Valois United Church

Exodus17:1-7
Psalm 95 from Voices United, page 814
Romans 5:1-11
John 4:5-42
           
The Samaritan woman walks out of town toward the well.  It’s close to noon, and she is hot. 

All her neighbours went long ago, but not she: the well, in the cool of the morning, is the place of gossip, and she just doesn’t want to hear it – for she is too much the subject of their looks and their gossip. 

Hot, with her jug balanced on her head.  And on her way out of town, 12 men pass her on their way in.  She wonders about them.  12 strangers, obviously Jewish by their accents, many from Galillee.  Strangers, in an odd place.   For this is Samaria.  Jews, given a choice, don’t come here at all.  They avoid it.  And if they do come here, they are so clear that it is not good that they wash after, as they return to their ‘holy soil’ from this place.

Isaiah 61:1-3

Psalm 121 (Sung) on Page 842 of Voices United

Luke 4:14-30
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Jesus arrives in Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and he walks into the synagogue on the Sabbath. It was not unusual for people to have a visiting teacher read from the Scriptures, and then make some comment upon it.

Of course, in the case of Jesus, there would have been a bit of mixed feeling:
this is the kid who grew up here just a few years ago
this is the one who we have heard of teaching elsewhere
So... who is this?
Should he read?
Should we listen to him?
Does he have anything to tell us?

But, with all this, he is handed the scroll, and he reads the appointed reading from Isaiah, and it becomes, as we look at the Gospel of Luke, it becomes a statement of his mission.

February 10, 2008 - Lent 1
Genesis 3
Matthew 4:1-11

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Whenever we think that Jesus had it easy, because he was the son of God, after all, then we better re-read the Gospels.

Today we come along to the story we read every year for Lent: The 40 days in the wilderness.

Jesus is driven out into the wilderness by the Spirit after his baptism.
In today’s reading, we hear that it is for testing: but there was more to it than that.

40 days of fasting to consider where he was going, what he was going to do, what his ministry was, what his call was, who he was.

40 days that echos, deliberately, the 40 years that the people were in the wilderness with Moses, trying to figure out who they were and where they were going to be who the were.

February 3, 2008
Exodus 24:12-18
Psalm 2
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9

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“Here we go again....”
That seemed to be the reaction of many preachers as they turned to this weeks text of the Transfiguration of Jesus, that story of the experience on top of the mountain.

I guess I was fortunate this time around, because when I looked at it I thought that there were so many choices about what to preach about. So a big part of my point today is this:
When we encounter scripture, and read it, and re-read it, and re-read again, we can find more and more meanings to the same text.

Including this 9 verse reading from Matthew.
Fact is, I found themes for five sermons.
That’s right: you are not getting two for one today, but five for one.
You’re getting a buffet, a smorgasbord.
And still getting to leave before lunch!

Sermon number one:

January 27, 2008
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Matthew 4:12-23

The early Church was divided. Some of the people in Corinth were saying “I belong to Paul”, and some were saying “I belong to Apollos”, or “I belong to Peter.” Some were saying “I belong to Christ”

Oh, and there were other divisions in the early church, too: those who were, or had been slave, and those who were not; those who were rich, and those who were poor. Oh, and don’t forget those who were of Greek origin, and those who were of Jewish background.

Yes, indeed, the church was divided, including the church in Corinth. Paul was so unhappy about these divisions that a significant part of his writing addresses the problem.

January 20, 2008

Isaiah 49:1-7
Psalm 40
1 Corinthians 1:1-9

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I’d like us to hear the words of Isaiah, applying not to a long-ago prophet, but to ourselves:

Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The Lord has called each one of you before you were born, when you were in the womb God called you.

He has given you abilities, and he has given you work to do.

And God has said to you: You are my servant, in your land, and in you people will even see my glory.

And God has said to you that you have work to do, perhaps in your community, perhaps in the world, that God’s light might be shown to all, that God’s good news might be shared in word and in action.

Even if people look down on you, the Lord says, you are chosen. You have abilities, you have a job to do.

You are called, you are not lacking.....

January 13, 2008

Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm 29

Matthew 3:13-17

Down by the Jordan, John has finished preaching and has gone to the waters to baptize. The line stretches out from the banks of the river, people sweating in the sun.

One man approaches him. John looks at his cousin. “Whoa,” he says, “I know I’ve been the one preaching, but you should be baptizing me, Jesus. I’ll get in line - you start baptizing.”

“No, John,” comes the reply, “this is the right thing to do. Trust me.”

And John leads him out into the water, and lowers him into the waters.

January 6, 2008

Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalm 72
Ephesians 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12

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Hello - you’ve heard about me.
I’m one of the Magi. One of the Wise Men, as some translations say in your language.

Your language is not my first language. I speak Persian - seeing as how I live in Persia, which is a bit bigger than your Iran. Fortunately, I’ve picked up a bit of other languages too, which you’ll see is important....

I’m a Magi. That means a bunch of stuff. It means that I’m part of religion that is expecting a saviour, born of a virgin. It also means I get a lot of late nights. No, I don’t party a lot. I spend a lot of time looking at the night sky. In fact, I’m pretty passionate about it: you can see all sorts of things in the stars. And someday people will thank us for our work that is foundational to mathematics and astronomy.

December 9

Isaiah 11:1-10
Psalm 72, Part 1,2
Matthew 3:1-12

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Walking the road from Jericho to the Jordan is HOT as the morning sun bakes the earth around. The occasional hare bounds across the road, heading for it’s burrow before it gets any hotter, and one fox slinks into the bushes in one of the gullies – the only green here being down where a little moisture still endures after a month with no rain.

You are heading to the Jordan, and you remember how important this river has been: Elisha performed two other miracles at the Jordan: one was when he healed Naaman by having him bathe in its waters, (2 Kings 5:14).

Not much of a river - you can throw a stone right across it - but it has touched the lives of everyone in the land somehow.

December 2
Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:36-44     
"You know the time - that it is now the moment to awake from sleep."

So Paul spoke to the people in the city of Rome.  
He wanted them to get with the program.
He wanted them to show forth their faith.

And he wanted some changes in their behaviour.

People shake their heads in our day and age about morals and ethics and behaviour and “what is the world coming to” with this and that.

Paul did the same.  He was far from impressed with some of the behaviour that he saw.
Behaviour that he saw amongst church members.

Read about their immorality.  
Read about their arguments and their power struggles.
Read about their divisions and their short-sightedness.