BELLS CORNERS UNITED CHURCH

7th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

July 11, 2021

Worship Leader: Rev. Kim Vidal
Music: Abe TeGrotenhuis, Erin Berard & Choir/Band Members
Summer Sermon Series: “VOICES OF LAMENT”
Theme: “Pay Attention to Grief & the Grieving”

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: Royal Fireworks – Overture : Handel (first part) Abe - organ

Welcome & Centering for Worship

Good morning! On behalf of Bells Corners United Church, I welcome and greet you in the name of Jesus Christ on this 7th Sunday after Pentecost. I’m glad that you can join us in our virtual worship service. Today we begin our summer sermon series on the book of Lamentations. I know that some of us don’t want to read this book because it allows us to look at grief, suffering and pain. However, if you treat this book as part of our human condition and remind ourselves that God is still present – still doing things in the world, you might find this book hopeful. I encourage you to reflect with me in the next few Sundays and learn about this almost forgotten book in the Bible.

As we continue to be under pandemic restrictions, 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 at bcuc.org to keep you informed and give you opportunities to respond.

We are now re-opening our sanctuary for in-person worship service at 10 am with a maximum number of 50 people. The Public Health strongly recommends staying at home but if you wish to attend the service, please call the office to register until Friday at 11 am. For the safety of all attendees, the usual health protocols will be in place which include masking, social distancing, hand sanitizing and staying home if you feel unwell. Take note too that our worship service will still be offered via Youtube, by email and by telephone.

Friends, the voice of a loving God calls us to be a caring community encouraging us to look, to notice, to pay attention to grief and those who are grieving. Let us come together in worship knowing that God is with us and we are not alone.

Lighting of the Christ Candle Acolytes: David Stafford & Barbara Bole

We light this candle as a symbol of the light of Christ which gives us hope and life.
This light cannot be held back by distance nor time, not even grief nor fear.
This light shines in each one of us, no matter who or where we are.
May the flame of this candle remind us of our commitment as followers of Jesus Christ, a light to the world.

Call to Gather[1] & Prayer of Approach[2] Nicole Beaudry

Every morning, God calls you to be,
and when you rise and as you become,
God gives a promise:
As I live and as you live, I will never abandon you.
And each day, we may respond:
As you live and as I live, I will go with you.
And each day, we may say to one another:
As God lives and as I live, let us worship and serve together.

Let us pray:

Holy and mysterious God,
We come to you with many questions
and seeking answers for our world right now:
“Why me?”
“Why now?”
“How long?”
“What next?”
We are worried, we are afraid…for ourselves,
for our families, for our friends, and for our hurting and dividing world.

Help us to truly feel your presence and your promise of hope –
in a flash of colour as we go for a walk
and notice a roughly painted stone on the side path
with a child’s handwriting that says:
“Be safe.”
“Stay strong!”
“Give peace a chance.”
“You are not alone.”
A simple reminder of your grace, loving God,
for this day and every day. Amen.

Hymn: This is God’s Wondrous World – Voices United #296 BCUC choir

1 This is God's wondrous world,
and to my listening ears
all nature sings, and round me rings
the music of the spheres.
This is God's wondrous world;
I rest me in the thought
of rocks and trees, of skies and seas,
God's hand the wonders wrought.

2 This is God's wondrous world:
the birds their carols raise,
the morning light, the lily white,
declare their Maker's praise.
This is God's wondrous world:
God shines in all that's fair;
in the rustling grass or mountain pass,
God's voice speaks everywhere.

3 This is God's wondrous world:
O let me ne'er forget
that though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the Ruler yet.
This is God's wondrous world:
why should my heart be sad?
Let voices sing, let the heavens ring:
God reigns, let earth be glad.

Public Domain - Words; Maltbie D. Babcock, English melody; adapt. Franklin L. Sheppard, alt.
Song # 97195, Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-733214.

Storytime with Nicole Beaudry: “A Most Colourful Place”

Good day everyone! I was searching for a happy, bright, colourful story or a lesson that would be in contrast with, what I think are dreadful, sad, painful readings from the book of Lamentations that we will be reading for the next few weeks. And I decided to tell you about a “Most Colourful Place”.

Smack in the middle of the Gulf of St-Laurence, like in the middle of the ocean, there is a group of 8 islands plus many more tiny ones, that is part of the province of Quebec, called Les Iles de la Madeleine. The only way to get to Magdalen’s Islands is to take a five-hour ferry from P.E.I or go by plane. Life is very quiet and laid-back on the Islands for the 12,000 people who live there.

Fishing was the main occupation and now tourism brings in visitors and provides many jobs for the locals. In the past, before the tourists came, the residents of the Islands were isolated for 8-9 months of the year and they were lonely and downcast like the weather. They could not travel outside the islands or have visitors. They thought: How can we make our lives sunnier, happier, gayer? Yes! We’ll write songs and we’ll sing and dance, we’ll celebrate with family and friends, and…. we’ll give our houses happy, joyful looks. All over the islands, people began painting their houses in different bright colours. So it began with one, and another one, and then more. People shared their paint, helped each other. Nothing was too flashy or wild. And pretty soon, the whole place was like a colourful, happy quilt.

When you get off the huge ferry-boat, after you’ve seen big reddish limestone cliffs by the ocean, the beaches and sand dunes and rolling hills, the most striking thing you see are the houses. Indeed….who would think of having a lavender or bubble-gum pink house? or bright sunshine yellow? or turquoise, or fire-red or lime green? Tourists come to visit the island and buy the fish from the smoke houses, enjoy the beaches and the sand dunes and the sea and the countryside, and the quiet, and also the colourful houses. I spent a week there. I tried to take a photo of every house I saw, and I had plans to make a mosaïc, but never did.

Time to go back to the Islands!

I invite you to draw your own “Most Colourful Place”.
On a large paper or cardboard, using crayons, paint, or markers;
In the driveway, on the sidewalk or the patio, using chalks;
Draw hills and roads; add many houses of all sizes;
“Paint” them in bright colours;
Keep adding houses if you wish; and trees and flowers, and animals;
Add colour to the hills and the sky.
Finally: give your “Most Colourful Place” a name.
If you wish, you could write about your “place” and share it.

Hymn: “Lord, Listen to your Children Praying” VU#400 – BCUC choir

Lord, Listen to your children praying.
Lord, send your Spirit in this place.
Lord, listen to your children praying.
Send us love, send power, send us grace.

**Prayer for Illumination* Reader: Chris Brown**

(*Karen Boivin, Gathering-Pentecost 1 2019, Year C. Used with permission.)

It is a challenge, Holy God, to make sense of scripture on our own. So, we give thanks for this opportunity to share it with each other in the company of your Holy Spirit. Help us to receive it both as an individual address and as a message to us as a community of faith. Make us open to receiving it, and brave and committed in the living of it. Amen.

Reading from the Hebrew Scripture: Lamentations 1: 1-11 (NRSV) The Deserted City

1 How lonely sits the city
    that once was full of people!
How like a widow she has become,
    she that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces
    has become a vassal.

2 She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her,
they have become her enemies.

3 Judah has gone into exile with suffering
    and hard servitude;
she lives now among the nations,
    and finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
    in the midst of her distress.

4 The roads to Zion mourn,
    for no one comes to the festivals;
all her gates are desolate,
    her priests groan;
her young girls grieve,
    and her lot is bitter.

5 Her foes have become the masters,
her enemies prosper, because the Lord has made her suffer for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe.

6 From daughter Zion has departed all her majesty. Her princes have become like stags that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer.

7 Jerusalem remembers, in the days of her affliction and wandering,
all the precious things that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the foe, and there was no one to help her,
the foe looked on mocking over her downfall.

8 Jerusalem sinned grievously, so she has become a mockery; all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans, and turns her face away.

9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took no thought of her future; her downfall was appalling, with none to comfort her.

“O Lord, look at my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!”

10 Enemies have stretched out their hands over all her precious things; she has even seen the nations invade her sanctuary, those whom you forbade to enter your congregation.

11 All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength. Look, O Lord, and see how worthless I have become.

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

Sermon: “Look…Take Notice!”

Early in the morning of May 28, indigenous Haida artist, Tamara Bell and her 12-year old son rushed out from their home with one purpose in mind: to create a memorial for the 215 indigenous children found at Kamloops Residential School. After reading the news about the discovery of the remains of these missing Indigenous children, Tamara did not hesitate to do something about this horrific incident. If memorials were built to honour the dead and provide a safe space for healing, she would not remain silent to honour these children and lament for them.

Tamara and her son scurried from one store to the next buying children’s shoes: running shoes, boots, sneakers, moccasins, in different shapes and colours – representing the traditional and modern customs and values of the Indigenous communities who were distressed and shaken by the residential schools. By midday, Tamara was able to gather Indigenous women who helped her assemble the memorial of shoes, lovingly and tearfully placed on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Over the next few days the memorial grew to include candles, flowers, toys, clothing, and posters from visitors and it went viral nationally and globally.

“As a people we need to heal”, lamented the artist. “We can’t just be suffering alone!” The memorial created by Tamara, her son and the Indigenous women is but one piece of the many symbolic examples of grief and of the grieving to make us aware – to urge us to listen – to look – to pay attention – to notice the cries of the Indigenous peoples for truth and reconciliation.

The big word in my sermon today and in the next few Sundays, as we reflect on the book of Lamentations, is the word lament. A lament is just as the word describes – a passionate expression of grief or sorrow that comes with emotional outbursts of wailing, weeping, moaning or mourning. Generally, a lament is a prayer that cries out to God from the midst of desperate grief, pain, or any circumstance that seems out of control. It vocalizes the hurt to God with the conviction that God can and will bring relief. A lament is not just the venting of frustration, but it is a profound statement of faith in God from the midst of utter human hopelessness.

For some of us, the last thing we want to hear being preached on a Sunday morning is a lament. Some of us have enough grief and sorrow in our lives, and we come here to find words of comfort, a time to quiet our spirits, to find hope and consolation in the words and hymns that offer us God’s presence. We want a soothing ointment and a clean dressing for our wounds that will help us to go back into our homes, into our workplaces, into our little niches with a little extra cushion between us and our stressful lives. Even if we’re not experiencing a personal sorrow at this time, laments can be difficult for us to hear. They make us vulnerable and helpless and we do not want to revisit the pains and hurts that caused us sleepless nights and nervous breakdowns. So why, you may ask, are we even reading and reflecting on this seemingly depressing book in the Bible? Because the act of lamenting is a powerful act of discovering our true human selves. It expresses our desire for hope to cut through our sadness and despair individually and communally. It makes us name our dire situation and calls on God’s presence and others to journey with us in our darkest moments. It makes our hearts burst open for transformation. It is important to listen to the voices of lament in the book of Lamentations and give them space in the pulpit today.

In today’s reading, we see the speaker of the first chapter in Lamentations, known as the Funeral Singer on centre stage reciting a message of lament and grief for the Israelites. According to authors Robert Williamson Jr. and Kathleen O’Connor, the Funeral Singer “doesn’t describe himself as a survivor. Instead, he seems to be an outsider- like a reporter whose job it is to sing a funeral song about the devastation of the city. He comes from the outside to describe someone else’s pain. He’s not a survivor but an ally. Or—at least he could be an ally.” The Funeral Singer’s words were descriptions of the downfall of the city of Jerusalem personified as a woman called the Daughter Zion. She was described as a weeping widow with no one to comfort her. She was deserted and betrayed by friends and lovers and she weeps all alone. There is no rest for the weary city. The woman’s wailing is a deep anguished cry that will not be silenced. Her pain is simply too great to be ignored. Seen this way, however, I cannot but react to the derogatory, “put down” descriptions of the city as a woman which according to Jan Pound is another misogynistic source of women’s degradation.

Attributed to the prophet Jeremiah with authors unknown, the book of Lamentations offers imagery that testifies to the multiple traumas that the community faced under the realities of ancient colonization through war. It calls us to remember, confront, and testify to the devastating events that led to the grief in the first place. As a point of history, the book was written to lament over the string of misfortunes that had befallen the city of Jerusalem. As a point of history, in 586 before common era, King Nebuchadnezzar and his army invaded and ransacked the city of Jerusalem. These foreign invaders destroyed the city’s inhabitants, buildings, homes, animals and farms, and the hub of communal life, the Temple. The Funeral Singer looks at the city, in shambles, ruins and devastation beyond compare. The once prosperous economy quickly collapsed, the once abundant sources of food and water disappeared, the once festive daily rhythms of life stopped. The city became unsafe, as any aspect of order was replaced by chaos. A reading of this chapter is a hard and painful task as image after image of dread and grief swims into our minds.

Written within the backdrop of a reward-punishment theology of Deuteronomy, the belief that God rewards those who obey God’s commandments and punishes those who turn away from God, the Funeral Singer points fingers at the people. That was their own doing, why they were suffering and in pain. He confesses that all of the people have sinned: “Jerusalem sinned grievously, so she has become a mockery.” In their sin, according to the speaker, the people had become unclean and the nation had fallen terribly in the hands of a foreign invader. Their lives had become barren, painful and empty, brought on by the consequences of their sinfulness. In this moment of terrible destruction, it seemed that God is nowhere to be found. It seemed that God was absent in the story.

However else we may think of the unsettling theology of this book, I believe that it embodies a tradition that is not embarrassed to weep and to mourn; unafraid to approach and come before God to offer a heartfelt lament, to pray that God and others will take notice of the grief and its sources, and to walk with the grieving when life takes an ugly turn. I once read a quotation written by American author, Earl Grollman that says: "Grief is not a disorder, a disease or sign of weakness. It is an emotional, physical and spiritual necessity, the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve."

It takes courage to lament. Jewish author and holocaust survivor Elie Weisel, author, activist, and holocaust survivor, once wrote that for a Jewish person, you can be with God, for God, disappointed with God, or even angry at God but the one thing a true Jew can never be is to be without God. Lament, like praise and thanksgiving can happen when you know that God is there even in those moments when one thinks that God is absent.

Today, we might say that this passage portrays utter depression in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic when hope is what we look for. Looking at the world around us, I think it might be reasonable to come to the same conclusion that the world is not a perfect place and we have every reason to grieve. There is the wrath of nature: there are hurricanes and tsunamis. There are wildfires and earthquakes and floods. There is war, famine and disease. And then there is the suffering brought on by human behaviour. There is corruption and greed, marginalization and oppression. There is fear and anxiety as our nation and the world seem to slip into economic recession. And what about our own personal lives? We struggle every day with difficulties and challenges. We struggle with illness, with depression, with grief and loss. We struggle with job insecurity, and the constant battle to make ends meet. We struggle with the loss of friendships and relationships and lovers and spouses. We struggle with addiction and isolation.

We too sometimes utter words of desperation to long for God and others to pay attention to our grief. Where is God? Why doesn’t God do something earthshaking? Why doesn’t God come to our rescue? We have all been in life situations that give rise to those kinds of questions that are turned into prayers of lament. The uncomfortable truth for us in an imperfect world that wants quick fixes is that God sometimes does not take us out of a situation, but I still believe that God weeps with us, sorrows with us and uses people and situations to reach out to us. To notice, to look and pay attention to our grief and sorrow. It might not be now or tomorrow – but somehow, when our heart continues to wait for that glimmer of hope to come, it will come. God is not done with us.

Since the discovery of the remains of the residential school children in Kamloops, the truth is slowly being unearthed, one after the other. Those shoes of little children will be a constant reminder that God is not done yet. There will be a day when truth and reconciliation will finally come. In the meantime, as we wait for that day, continue to take notice and to pay attention to the voices of lament and grief. Journey with the grieving. Continue to hope and to offer hope even when we think that it’s going nowhere. We are never alone. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Sources used:

BCUC Lectionary Group
Kathleen O’Connor, Lamentations & the Tears of the World.
Robert Williamson Jr., The Forgotten Books of the Bible.
News article – “In Their Shoes: Community Creates a Symbol of Mourning for Those Killed in Residential Schools”, thetyee.ca

A Prayer for the Grieving by Joyce Rupp & the Lord’s Prayer

"May your circle of understanding and caring persons be many and may you allow them to support and sustain you in your sadness.

"May you rest your heartache in the compassionate arms of God each day and find comfort from this Enduring Love.

"May you welcome the tears you shed as friends of your soul, gifting you with an opening to release your pain.

"May disappointment, anger, guilt, or any other hurts that cling to you be acknowledged and set free.

"May you trust the hidden part of you where your resilience resides and remember often the inner strength your spirit contains.

"May you find the balance you need between activity and quiet so you can be attentive to your grief.

"May you be gentle and compassionate with yourself by caring well for your body, mind, and spirit.

"May you believe in your ability to eventually heal from your loss, no matter how much loneliness or desolation you now experience.

"May you have the necessary energy to focus on the details of life that must be done, in spite of how you feel.

"May the day come when memories of your departed one bring you more comfort than sadness.

"May the empty hollow in you grow less wide and deep as you receive touches of consolation and assurances of peace.

"May you be healed from your grief and extend your compassion generously to others who hurt.

"May you recognize when it is time for you to let go and move on, doing so when your grief has faded and you are ready to allow the past to be at rest.

"May you trust that love is stronger than death and draw comfort from the bond that unites you with your loved."

Let us unite in this ancient prayer offered by Jesus to his friends:

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

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

Generous God, bless these gifts and bless the ministries they make possible. Encourage us to give of ourselves and our resources until we become joyful images of your love and service. Amen.

Sending Forth

(Wanda Winfield, Gathering – Pentecost 1 (Year B), 2018. Used with permission.)

May God of the unexpected surprise us this week,
with blessings where we thought
there were only burdens,
life where we saw only death.
Then may we be the ones who offer life,
surprising others with our presence, attention and response. Amen.

Hymn: My Life Flows On – Voices United #716 BCUC Quartet

1 My life flows on in endless song,
above earth’s lamentation.
I hear the sweet, though far-off hymn
that hails a new creation.

Through all the tumult and the strife,
I hear that music ringing.
It finds an echo in my soul.
how can I keep from singing?

2 What though my joys and comforts die,
My Savior still is living.
What though the shadows gather round?
A new song Christ is giving.

No storm can shake my inmost calm
while to that Rock I’m clinging.
Since Love commands both heaven and earth,
how can I keep from singing?

3 When tyrants tremble sick with fear,
and hear their death knells ringing.
When friends rejoice both far and near,
how can I keep from singing?

In prison cell and dungeon vile,
our thoughts to them are winging:
When friends by shame are undefiled,
how can I keep from singing?

4 I lift my eyes; the clouds grow thin,
I see the blue above it;
And day by day this pathway smooths,
since first I learned to love it.

The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
a fountain ever springing!
All things are mine since I am Christ’s
how can I keep from singing?

Departing Music: Royal Fireworks – Bourrée : Handel Abe - organ

Zoom Fellowship – 11 am

[1] Maggie Watts-Hammond, Gathering-Pentecost 1 2017, Year A. Used with permission.

[2] Mary Parsons, Gathering-Pentecost 1 2021, Year B. Used with permission.

Sunday Worship Service - July 11, 2021