Rev Chris Roth

  There are a number of modern Christians who don’t understand praying using a liturgy. In many Protestant circles there is a leaning towards spontaneity and individuality. So, saying communal prayers together, and prayers that were written by someone else from a different time and culture, can seem very strange.     First, what I would like to say to someone who feels that way is that we are surrounded by liturgy. Our lives are filled with ritual. Even for churches who consider themselves non-liturgical, they worship according to a pattern. For example, a pattern I often see when visiting churches is the following- the musicians play a number of songs, which is followed by a sermon, and then a prayer, and then an offering, and more songs. That is a kind of liturgy. The songs will include many that are familiar to those who are worshipping. The words are the same words, and the people often want their favourite songs. These songs are like a prayer written by someone els...

James 3:13 – 4:3, 7-8; Mark 9:30-37 James’ letter has a lot of practical advice for how to live as Christians. We can sort of hold it alongside the Sermon on the Mount, which also shows us what it looks like to live in the Kingdom. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus deals with things like anger, lustful thoughts, marriage, making promises, revenge, loving enemies, giving to those in need, how to pray and fast, anxiety, judging others, and treating people the way you would like to be treated. These are all very common issues, and Jesus teaches us how to practically approach these things with a heavenly mindset. Likewise, James’ letter deals with issues like not showing favouritism to the wealthy, our faith having an effect on how we live, being mindful of the way we speak, and having patience in suffering. These are all pretty practical and everyday realities that we face. And James is giving practical advice about facing these realities with a heavenly mindset. In the portion of ...

  Ephesians 4:1-16; Matthew 25:14-30 I recently watched an interesting series on Netflix called “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones”. The idea behind the show is that there are these communities around the world where there are many more people living to 100 (and older) than in other places. Often these 100-year-olds are still quite active and don’t seem to be dealing with as much dementia as might be expected. There are a lot of interesting lessons we can learn from these communities. Often these people have gardens and walk a fair amount. So, they have a fair amount of daily low-impact activity. They also tend to have strong communities and friendships. Something else they noticed was that they had was a sense of purpose. They have a sense of why they wake up in the morning. I don’t think it’s all that important to live to be 100. I think it’s more important to focus on living in the Kingdom of God. But, I think this does tell us something important about how God has made h...

Mark 7:24-37 In last week’s Gospel reading, Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees who were bothered by the disciples not ritually washing their hands before they ate, which was a tradition of the Pharisees. This isn’t a command in Scripture. It is an extension added to the law taught by certain Jewish elders. This led to a discussion about what makes a person clean or unclean. Jesus challenges the Pharisees’ position on purity, and then turns to teach his position to the crowd-  “there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile” (Mark 7:15). It isn’t that the practice of washing hands before they eat is bad, but Jesus emphasizes a deeper moral purity over ritual purity. This is an important teaching to keep in mind as we look at this week’s Gospel reading. These readings are connected. In this week’s reading, Jesus is in Gentile (non-Jewish) territory. He is confronted by a Syrophoenician woman, who has a small child w...

Song of Solomon 2:8-13; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Once again, there are a couple of directions we could go with our readings this morning. The Song of Songs, which is also called the Song of Solomon, is a book that has often puzzled people. It seems to be a poem about the passionate love between two people. It doesn’t even really talk about God. So, it has been tricky to know how it should be interpreted. A second century Rabbi, Rabbi Akiva, was asked by his students if the book should be considered Scripture at all. He replied,  “Heaven forbid that any man in Israel ever disputed that the Song of Songs [is holy], for the whole world is not worth the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all the Writings are holy, and the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies” (Mishnah Yadaim 3.5). [1] A traditional way to interpret the Song of Songs, which Rabbi Akiva seems to ascribe to, is to see it as a description of God’s desire for God’s people. The Bible oft...

Ephesians 6:10-20 Our reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is about spiritual warfare. He says,  “put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil”.  We don’t spend much time talking about the devil, so our images of spiritual warfare might be more shaped by Hollywood, rather than theology or our Christian Tradition. So, when we hear the phrase “spiritual warfare” we might think about the movie “The Exorcist”, but the practice of exorcism is not the primary way that Christians do spiritual warfare. About 13 years ago I was in a Christian bookstore and I picked up a book called “The Tools of Spiritual Warfare”. With a title like that my curiosity was piqued, but the book wasn’t what I expected. I’m not sure what I was expecting to find. I think I was expecting information about demons, and ways to pray against them. That wasn’t at all what I found in reading the book. It started with the sacrament of Baptism as a declarati...

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10; 2 Corinthians 12:2-10; Mark 6:1-13 In this section of 2 Corinthians, Paul has been responding to a situation in the Corinthian church. Some other preachers have come to the community, and it seems like they are making accusations against Paul, and claiming that their preaching represents a truer gospel. They seem to be wanting the Christianity of the Corinthians to be more Jewish, in a sense. These other preachers seem to be emphasizing their own credentials, and their spiritual power. Paul responds with a call to humility and a focus on God’s grace. Paul is not interested in proclaiming himself. He proclaims Jesus Christ as Lord. And in contrast with the visiting preachers’ emphasis on spiritual power, Paul proclaims himself and his companions as slaves for Christ’s sake (2 Cor 4:5). Paul finds himself in the awkward position of responding to the accusations of these preachers, and having to defending himself as an ambassador of Christ. He engages in what he c...