Rev Chris Roth

  Facebook provides "frames" that you can attach to your profile picture to show your support for various causes and issues. alternatively, sometimes people will just change their profile picture for a similar reason.  Most recently there were many people posting a picture saying "No Space for Hate" and showing the inclusive sexuality, gender, and anti-racist flag (Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride flag) over the image of Canada. People have done this for a variety of issues to show solidarity with Ukraine as Russia began the war, for example.  Before that, people showed solidarity with the truckers protest in Ottawa and at various border crossings. Then there was the frame where you could express the fact that you received the vaccine. Then, people could show their support for the Black Lives Matter protests. Each year you can show your support for Pride month, and for Every Child Matters to support Indigenous issues.  People take to social media to show their supp...

  Exodus 16:2-15 For the last couple weeks we have had conflict in the church brought to our attention in the readings. What do we do if a fellow Christian sins against us? How often should we forgive a fellow Christian who sins against us? How do we deal with disagreements? In our Exodus reading today we are confronted with God’s people complaining. We read,  “The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness” (16:2).  The words “complain” or “complaining” are mentioned seven times in our reading. It’s interesting that the Bible would record God’s people in this negative light. These are the children of Abraham. They are the ones who inherit Abraham’s blessing that they would be a blessing to all the families of the world. They are the chosen people. These are the people God established a unique covenant with. God has great plans for them. … But here they are complaining. Paul talks about these events in Israel’s history in 1 ...

"self-pity, is the twin sister of self-love. They both make one forget the world and only see themselves."  (from "Elements - PART II - WATER: The Transfiguration of Elijah" by A Priest Of The Oriental Church) I think we have forgotten how to suffer as Christians.  The suggestion that we could find meaning in suffering is offensive to many. Some even hear it as adding suffering to those who are already hurting.  The voice of suffering is the loudest and most authoritative.  Perhaps this is due to a rebalancing, from times when it has been ignored. If that is the case, then I think there may have been an overcompensation. Based on the way we seem to view suffering now, Job's voice matters more than God's.    But, the alternative to meaning ful suffering is meaning less suffering. And I think that makes for a nearly unbearable kind of suffering. Nihilism is the alternative to meaningful suffering.  Look at how these Christians spoke about suffering- htt...

Romans 14:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35 Last week’s gospel reading was about Jesus sharing wisdom regarding when a fellow Christian sins against you. And our gospel reading for today deals with how often we should forgive a member of the church who sins against us. … In our Romans reading today, Paul is dealing with Christians who disagree about two issues- diet, and the recognition of religious days. Many of Paul’s letters are written in response to conflict in churches. Even the Apostles themselves had conflict with each other. The Book of Acts records Paul’s conflict with Peter about how Gentiles should become a part of the church. Acts also records a conflict between Paul and Barnabus over whether to include Mark in their mission, since Paul felt he abandoned them on an earlier journey. … We also see in the Gospels where the Apostles argue amongst each other about which of them is greater. … So, conflict was a part of the life of the Early Church, even in the lives of the Apostles. There ...

A growing catchword I hear in schools is "resiliency". A teacher might put "resiliency" as a learning goal for a child, but (as we experienced) when we asked how they planned to teach resiliency to our child, or how we could help teach resiliency at home, we were met with a blank stare. Perhaps other teachers could actually give us the means to do this, but this one wasn't able to.  I think this is something that is happening in our culture generally right now, and I have seen it in "spirituality" circles as well. In some forms of spirituality we become obsessed with our inner emotional realities. At one point, I was convinced that my goal in prayer was to sit before God in prayer and seek out emotional knots or wounds within me, hoping that in the end I would come out the other side whole and healthy.  I would seek to process these wounds with God in prayer, slowly untying the knot. Then, I would reach within myself and select the next knot and begin...

Exodus 12:1-14 Today, I would like to look at our Exodus reading, which describes the origins of the Feast of Passover. In preparation for the final plague against Egypt, where all the firstborn will die, the people of God are instructed to take a lamb without blemish, which is to be slaughtered and its blood is to be put on the doorposts and lintel of their houses. We read,  “For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments … The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt” (Ex 12:12-13).  … They are to roast the lamb over a fire and eat it. And they are to eat it ready to run- ready to leave at a moment’s notice. … This was all orchestrated in order to free God’s people from slavery in Egypt. This event wi...

I have been wanting to say something on this topic for quite a while. But, it is a huge and complicated topic with innumerable land mines.  There has been a rise in conversations on the topic of race for the last few years. It seems to have coincided with the election of Donald Trump to the US presidency. Popular books on these topics included "White Fragility" by  Robin Diangelo, and "How to be Antiracist" and "Stamped" by Ibram X. Kendi. My son was assigned "Stamped" to read in school, for example. Many of us noticed that there was a twist in this way of talking about racism. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Most people interpret these words to mean that we should become 'colour blind'. We should treat skin colour the way that we treat eye col...

Exodus 3:1-15; Matthew 16:21-28 Last week we heard Jesus ask his disciples,  “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"  The disciples offered the prevailing theories of the people regarding Jesus- John the Baptist, the prophet Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. We could add to that list from the people we bump into. There are those who think Jesus was an alien from outer space. There are others who think he was just a human teacher- a Rabbi- essentially an idealistic young man. There are some who see him as a heretic who led people astray by falsely claiming to be the Messiah. There are Muslims who see him as a Muslim prophet, but who was never crucified and never claimed to be God’s son. There are Hindus who see him as an avatar of one of the gods- one among many. There are Buddhists who see him as a Boddhisatva, one who helps others on the road to escape the suffering cycle of rebirth. … Everyone seems to have a theory, and every few years someone unearths some “new...