“Transforming Anger; Transforming Love”

 

Land Acknowledgement: As we gather, we acknowledge with respect the history, spirituality, and culture of the K’omoks First Nation and the Coast Salish peoples on whose traditional and unceded territory we meet.  We also honour the heritage of all Indigenous peoples as we recognize the need to seek a new relationship between the descendants of settlers and of those who were here before colonization.  As a congregation of The United Church of Canada, with them, we take responsibility both for past injustices and the need for healing and reconciliation.  We love and honour this land upon which we meet and live and all whose footfall has trod and will tread upon it.

The Singing Bowl is Sounded and the Lantern is Lit

Call to Worship: 

Wait for the Lord;

Be strong, and let your heart take courage.

Wait for the Lord;

COME, LET US WORSHIP GOD.

Choral Opening:  (VU#22, Sing 3X.  From the Taize Community)

Wait for the Lord, whose day is near.

Wait for the Lord, keep watch, take heart! 

Opening Prayer

Holy One, you call us to be brave, to stand up in the face of injustice, to speak out, yelling loudly, when a loud voice is what is needed.  In this moment, you present us with so many opportunities to be brave.  And yet, you call us to be tender – open to listening to the voice of all others, and open to moments of profound transformation and true reconciliation.  

So, we take a deep breath, in and out, connecting with you, our Source, Inspiring Spirit, wind of change, and we ask you to make us brave and keep us tender.  

Bless us anew in this time together, for we know that surely you are here.  We pray this in the name of Jesus, your Mystery, your Wisdom, your Glory. Amen.

HEARING AND REFLECTING:

Scripture Readings (from the 11th Sunday after Pentecost):

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

John 6:35, 41-51

Reader:  Holy Wisdom, Holy Word. Thanks be to God!

Reflection: “Transforming Anger, Transforming Love”

You got to know when to hold ‘em and know when to scold ‘em.  Yes, I know I’ve completely misquoted that old song by Kenny Rogers, but it works so well to sum up one of the ongoing choices of every preacher, the choice between holding and scolding.  Knowing when to comfort and encourage, and when to speak hard truths in love.

In the passage we just heard, the writer of the letter to the Ephesians has decided to take the second approach, to call the church to task.  In his own words, putting away falsehood, he is speaking the truth to his neighbours.

There are differing opinions about who wrote this letter and when.  One group of scholars agrees with long-standing church tradition and credits the writing to the apostle Paul.  Another group argues that it was written later by an admirer of Paul, applying Paul’s thought to the churches of his time.  And a third group says there just isn’t enough evidence to support either of these theories.

But I’m going to go with the majority of today’s scholars who think it was written by a later follower of Paul in response to difficulties in the church at Ephesus and other similar cities.  The membership of these churches was growing rapidly and becoming more and more diverse.  Some were Jews who fled Palestine when the Romans destroyed the temple in Jerusalem, while others were former followers of a multitude of local religions.  All were heavily-influenced by the pervasive Greek and Roman culture that had overwhelmed the known world.

Each week they gathered to hear the teachings of Jesus from a few precious manuscripts about Jesus’ life, and from letters written by his early followers, especially the Apostle Paul.  Some may have even remembered meeting Paul as he travelled throughout the Empire planting and encouraging new churches.

But with the increasing membership there was a growing divide between the Jews and the non-Jews or Gentiles.  The disagreements were serious enough that the unity of the church was threatened, and so our anonymous leader decided to write a sermon to be circulated to the churches in difficulty.  The result is what we now hear as “The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians”.  

At first listen this passage sounds like a long list of negatives:  do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your anger, do not make room for the devil, give up stealing, no evil talk, do not grieve the Holy Spirit, put away all bitterness and wrath.  Is that what the first churches in the Roman Empire needed to hear as they struggled for survival?  Is that what we need to hear today, in the midst of all the negatives in our lives and the life of the world? As we struggle in our daily lives with all the challenges of a pandemic, with illness and economic hardship and uncertainty? As we hear the news of catastrophic climate change, of racial injustice, of family violence and state violence? Surely a word of comfort and reassurance would be more helpful than this litany of “thou shalt nots”? Most of us react better to loving encouragement than to commands or condemnation.  

As I said at the beginning, sermon writers have to constantly balance their listener’s need for comfort and encouragement with their need to hear hard truths.  The writer of Ephesians chose to start with scolding, but let’s try to look beyond the scolding to what is really important in this set of rules.

I want to focus on what this passage says about anger, which can be a useful tool when properly used.  This letter doesn’t say “don’t be angry”, it says control and use your anger in such a way that it doesn’t become a weapon.  That might mean responding to injustice with appropriate outrage.  The books of the Hebrew prophets are full of angry denunciations of the injustices of powerful nations against less-powerful nations, and powerful people against the poor and the marginalized.  Expressing our outrage over modern injustice is an appropriate use of anger.  

Anger can also give us courage to speak and act in frightening or difficult circumstances.  The hard part is to control and guide it so that it does more good than harm. I admit that I’m struggling with anger right now: anger at strangers and people close to me who won’t get the vaccine, endangering themselves and others; anger at governments and corporations who refuse to value the health of the earth over the economy; anger at the vandals who destroyed a memorial to a young man killed by the RCMP in CR; and yes, anger at myself for not doing more. I need to constantly monitor myself so that my anger doesn’t spill over into harmful words.

Reading between the lines, it sounds like the early churches listening to this sermon were having quite a bit of trouble with controlling their anger.  It’s obvious in the number of times the word is repeated in the passage, along with related words like bitterness, wrath, and wrangling.  Perhaps the only good thing to be said for how these churches handled conflict was that it was mostly out in the open rather than festering below the surface. 

The photo in the bulletin shows us two kinds of anger: the destructive anger of violence and intimidation, and the stronger force of anger transformed into courage.  It was taken during a Black Lives Matter protest in Baton Rouge in July 2016, shortly after the police shootings of young black men Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in Minnesota.  The woman in the photo, a nurse from Pennsylvania named Leshia Evans, was attending her very first protest.  We can only imagine the anger that she and the black community felt at losing their young men to police violence, but in this photo we can see the moment when that anger turns into  courage. It takes that kind of courage to stand up to the violence of Empire, and it also takes that kind of courage to “speak to the truth to our neighbours.”  

Anger does not easily transform into courage. It starts with monitoring our actions and our words. Before we speak, we need to ask ourselves: is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind? 

The writer of the letter to Ephesus also gives us some advice to help Christ followers channel their anger and control their words and actions.

First of all, he addresses the important question of why:

We speak the truth because we are part of the same body.

We give up stealing, so that we can earn enough to share with those who need it.

We watch what we say, so that we build others up instead of tearing them down.

And most important of all, we do all this because in Christ God has created and is still creating a completely new kind of community where we are all children of God.  

Love is the alchemy that transforms anger into courage: love for each other, love for our communities, and love of God. And ultimately, it is God’s unconditional, unearned, extravagant love that forgives and transforms us.  God holds us and leaves it to the prophets to scold us. God’s love helps us to know when to hold and when to scold, when to speak hard truths and when to comfort and encourage.

As God’s children, we have the example of Jesus to show us how to imitate God.  As children of a beloved parent, we want to be more like that parent but maybe that seems too hard to achieve.  So in Jesus, we are given the best kind of big brother, someone human like us who shows us how to be more like God.  In his forgiveness, he shows us God’s forgiveness and encourages us to forgive others.  In his kindness, he shows us God’s kindness and encourages us to be kind.  And in his anger, he shows us how to have the courage to fight for justice and continue to work towards a world where the vision of a transformed community becomes a reality.

When we celebrate Communion, we remember and give thanks for God’s self-giving kenotic love expressed in Jesus. We feast on the bread and wine, divine made human yet still divine. We feast on mystery and love, and once again we are transformed into the beloved community, the body of Christ. 

Let us pray:

Loving Creator, may your peace fill our minds and hearts like an every-flowing stream.  Wash away the pain that expresses itself through slander, dishonesty and frustration.  Show us how to use our anger. Transform it into courage so that we can be loving partners with you in building the kin-dom of God.  Amen.

Questions for reflection:

What makes you angry?

Do you feel like your anger is a liability or a strength?

If it feels like a liability, how might that be changed?

HYMN: MV#90 (Sing twice)

Don’t be afraid, my love is stronger.

My love is stronger than your fear.

Don’t be afraid, my love is stronger,

And I have promised, promised to be always near.

WE RESPOND IN PRAYER AND ACTION

A Shared Time for Reflection, Prayer and Offering

In the silence, you are invited to reflect on the readings and ideas shared today, to light a candle or place a stone or shell as an expression of your intention or prayer, and/or to place an offering in the basket.  If you get up to move about, please maintain safe physical distancing.  

Offertory Prayer:
Holy One, bless our offerings and transform them into compassion for others, into community for the lonely, and into brave hope for the church and the world. Amen.

Prayers of the People  You are invited to bring your gratitude and your concerns before the Creator, aloud or in silence. 

And now, as children turn to a mother who watches over them, let us turn to God saying:

The Prayer of Jesus (an adaptation by Parker Palmer):  

   Heavenly Mother, heavenly Father,

   Holy and blessed is your true name.

   We pray for your reign of peace to come,

   We pray that your good will be done,

   Let heaven and earth become one.

   Give us this day the bread we need,

   Give it to those who have none.

   Let forgiveness flow like a river through us,

   From each one to each one to each one.

   Lead us to holy innocence

   Beyond the evil of our days,

   Come swiftly Mother, Father, come!

   For yours is the power and the glory and the mercy—

   Forever your name is All in One.

THE SACRED MEAL IS SHARED: Please refer to your Communion insert.

HOLY COMMUNION

Invitation to Communion

As we come to this table, 

we are reminded that this is the table of Jesus Christ,

a banquet prepared for everyone.

All who seek to be nourished and sustained in the journey of faith,

all who seek wholeness, and compassionate paths to peace and justice,

all, all are welcome here. 

Passing of the Peace 

The Peace of Christ be with you!

And also with you!

(Please share the Peace without touching and be seated when the Meditation Bowl is sounded)

The Holy One is here. 

God’s Spirit is with us. 

Lift up your hearts. 

We lift them to the Lord. 

Let us give thanks to God. 

It is right to offer thanks and praise. 

It is indeed good and right to give you thanks and praise, O God of many names.  You made a covenant with Noah, and caused nations, in their amazing diversity, to spread over the face of the earth. As of old you led your people out of a land of enslavement to a land of promise, so, too, you led our ancestors, and some among us, into new lands of possibility – there to find you anew.

In the fullness of time, you sent Jesus, in every aspect human as we are.

He grew up in a small town in Galilee, far from the seat of religious and civil power.  He spoke with a distinct accent.  He learned of the breadth of your grace from a Gentile woman.  Beside Jacob’s well, he was moved by an encounter with a minority woman and disclosed his messianic identity.

Therefore, with these and our other ancestors in the faith, 

both named and unnamed, 

who through the ages and all over the world

have borne courageous witness to the hope within them, 

we praise you, saying: 

Holy, holy, holy God, power of life and love!

Heaven and earth are full of your glory!

Hosanna through the ages!

Blest is the one who comes to bring your justice to the earth!

On the last night he spent with his friends, 

Jesus took an age-old tradition of his people

and transformed it into something new. 

He took bread, staple food of his land, 

blessed and broke it, and gave it to those around him saying, 

“Take, eat, this is my body, broken for you. 

Whenever you do this, remember me.”

After supper he took a cup of wine, common drink of his people, 

and gave it to them, saying, 

“Drink this, all of you, this is the new covenant in my blood. 

Each time you do this, remember me.”

By remembering Jesus in this way now, 

we claim our common heritage 

as we proclaim the mystery of faith: 

Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

Send, O covenant God, your Holy Spirit

upon us and what we do here, 

that we and these gifts, empowered by your Spirit, 

may become signs of shalom

to one another and to all peoples of the earth. 

Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, 

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 

all glory is yours everywhere, now and forever.  

Amen.

Jesus said: “I am the bread of life,

whoever comes to me will never be hungry;  

whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

(The Bread and Cup are served at the front. Please accept the bread without touching and help yourself to a glass of juice.  If you are unable to come to the front, you will be served where you are seated.) 

Recorded music while Communion is being served:

“Blessed Are Those Who Are Called to the Table”, Linnea Good

Prayer Following Communion

Eternal God, we thank you that 

you have called your people from east and west,

and north and south,

to feast at the table of Jesus Christ.  

Keep us faithful to your will. 

Go with us to the streets, to our homes, 

and to our places of labour and leisure—

that whether we are gathered or scattered, 

we may be the servant church of the servant Christ, 

in whose name we pray.  Amen. 

Commissioning and Blessing

May the God who is present with us at all times give us courage to walk in the way of Christ, 

And may the Spirit empower us each to be brave!

Go out into the world with a daring and a tender heart,

Go in peace, for the world is waiting,

And whatever you do, do it in the name of love,

And in the name of Jesus, who is our Christ.

Response: AMEN!

Choral Closing: VU#964, “Go Now in Peace” (once in unison, twice as a round)

Go now in peace, go now in peace.

May the love of God surround you

Everywhere, everywhere you may go.

Cover Photo “Taking a Stand in Baton Rouge”, Jonathan Bachman, Reuters, 2017.

Opening Prayer by Lauren Hodgson, additional prayers by Maya Landell, used with permission from Gathering, Pentecost 1, 2015.