SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22 - ON THE MOVE!
October 22, 2023
Deborah Laforet
On the Move!
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by
your Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
I confess that writing this sermon this week was difficult. I have been away for two
months, so writing a sermon kind of feels like writing a chapter when I haven’t read the previous
one that written by someone else. I took a look at the narrative lectionary, looking for
inspiration, but it wasn’t a great help. For being a ‘narrative lectionary’, the next five weeks
don’t really have a narrative flow. It starts with King David, jumps to a king that follows David,
then Elijah, and then the prophets Hosea and Isaiah. I've had to really ponder how these stories
connect, which I will continue to do for the next few weeks.
Today, we start with a story of King David that Marci and Rodrigo read for us. It’s a very
short snippet which highlights David as King of all Israel (Judah and Israel having been divided
before this), and of his triumphant return of the ark of the covenant to his new capital of
Jerusalem.
During my sabbatical, one of the books I read was called, The Secret Chord by Geraldine
Brooks. The book was suggested by a podcast. Geraldine Brooks is a prolific writer, maybe
you’ve read one of her books, but I had never heard of her. What piqued my interest was that
this book was about the life of King David. Now, secretly, I have pondered writing a story about
David. The intricacies of his story in the bible and all the gaps that can be filled with one’s
imagination causes me to wonder why multiple stories have not been written about David.
The book was OK. I think I imagined something a little different but it did draw out the
several stories in the bible about David, told from the viewpoint of his prophet, Nathan. David is
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portrayed as a military genius, a motivational leader, a compassionate king, but also as ruthless,
misogynistic, and blinded by power. He was held up as a great man but he was also a man who
was deeply flawed.
In fact, the stories that we will hear for the next five weeks contain deeply flawed people,
people who go against the will of God. The more I look at these readings, the rise of King David
and Israel, the corruption of Israel and its kings, and the conquering of Israel and the exile of its
people, I begin to wonder whether the narrative lectionary is taking us on a quick jaunt through
the rise and fall of the Israeli kingdom, starting with King David, who brought together nations
and built a kingdom. David was a well intentioned person, who the people seemed to love, but
whose impact on the people wasn’t always good. Look up the stories of his wives, specifically
Michal and Bathsheba. Look up the stories of his generals and in the in-fighting and
conspiracies during his rule. Then read about his children and their suffering and cruelty to one
another.
Throughout its history, the Christian church has been full of well intentioned people, but
the impact on people has not always been good, and we can see that in our world today as we
become more aware of the harm done by the church throughout the centuries and the mass
exodus of people now leaving the church. It’s not that people aren’t seeking spirituality, because
they are - everywhere and anywhere - but they don’t see the church as having the spirituality they
seek. Churches are no longer seen as safe spaces or like places of belonging.
So we have our work cut out for us. We can either view our current church climate of
declining attendance and closures as dismal and hopeless, or we can view it as an opportunity.
Some churches, instead of exploring new ways of being church, have dug in their heels and
refused to change. I heard recently of one who started to explore options but gave up and
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decided they would just do what they’re doing until the money runs out and they have to shut
their doors permanently. Is that the mission of the church though, to dwindle away resources that
could be used to follow Jesus’ directives of loving our neighbour and supporting the ‘least of
these’?
I am inspired by what St. Paul’s is doing. It’s not easy. Deciding to sell a property, on
which there has been worship and community activities for almost seventy years, is hard and
there will be a lot of grieving and sadness for the next while as we say goodbye to this space.
But it’s also exciting. My colleagues, my family, my friends, keep asking me what’s
happening at the church, how are things going, what is the church up to now. They want to hear
what St. Paul’s is doing. They want to be inspired by a faith community that is looking forward
and taking a risky leap into the future. It’s scary to be one of the first, but I think we can inspire
others, maybe even some of our own United Churches in Oakville, to also risk and try something
new.
Now that we’ve decided to sell the property, there are lots of questions around what’s
next. Some may be feeling regret about the decision. Others may be feeling like the church is
closing and that the end is nigh. One aspect I love about this community is the love and care that
is shared, between long time members, and those who walk in the door for the first time. This
aspect has spilled into becoming an Affirming ministry, into conversations around the unhoused
or homeless and sex-trafficking, into weekly phone calls to people who can’t come out anymore,
to initiatives with Kerr Street Mission, supporting refugees, and supporting local food banks.
This church community still has a lot of energy and a lot of life. It’s not dying. It’s on the move!
I hope many of you are able to stay for the workshop after church where we can talk
together about what’s next. We can discuss what we’d like our community to continue doing or
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what we’d like to see it start doing. We can talk about what we’d like our new space to look like,
what’s important to our community and our mission and what we can do without.
If we want to continue being a strong faith community that loves and cares for each other,
this is work we need to do together, with everyone’s input, young and old, long time members
and new, baptized or not, single or married, or married with children. We need everyone’s voice
as we determine our way forward.
Some of you may want to become more involved in this process. We need you. We need
people who want to get to know potential partners; we need people with good business sense
who can help us discover ways to be financially sustainable; we need people who might help
look for property that we might lease or buy; we need people who have a little more time to be
the ones who motivate these different task groups and help weave these groups together. Come
see one of us on the board if you have any interest in being more involved.
The time we have remaining in this building will go fairly quickly so we need to get a
move on. And yes, it’s sad. And yes, it’s scary. And yes, it’ll be a lot of work. Remember
through that we’re in the transition stage. We’ve planted the seeds; now we have to water, weed,
and feed that seed to produce the fruit that we want to see, and, I, for one, can’t wait to take a big
bite out of it.
In the meantime, remember that we are not alone and that we are one. We have the other
Oakville United churches and colleagues, we have community partners, we have each other, and
we have the Spirit, gently and sometimes not so gently, pushing us forward, but at the same time
holding our hand and giving us high fives along the way. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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The second book of Samuel 5:1-5, 6:1-5
(Introduce yourself.)
Today we are reading about David, the second king of Judah but the first to
rule over all of Israel. David is the most well known king of Israel and
reigned for forty years. Today I’m ready from the second book of Samuel,
the first five verses of chapter five and the first five verses of chapter six.
From Chapter five:
5 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Look, we are
your bone and flesh. 2 For some time, while Saul was king over us, it was you who
led out Israel and brought it in. The Lord said to you, ‘It is you who shall be
shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel.’ ” 3 So all the
elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with
them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel. 4 David
was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5 At
Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem he
reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.
Now, from chapter six:
6 David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2 David and
all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah to bring up from there
the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned
on the cherubim. 3 They carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of
the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of
Abinadab, were driving the new cart 4 with the ark of God, and Ahio went in front
of the ark. 5 David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with
all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and
cymbals.
May God grant us understanding of our sacred text. Amen.
King Rehoboam & Jeroboam’s Golden Calves
Elijah’s Triumph
Prophet Hosea and God’s compassion
Isaiah and a Vineyard