Rev Chris Roth

Isaiah 6: 1-8; Luke 5: 1-11 As we make our way through the season after Epiphany, we have seen glimpses of who Jesus is as he begins his ministry. As a child the Magi knelt before him as the newborn king of Israel. When he was baptized, the voice of God the Father identified Jesus as the Son of God. We saw Jesus’ first miracle in the Gospel of John at the wedding in Cana, when He turned water into wine, bringing new covenant wine out of old covenant jars. He preached at his hometown synagogue, saying that the Scriptures are pointing to him. When his parents presented him at the Temple, 40 days after he was born, Simeon and Anna spoke about him as the Messiah, as the light to the nations, but also revealed that he would cause division. Another theme that emerges from these initial glimpses of Jesus is the way people react to him. The Magi kneel, but King Herod tried to kill him. The voice of the Father identifies him as the Son of God, and the Devil tempts him in the w...

Luke 2: 22-40 Again, we have this Epiphany theme, where we see a glimpse that gives us a deeper understanding of who Jesus is. The Magi knelt before him and we saw him as the king of Israel. … When he was baptized, the voice of the Father identified Jesus as the Son of God. … In his first miracle in the Gospel of John at a wedding at Cana, we saw Jesus identified as someone who could do miracles, and as one who would bring new covenant wine out of old covenant stone jars. … And last week we saw Jesus preaching in his hometown, saying that the Scriptures point to him. In our Gospel reading, this theme is continued. Once again, we see Jesus as a baby. … As faithful Jews, Mary and Joseph had Jesus circumcised on the 8th day, as a sign of the covenant of Abraham and according to the Law of Moses. And he is presented at the temple 40 days after his birth (Lv 12; Deut 18:5; Ex 13:2,12,15). The Law required that an offering of an unblemished lamb be brought, or if the family is too po...

      First, it is good to define what we are talking about. MAID stands for Medical Assistance in Dying. This is the practice of a doctor or nurse practitioner using a medication taken orally or intravenously to end a persons life. This was made legal in 2016 with the introduction of Bill C-14, then expanded in 2021 by Bill C-7. A further expansion was delayed in 2024 (Bill C-62) to 2027 which will expand MAID to include mental illnesses. MAID is a euphemism, like “euthanasia” ( eu =good, thanatos =death). Instead of using terms like 'suicide,' 'assisted suicide,' or 'ending a person’s life,' which are more explicit but can sound harsh, the term MAID (Medical Assistance in Dying) is used as it sounds more gentle. Using this kind of euphemism can be somewhat dangerous, however. During this talk a chaplain at a long-term care facility mentioned that they have had people request MAID, but when investigated it turns out that they thought they were requesting “p...

Nehemiah 8: 1-3, 5-6, 8-10;  Psalm 19;  1 Corithians 12: 12-31;  Luke 4: 14-21 There is an interesting thematic thread running through most of our readings today. In Nehemiah, the people have been returning from Exile, under the leading of Nehemiah as their governor and the priest Ezra. They gather the people and read from the Torah, the Law of Moses. And as they read they give interpretation, which is to say they were preaching on what they were reading, so people could understand what the Torah was saying. The people seemed to have been largely uneducated regarding the Law, and they begin weeping, presumably because of the ways their people had failed to keep the Law and have now endured the consequences by being taken into exile in Babylon. … And perhaps they weep because of the faithfulness of God in light of their own people’s rebellion. … But, instead of weeping, they are told to celebrate with rich food and wine. Their leaders, Nehemiah and Ezra, urged them to tr...