Services

The Anglican tradition has inherited many ancient pieces of liturgy, so it may be a bit surprising to learn that our Service of Lessons and Carols, traditionally with nine Lessons, is only a little over one hundred forty years old. It was originally created in 1880 by the future Archbishop of Canterbury, the Right Rev. Edward White Benson, Bishop of Truro, apparently because he wanted to give the local people something to distract them from spending Christmas Eve in the pub!

Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another? This is the question John the Baptist is asking when he knows his life is basically over. Herod has put him in prison, and he figures he probably will never get out of prison, and he doesn’t have long to live. So, is he asking how’s my life work been in vain? Is Jesus the one or is there another to come?

This Gospel passage is at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry with the disciples fishing and Jesus saying to them that he will make them fish for people. It is bad enough that we are compared to sheep in other passages and this one that we would fish for others or be like fish ourselves. But what does Jesus mean by this?

Christ Church, Campbellford 9:00am / St. George, Hastings 11:00am

In New York City’s Central Park stands a statue of William Shakespeare. Four thousand dollars towards its funding was raised at a benefit performance of Julius Caesar in late 1864;
and there is a direct link between that statue, that performance, and one of the most famous assassinations in American history.

Maybe I’m just being cynical, but I don’t put much stock in end times discussion. It is not so much that I’m being naive and in denial of that possibility, but there is another factor that plays a bigger role. That for each one of us, our time on earth is limited and we could die at anytime. So, we don’t need to concern ourselves with the end of the world because our own part of the world could end at anytime.

Today we celebrate All Saints, and we welcome the Legion here for Remembrance. The gospel is Luke’s version of the beatitudes and love your enemies. This is the movement from selfishness and focus on self to relationship and others. Today as we remember those who sacrificed for country and fellow comrades, I am reminded of the survival impulse for all of us, fight, or flight.

I think Zacchaeus gets a bit of a bad rap. The same way I think Judas gets a bad rap as well [that’s a whole other sermon]. This may be rationalizing, but Zacchaeus is part of the Roman system. The system was set up for the tax collector to be the bad guy. The amount of the tax owed to Rome was never communicated. This means the tax collector was paid from the amount of taxes he could collect over and above what was owed to Rome.

Christ Church, Campbellford 9:00am / St. George, Hastings 11:00am