BELLS CORNERS UNITED CHURCH

2nd SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

June 6, 2021

The video recording of this service can be found here.
You can also dial-in by phone to listen to the audio recording at 613-820-8104

Gathering Music: My Love Colours Outside the Lines – More Voices #138 BCUC band

(also requested by Barb & David)

1 My love colours outside the lines,
exploring paths that few could ever find;
and takes me into places
where I’ve never been before,
and opens doors to worlds outside the lines.

2 My Lord colours outside the lines,
turns wounds to blessings, water into wine;
and takes me into places
where I’ve never been before
and opens doors to worlds outside the lines.

Bridge: We’ll never walk on water
if we’re not prepared to drown, body and soul need a soaking from time to time.
And we’ll never move the grave-stones
if we’re not prepared to die, and realize
there are worlds outside the lines.

3, 4 My soul longs to colour outside the lines,
tear back the curtains, sun, come in and shine;
I want to walk beyond the boundaries
where I’ve never been before, throw open doors
to worlds outside the lines. Bridge

Acknowledgement of Territory Rev. Lorrie Lowes

As we begin our worship today, we remember that, in this congregation, we live and work on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin and Anishinaabe Peoples. We give thanks for their stewardship of the land and the water, the plants and the animals, through many generations. We also acknowledge their story, and our place in it, with sorrow. As we continue to live on this land with respect for it and for its people, may we commit to working toward truth, justice and reconciliation. All my relations.

Welcome & Centering for Worship Rev. Kim Vidal

Good morning! On behalf of Bells Corners United Church, I welcome and greet you in the name of Jesus Christ on this second Sunday after Pentecost. I’m glad that you can join us in our virtual worship time of contemplation, prayers and reflection.

As we continue to be on stay-at-home order, please be reminded that the work of the church carries on. Please take time to keep in touch with each other through prayers, phone calls, emails or via Zoom. Check also the many announcements on our website to keep you informed and give you opportunities to respond.

Friends, I now invite you to open your hearts to God’s healing love and justice as we gather in worship.

Lighting of the Christ Candle Acolytes: Bob & Ellen Boynton

The light is all around us –
a sign of the season for us as God’s people.

The flame of this Christ candle reminds us
of the beauty and presence of the light
that paints the sky, bathes the land
and brightens our path.
Thanks be to the Creator for fire and sun,
for flame and symbol, for the light of Christ.

Peter Chynoweth, Gathering, Pentecost 1 2021 (Year B). Used with permission

Sung Response: Spirit of the Living God - Voices United #376 – Quartet with flute: Erin

Spirit of the Living God, Fall afresh on us.
Spirit of the Living God, Fall afresh on us.
Break us, melt us, mold us, fill us.
Spirit of the Living God, Fall afresh on us.

Call to Gather & Prayer of Approach Rev. Lorrie Lowes

If you are carrying the stresses and strains of living in a complex world,
if you feel at times like God has abandoned you,
find the heartbeat of God in our gathering within divine mystery.
If you are puzzled by the choices of your neighbours
or family members make, if you are wondering
how to make your own choices with so many options,
come and discover the voice of Christ
speaking to our hearts of wholeness.

Come to commune with God within us, God beyond us,
And God among us, reaching into restorative relationship
With the Holy One in prayer:
Powerful Spirit, who breathes us into freedom
And insight, guide us on the Way of Jesus that we find zeal
for faithfulness; enflame our trust in you
that we become proclaimers of good news;
and strengthen us for the challenge of your call
and the price for loving. Amen.

Gord Dunbar, Gathering, Pentecost 1 2021 (Year B). Used with permission

Hymn: It’s A Song of Praise to the Maker - More Voices #30 - BCUC choir

1. It’s a song of praise to the Maker,
the thrush sings high in the tree.
It’s a song of praise to the Maker,
The gray whale sings in the sea,

Refrain

And by the Spirit you and I
can join our voice to the holy cry
and sing, sing, sing to the Maker too.

2. It’s a call of life to the Giver
when waves and waterfalls roar.
It’s a call of life to the Giver
when high tides break on the shore R

3. It’s a hymn of love to the Lover;
the bumblebees hum along.
It’s a hymn of love to the Lover,
the summer breeze joins the song R

4. It’s the chorus of all creation;
it’s sung by all living things.
It’s the chorus of all creation;
a song the universe sings R

Storytime Rev. Lorrie Lowes

Good Morning.

Can you imagine someone coming to your house and taking you away from your family? Can you imagine you just having to go with them even though your parents cried, and you had to leave everything behind? Can you imagine being taken to a school hours and hours away from your home and left there with hundreds of other kids, with teachers who didn’t speak your language or even dress like you? How would you feel? Scared, sad, angry, upset? I’m sure I would. It’s hard to imagine that anything like this could really happen, especially in a country like Canada, but it did.

I usually like to start my Time for the Young at Heart with something cheery and upbeat, but this week the news of the terrible discovery on the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School has made me very sad. Back in history, beginning when Canada was a young country, First Nations Children were sent to Residential Schools. They were far away from home so the children had to sleep there. These schools were created by the Canadian Government and the Christian churches in Canada to make those children more like the European settlers. The children were taught English culture and the English language. They were not allowed to speak their native language or wear their own clothes. Brothers and sisters were not allowed to speak to each other. The teachers wanted the kids to forget all about their homes and culture so that they would be less like their own families and more like them. Because the schools were so far from their homes, the children didn’t get to see their parents often and when they did, they had trouble talking to them because their parents didn’t speak English and the children had lost much of their own language. The schools were crowded and the children weren’t taken care of in the way a loving family would. A Residential School was not a happy place to be. These schools caused a lot of problems for our First Nations people that are still being felt today.

All the residential schools are closed now and we know that they were a terrible idea. The schools are closed but the problems they caused have not gone away. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to repair the damage and to heal the relationship between the First Nations people and rest of Canadian society.

The news this week has made people very sad. So many children who were sent to Residential schools never got to go home again. Until this mass grave was found, their families held on to the hope that they were alive and safe somewhere. Now that hope is gone and they are grieving.

Just a couple of weeks ago I talked to you about how important a loving family is for all of us. Even when children – or people of any age – need to be separated from their families for some reason, we know that they still need people around them who love them and care for them in the way a family should. We talk about our congregation as a family and we talk about loving all people as God’s family. Right now, members of our family are hurting and we are all being called to show them love and care.

It's hard to know sometimes what to do to show that love. I think in the case of the indigenous people, the best thing we can do now is to listen to their stories and to learn more about their experience and their culture. We have a lot to learn from them about loving all of God’s creation. Jesus may not have met them when he was teaching so long ago, but they understand his message of love for your neighbour. It is a central part of their culture and their spirituality. They clearly understand that your neighbour includes all living things and the earth itself.

Our church, the United Church of Canada, was the first to apologize to the First Nations people about the way they were treated and for the terrible experience of the Residential Schools, and we can be proud of that. But saying, “We’re sorry” is just the beginning of the journey to making things better. It doesn’t make the hurt go away. We need to show that we don’t want something like this to ever happen again. Our next steps are to listen and to learn. We need to be ready to show our love for each other in real ways, not just in words.

For me, the hardest thing to understand about all of what happened, is the fact that people thought it was okay to treat children in such a cruel way. I can’t imagine how anyone thought this was a good idea as a way to give them a better life. It makes no sense to me at all.

Where I see the most hope today is in your faces – the faces of all children who are growing up here in Canada. When I was a child, I never heard about Residential Schools, even though they were still open. But we have all heard the stories now and we all have the opportunity to do a better job of being friends - and family – to those around us, even if they seem to be different from us. Every child, every person, deserves to feel loved and special. It is what God wants for the world. I promise to work hard at this and I hope you will too. I hope that you keep reminding us all that everyone deserves the kind of love that Jesus taught.

Let’s finish with a prayer:

Creator God, We pray for the children who were in the Indian Residential Schools and we pray for their families and everyone who loved them. Help us be the loving family that will help to heal the deep hurts that are being felt today. Amen

Hymn: Teach Me, God, to Wonder - Voices United #299 – BCUC music team

1. Teach me, God, to wonder,
teach me, God, to see;
let your world of beauty capture me.

Refrain:
Praise to you be gi-ven,
love for you you be lived,
life be celebrated, joy you give.

2. Let me, God, be open, Let me loving be;
Let your world of people speak to me. R

3.Let me, God, be ready, let me be awake,
in your world of loving my place take. R

4. Teach me, God, to know you,
hear you when you speak,
see you in my neighbour when we meet. R.

Prayer for Illumination[1] Reader: Marion Dugas

Gracious God, take the words I will speak and bless them.
Take the listening we will bring to the Word
and empower our reflection with action. Amen.

The Gospel Reading: Mark 3:1-6 (Common English Bible)

Jesus Heals a Man with a Withered Hand

1 Jesus returned to the synagogue. A man with a withered hand was there.
2 Wanting to bring charges against Jesus, they were watching Jesus closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath.
3 He said to the man with the withered hand, “Step up where people can see you.”
4 Then he said to them, “Is it legal on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they said nothing.
5 Looking around at them with anger, deeply grieved at their unyielding hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he did, and his hand was made healthy.
6 At that, the Pharisees got together with the supporters of Herod to plan how to destroy Jesus.

May God’s wisdom give us understanding as we ponder on this Gospel story.
Thanks be to God!

Sermon: “Stretch Out Your Hand” Rev. Kim Vidal

It was Sabbath day. And for a devout Jewish man like Jesus, Sabbath is a day he would never miss. On this particular Sabbath, the Pharisees were watching Jesus to see whether he would break a Sabbath law. A man with a withered hand was there. We don’t know for sure if he was a regular member of the synagogue or perhaps he was invited by the Pharisees to trap Jesus. But the man caught Jesus’ attention. This nameless man has been suffering with a withered hand for so many years. Mark didn’t tell us if the man’s condition was a result from severe arthritis or rheumatism. Or perhaps he had hand atrophy - a condition that causes the muscles of the hand to deteriorate and wither away. When the hand is immobile for an extended period of time, the muscles begin to lose power and size. Can you imagine what life would be like if your hand was immobile and crippled? Your hand is wasted – you can’t do a lot of things – be it gardening, playing your favourite sport or playing a musical instrument - no writing or computer games, no baking or cooking, you get the picture - life could get pretty limited, boring and so unpleasant if that's all we had of the world.

When Jesus saw him – this man with a withered hand was probably in the back corner. He doesn’t want to be noticed and kept covering his withered, crippled hand like a big bad secret that he had kept for so many years. But Jesus called the man to come forward. You can feel the tension in the room when everyone gazed at the man and waited for Jesus to do his next act. Jesus raised some questions directed to his onlookers –to those who apply strict religious observance of the Sabbath: “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But no response came from any of the religious men. They were silent. There is nothing more dreadful when looking at someone’s misery and remaining silent. Silence speaks very loudly when it comes to the pains of a hurting human being.

The man perhaps was surprised too. I wonder if it made him very nervous. I wonder if he truly wanted to be noticed or felt very uncomfortable to be seen. He was used to being invisible. He was after all, a man with a physical disability. When the people in his village saw him coming down the street, they didn't say, "Here comes Joseph or Thomas." They said, "Here comes that man with a withered hand." That's how he was known — not by his name nor his family history nor what he does for a living. He was known by labels: the crippled man, the handicapped man, the one whose hand looks different from us, the "man with a withered hand." But in that moment of encounter, he could not even understand the healing that was coming to him in the person of Jesus, the healer.

In front of the scrutinizers, Jesus did something that I'm sure no one had done to him for a long, long time - something that violated the religious custom of the day. Jesus healed the man on a Sabbath day. Jesus asked the man to stretch his hand and the man’s withered hand was restored to health! His hand was freed from its physical state of bondage. In the first century world where Jesus and the man lived, having any physical deformity was a curse – a result of being sinful. The man’s condition was viewed as God’s punishment for something he or his parents had done. Just like the blind Bartimaeus or the bent-over woman or the hemorrhaging woman. He was deemed to be not only physically withered but spiritual as well. I can easily imagine myself as a spiritual cripple if I had suffered physical deformities like he had. In essence, he had lost not only his dignity and self-worth but his humanity as well. He suffered a condition of spiritual emptiness. If people thought about him at all, it was probably with scorn, seeing him as cursed. If this story was made into a movie, you might think that the climax had come unfolding into a happy ending when the man’s withered hand was restored to health. But to our surprise, a twist in the story was about to unfold. Jesus’ compassion and act of love for this man with a withered hand provoked anger and outburst from the religious leaders of the synagogue. Mark writes: “The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the supporters of Herod to plan how to destroy or kill Jesus”

It was the inappropriate timing of Jesus’ healing that ignited the religious leaders’ anger. Afraid to confront Jesus directly, they were enraged that Jesus had violated the fourth commandment by "working" on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:9 and Deuteronomy 5:12–15). I’d like to imagine that in that moment of anger, the leader of the Pharisees stood up and addressed the assembly: 'Folks, we are here to worship God, to offer praise and prayers and to read and listen to God's words. We are not here to do works of healing. This is Sabbath – a day of rest. Couldn't Jesus have waited just one day to do his healing business when the Sabbath would be over? And for you, man with a withered hand and those of you who are here, come and be healed on those other days not on the Sabbath." In today’s context, this story makes no sense. We offer healing or any other help as the need arises. But let me explain here that we do an injustice to the Pharisees if we write them off completely as bad people. You see, they were good people—it was their duty to preserve and protect those things that were sacred for them— laws, rituals, traditions, culture — that mediated faith for them. Don’t we do exactly the same thing when we hold fast to our favourite worship practices, our cherished spiritual disciplines, and our beloved traditions? I like what Debie Thomas has to say about this: “The Pharisees were not wrong to uphold the Sabbath. They were absolutely right. But rightness is not love. Rightness is not compassion. Rightness will never get us to Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath. Only compassion will do that.”

Jesus challenges the Pharisaic law. Jesus explodes at their human callousness and their hypocrisy. I understood this reaction of Jesus as vouching that human compassion, healing, and wholeness are far more important than religious rightness and rituals. In the first few verses prior to this story, Mark wrote about Jesus presenting his arguments about the meaning of Sabbath. Jesus said to his listeners:

“Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry

and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” Then Jesus continued with this aphorism, “The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath.” For Jesus, compassion and love would not wait one more day to heal a human being in need. This man, says Jesus, is a beloved child of God. He is part of humanity and blessing for the whole world. He is not the man with a withered hand. He belongs to God’s human family. He shall not be put aside, ignored and labelled to keep him in his place. He will be restored to wholeness.

I imagine, more than anything else, the thrill, the joy felt by the man after being healed of his withered hand. And I imagine that he run back to his family and friends, or whatever village, or perhaps whatever community, he belongs and celebrated his healing experience. He felt free. He felt his hand like a new part of his body. He was made human once more. Can you imagine how the man felt at that moment? No more numbness of fingers and weakness of muscles. No more having to hide his hand from people. No more ostracism and rejection from the community. He was made whole again!

Dan Clendenin writes: “When religious rituals like Sabbath-keeping and fasting — or our Bible studies, sermons, church attendance, and retreats — are divorced from human health and wholeness, whenever a believer "turns away from others, your own flesh and blood" (Is. 58:7), then our religion has gone very bad indeed. Conversely, when you care for your neighbor like you would care for your own self, you have fulfilled the deepest purposes of all religious rituals.”[2] . If we are called to follow Jesus and to love the way Jesus loved, it's clear then that this story gives us a model of what it means to be the living church - the Body of Christ - not just on Sundays but every single day of our lives.

Mark says that Jesus was deeply grieved at the callousness of the religious leaders. Jesus lamented their unyielding hearts. What is our response as the body of Christ when we encounter the man with the withered hand? Must we yield our hearts to respond? Should we wait a day or two to show our compassion and love? Or should we act here and now as Jesus did that Sabbath morning? I’m sure most of us had the occasion to encounter the man with a withered hand. And there are so many of him in our community or even in our congregation that sometimes we easily ignore. Let me describe him:

- He could be a patient suffering from Covid-19. He is there, in the hospital’s ICU, fighting for his life and longing for to be healed.
- He could be the new immigrant wanting to learn how to speak English so he could earn a living to feed his family. He is there, in our cities and our neighborhoods, longing for people to recognize him.
- He could be a young teenager suffering from identity crisis and being bullied at school for being different. He is there, alone in the night, longing for acceptance from his loved ones and peers.
- He could be a woman suffering from depression and mental illness, stigmatized by the lack of support from the community. She is waiting for us to journey with her in her condition.

At some point in our lives, we too, were like him - withered and shriveled and wasted over by loneliness, or grief, or depression or illness.

The indigenous community was crippled and withered not on their own doing but because of colonialism and racial apathy. The residential schools that were run by the Christian churches and supported by the government, stripped the indigenous peoples, particularly children, of their culture, their language, their spirituality, and uprooted them from their land, families and homes. This past week was very difficult for many of us as we listened and learned with shock and grief about the 215 remains of indigenous children found in the grounds of Kamloops Residential School. This news starkly portrayed the deeply ingrained atrocities inflicted by the Residential Schools upon the indigenous peoples. God is deeply grieved in our unyielding hearts. We need to be more vigilant and do something about this issue. We must act now and listen to their stories and work for truth and reconciliation.

Today, compassionate healing love calls us over. God is calling us to a work of completing and bringing together that which has been started by Jesus. This is our calling – to call forth those who are hurting and in pain – to find a way to listen to their stories and learn their names. But we do not stop there. Concrete action is needed. We do whatever it takes to offer healing, life and wholeness.

Jesus taught us that the most important thing is not the correct enactment of a ritual or religious law, but the spontaneous answer to the cry of human need, any time and any place. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayers of the People & the Lord’s Prayer Rev. Kim Vidal

Let us gather our hearts in prayer.

Here in this moment and place, O God, we come to you. We are yours in the silence of our being. We are filled with new awareness of your great love and compassion. Prayerfully, we come to hear your word and celebrate the Gospel which makes us new beings. Like the powerful story of compassionate healing shown by Jesus, empower us to become compassionate healers to friends and strangers alike.

God of tender care, we pray with those who are praying. We join the spoken and silent prayers that come to you from our community in Bells Corners and the nearby communities; from our homes and street corners; from places of sorrow and joy; from war zones and prison cells, from hospital rooms and festive tables, from voices throughout the world. With bowed heads or heads held high, standing boldly, sitting or kneeling quietly, we pray to you in earnest gratitude. We ask for your guidance and rest in your comfort.

God of justice, we pray for those who are crying for help; for those of us whose bodies and spirits need healing from you. We pray for women and men who seek love and support from others; for children who sleep in hunger; for all who are imprisoned by walls or worries, for all those who are hopeless because they feel rejected or in the midst of grieving. For those whose bodies and spirits are withered because of illness or injustice.

Today, we pray for all who are grieving the death of the 215 indigenous children whose remains were discovered in Kamloops Residential School. We remember the indigenous communities especially the residential school survivors in their struggles to share their stories. Nudge us to listen and to act. Remind us that the heartbreaking impact of the residential schools put upon the indigenous communities resulted to genocide, family dysfunction, cultural uprootedness, chronic and infectious diseases, mental illnesses, substance abuse and suicidal behaviours, particularly among the young people. Let me offer this blessing of peace written by Jan Richardson to our indigenous brothers and sisters in their continuing struggle for truth and reconciliation: I cannot claim/ to still the storm/ that has seized you, cannot calm/ the waves that wash through your soul, that break against your fierce and aching heart. But I will wade into these waters/ will stand with you in this storm, will say peace to you / in the waves, peace to you / in the winds, peace to you / in every moment that finds you still within the storm.

For your steadfast love and goodness to us, we give you thanks O God, our Refuge. Hear this our common prayer and those of our hearts which we offer. These we pray in the name of Jesus Christ who taught us this ancient prayer we now recite together:

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kin-dom come, thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kin-dom, the power and the glory,
Forever and ever, Amen.

Invitation to Offer Rev. Lorrie Lowes

Jesus felt tender compassion for the suffering people he met and taught us to do the same. This day, you and I are called to respond to Jesus’ example to offer healing, love and compassion as the need arises. Let us offer our gifts of time, talents and treasures so that the ministry of this church will be a growing, vibrant witness to God’s healing love. If you are not on PAR and wish to send in your offering and donations, you can drop them in the mailbox by the kitchen door of the church or mail them to BCUC. You can also send in your support through e-transfer. Thank you for your continued love and support to BCUC.

Offertory Prayer

Gracious God, we offer the work of our hands and our hearts, our time and talents, our commitment with joy and generous spirits. Bless these gifts to heal our community and the world of its pain. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Sending Forth Rev. Kim Vidal

Bob Root, Gathering, Pentecost 1 2018 Year B. Used with permission
And now, in the care of our healing God, we go,
thankful for a love that knows neither beginning nor ending;
grateful for a hope that gives us courage to live day by day.

May we go out with joy, sure of our place in the good heart of God.
May we go out to be a blessing to a world so in need of God’s care
that only we can give. Amen.

Hymn: Like A Healing Stream - More Voices #144 – Erin Berard

1.Like a healing stream in a barren desert,
Spirit water bringing life to dusty earth,
God is trickling through our lives
as in a dream unfolding,
promising revival and rebirth
like a healing stream.

2.Like a gentle rain on a thirsty garden,
Spirit water come to nourish tiny seed,
God is bubbling through the soil
to coax a new creation
yearning for an end to want and need
like a gentle rain.

3.Like a river strong with a restless current,
Spirit water rushing on to distant shore,
God is carving out a channel
in a new direction,
calling for an end to hate and war
like a river strong.

4.Like a mighty sea reaching far horizons,
Spirit water with a love both deep and wide,
God is working in our hearts
to shape a new tomorrow:
God will always challenge and provide!
Like a mighty sea… like a river strong…
like a gentle rain… like a healing stream.

Departing Music: Without Seeing You, We Love You – David Haas soloist & recorders: Erin Berard

Paraphrase of 1 Peter 1: 8 This haunting piece was written as a Communion song for the funeral of the composer’s brother-in-law, who died after a long struggle with AIDS. The composer felt a strong sense of not being able to ‘see’ his friend after his death. It is a positive statement of the strength of connection that can be found with God and with others, even in the absence of physical presence.

Refrain:

Without seeing you we love you.
Without touching you we embrace.
Without knowing you we follow.
Without seeing you we believe.

1.We return to you deep within,
Leave the past to the dust.
Turn to you with tears and fasting,
You are ready to forgive. (Refrain)

2.The sparrow will find a home
Near to you oh God.
How happy we who dwell with you,
For ever in your house. (Refrain)

3.For ever we sing to you
Of your goodness, O God;
Proclaiming to all the world
Of your faithfulness and love. (Refrain)

4.For you are our shepherd
There is nothing that we need.
In green pastures we will find our way,
In waters of peace. (Refrain)

Zoom Fellowship – 11 am

[1] David Sparks, Gathering, Pentecost 1 2018 (Year B). Used with permission.

[2] Dan Clendenin, “He Put His Hands on Her”, http://www.journeywithjesus.net

Sunday Worship Service - June 6, 2021