Nothing was out of place. So, the audience listening to this parable would have been at least familiar enough with farming practices to know that farmers don't plant seeds in the paths and in bad soil. It is strange behavior.

Also, to have a yield of a hundredfold, or sixty, or thirty is amazing at a time when tenfold would have been considered good.

This parable is about the Word of God, a seed that has been entrusted to us to plant. We are to be extravagant, just as God’s love is extravagant, with the sowing of the seeds. We are to plant even where we don’t expect to harvest. And the yield will be beyond our imaginations.

There is a bit of irony I guess in the words from the appointed Psalm, "Your word is a lantern to my feet and a light upon my path."

I read the following story on a website called Sermon Nuggets:
A woman had a challenging dream - that she walked into a new shop in the mall - and to her surprise, found God behind the counter. "What do you sell here?" she asked. "Everything your heart desires," said God. "Everything." Hardly daring to believe what she was hearing, the woman decided to ask for the best things a human could wish for. "I'll take some peace of mind and love and happiness and wisdom and freedom from fear, " she said. Then as an afterthought, she added, "Not just for me. For everyone on earth." God smiled. "I think you've got me wrong, my dear," God said, "We don't sell the fruits here. We only sell the seeds."

We are sometimes distracted by the feeling of scarcity, thinking that the Church doesn’t have enough of this or enough of that… but we have been entrusted with seeds that are the Word of God. Esau acted out of a sense of scarcity and lost his birthright. Paul admits that there are many distractions in life, things that draw us away from God but encouraging us to be attentive to God’s will. Jesus, in this Parable of the Sower, teaches that there is no scarcity in God’s realm, God loves us extravagantly. Amen.