BELLS CORNERS UNITED CHURCH
21st SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
REFORMATION SUNDAY
October 25, 2020
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: Adagio – Galuppi
Welcome & Announcements
Good day everyone! On behalf of Bells Corners United Church, I welcome and greet you in the name of Jesus Christ, wherever you are, in today’s worship service. We gather from many places, distant yet connected by the spirit of God’s love that calls us to gather. Today, we pause and remember the works of Martin Luther, the father of Reformation whose legacy of transforming the Christian faith continues to live in many Protestant and mainline Christian churches. Thank you for joining us.
I’m glad to be back after 6 weeks of medical leave. I would like to express my sincerest thanks and appreciation to all of you for your prayers and messages of well wishes and concerns during my leave. Special mention goes to Rev. Lorrie Lowes for her wonderful leadership at worship and for offering pastoral and spiritual care during my absence.
We have an opportunity to gather in the sanctuary for a modified worship service on Sundays at 10 am. A maximum number of 28 people are invited to gather. Please call the office to register. Full information on procedures and safety measures are posted on our website. We are also in need of ushers for the Sunday services. Please inform the office if you are interested.
During this time when only a limited number of people are able to worship in the church sanctuary, please know that BCUC offers worship service in a number of ways. Check our website at bcuc.org, for our worship service in audio, video and text formats along with the weekly announcements, online meetings, events and other updates. You can also listen to the service via telephone by dialing 613-820-8104. Please continue to reach out by connecting with each other through emails, phone calls and prayers.
Here are some announcements:
- We have had a very successful Outdoor Market on October 17th that helped raise more than $5000 towards the operating fund. A big thanks go to Ellen & Bob Boynton for organizing the event along with the many volunteers who ran the market.
- The Veterans’ House project is due to be completed by January 2021 that hopes to accommodate at least 40 veterans. Please continue to support this project financially. For information on how to give, please check the website at multifaithhousing.ca.
- Copies of the Book of Memories Volume 2 are now available for purchase. Please contact the office to place an order.
- Join us for a spontaneous Prayer Circle every Wednesday at 8 pm. Wherever you are, say a prayer for the world, your community including the congregation, your family, and yourself.
- And for those of you who are able to join us via Zoom, there will be zoom fellowship every Sunday at 11: 30 am. Link has been emailed to you or call the office for more information.
For other announcements, please check your email or the church website.
Friends, in the quiet of this moment, in the stillness of our hearts, I now invite you to centre yourself in the presence of God who calls us to gather in Spirit and in truth. Let us gather in worship.
Lighting of the Christ Candle:
Acolyte: Nicole Beaudry & Gerry Okolowsky
In our praying and in our listening,
in our longing and in our dreaming,
in our singing and in our stillness,
we light this Christ Candle to remind us that
we are One in the Spirit of Love.
Call to Gather: Rev. Lorrie Lowes
(Jeff Werner, Pentecost 2, Gathering 2014, Year A)
We are blessed by a variety of witnesses this day:
From our Roman Catholic friends,
we have received the blessing of tradition.
From our Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian and Lutheran friends,
we have received the work of all people in prayer, song and scripture.
From the prophets,
we’ve received a passion for acting with God’s justice and love.
Through encounters with Jesus Christ in our gathering,
we are blessed for where the journey will take us.
Come, let us gather as a community of faith!
Prayer of Approach:
(Seasons of the Spirit, Reformation Resources)
Reforming God, we give you thanks
for your love and your blessing.
As we gather today,
Fill us with a spirit of openness to your Spirit,
to hear and receive your promises
and to keep our covenant with you.
Where we commit mistakes, guide us.
Where we are in error, direct us.
Where we are in need, provide for us.
Where we are divided, reunite us.
And where we are close-minded, reform us and make us new.
We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Hymn: A Mighty Fortress - Voices United #262
1 A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing;
our helper sure amid the flood
of mortal ills prevailing:
for still our ancient foe
doth seek to work us woe;
power and malice great,
and armed with cruel hate,
on earth he has no equal.
2 Did we in our strength confide,
our striving would be losing,
were not the right man on our side,
the man of God's own choosing:
dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabaoth his name,
from age to age the same,
and he must win the battle.
3 And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God hath willed
the truth to triumph through us:
the prince of darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo! his doom is sure,
one little word shall fell him.
4 That word above all earthly powers,
no thanks to them, abideth;
the Spirit and the gifts are ours
through Christ, who with us sideth:
let goods and kindred go,
this mortal life also;
the body they may kill:
God's truth abideth still,
God's kingdom is forever.
Words and Music 1529 Martin Luther, translation 1853 Fred Hodge, descant GIA pub
Song #24687 Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-733214. All rights reserved
Storytime for the Young at Heart: Rev. Lorrie Lowes
Have you ever seen a picture of God? I’ve seen lots of paintings and drawings that people have done of what they think God looks like, I have a whole folder of them in my office - but I have never seen a photograph. No one that I have ever heard of has actually met God face to face. I think everyone has a different image when they try to imagine God.
In today’s reading, Jesus answers a tricky question from the temple leaders and the Romans about paying taxes. He says, “Give Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, and give God the things that belong to God.”
He is looking at a Roman coin that is the money used in that time by countries who were being ruled by the Roman empire. On that coin there is a picture of a man that everyone recognizes as Caesar, the Emperor. It’s the money that people would use to pay their taxes. It’s the legal currency of that time and place. Just like any money – even ours today – it belongs to the government. It only holds value in that country. You can’t use it somewhere else to buy things. If you’ve ever gone shopping in the United States or on a vacation to some other place in the world, you will know that before you can buy anything there, you have to exchange your Canadian money for US dollars or Pesos or Rubles or Pounds, or Kwatcha – whatever the currency is in that place. So, in this case, the coins with the pictures of Caesar were only useful in Roman occupied places and they belonged to that government and to Caesar.
That part of what Jesus said makes sense then, and it would have been acceptable to those government men who were there that day. But what about the giving to God what belongs to God? We believe that God created the world and everything in it, right? So, I think we would agree that all those things belong to God – mountains, rivers, trees, plants and animals, oceans and deserts, and even you and me and all the people in the world. Did God put an image on all those things? What does the image of God look like?
The Bible tells us that we can see God in the natural world. It also tells us that we were created in God’s image… That sounds to me like it means we are all stamped with the image of God – just like that coin was stamped with the image of Caesar – and so, I guess that means we all belong to God and I like that thought, don’t you?
So… going back to what Jesus said that day… “Give Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, and give God the things that belong to God.” … I wonder what Jesus is asking us to do. If God gave us our life and all the amazing things in Creation, how can we give those things back?
Caesar’s image on the coin told the people of Jesus time that this coin stood for something valuable to Caesar and so it was valuable to the people who held it. God’s image on us and all of creation, tells me that we are valuable to God and so is every person we meet and every mountain, river, tree, plant and animal, ocean and desert… No one throws money in the garbage, do they? And just as we are careful to take good care of our money, we need to take care of each other and the world. The more we take care of it, the more it grows in value.
Maybe that’s what Jesus was talking about that day… and so, I think the challenge for us is this:
How can we live in a way that values what God has created and how can we help make that value grow and grow? How do we give God what belongs to God?
Hymn: We Give Our Thanks - More Voices #187
1. We give our thanks to God, (4X)
2. We give our hands to you, (3X)
because you reached for us.
3. We give our eyes to you, (3X)
because you looked for us.
4. We give our feet to you, (3X)
because you walk with us.
5. We give our hearts to you, (3X)
because you first loved us.
Words and Music © traditional Botswana Daisy Nsakazonque, English © 1986 I-To Lah
Song #109417 Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-733214. All rights reserved
Prayer for Illumination:
(Susan Lukey, Pentecost 2, Gathering 2018, Year B)
Reader: Erin Berard
Scripture alone! Faith alone! Grace alone! Christ alone! For the glory of God alone! With these gifts, the Reformers invited all of us to study and interpret scripture. May we receive your Word, gracious God and let it stir in our hearts and shape us anew. Amen.
The Reading: The Question about Paying Taxes
Matthew 22: 15-22 (NRSV)
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” 21 They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
May we find ourselves renewed by this story of faith. Thanks be to God!
Sermon: “Whose Image Is On Your Coin?” Rev. Kim Vidal
On filing for his income tax return, famous genius Albert Einstein was quoted that this whole business about income tax is too difficult for a mathematician like him. It takes a philosopher to understand it. And the late George Harrison of the Beatles summed up his stand on taxes in a song they recorded in 1966 called the Taxman:
If you drive a car, I'll tax the street; If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat;
If you get too cold, I'll tax the heat; If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet.
Here in Canada, we pay all kinds of taxes – federal, provincial, city, property, land, sales, fuel carbon, tobacco, liquor and there might be others. We may not like paying all these taxes, but we pay them nonetheless. And of course, taxes are part of our public conversation today and always a favourite topic at electoral debates.
If you think that only modern-day citizens like you and I love to debate taxation, think again. Apparently, those same disputes could be heard among the Jewish people in first century Palestine. Palestine in that era, as we know, was a colony of the Roman Empire and the Jews were heavily taxed. The paid taxes that supported the military and government that occupied their country. The Roman tax referenced in this story was levied annually on harvests, land and property based on a census. But it put a heavy burden on the peasants and the poor. In 6 BCE, a man named Judas the Galilean organized an anti-tax revolt in the Roman province of Judea. The memory of that revolt and the repercussions on the people was still fresh in the minds of the first century Jews.
There are two camps in this story who took opposing sides on the issue of taxation: the Herodians who supported it and the Pharisees who opposed it. You can almost hear the sarcasm in the Pharisee’s voice as he asks Jesus: Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor? It was a law of the imperial Roman government and the law of 1st century Judea that taxes had to be paid to the Roman emperor. In fact, it was illegal not to pay taxes to Rome! The Herodians who supported the taxation law belong to a political party who were supporters of the puppet king, Herod Antipas, appointed and named as king of the Jews by Rome. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were guardians of Jewish law and purity, sticklers for religious correctness. Their opposition was based less on the fact of Roman occupation because they were permitted to exercise their religion, but more on the special coin to pay taxes which bore a graven image, a violation of the first of the Ten commandments. This graven image was of the Roman emperor, and the inscription on the coin identifies the emperor as a god, divine being; the son of the divine Augustus Caesar. How could any devoted Jew pay tribute to someone who claims to be God? And how could a Jewish patriot stomach paying taxes to hostile occupiers anyway?
It is clear that the Pharisees and the Herodians are setting up a trap for Jesus. If Jesus agrees that taxes are lawful, the Pharisees and the Jewish people as a whole would view him as a Roman sympathizer; Jesus might be completely discredited as a rabbi of his people and he would lose the support of the poor and the crowd who have been oppressed by the Roman’s tax system. However, if Jesus speaks against the Roman taxes, the Herodians could accuse him of treason or sedition against Rome and would have Jesus’ head served on a platter. No matter which way Jesus answered their question, it seemed to them that he was entrapped. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor? This is not simply a question of politics or economics or loyalty between state and religion. It is a question of conscience. A question of what to do when the allegiance to Caesar is in conflict with the allegiance to God.
Is it lawful for us to pay taxes? I asked this question to the members of the lectionary group this past Tuesday. Deep-seated Christian values emerged in the responses I received. Some responded that it depends on what kind of government we are supporting. Jan Pound mentions those who are conscientious objectors – those who oppose or question policies regarding taxation. If dictatorial government for example passes laws or supports programs which promotes social injustices, unjust wars and unethical practices, then paying taxes is questionable. And then there are also the conscientious proponents. These are the people who proposes that paying taxes must intentionally be for the common good and the betterment of the community and its citizens, to support common resources, such as responsible policing, ensure that roads and bridges are safe and well-maintained, or to fund public libraries and parks, for health care or supporting the seniors and children or those who cannot fully support themselves, or lobbying and supporting guaranteed basic income. As citizens of a democratic nation we bear a special responsibility, not only for our personal choices, but also for the life of our nation, the priorities of our government and our devotion to God.
Jesus says: Show me the coin used for paying the tax. Show me what it takes to get by in this world where we live. The coin used for paying the tax is not a Jewish coin or the historic currency of Israel. Nor is it a symbol of loyalty to God and God's values. It was a coin with Caesar’s image on it. Roman coins were not suitable in the temple because of their idolatrous image and inscription. This is why there were money-changers in the temple to exchange the Roman coins for Jewish shekels intended for temple offering. The Pharisee stood holding this symbol of so much tension among the Jews. This small coin was a symbol of pain and shame for a conquered people. Yet it was also a symbol of a superpower, it was both a symbol of failure and a symbol of success. It was a symbol of resentment and yet a symbol of allegiance. So many conflicting feelings and issues all centred on this little piece of metal. Jesus interrupts his audience’s mode of reflection: Whose image is on the coin and what is the inscription?
The Pharisee replied; the emperor's. Jesus said: You got it! The coin belongs to Caesar so let him have it. Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. The people already know what they are rendering the emperor – taxes, military support, political power, government structure.
That was only half of Jesus’ answer. He finished it with this: Render to God what belongs to God. So what are we to render to God? Everything - because all belongs to God. Money, natural resources, human beings, religious institutions, politics, all belongs to God. This is the subversive little seed buried in Jesus’s answer. Caesar can stamp his face on every coin, but God has already stamped the divine image on every human being. Tertullian writing in the 3rd century said , “Render to Caesar Caesar’s image, which is on the coin, and to God God’s image which is on human beings.” Marcus Borg posed these questions for us to ponder: “What belongs to God, and what belongs to Caesar? And what if Caesar is Hitler, or apartheid, or communism, or global capitalism? What is to be the attitude of Christians toward domination systems, whether ancient or modern?”
As an institution, the Church is just as much a power as any other institution, and therefore capable of being a Caesar. This month marks the 503rd anniversary of the Reformation. Historically, Reformation Sunday is celebrated in many Protestant congregations to reflect on their past as heirs of the Reformation movement which was started in October 31, 1517. It was a time when the religious reformer Martin Luther, a Roman Catholic priest, nailed 95 theses to the door of the Church at Wittenberg in Germany. This action was a result of Luther's great lifelong struggle to get beyond his questions, his doubts and struggles, in order to gain a more desirable faith. He questioned the notion of indulgences being practiced at that time – why people have to pay or taxed by the Church with riches or money to gain their salvation or their ticket to heaven? Luther was a priest and he cannot accept that he is a part of that unreasonable practice. He was a conscientious objector to church corruption Luther wanted healing from his spiritual blindness. And when his eyes were opened through illuminations from the scripture, he was healed and ushered in a new faith movement that United Church is now part of. Luther's spiritual mantra was this: "the just shall live by faith" for he knows that we are created in the image of God. For Luther, justification by faith meant discovering God's complete acceptance of who we are as God’s own.
Going back to the Gospel story, it seems to me that Luther was saying, we all belong to God so no religious institution or empire is over and above God. As human beings created by God, we bear God’s image. And to answer the questions, what is the image of God and what belongs to God? We should answer without a doubt that everything belongs to God. What can this mean in these hard days when families, communities, and churches are breaking apart over political, social, religious and cultural differences that seem unbridgeable? Jesus reminds us by his answer to the question about taxes, that we are in body and soul, the people of God. We are created in God's likeness, living here as stewards of earth and ambassadors of God's reign. We are the face of God on earth, in whose likeness and for whose purposes we are created. Remind ourselves Victor Hugo’s line from his famous novel Les Misérables, “To love another person is to see the face of God.” A preacher who preached on this particular story said: render unto Caesar but never surrender to his oppressive rule. In our society, our home, our workplace and our church, we have to play by the rules but we don’t have to buy into the game all the time! We need to be conscientious objectors or conscientious proponents.
Think about why we are paying taxes? Is part of our intent the care for the needs of others who are less fortunate? Does it include the support of those who work against poverty and homelessness? Does it entail helping organisations that stand for social justice in this country and the world? Whose image is on your coin? Is it the face of Caesar? The face of domination, oppression or imperialism or is it the face of God? The face of love, peace, justice and democracy? In the face of every individual we encounter in this world, we encounter the image of God. In the same way that we are to pay our taxes to Caesar, we are also to pay God by loving our neighbour, by respecting each other and upholding human dignity.
If we belong to God, if we are created in God’s image, then we need to practice our faith and our politics in ways that reflect who God is - remembering that the God whose image is minted in every one of us is a God of love and justice. Amen.
Sources:
The members of BCUC Lectionary Group, the many references in Textweek.Com
Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer Rev. Kim Vidal
Let us gather our hearts and minds in prayer. Gracious God, source of all life, you dwell beyond us and within us and you call us to gather as a community of faith. Empower us as we reflect by word and action the good news of Your love that has touched the world. Inspire us by the prompting of Your Spirit: that we may dream new dreams and find wisdom in our visions. Give us a courageous heart, a bold voice and openness of mind, and above all else, ears that listen and hearts that empathize. Help us, to discover Your way: storytelling and dialogue which leads to understanding; ideas which challenge growth; a journey which will bring hope.
Faithful God, giver and renewer of life, with hearts full of hope we look expectantly forward as we reflect on what it means to be church in this day and in this age. Let your enduring and sustaining love continue to support and direct us along new paths. Help us to celebrate the diversity of spiritual gifts within our congregation and in the wider community. We give thanks for the dedication and faithfulness of this congregation and celebrate the legacy of the past and the nurturing of new beginnings.
Loving God, we confess that often we are overwhelmed by life's problems and challenges. Help us to seek your guidance, to consider the burdens of others and not just our own. May your healing presence and comfort be experienced by all those who are in need especially in this time of pandemic. We pray for those suffering from loneliness and depression, for those who are facing life’s difficulties, those who are grieving the loss of loved ones, We pray for those awaiting medical test results and those who are recuperating in hospitals and homes. We pray for Ross Snider as he recovers at Elisabeth Bruyere. Awaken in us the joy of serving you through our prayers and through our acts of kindness. In silence, we offer to you the deepest concerns of our hearts.
God of peace, we are grateful: for our family, children in our midst, friends and loved ones who bless and enrich our lives; for the challenges of living together; for your call to work for peace and justice in our world. Help us to look beyond boundaries, beyond denominations, beyond doctrines and beyond our own self-interest. Protect us not to lose heart in the face of so many challenges: the threat of war, famine, environmental destruction, diseases and natural disasters.
Open us to the depth of your love and grace that we might know ourselves, and others, as beloved in your sight. Remind us that we all have important gifts to offer in your service.
Empowering God, Grant us vision, which is open to all the surprising ways you choose to make yourself known. Grant us courage and faith in you, knowing we are blessed by your love and mercy. All these we ask in Jesus’ name who taught his disciples 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
The great Swiss theologian Karl Barth once said that grace and gratitude go together like heaven and earth. The Way of Jesus Christ is the life lived in gratitude for the God who created us and claimed us as children.
I now invite you to offer your gifts of time, talents and resources as expressions of your gratitude to God’s blessings. If you are not on PAR and wish to send in your offering and donations, you can drop them in the slot 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:
(Kate Gregory, Pentecost 2, Gathering 2017, Year A)
Creator God, you gave us gifts and we have used them: we offer them now to you in love and wonder. Be pleased to accept our gifts in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Sending Forth: Rev. Kim Vidal
(David Sparks, Pentecost 2, Gathering 2017, Year A)
Go out as God’s friends.
Be unafraid to question, relentless in your search for the truth.
Willing to act on what you discover,
Patient when the journey is rough,
And joyful when you reach your goals.
And every step of the way, know that God will be your companion. Amen.
Hymn: Let All Things Now Living - Voices United #242
Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving
To God the creator triumphantly raise.
Who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,
By guiding us on to the end of our days.
God’s banners are o'er us, pure light goes before us,
A pillar of fire shining forth in the night.
Till shadows have vanished and darkness is banished
As forward we travel from light into Light.
By law God enforces, the stars in their courses
And sun in its orbit obediently shine;
The hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains,
The depths of the ocean proclaim God divine.
We, too, should be voicing our love and rejoicing;
With glad adoration a song let us raise
Till all things now living unite in thanksgiving:
To God in the highest, hosanna and praise!"
Words and Descant © 1939 Katherine Davix, traditional Welsh melody
Song #06098 Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-733214. All rights reserved
Departing: Two-Part Invention - Bach
Zoom Fellowship hosted by Lorrie at 11: 30 am. Link has been emailed. See you there!