November 10, 2002 - Remembrance Sunday
Today’s texts present some harsh contrasts. Some bridesmaids are ready and welcomed in. Some are not ready and are shut out of the feast, and the words “I never knew you” are left ringing in our ears. Even as we claim the positive challenge to make wise choices and prepare for a long-term faith commitment, we need to be sensitive to those who may hear this story as a judgment on them. The oil in these lamps is not the oil of perfection – it is the oil of justice and compassion. Acts of justice and compassion are to fill our lives and proclaim our preparedness for Christ’s appearance in our lives in whatever form that takes.
If you would like to stay seated for any or all of the “standing” parts of the service, please feel free to do so.
Prelude “The Voice of Calm” by J Rand
A time of silent preparation—Lighting the Christ Candle
Call to Worship (Responsive)
One: We come to worship with thanksgiving and praise,
All: for even when we feel trapped and oppressed, God rescues us in abiding grace.
One: We come to worship with gratitude and wonder,
All: for Christ has shown us the way of liberation, the new life of everlasting hope.
One: We come to worship in faithfulness and power,
All: for the Holy Spirit guides us and gives us strength, freely given in never-ending love.
One: Let us continue to unite our hearts in prayer.
All: God, at this annual time of remembrance, our thoughts turn to violence, fear and pain of war. Come gently in our worship this morning that we may know your peace – not the peace of violence ignored and fear repressed, but the true peace of evil confronted, injustice exposed, and reconciliation achieved. We pray in the name of the Prince of Peace. Amen.
Hymn “Let There be Peace on Earth”
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me;
Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be.
With God, our creator, children all are we;
Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.
Let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now,
With ev’ry step I take let this be my solemn vow:
To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally,
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.
Time with the Young & the young at heart
The Sunday School & Youth leave for their classes.
We Remain in God’s Presence Through Confession
Holy God, violence and hatred have so often overwhelmed our world. Today we remember and repent as we acknowledge that, even in our own lives, hatred sometimes obscures love, and violence sometimes overcomes peace. Heal us, assist us as we work for peace in our homes, our community, our church, and our world…(Silent Confession)
Assurance of Pardon (One)
Hear the vision of the prophets: “and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Trust the God who longs for peace. We are forgiven, strengthened, empowered to be peacemakers in our world. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Biblical Notes
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 From the Epistle Pg. 255
The Lord’s Coming
The Parable of the Ten Girls (Read from the New Revised Standard Version)
One: This is the Good News of Jesus Christ
Hymn #580 “Faith of Our Fathers”
A Prayer for Peace
Some hitched a ride on a military convoy or a food-aid delivery plane. Others pieced together rides through detours and past burnt-out cars. Sometimes it took ten days to travel the twenty-hour route. They were travelling to Luanda, Angola, to attend their church's Assembly meeting.
In November 2000, United Church personnel, Karen and Bill Butt also traveled to the Assembly of The Evangelical Congregational Church of Angola, one of our partner churches. The Butts were anxious to see friends who had escaped the war zones and to grieve for those who had not.
Angola is still in crisis. People are displaced and unable to farm because of landmines and continual unrest. In 1998 the Butts had lived in the port city of Lobito. The Evangelical Congregational Church, with support from the Mission and Service Fund, ministers to the inhabitants of that city. Peace building is a major ministry for the church in Angola. They distribute food shipments from the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, plant trees, fill potholes, clean up the environment, teach about hygiene, survival and cooking, and have a program for feeding children.
Today as we think about the wars of the past and pray for peace, let us remember those in the world who still live in places under siege; those who have spent a lifetime in war or running from it. Your gifts to the Mission and Service Fund have supported our brothers and sisters in Angola and other war-torn places. Your gifts today will support them tomorrow.
We Respond In Giving And Gratitude
Offertory
God, through these gifts may all heed the voice of justice, hear the call to compassion, embrace the way of sharing, and know solidarity with the loving Christ. Amen.
Hymn #586 “We Shall Go Out with Hope of Resurrection”
Commissioning
Go into the world in peace. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength, and love your neighbour as yourself.
Choral Amen
#298 “When You Walk From Here”
When you walk from here, when you walk from here.
Walk with justice, walk with mercy, and with God’s humble care.
Postlude “Peace” by C Kerr
The Life And Work Of The Congregation
Next Week at Westminster (Nov. 10 - 16)
Mon. OFFICE CLOSED – Remembrance Day
Tues. Board Meeting 7:00 p.m. Lounge
Wed. Bible Study 9:30 a.m. Westminster
Adult Confirmation 7:00 p.m. Youth Room
Thurs. Electra Unit UCW 1:30 p.m. Lounge
Senior Choir Practise 7:00 p.m. Sanctuary
Sat. UCW Poinsettia Tea 2:00 p.m. Memorial Hall
Next Week at Westminster (November 17 - 23)
Sun. Trustees 9:00 a.m. Youth Room
Baptism & Membership Sunday
Junior Choir Practise following worship Lounge
Wed. Bible Study 9:30 a.m. Youth Room
M & O 1:30 p.m. Sanctuary
Adult Confirmation 7:00 p.m. Youth Room
Thurs. Senior Choir Practise 7:00 p.m. Sanctuary
The ministry of Westminster United Church was extended into the community as James conducted a graveside service for James Arnold Kislanko. Our condolences go out to his family.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Clint Houston and Jean Riggins as they mourn the passing of loved ones.
Flowers are placed in the Sanctuary this morning
from
the family
of
Anna Ruth Houston
Thought For Today
The future is purchased by the present.
by Samuel Johnson
Stories are the oil for our lamps that keep our faith burning.
Part of what we do when we gather together is to help one another fill our lamps with the oil that gets us through those tough times …when the night is long and it doesn’t seem like the party is ever going to start.
Today, against the stories of the early church…stories that brought hope in the face of persecution… today, alongside the parables of Jesus that invite us to invest in our spirits by being ready to meet God in the unexpected moments of life… retelling these stories we also take time to remember the story of the people from this congregation and community who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.
And we celebrate the stories of those who came home from war and raised families and contributed to this community and through their treasured living have made a difference in the lives of many. Our veterans many of whom would have rather traded places with those who did not come home …our veterans who have helped shape our community and whose ongoing stories touch our lives.
Today, tomorrow and always we unite our hearts with the hearts of our veterans as collectively we remember the others, the people who did not come home…people like:
(World War 1 servicemen)
John Cameron, Herbert Evans, John Fallow, A.T. Jenkins, Clyde Kent, Daniel Mulholland, J.H. Rich, John Richardson, William Watson, W.P. White.
(and those from this congregation lost in World War 2)
George Bainbridge, Victor Friesen, Alvin Graham, Graeme Jardine, G.F. Johnson, James Murray, William Nimmo, Earl Rathbun, and Harvey Williams.
They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning; we will remember them.”
So today among the stories that I share with you I want to share yet another story.
Miriam’s Story.
Miriam tells of the concrete affects of war within her own life, her own family. She says:
“Like many young newlyweds, I often found myself verbally sparring with my mother-in-law.
My own willingness to argue with her disturbed me. I had been raised from infancy to be respectful of my elders, so why was I behaving so differently now? It was a worrisome situation.
But one Passover night, everything changed. All the men had gone to synagogue, and she and I were left alone for a very long while. I will remember for a lifetime what she said to me that night. It was as if a floodgate had opened up inside her, and a torrent of words came pouring out.
She began by describing the beautiful life she led before World War II. Raised in affluence by loving parents, she was surrounded by an enormous extended family who doted on her, the "baby" of the clan.
"They were hard-working, kind, generous and exalted," she said of her family. The smile on her face as she told of this wonderful time in her life made me realize that at that moment she was back in their comforting embrace.
As she continued her story, her serene appearance began to change and was replaced by a look of great pain. She became detached and remote, as if she were recounting the events of someone else's life rather than her own.
The little girl she was, all but disappeared when the German tanks came rolling through Poland in 1939. "My grandmother, after watching her beloved husband and eldest daughter being dragged away in the middle of the night, was determined to save what remained of their family. For six long years 'Mama' used her considerable wealth to 'rent' space under a barn from a kind, Gentile farmer, who was an old family friend."
These were the six years of life when a young girl should have blossomed into womanhood. Yet, she explained, she spent those six years in total darkness and in near silence.
At a time when the giggles of school friends sharing secrets were the only hushed words she should have heard, the fear of being discovered was so crippling that she and her mother could not speak above a whisper. The only companions she had were the field mice who came in at night, and as she listened to the chickens above her head being fed their daily fare, she wondered why her food rations were so meager.
And like a flower robbed of nurturing sunlight and water she began to wither away.
And then finally liberation. As she emerged from the cave that had become her home the brightness was blinding, and yet she drank it all in as a parched desert traveler would absorb the waters of a running brook. But, just as the bud began to blossom again, the clouds rolled once again, robbing it of the precious sunshine.
You see, the peasants who had been occupying her home during the war were not pleased to discover that the former tenants had miraculously survived. Angry at the prospect of having to leave their lush surroundings, they became increasingly hostile.
One evening, as her mother peeked out of the window, she saw an angry mob heading towards the house. Quickly, she pushed her daughter into the cold pot-bellied stove to spare her from whatever was to come. As the crowd gathered, the young girl watched through the window of the oven even as her mother argued for her property, and then, as she begged for her life. But her words were to no avail, and as her young daughter looked on, she was shot, along with her sons, in cold blood.
When the group dispersed she quietly emerged from her hiding place. Although her mother had meant to spare her certain death, the young girl wished in her despair and heartbreak that she, too, had met her mother's fate. At that moment, she swore to leave behind the land of her birth forever.
Somehow she was placed in a orphan home and eventually found her way to North America to live with a distant relative. From the outside, she looked like any young girl, energetic, vivacious, attractive. But on the inside something had died. Something that she thought would never live again.
Then one day she met a handsome young man, who swept her off her feet. And once again she began to experience love. What had died on that horrible day in Europe just a few years before was reborn on the sidewalks of New York City. She and her Prince Charming married and after one year they were blessed with a beautiful son.
And then she turned to me and in broken English spoke the most eloquent sentence I have ever heard. "From the moment the war began, until the moment I gave birth to your husband, the sun did not shine for me."
And at that moment I understood. I understood why she was obsessed with her children. I understood why her children were the "most" beautiful and brilliant. I understood why her children could do no wrong. I even understood why she constantly pushed them to eat.
Strong feelings of shame began to overwhelm me. How could I not have accorded the proper respect to a woman who had endured unspeakable hardships, and yet had the courage and faith in God to rebuild her own life, and bring a new life into the world?
How could I have not seen the signs of a woman so deeply scarred that the only joy she derived from life involved her family?
Why had I silently ridiculed her when her overprotective tendencies appeared?
How could I have been so blind?
Then and there, I resolved to change the way I looked at her. Never again could I peer into her face and not see the little girl hiding in the oven. Never again could I stare into her eyes and not see the vision of death and destruction that she so vividly described.
Never again could I eat at her table and not imagine the pangs of hunger that must have enveloped her. And never again could I hear her voice and not think of the hushed whispers of her lost youth.
Now, when I see a woman who thinks her children are the "most" everything, I ask myself, 'Why shouldn't she think so?'
Now, when I see a woman who loves so unconditionally that in her eyes her children can do no wrong, I admire her conviction. I no longer see a woman who is pushy at mealtime, but a generous and giving human being.
And now I can even see why I seemed unworthy of her son's hand in marriage. For after all, who would be worthy of marrying her "sunshine"? I Married Her Sunshine By Miriam Goldbrenner
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Jesus was a storyteller. He told stories to get people to think. The parables keep us wondering, “Now, what did he mean by that?”
The parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids makes us wonder where we can get an extra flask of oil for our lamps.
We want to be prepared for the waiting that accompanies life’s joy-filled moments and prepared for the darkness of the night… and we want to be ready when we encounter God in the party moments of our lives.
We don’t want to miss the joy... and we don’t want to be unprepared in life’s taxing moments.
The stories of our past empower our present…we have a legacy to offer our children of living well to provide honorable stories to enrich their future.
Maybe this is Jesus’ point. Maybe Jesus tells this story precisely to get us to share our sacred stories that nurture our faith.
The foolish maidens leave behind the extra oil, the stories and songs of our tradition. The wise carry the songs and stories with them. Stories of God’s mighty deeds “light their way” through the dark night and enable them to be ready whenever the party starts.
Life is a risky adventure and we have no real abiding assurances apart from the presence of God and our connection with our own words. We name the wounds along the way and we weave them into a healing fabric. That is the gift that every moment of freedom affords us. Amen.