Today I took a bus ride out to the west end to visit a church located not far off of the #4 bus route. I had to walk a few blocks after getting off the bus, but I didn't mind. When I arrived I could tell that the church was already in the Easter spirit. It was once said that you can tell a lot about a man by looking at his shoes. I think the same can apply for churches. Quite quickly I noticed three things about the members of this church: they like quilting, interior decorating, and house plants....clearly. This Church is comprised of mostly seniors, but there are still a handful of parents with children. There were roughly forty people attending the service today.
**Side note: this church has an exceptional high quality sound system and the pastor wears a mic. I would recommend this church for the hearing impaired.**
Also I enjoyed this weeks program cover. My grandma would approve of the chickens. And Luke 13:34 is one of my favourite bible quotes!
".....How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings..."
After a few announcements it was children's time. The pastor then left his podium and went over to the children's corner and sat on the rug and read them a story. He explained that this was "A story about how Jesus wants children to be leaders." and at the end he asked them "How can you be a good leader?"
Another fun side note: there is a young man in this church that has pledged to not cut his hair while collecting donations for a cancer research. He plans to make the bulk donation and cut his hair soon. Needles to say he is looking particularly shaggy at this point. One can only speculate, how irritated his mother must be with her son's long and unruly hair. Hold in there Mama!
The pastor asked the room three questions: What blessings have they received in the past week? What they need prayers for? and Where they have seen the holy spirit at work? Not every church has this practice, but I never cease to be amazed at the things I learn. When asked where she had seen spirit at work, a lady proudly proclaimed (almost with a tear in her eye) that she has a young person with down-syndrome in her life, that took three bites of a peanut-butter sandwich recently.
She acknowledged that to many people, that would be something totally insignificant. But to the parents of that child, it meant the world! She went on to explain that down-syndrome children are know for being exceptionally picky eaters and have deeply restricted diets that further compromise their health. A lot of them are also known to have "junk food problems." But this young person who has now added one more (healthy) food to their diet, is a great blessing to this family.
"This is a break thru!" she proclaimed.
The scripture discussed today was Mark 10:32-52 (ESV)
Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time
32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”The Request of James and John
35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,[a] 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave[b] of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus
46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.He noted how James and John asked for a position of privilege (that Christ had no authority to give), to sit at his right and left hand in Gods kingdom. In short; "They wanted to be Lieutenant Messiah's".
After a brief pause of silence, he said "....I thought that joke would go over better."
Regardless... we got a good laugh.
I am told that you can really tell the personality of the disciples by reading their works. Some books of the gospel have details smoothed over, while others are very up front and tell-it-like-it-is. The pastor commented on the Book of Mark, and how it is kind of meandering, and all over the place. He acknowledged that he too, is a meandering thinker, However the fellow he is married to (yes, you read that correctly) is an engineer and a very linear thinker. He acknowledged that there are many different types of thinkers in this world and "no way of thinking is better then others,"
Then something happened that I did not expect. The pastor brought up the issue of social privilege based on race, gender, class etc.
I looked at this a a pretty bold move. Considering Alberta is the conservative center of the country, and he is giving this speech to a room full of 50-65 year old white educated middle class citizens. But I think I need to remember what kind of environment I am in. This is a Moravian church. Moravians are generally known for being fully accepting of the LGBTQ community, and this church itself hosts multiple people from the gay community. This church is currently sponsoring a muslim Syrian refugee family (they had a little display set up with pictures and information). This is a pretty progressive environment. Maybe I should stop panicking?
If you are still trying to wrap your head around this whole white-privilege thing, here is a good comic that explains it. White Privilege Explained
As for me I have no denial of my state of privilege. I am a white, english-speaking, educated, christian, third-generation Canadian that comes from a middle upper-class family. The only way you could possible put me higher, is if I was born male.
I know I have privilege. I have friends of all different ethnic, gender and religious backgrounds, and I can tell you that I am lucky. I am lucky because I don't need to work extremely hard to attempt to get a job over equally or less qualified white applicants. I am lucky that my family doesn't have to reformulate their diet to be as simple and meager as possible, just to survive. I am lucky I can go out to a party or a bar, or walk down the street, expressing my own gender, without being under high risk of assault or being murdered. I am lucky I can wear an item that expresses my faith in public places, that I will not be questioned, criticized or harassed over regularly.
These are real description's of the daily lives of people I love, in the year 2016 living in North America. The struggle is very real.
Beyond all this, I think the pastor's speech didn't hit the target properly. Not because of race and status. He was addressing exactly who he needed to be addressing. The issue was age. He stood before the congregation and pointed out a lot of clear points on why we have life easier then say, the visible minorities around us. Which I think most of were very true....except for one.
He mentioned how a lot of us had our education paid for by our parents. He was addressing a room of 65 year old's. Now I am not sure about you, but I don't know anyone that was enrolling in college in (roughly) 1969 and had a free ride from their parents. People generally didn't have as much money back then. I think this speech would hit home a lot more in a room full of 25 year old's. Trust me when I say, I know may young people buying beer every Saturday night on mommy and daddy's trust fund, while in university.
Random Fact:
There is a not-for-profit cafe run by the Moravian church out in St.Albert. And they are looking for volunteers!
http://www.commongroundcommunitycafe.org/
Over all I had a good time and received a tour! I also discovered that this church had used it's back yard to open up free community garden plots for the public. Before I left I grabbed a picture inside the body of the church. I had to do it quickly to avoid disrupting the yoga group that was using the space at that moment.
Have a good week Y'all!
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