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News from Rockburn
As you well know, the wooden pipe organ from SouthWest United has been reborn in Rockburn, Quebec. Its journey has been followed by The Gleaner, the 160-year-old English voice of the Chateauguay Valley.
Here is a piece about the history of the instrument: Locally crafted tracker organ comes ‘home’ to Rockburn
And one about the recent concert to inaugurate the organ at Rockburn Presbyterian: Organ Concert Brings crowds to Rockburn
Easter 4, or Good Shepherd Sunday
This Sunday, Easter 4, the suggested lectionary readings are Psalm 23 and John 10. They are, of course, about Jesus the Good Shepherd who said, “I know my sheep and my sheep know me,” and the psalmist (David) who said, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”.
For most of us, this archaic reference to sheep and shepherds is somewhat foreign. How many of us have spent a night outside, on a pasture or hillside, with a herd of sheep? How many of us know what it is like to be a shepherd?
The last time I was within six feet of a sheep was probably at a shopping mall when I took my eldest grandson, now 22 years old, to an Easter petting zoo. He was probably about five at the time. There was no green grass, no still waters and no valley of the shadow of death. In fact, the hard concrete mall floor was covered with thick wood shavings, the iron fences were well secured and the only food and water available was in buckets within the pens.
What do this Psalm, and this idea of God as our shepherd mean for us today?
Well, hereunder is a modern-day version of the 23rd Psalm, written by a woman named Rebecca Garrett Pace, which I wanted to share with you.
Psalm 23 – rewritten
Jesus is my shepherd, and I honestly feel sorry for him, because I can be quite a stubborn sheep.
I shall not want. Or that’s the way it should work, but yet I always want for more. I’m working on it.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.
Jesus is teaching me how to care. To care for myself, so that I can then care for others. To care for the earth, so I can live in green pastures with still waters and not make a mess of them just because I can. To care for my soul, which is fed by gratitude and joy and kindness. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Unfortunately, he keeps talking too softly for me to hear him, so I keep having to guess what the right paths are, and go on a hunch, and ask for forgiveness when I get it wrong.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil — well that’s just wishful thinking. I fear all the time. All the things. So much fear. But I am learning how to sit in the darkness, and be open to what I might learn from it, and really the most important bit is that…you are with me.
Your music, your friendship, your wisdom, your words, your kindness, your presence through others - they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, and you tell me that there’s extra room at the table, and it’s actually your table and not mine, so I should scoot over and make room and invite my enemies to eat with me and give them the last piece of homemade bread and extra butter because that’s what you would do. Which is annoying but I know you’re right.
You anoint my head with oil - you protect and love me, you nurture, you guide, you heal me.
My cup overflows. God, I am grateful. I am so incredibly overwhelmed by goodness in my life.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
And when the goodness and mercy are obscured, O God, help me know you’re still there. Always. Forever. Amen.
In peace
Pastor Beryl
Easter 3: Eyes of the Heart
Biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan remarks, “Emmaus never happened,” clarifying that “Emmaus always happens.” We are given opportunities, over and over again, to see and be changed by the risen Christ. Now. Here. We are invited to see with new eyes.
Luke 24:13-35 New International Version
On the Road to Emmaus
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” 33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled, together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
The exact location of Emmaus, where the two disciples see the risen Christ in Luke 24:13–35, is unknown. Emmaus may be anywhere. Hearts burning and eyes opening do not occur in only one geographical or spiritual place. Emmaus comes into sight wherever a path leads us toward communion with God and whenever we recognize the risen Christ among us.
When Jesus joins the two travelers on the road, they do not recognize him immediately; perhaps their grief and loss blind them. When they offer Jesus hospitality, a sign of love, and when he blesses and breaks bread, the revelation happens, and they recognize the stranger with whom they have been walking and talking.
A transformation occurs within the travellers; they shift from standing still in a state of sadness to being “on fire” with hope. In great haste, they return to Jerusalem to tell
the other followers of Jesus what they have experienced: Christ’s resurrection and their own.
Sometimes, our hearts are heavy with the burden of grief, sorrow, and anguish. We have been cut to the heart, but nothing changes, until that moment when we are open to the realization that we are not alone; that seen or unseen, Spirit is with us.
Other times, our hearts can help us to see more grace and love. We may fail or refuse to recognize how God is changing our hearts, believing we are on a road of our own
making. We can be hardened, but God expands the vision of our hearts.
Prayer For Easter 3
God, you come and walk beside us. You accompany us into the unknown and challenge us to see the world with new eyes. Remind us of your vision, again and again. Amen.
In peace
Pastor Beryl, DLM