Repentance: Turning Towards God's Embrace

So what comes to mind when you think of the word "Repentance?" I tend to think about change away from sin or 'being bad' or 'doing something wrong' in some way. It can be a harsh term. There might be punniment attached to it or consequences that bear out in your life from what you have repented of.

Repentance is a word very much a part of this week's Lectionary passages for Advent II. John the Baptist comes to prepare the way for Jesus and preaches a repentance for forgiveness of sins (and many are baptized, confessing their sins). And yet he is quoting Isaiah 40 which puts those same words of 'prepare the way of the Lord' in the context of 'comfort, O comfort my people.' After reading all the passages, I was left with a different view of repentance. (I think this was my unexpected surprise this week) It seemed to be more about turning towards something, rather than away from something. The turning is towards God, towards the light, towards forgiveness, towards God's promises, towards a new heaven and earth... or as Alisha Martin (worship leader) and I decided to entitle the service this week "Repentance: Turning Towards God's Embrace" I am curious how this thought or idea will play out as we work on the service. What have been your experiences of repentance?

I decided to put excerpts from the 4 Lectionary texts into a reader's theatre that will be used this Sunday for the Scripture reading, so this may be easier than looking up all the texts (format comes out a little funny here):

Psalm 85:1-2; 8-13; Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8; 2 Peter 3:8-15 (excerpts)

All: The beginning of the good news* of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.*
Voice 1: As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,*
Voice 3: ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,*
who will prepare your way;
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Voice 2 and 4: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” ’,
Voice 1: John the baptizer appeared* in the wilderness, proclaiming a
baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Voice 3: And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
Voice 2: Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
Voice 4: Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
Voice 1: Lord, you were favourable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
Voice 3: You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin.
Voice 4: Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.*
Voice 2: Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.
Voice 3: The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you,* not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
Voice 1: But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.
Voice 2: But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.
Voice 4: Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.
Voice 1: Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
Voice 2: righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Voice 3: Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
Voice 4: and righteousness will look down from the sky.
Voice 2: The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.
Voice 4: Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps
Voice 3: He proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.
Voice 1: I have baptized you with* water; but he will baptize you with* the Holy Spirit.’

Learning to pay attention

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent! Yes, already! I look out my window at the sunshine and green grass and it just doesn't seem like the end of November already. It doesn't look like what I expect it to look like to get me in the Christmas spirit.

That's the whole point of this year's Advent series. God works in ways we do not expect. The introduction to this series says: "God enters our world in many ways--some large and dramatic, others (maybe most) small and subtle... God's presence is disruptive and surprising, never safe or predictable."

Not too long ago, I thought I had pretty much killed a plant in my office from neglect. I was about to throw it out, when I noticed a shoot coming up from the roots. It immediately reminded me of the quote 'a shoot shall come up from the stump of Jesse...', from a popular advent text from Isaiah 11:1. It's for me a small reminder of God's in-breaking into our world.

As you prepare for Advent, be alert for God's in-breaking.

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19

Isaiah 64:1-9

Mark 13:24-37

Heart of Mennonite Worship - End of Series (Summary Sunday School Class)

Last Sunday we finished the 4 week worship series on "The Heart of Mennonite Worship." It has felt like a rich series of exploring the meaning and purpose of worship. The series also included a baptism service for 2 of our youth and a meaningful time of communion. Last Sunday we sang our way through our SJMC music history from the Church Hymnal and Life Songs II (amazing octet!) to more recent hymnals and supplements (Hymnal: A Worship Book, Sing the Journey, Sing the Story) to jumping up and down for "Allelulia, praise ye the Lord" to Bryan Moyer Suderman songs to songs from Africa and South America. We have a rich musical heritage that continues to sustain us and challenge us. I am so thankful for the spirit of worship here at SJMC that draws on rich resources and foundations and yet is so open the new moving of the Spirit. This is a creative, adventuresome and grounded place where we meet and are surprised by God in so many ways. We have much to be thankful for.

For our last adult Sunday School class tomorrow morning (probably before anyone actually reads this... but please continue to ponder anyways), we want to review the series by reflecting on the 4 questions we gave one person each Sunday to share for 3 minutes. Take time to read these questions and ask how you would answer each of them. They were answered by Rebbecca Seiling, Curt Shoemaker, Ryan Martin and Ruth Bauman in provocative and engaging ways in the last 4 Sundays. If you any responses, feel free to add to the comments section below. We would love to hear what you think?

1. What happens to your spirit as you experience worship?
2. How does worship form and transform you?
3. What makes the Mennonite Church your worship home?
4. What happens to your spirit as you sing congregational songs in worship?


Mark Diller Harder

Eternity Sunday - Love Abides

For a few years now we have been celebrating something that we call Eternity Sunday at SJMC. Christian tradition has long maintained that the church-year begins at Advent, with our preparation for the coming of Jesus. So the Sunday before Advent is in a sense the last Sunday of the year. On this day we look back and remember the year that has passed - and in particular those people in our community and in our lives who this year have passed away into the eternal love and care of God. This Sunday we will be invited to enter this space of memory, grief and comfort once more. We will be invited to light a candle in memory of loved ones who have died as we experience together the assurance of God's love and the support of this community.

As I thought about a scripture text for this service, I kept returning to an unexpected place: 1 Corinthians 13 - the love chapter. Unexpected because this has become for most of us a wedding passage. "Love is patient, love is kind, love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude..." And yet as you read on, the context shifts easily into our experiences of death and eternity. "Love never ends. But as for prophesies... tongues... knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part... but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end." And then the beautiful closing line of the passage: "And now faith, hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love."

Sometimes it's good to dislodge a scripture passage from its usual context. It helps us to see it fresh. What might it mean for love to abide, not only in life but into death as well? And what might it mean for us to love each other - whether in marriages or friendships or any other kind of relationships - with this same abiding love of eternity? The love that abides is, of course, the eternal love of God. This is the love that holds each and every one of us, and it's into the keeping of this love that we entrust our loved ones who have passed away. And this love we know in our earthly lives and relationships too - even if only dimly, in part, as in a mirror darkly.

We remember those whom we have loved because we love them still. Because the love that we have known in the God of Jesus Christ abides in time and in eternity. True love is a relationship not only with another person, but with love itself - with God. And this relationship cannot be severed by time, by death or by any wounds of life. Love abides, thanks be to God. And so we are invited to light a candle.