Tuesday, June 2

Anyone who claims “The Bible is boring,” has obviously not read Chapter 12 in the Gospel of Mark. In this New Testament chapter, we have a full display of human conduct and emotions; murderous vineyard workers, dialogue laced with suspicion and trickery, questions about the guidance of human conduct and royal lineage, interrogations with dark intentions, commentary on the virtue of the marginalized and spoken wisdom on the role of civic responsibility. And this all contained in a mere forty-four verses!

No doubt you have heard the famous maxim attributed to Mark Twain, “Never discuss politics and religion in polite company.” Well, in today’s Gospel reading (Mark 12: 13-17), we read of an encounter where Jesus decides to engage in such an exchange in response to a cagey question posed to him by some Pharisees and Herodians. You will recall that Pharisees (Hebrew for “separated ones”) were members of the Jewish party who obeyed the written law of Moses and its unwritten interpretations. Their focus was on holiness particularly as seen in the course of human conduct. Herodians were prominent and influential Jewish men who accepted Herod as their king and collaborated with the Roman government. It was these two groups who Mark described, in Chapter 3, v.6, as conspiring together in order to destroy Jesus after witnessing Him on the Sabbath healing a man with a withered hand,

Part of the dialogue designed to trick Jesus, seen in today’s reading, involved a question about paying a tribute or tax levied on a flat fee per person basis. “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not? Should we pay them or not?” This was a loathsome reminder that Judea was subjugated to Rome. The Pharisees and Herodites designed their question in such a way that it looked like Jesus would get in trouble with someone no matter how he answered it. A negative response by Jesus would cast him as a seditious enemy of Rome; a positive response would undermine his popularity with the vast majority of Jewish people, who generally detested the tribute.

Our Lord’s wisdom is seen in his response to this question. Jesus asks to see a denarius, a Roman coin used for propaganda purposes that depicted the head of the emperor on one side and typically a robed woman on the reverse side of the coin holding a scepter in her right hand and a palm or olive branch in the left. The inscriptions on the coin refer to the divine nature of the Roman emperor and that all people were subject to his divine rule and authority. Jesus then responds to the Pharisee and Herodian interrogators “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor and to God the things that are God’s.” Those who tried to trick Him were amazed at this answer.

Austin Cline of Princeton University (2017) noted a traditional Christian interpretation of Jesus’s response seen in Mark’s gospel is to direct people to be diligent in fulfilling their obligations to God as they are in fulfilling their secular obligations to the state. This relationship is echoed elsewhere in the New Testament letters, Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2. In the 21st century, we realize and indeed value the necessity of government in ordering the affairs of society. But we also are cognizant of the fact that government authority over humankind is delegated by God. While Christians should model good citizenship towards the state, as “the emperor” is indeed owed something, our true desire to worship the giver of all that we have and all that we are is solely owed to God.

Prayer

Heavenly Father. we are so grateful to be living in a democracy where many play a part in making sure the needs and desires of the nation’s citizens are heard and met. As our leaders work together to find solutions to difficult problems, we ask that You guide them to speak respectfully and with humility to one another. Help them to show Christ-like love to those they interact with and be an advocate for their constituents and others, particularly those in these times who are without food, work, justice or safety. Amen.

Adapted from World Vision’s “How to pray for government leaders.” (2019)

Thursday, June 25

After 15 weeks of work-from-home protocols, I am sick of my dining room. The furniture, the wall colour, the framed family photos on the sideboard, I cherish them all, but I have seen enough of them. In desperation last week I borrowed a piece of original art from an Ajax artist who wasn’t able to show his work this spring. You may have noticed “Fragile Earth-Handle with Care” for the first time in my background at last Sunday’s zoom service. It was coincidental that this picture literally loomed large for me as we read John Chapter 1, verse 1: “In the beginning was the Word…,” and as Gary Gannon’s thoughtful sermon reminded me that the New Testament verse plays off of the Old Testament’s “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.“ (Genesis 1:1).

Gary also vividly recalled for us the experience of encountering the Gospel reading on a wintery Christmas Eve. Some of you may associate the Genesis reading with Christmas Eve as well, thanks to the NASA Apollo 8 moon orbit in 1968. As they viewed their first lunar sunrise and grainy footage was transmitted to earthbound listeners, astronauts Lovell, Anders and Borman read Scripture. Their view of earth (and mine in my new art piece) are variations of that singular iconic image of Earth that we have all seem countless times, that perfect blue marble that stands out for us a symbol of our shared habitat. Add to that other stunning celestial images, like “Earthrise” or the “Pillars of Creation” captured by the NASA Hubble telescope, and you get a sense of how space is a powerful indicator of God’s great glory and transcendence.

Astronaut John Glenn told reporters in 1998, just after returning from his final trip to space at age 77, “To look out at this kind of creation and not believe in God is to me impossible. It just strengthens my faith.” And there are countless accounts of astronauts and astronomers having their faith increased or sparked by their glimpses into the cosmos.

The news of the day increasingly tests our faith and seems to point out to us how fractured and divided the world is and how little we understand each other’s experiences. And yet, from that “thirty-thousand foot view” or more correctly, the 380, 000 km view of space, we can easily comprehend why the Genesis reading ends on the sixth day with this: “And God saw everything that he had made and it was very good.” Indeed, five times before that – with each day’s newly formed element – the Genesis narrative repeats, “God saw that it was good.”

When we look at Earth from space, it appears (for the most part) very good and unified and whole. Similarly, when we look at a coral reef, we don’t see individual species of fish, we see a precious, beautiful ecosystem.  And there’s that cliché about not seeing the forest for the trees, but I think it’s sometime a good thing to pull back and see the whole of the forest in its cohesion and solidarity. As one of my favorite bands sings of people’s us-vs-them approach to life, “Darling, our disease is the same one as the trees/ Unaware that they’ve been living in a forest.” We are – despite our individual differences and our recurring failure to navigate those differences with grace and love – all of one community in Creation. We are made in God’s image as part of a cosmos so vast and intricate and astonishingly beautiful to the human eye (or at least the human eye aided by the wonder of satellites and rovers and deep space telescopes) that it is staggering, and we should feel bound together as humankind above all else.

The majesty of space should reinforce for us the oneness and common interests of our humanity. As Psalm 19:1 indicates “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” The work of God’s hand is the created universe and us in it. I am not saying we can ignore the real and apparent differences with which we struggle as a global society. I am not saying that we should look at things with such a broad view that we don’t see human individuality in its many colours and gender expressions and socioeconomic diversity, but I do think that at the heart of everything is God’s great unswerving “it is good.” And attached to that is a call to us as faithful disciples to make it so when it’s not.

In a 2017 interview, Jim Lovell, the astronaut who flew on the Apollo 8 mission that featured the Creation reading and later on the Apollo 13 mission that almost didn’t return, remarked “In reality, you know, God has really given us a stage, …  a stage on which we perform. And how that play turns out is up to us, I guess.”

Hard to sum it up more plainly and persuasively than that.

Prayer:

At your command all things came to be: the vast expanse of interstellar space, galaxies, suns, the planets in their courses, and this fragile earth, our island home; by your will they were created and have their being. From the primal elements you brought forth the human race, and blessed us with memory, reason, and skill; you made us the stewards of creation.
Pour out your Spirit upon the whole earth and make it your new creation. Gather your Church together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom, where peace and justice are revealed, that we, with all your people, of every language, race, and nation, may share the banquet you have promised; through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, all honour and glory are yours, creator of all.
Glory to you for ever and ever. Amen.

– Excerpted from Eucharistic Prayer 4, Book of Alternative Services

June 23, 2020

Light at the end of the tunnel – signs of hope

Dear Friends in Christ,

My letter to you today is more practical in nature than spiritual but, as I’m talking about our return to worship in church, I suppose it’s a bit of both! I make no apology but I’m paraphrasing to a large extent a letter sent out on June 17 by our Diocesan Bishop Andrew Asbil to all clergy and church leaders.

Ever since the lockdown in March 2019 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been looking for signs of hope, whether it be a vaccine or a cure or a potentially effective drug. Unfortunately, the opposite has been the case with dire statistics and rising numbers of new cases. As weeks turned into months, it was easy to become discouraged and we all kept asking, “When will it start to get better?”

But now we are seeing signs of hope and the light at the end of the tunnel is becoming more distinct! As of today, Ontario has seen a consistent drop of infected cases to less than 200 cases per day and the curve seems to be flattening and progress is being made with Durham now entering Stage 2 of easing the lockdown. I’m even going for a haircut today at 1:00pm – Hallelujah!!

As well as many other liftings of restrictions, the provincial government and health authorities have loosened the restraints imposed on the Church. But, as people of God, we are conscious of our tremendous responsibility – our baptismal promises, in fact – to care for each other and the whole world. Therefore, we are obliged to resume our common life together using the utmost caution, with deliberate care. As I mentioned in the notices two Sundays ago, I would hate to be the Priest-in-Charge who allowed his church to open up too soon and by doing so caused an outbreak of COVID-19 among our family and possibly even the deaths of some parishioners.

For this reason, the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario has issued a template for the reopening of our churches entitled “Loving Our Neighbours” and each separate diocese will be releasing specific instructions with concrete guidance for parishes on June 30, 2020 (NB: this is not a date for reopening, only the date of issuing instructions on how to reopen). Hours of prayer, consultation and hard work have been poured into this by Bishop Andrew and his staff and I would ask all of us to pray for them as they deliberate on these difficult decisions to be made. I am sure the instructions will give us a clear path as to how we proceed in reopening All Saints, Whitby for public worship. Please pray for me and the Wardens as we seek to bring us back together in person!

Finally, let us not forget the 2,550 Ontarians who have lost their lives to COVID-19. For their families, there will be no “return to normal”. Please keep them, and all those affected by the disease – the sick, the vulnerable, health-care workers, care-givers and those working in essential businesses – in your prayers as we move forward in reopening carefully, bringing signs of hope and a bright, shining light at the end of the tunnel!

Thank you for reading this different type of Thought for The Day but I hope you will understand why I have done it. Finally, a reminder of God’s love for us in the words of “Footprints”:

One night I had a dream. I dreamed I was walking along the beach with God, and across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonged to God and one belonged to me. When the last scene of my life flashed before us I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that at times along the path of life there was only one set of footprints. I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of my life. This really bothered me, and I questioned God about it.

‘God, you said that once I decided to follow you, you would walk with me all the way, but I noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why, in times when I need you most, you would leave me.’

God replied, ‘My precious, precious child, I love you and I would never, never leave you during your times of trials and suffering. When you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.’

With love and best wishes to you all,

Geoff

Thursday, June 18

One of my favourite authors is Max Lucado. I am currently reading his book Facing Your Giants. In the book he uses the analogy of David and the five stones he chose when he defeated Goliath. The first chapter is entitled “Stone of the Past.”

We all have our own Goliaths. In his book, Max Lucado says “if we focus on these giants, we stumble but if we focus on God, these giants tumble.” Remembering God’s faithfulness in the past is essential as we face our giants today.

The account of David and Goliath can be found in I Samuel 17: 1-51. The story is about more than a shepherd boy killing the big giant but that will be the focus of today’s thought.

Goliath was big – nine feet, nine inches tall, with a 56-inch waist and a 20-inch neck. The armour he wore weighed 125 lbs. Goliath was a Philistine. The Philistines had been enemies of the Israelites ever since Joshua had defeated them 300 years earlier. Goliath was from the city of Gath, a city that was well known for having giants.

For forty days Goliath taunted the Israelite army. Morning and evening he called over to them: “Choose one man to come down here and fight me” (1 Samuel 17:8). No doubt many of the soldiers remembered their fathers and grandfathers talking about battles where there had been warriors from Gath and they were afraid because Goliath was a long-standing bully in the valley. They were focusing on the giant and not remembering how God had helped them in the past.

In contrast to Goliath, we have David. David was a young shepherd. Some commentaries say he was only about 22 years old. The only reason David was even there was to deliver some lunch to his brothers. When David began his day, he certainly had no idea that he would be doing anything else except tending to the sheep like he did every day. David heard Goliath’s taunt but unlike the others, he remembered how God had helped him defeat both a lion and a bear that were threatening his sheep. He focused on God not the giant.

David was a hero that day but this wasn’t always the case. He was an unfaithful husband and a bad father. Despite his failings, God still used him and David wrote the Psalm almost everybody knows whether they go to church or not. Psalm 23 is read and sung all over the world.

Our Goliaths probably aren’t an actual nine-foot-tall, sword-wielding giant, but they are just as real and just as dangerous. They might be a temptation we can’t resist, a person we can’t please, a doubt we can’t erase, a future we can’t face. Just like Goliath, our “giants” fill our thoughts. Sometimes it’s all we see; our giants may be dominating our day and destroying our joy. Just like David we need to face them with faith, confident in the knowledge that God is with us.

The giants we face may not go away but we can rest in the knowledge that God is walking along side of us and giving us strength to endure whatever we are going through.

In these uncertain times we know there are obstacles to God’s plan for All Saints. We may stumble and have difficulties but if we remember all the times in past that God was with us and saw us through, we will stay strong. I am thinking of the fire. We had to change our service time and location. Isn’t that what has happened now? God was with us then and He is with us now.

In closing, I leave you with some verses from Lamentations to remember the next time you face a “giant.”

Lamentations 3: 21-23: Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: the faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. (New Living Translation)

Prayer:

God when we face a crisis or problem, help us to remember your faithfulness in the past. Give us power to walk in daily victory and overcome every opposition against your purpose for our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Tuesday, June 16

This coming Sunday we will celebrate fathers and paternal caregivers. The one Biblical Dad who always captures my attention is the unnamed Father of the Prodigal Son parable (Luke 15:11–32).

Many of us are familiar with the Prodigal Son, one of two brothers who demands his inheritance in advance, leaves home, and squanders his fortune to the point of complete poverty. The other son – let’s call him the At Home Son  –  remains  with his father, carries out his family duties, and also partakes of the comforts of the familial home and family resources. (This latter point is an important one, and sometimes offered as one of the teachings of the story. While the At Home Son may feel aggrieved, the fact is that no one took anything out of his pocket and he was no less loved just because his sibling got a party.  As the father says, “My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.”)

Nonetheless, the prodigal brother who had been lost and come home again is treated to a special feast. “Kill the fatted calf! Get out Grandma’s good china! Never mind that it’s not even dishwasher proof!” Understandably, the At Home Brother is a little miffed and refuses to come to the party.

At some point in our lives, those of us familiar with this parable have probably positioned ourselves as the prodigal son, relieved and grateful to be received into good graces again, not just without judgement, but even with glad celebration. Others of us have been able to put our feet in the saintly shoes of the At Home Son, dutiful and seemingly uncelebrated, struggling to be able to rejoice in someone else’s limelight and happy ending (and as a result potentially missing out on one heck of a party).

But today, I am thinking about the Father in this tale. I think all of us can agree that that this Biblical father is himself one Prodigal Pop. He is crazily lavish … giving away half his fortune prematurely, dashing across the field in full sight of the hired help, and flinging his arms around his filthy wastrel son without even requiring an apology, and then conspicuously robing and ringing his son and setting a fancy banquet out for him. I mean, really! There was even music and dancing … an entire reception thrown together in an afternoon! This is a father whose love is undiminished, whose forgiveness is unrestrained, whose joy is overflowing. As one of my work colleagues famously remarked in a weekly chapel discussion, “that is one crazy father. That is crazy love.”

Now, by some trick of an earworm, the phrase “crazy love” always makes me think of  … not Van Morrison’s hit single “Crazy Love” (as you might expect), but rather his 1989 hit, “Have I Told You Lately” (the song covered and popularized by Rob Stewart). My mind always goes to these particular lyrics:

 [you] fill my heart with gladness,
Take away my sadness,
Ease my troubles, that’s what you do.

I imagine this is what the prodigal son must have been thinking as he collapsed into his father’s arms without even having to explain his mistakes and failures. I believe it’s what the father must have felt, finding that his sons were home with him …. and not just his prodigal boy who was very obviously lost and thinking he must come back as a slave, but also his first born who stayed home and had also lost himself in more subtle ways by considering himself as a servant in his own family.

Van Morrison’s song is understood as a romantic ballad, but it’s not hard to see that it was originally written as a prayer. Consider the bridge:

There’s a love that’s divine
And it’s yours and it’s mine
Like the sun.
At the end of the day
We should give thanks and pray to the One.

My colleague who identified the prodigal Father’s ‘crazy love’ concluded her thought with recognition that thankfully we all have an insanely generous Father. That Father – the “One” in the song lyric — is the ultimate wildly forgiving and joyful parent who is always ready to welcome and celebrate each of us, no matter how distant we get or how often we stray and make our way back again. Like the Sun, this is the Father-God who is constant, but who also is radical in showing His love and mercy. Thanks and praise to the One!

Prayer:

We praise you that, despite all our weakness and disobedience, you view us not as subjects,or as servants, but as children. And we rejoice that you want us to see you not as some deity remote in splendour, nor as a jealous God demanding our homage, but as a father, watching over us with infinite care and tenderness. For the wonder of your love, we praise you.

Teach us that however far we stray from you, however much we may reject your love or ignore your guidance, still you go on reaching out, longing to draw us close once more. For the wonder of your love, we praise you.

– Excerpted from a prayer by Nick Fawcett,
and posted on the Mother’s Union website.
http://www.themothersunion.org/

Our Return to Church Worship

You will be aware that the Ontario provincial government has allowed places of worship to open today with 30% attendance and the proviso that all the COVID-19 protocols are in place (i.e., wearing of face masks, remaining 6 feet apart, washing hands, etc.). Whilst the decision is to be welcomed, it is fraught with danger and I would not like to be a Priest-in-Charge who allows my church to open and then have one of my parishioners die from this dreadful disease as a result. I could not live with that.

As a consequence, I and the churchwardens at our executive meeting this week decided we would continue to follow the Diocese of Toronto’s recommendation not to open before September 1st and maybe not even then if we are not allowed to have some degree of normality. Can you imagine a service with no communion, extremely limited singing, and certainly no formal choir, with the congregation sitting 6 feet apart, no coffee before or after, etc., etc? I think it would be a very “atmosphere-less” service and would not have the good “congregational feel” we have created through our weekly Zoom services, especially now that Adriaan, our organist, Amanda, our chorister, and myself are back in church. I hope you all fully understand and are prepared to wait until it is safe for us to return to church for meaningful, less restricted services.

Pride Month

All Saints’ Whitby is a LGBTQ2S+ friendly church and is also a church where marriage is open to all regardless of gender. For many years, Proud Anglicans have been a part of the celebrations, which have had to be cancelled this year because of COVID-19. Nevertheless, our Diocesan Bishop Andrew Asbil has issued a letter of support for Pride and I quote from it: “As we join in the celebration of Pride once again this year, may we continue to live into our baptismal covenant, striving for justice and peace among all people, and respecting the dignity of every human being.” Happy Pride, everyone! We at All Saints’ stand with you!

Black Lives Matter

In the same spirit and attitude towards our LGTBQ2S+ friends, we at All Saints’ join our provincial bishops in their support of black and indigenous people in our country in their stand against racism, injustice and unfair, often violent, treatment by the police forces in our country. Both RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki and other provincial chief police officers have admitted to there being systemic racism within their forces and in every Canadian institution. We stand with Commissioner Lucki and others as they seek to ensure our country is “free of racism, discrimination and bias.”

the Rev. Geoff Lloyd, Interim Priest-in-Charge

Thursday, June 11

Dwight L. Moody was a prolific writer who lived in the 1800’s. One of his most famous quotes is “When I pray, I talk to God, but when I read the Bible, God is talking to me.” The practice of Lectio Divina includes both prayer and scripture. The literal meaning of Lectio Divina is divine reading. It draws on the way the Haggadah, which is a text that tells of the Jewish exodus from Egypt, is read during Passover. The Haggadah means telling and then retelling.

In Lectio Divina the chosen text is read, read again, read once more and then read again. One of the great things about Lectio Divina is during the process we can imagine ourselves being present at the event we may be reading about. For example, if we picked Matthew 5:3-12, we could imagine what it would be like to be listening to Jesus as he spoke the Beatitudes. You can use the same passage of scripture multiple times and each time will be a different experience.

A trappiest monk named Fr. Thomas Keating wrote a book called Open Mind, Open Heart, and in it he said that there are four stages to follow in Lectio Divina. Before you begin stage one you must prepare. Lectio Divina is not an exercise to rush through. Set aside 30 minutes then you won’t be tempted to hurry through it. You may want to light a candle or have some soft music in the background to keep you focused. Collect your thoughts. Quiet your mind by praying a prayer of invitation. I like to repeat “Speak Lord, your servant is listening” (I Samuel 3:9) a few times.

Stage One – Read
Read the passage. Read it slowly noticing which words or phrases jump out at you. Pray that God will open your mind to words and phrases He wants you to notice.

Stage Two – Reflect
Read the passage again, this time paying close attention to verses where those words or phrases jumped out at you are. Reflect on what you feel God is saying. Do not try to “analyze” but rather listen for the voice of God to speak. Pray for God to make it clear.

Stage Three – Respond
Read the passage again. During this third time of reading it is often helpful to make notes about what you’ve read and how God wants you to respond. Pray for God’s guidance in responding.

Stage Four – Rest
Read the passage again. Thank God for being with you through this exercise. Sit quietly and rest in the promise of God’s word.

You can use any passages in the Bible for Lectio Divina. I have already mentioned Matthew 5:3-12 but a few others are Luke 1:46-55 (the Magnificat), Psalm 23, John 3:16, Luke 11:2-4.

There are many ways to pray, and Lectio Divina is just one of them. It is a way to connect to God through his word. There may be times when you read whatever passage you have chosen and nothing seems to speak to you and that is okay too. You have still spent time with God!

Prayer: 

God of all – thank you for your word. Thank you for wanting to have a relationship with us. Help us to pray even when we don’t know the words to say. Guide us to do your will. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Tuesday, June 30

I have come to consider the Bible to be a wonderful jewelry box, comprised of an endless number of drawers, each with hidden gems of wisdom for us to marvel at when we are moved to look therein ourselves or when motivated by someone or something else. In my case, I am now regularly drawn to look for these interesting gems to help drive my regular writings for these weekly thoughts and prayer postings – a wonderful opportunity extended to me by Rev. Geoff Lloyd. The selection process for these writings usually involves me referring to our annual Anglican lectionary and selecting a Scripture passage assigned to the calendar day. Today, I am bending this methodology slightly and taking a reading for tomorrow, Canada Day, for reasons I will come back to at the end of this piece.

Paul’s letter to the Colossians, is one of the smaller gems in the New Testament – a mere four chapters spanning two and one-half pages in my NRSV bible. My focus today is on the third chapter in Paul’s letter, labelled “The New Life in Christ”, verses 12-17. But before getting our jeweler’s loup out for closer examination, let’s set a context for Paul’s message to this early church community.

Colossae was, from the 5th century BC onwards, a significant city on the Lycus River in the then Roman province of Asia (now Western Turkey), but it had dwindled in importance by the time of Paul’s writing (early 60s CE) to members of its Christian church. The city was located on major trade routes which resulted in a cosmopolitan mix in its population. Many Colossians professed a range of pagan beliefs, some of which raised heretical challenges to early Christian teachings regarding the human nature of Jesus, whether angels should be held in high regard and proclaiming that salvation was the result of one’s knowledge of, rather than a believer’s faith in, God.

Although Paul never set foot in this Christian outpost, he was informed by his disciples of these heretical challenges. This prompted him to write this letter to proclaim and support the importance of one’s belief in Jesus Christ as well as to educate these new believers in what was expected of them in patterning their lives after the Lord. Then, as well as today, a reading of Colossians 3:12-17 focuses the reader’s attention on how we can lead a holy life, both as an individual and as a collective member of the body of Christ.

In my teaching experience at Durham College, I always looked for a “hook” on which to hang key aspects of theory and practice involved in a lesson plan. Paul uses such a teaching device in today’s reading (Colossians 3: 12-17) to instruct the early Christians – both Jew and Gentile alike – on how to adapt their life to a new approach to living as a follower of Jesus. For example, at the start of this passage (3:12), Paul writes, “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience.” He goes on to add the virtues of forbearance and forgiveness to round out this wardrobe of Christian behaviour. Paul’s “hook” of clothing ourselves works well as we have a lifetime of experience in doing it. It is a daily activity of “taking off” and “putting on” things we decide to wear. Not only do we make such choices, but others can see what it is we have chosen to wear. The undercurrent laid out by Paul here is that as a follower of Christ we must make choices firstly of shedding clothing that is contrary to a life in Christ – jealousy, self-centeredness, bigotry, rudeness etc., and consciously put on new clothing each day that reflects the virtues and related behaviors of a follower of our Saviour. Let’s look briefly at this new set of clothes which Paul called on the Colossians to wear and asks us to put on each day.

Compassion relates to one’s desire to extend sympathy or empathy to the suffering of others. This virtue is witnessed in many references in both the Old Testament (e.g. Isaiah 49:13, Psalm 116:5) and the New Testament (e.g. Matthew 14:13-14, Hebrews 4:15). In our modern world, with 24-7 opportunities to view suffering in our community and around the world, it is a challenge to shed our indifference. Paul throughout this letter asks us to daily put on compassionate clothing that can be seen in many ways including prayer offerings, acts of generosity and words of understanding to those in need of relief from pain and suffering.

Kindness has been described as action that reveals our compassion for others. It can be offering to run an errand for a neighbour who is housebound during the current pandemic or sending a “Thinking of You” bouquet to someone who has recently experienced the loss of a close friend or relative. Kindness references abound in Scripture (e.g. Proverbs 16: 23-24, Acts 28:2, and 2 Peter 1:5-7). So, just as tomorrow you may put on a sweater, what is an act of kindness that you can carry out for someone in need?

Humility or Meekness were considered the “rarest and fairest of all Christian virtues” by John Stott, a renown English Anglican priest, theologian and leader of the worldwide evangelical movement. Moses was said to be the meekest man on earth (Numbers 12:3), Yet, meekness is not weakness but rather strength that is under control. Paul wrote elsewhere in the New Testament of this virtue, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2: 3-4). Clothing oneself daily in meekness requires special attention when dressing oneself to go out into a world that frequently places emphasis on personal ambition, individual reward systems and “keeping score.”

Patience requires a daily clothing ensemble of tightly-sewn garments and subtle tones. It is a virtue that is tested in personal relationships at home and the workplace, with situations or things where our ability to control is minimal, or when our personal stamina is at a low ebb. Our ability to endure exasperating situations (fill in your own example here) may cause us to wonder if we can ever wear this type of clothing again without a real risk to our physical or mental health. Paul references here the virtue of forbearance – which is similar to patience but has a more positive aspect to it by asking a person to uphold and support someone else. A great example in the New Testament (2 Peter 3:9), here reminds us that the Lord is indeed not slow in keeping His promises to us, but rather patient, not wanting anyone to perish.

The clothing list provided by Paul to daily wear in our private and public lives concludes with the virtue of forgiveness. We can still air our views on things we see as unjust, but once said, we are encouraged to put it aside – to forgive and “turn off” the reminder switch in our brains to avoid thinking about it again and again. For me, and perhaps for you, this is sometimes hard to do. We tend to repeatedly put on the same old clothing woven with unforgiveness. If this is a particularly difficult struggle for you, I suggest looking back at today’s reading (Colossians 3:13) were it says, “Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other, just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

On the eve of Canada Day, 2020 let us be thankful and praise God for all that we have in this wonderful country. In recent months, our personal resolve and no doubt some of the virtues covered in today’s Scripture reading have been tested by factors outside our control. No doubt we have not always properly clothed ourselves as Paul suggested to the people of Colossae. We have lately seen too much evidence of discrimination, racism and other dark aspects of our human nature. Yet, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can get up tomorrow, celebrate Canada’s birthday with a sense of peace and thanksgiving and put on clothing made of virtues that reflects a desire, albeit at a one-day-at-a-time pace, to start to live a new life in Christ.

Prayer for Canada Day

Almighty God, you have given us this good land as our heritage. May we prove ourselves a people mindful of your generosity and glad to do your will. Bless our land with honest industry, truthful education, and an honourable way of life. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance; and from every evil course of action. Make us who came from many nations with many different languages a united people. Defend our liberties and give those whom we have entrusted with the authority of government, the spirit of wisdom, that there may be justice and peace in our land. When times are prosperous, let our hearts be thankful; and, in troubled times, do not let our trust in you fail. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

– The Book of Alternative Services of the Anglican Church of Canada, p.678