Rev Chris Roth

Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1:1-12; John 1:1-14 I once heard a seminary professor named Darrel Johnson describe a Christmas card he received. It had pictures of many famous and influential world leaders from history on the front. People like King Tut, Julius Caesar, Mao, Hitler. It said, “history is crowded with men who would be gods.” … Inside, there was a picture of a baby in a manger, and it said, “But only one God who would be man”. Human beings have often reached towards obtaining a divine status, and this was often seen as evidenced by the power these people could exert. Royalty throughout history was often associated with divinity. … Pharoah was thought to be a link between the Egyptian gods and humanity. The Pharoah was considered to be a god who provided order to the people. … Julius Caesar was considered to be a god shortly after his death, which was evidenced by a comet appearing in the sky during games held in his honour after his death. A later Caesar, Domitian, di...

Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-20 One of my favourite things to do around Christmas is watch Christmas movies. The Grinch who stole Christmas. The Muppet’s Christmas Carol. The Disney version of the Christmas Carol with Scrooge McDuck. Home Alone. It’s a Wonderful Life. … Watching a Christmas movie, with an eggnog or hot chocolate in hand, with the Christmas tree glowing, that is one of my favourite things to do this time of year. These stories have the ability to make us reflect on our lives. Home Alone is about a boy who is left alone at home by accident, while his family goes on a trip to Paris. This little boy defends his home from thieves. Underneath the slapstick comedy there is a story about reconciliation with alienated family members. It’s a Wonderful Life is a story about how a person’s life matters and makes a difference in ways that are maybe not always obvious to them. Remove that person’s influence and there is a negative ripple effect in the lives of m...

  Isaiah 35:1-10; Luke 1:46b-55; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11 Mary, the mother of Jesus, and John the Baptist are probably the two major figures of Advent. And we have both of them featured in our readings today. Mary’s song is a prophetic call for justice. A ‘prophetic’ call is a call to faithfulness to God and to live in a way that is consistent with that belief. It is to make God's desires known. Last week we heard John calling for repentance, and to produce evidence of that repentance, as a way of preparing the way of the Lord. Mary’s song, the Magnificat, is very well known in liturgical churches. In the Book of Common Prayer it is used at every service of Evening Prayer. … It is a song that is much like other songs that we find in the Bible- Like Miriam’s song, Debra’s song, and Hanna’s song. Mary’s song is a part of the bridge of continuity from the Old Testament to the new thing that God is about to do. The Magnificat has been a rallying prayer for the oppressed in m...

  Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12 An Advent tradition in the church has been the singing the O Antiphons. This is a tradition that is thought to have originated around the 6th century (the 500’s). Usually, these 7 chants are sung along with the Magnificat [1] at Evening Prayer from December 17th to the 23rd. [2] These antiphons are short songs of expectation for Christ’s coming. Each of the seven songs gives a messianic title for Jesus. (Adding the “O” is an old grammatical way of shaping a vocative case, which is basically a name) -  O Wisdom,  O Adonai (Hebrew for “Lord”),  O Root of Jesse,  O Key of David,  O Morning Star,  O King of the Nations,  O Emmanuel (Hebrew for “God with us”).  The hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is a paraphrase of these O Antiphons. Our reading from Isaiah today highlights one of these titles. The words of the chant are: “O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the people...

  Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44 In Advent we begin the church year once again. We enter into a season of longing. Advent is about expectation. It is about anticipation. We have no control over this. We are waiting for a door to open, and we have no key to unlock it. … With ancient Israel, we will yearn for the messiah to come. We yearn for the kingdom that will come with him. … The prophet Isaiah expresses this longing. He reminds us of the cries of humanity throughout history. A history that is filled with war, violence, disease, and all kinds of suffering. We are reminded to not be naïve about the world we live in. Isaiah expresses a yearning for a time when the ways of God would be respected by a united humanity. The profound peace that would be found on the earth would render weapons useless and they would be refashioned into farm tools. This yearning stands against the reality that humanity lives in- that of violence, conflict, disunity, and the ...

Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43 We have reached the end of the Christian Year. We might even consider it the height of the Christian year. The Christian calendar follows the story of Christ. It begins in Advent with the expectation of the Messiah, and then birth of Christ at Christmas. Epiphany tells the story of the revealing of Christ’s identity. In Lent, we follow Christ into the wilderness in preparation for the cross on Good Friday. And from that deep sadness we enter into the joy of the resurrection on Easter Sunday. But the story doesn’t end there. Christ ascends (ascension) into heaven, and is still present to the Church through his Holy Spirit which is what we celebrate at Pentecost. The same Spirit that came to Mary to constitute the Body of Christ in her womb, now would constitute his body through his disciples. We learn to live as his disciples, following his teachings, throughout the season after Pentecost, until we arrive at today- The Reign of Christ, or Christ the Kin...

Sacraments After I had finished university I took a job that involved a lot of time driving around in a van with another guy. He wasn't a believer, but his wife was. After spending half a year driving around together we started having a lot of discussions about Christianity. One morning we were going out to a call when my friend turned to me and asked, “what is communion?” Well, If you want to get me going just ask me a question like that. I had also done a presentation in university on the religious aspects of the Eucharist the previous year, so I had all kinds of ideas in my head. I started talking about how Christians are the Body of Christ and how in the Communion we receive the Body of Christ, so St. Augustine said that in the communion we receive our own mystery. I spoke about how as we eat from one bread, and drink from the cup of our one Lord we are unified as one people. I went on like that for a while. My friend looked interested, but a little conf...

Obstacles to a life of Grace So, God has offered us His grace- the gift of Himself- his life to live within us. The work of Christ on the cross was given to us to save us. The example and teaching of Christ was given to us as an image of what human life was meant to be. The Holy Spirit was given to us, to dwell within us, and empower us to live the life that he is calling us to. During the Grace talk, I read to you from C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, where he describes what Jesus is doing within us.  “‘Make no mistake,’ [Jesus] says, ‘if you let me, I will make you perfect. The moment you put yourself in My hands, that is what you are in for. Nothing less, or other, than that. You have free will, and if you choose, you can push Me away. But if you do not push Me away, understand that I am going to see this job through. Whatever suffering it may cost you in your earthly life, whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you after death, whatever it costs Me, I will never rest, ...

Grace In the church we use the word “Grace” a lot. We can use it so much that it can be a word that just floats through the air in the background and doesn’t mean anything. … It’s important to take time to think about what we mean by this word. A lot of our lives are based on the principle of reciprocity. You exchange money for gas at the gas station. You put in a certain number of hours in and you receive a paycheck at the end of the month. Karma is a very natural way to think. You get what you deserve. I’m sure we are all aware of the parable of the Prodigal Son. This is how Jesus explained grace. We’ll ignore the older brother for now, because that is about how others respond to God showing grace to people they don’t think deserves it. As you will remember, the parable of the Prodigal Son begins with a simple request, "Father, give me my share of the estate.” To us, it seems like the sort of request a spoiled child might make. But, there is a lot more in that reque...