sojourners

A sermon preached at the Memorial Service of Gil Dyck at Crescent United Church on March 21, 2014.

Matthew 5:1-16

Thirty years ago I was the minister of this church. It was here that I first came to know Gil Dyck. I recall, in particular, a day when Gil invited me to coffee at Gil and Marion’s home down at the beach. In the course of our conversation we went downstairs in search of a magazine. It was "Sojourners", the publication of a group of evangelical social activists living a in a poor neighbourhood in Washington, DC. I went home and ordered a subscription. Today I still keep up with the Sojourners community, though now I do so via Twitter. Thinking of my conversations over the years with Gil I am reminded of G.K. Chesterton’s famous line: “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.” Or more to the point, given Gil’s Mennonite background, these words written by Menno Simons in 1539 come to mind: “True evangelical faith ... cannot lie dormant; but manifests itself in all righteousness and works of love; it ... clothes the naked; feeds the hungry; consoles the afflicted; shelters the miserable; aids and consoles all the oppressed; returns good for evil; serves those that injure it; prays for those that persecute it.”

A few weeks ago Gil and I found ourselves sharing another cup of coffee in Crescent Beach, over at the Sunflower Café. We have been neighbours all these years, but when I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma three years ago Gil and I found we shared not only a faith but also an illness. Since then we have caught up with one another from time to time, comparing treatments and sharing information, offering mutual encouragement. Brothers in arms. Companions on the journey. Sojourners.

2014 online daily lenten devotional

"Blessing the Dust" by Jan Richardson

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. It is the day when Christians begin the season of Lent, a forty day preparation for Easter. Those who take the time to count the days until Easter Sunday will note that it actually totals forty-seven days in all. That is because the Lenten season of preparation and fasting does not count the Sundays. Sundays, for us, are always mini-Easter celebrations. For University Hill Congregation this is the thirteenth year in which we have marked Lent by creating our own home-made Lenten daily devotional book. In the early years it was a hard-copy printed booklet for use within our congregation. Now it is an online resource used by our congregation and others who join us in the practice of reading, hosting and praying scripture as a means of continuing our formation as faithful witnesses to God's grace revealed in Jesus. You are most welcome to join us in this practice and are invited to spread the word to others who may be interested. Here is the introduction to this year's devotional, along with a link that will take you to it ...

velcade round two (cycle eight)

I have reached the conclusion of my second round of treatments with Velcade. I have been receiving Velcade (bortezomib) since May of 2012 (with a brief break at the end of the first round of treatments one year ago). As of today I begin a six week window without treatment. The main benefit for me will be no weekly dose of dexamethasone with its steroidal side-effects. I am looking forward to a more normal day to day life without the mid-week roller-coaster ride that comes with dex. Knowing that future treatments will most likely include more dexamethasone I realize that this is just a brief reprieve. Nonetheless, I am grateful for it.

I see my doctor again in late March in order to determine the next treatment regime. We may well try Revlimid (lenalidomide) once again, only this time begin with a low dose in order to see if we can avoid the allergic reaction that occurred last time (in March 2011). It was very good to hear today that Canada has approved pomalidomide (Pomalyst) for treatment of myeloma. I expect that, sooner or later, I will be one who benefits from today's news. In the meantime, I look forward to these upcoming treatment free weeks.

preaching epiphany

Sunday, January 5 is the twelfth day of Christmas. Monday, January 6 is Epiphany. At University Hill we will celebrate Epiphany one day early, as we gather for worship tomorrow. This year I will preach on Psalm 72 - the psalm that is always read on Epiphany. It is particularly relevant to preach on Psalm 72 in Canada for it is from this psalm that our country took its designation not as a republic or as a nation but as a "dominion." It is also Psalm 72 that gave Canada its motto: "Ad mare usque ad mare."  Well, that and more is for tomorrow's sermon. In the meantime, here is the sermon for Epiphany from 2012 - the people of the epiphany.

an epiphany concerning epiphany

I did not hear about Epiphany when I was growing up. Overshadowed by the secular new year Epiphany is a hidden holiday. Over the years it has dawned on me that this ancient festival holds great significance for the church I serve. Here's a sample of my growing epiphany concerning Epiphany - earth's manifest.

good news of great joy

"According to Luke" by Rhonda Chase

Preaching is a challenge on Christmas Eve. At University Hill Congregation we have one great Christmas Eve celebration full of carols and candles and children. This year the sermon is in three parts, with each coming as a response to the arrival of the characters in our nativity scene. We invite the children to dress as angels or shepherds in order to join in telling the story. You can imagine the excited entry of angels and shepherds in the midst of the sermon that follows. By the way, the magi will arrive at our nativity scene just after the twelve days of Christmas, on Epiphany.

- Luke 2:1-20

Scene one - Mary, Joseph & the Christ-child

“Good news of great joy.” It is the reason that we are together here on the eve of Christmas. Here because there is “good news of great joy for all the people.” It is good news for the human spirit. It is spiritual good news. It is, in other words, inspiring. Yet notice, biblical spirituality is always embodied spirituality. In the Bible the spiritual is inevitably material. Christian theology is about matter, about what matters. Did you hear it? Hear it in the first few verses, hear it in the materiality of people and places and things that matter: Emperor Augustus, all the world, a decree, registration, their own towns, Quirinius, Syria, Joseph, Nazareth, Galilee, Judea, Bethlehem, the house and family of David, Mary, engaged, expecting, time to deliver, inn, no place, gave birth, first-born son, bands of cloth, manger.  This is not a story about spiritual truths. Nor is it a story about universal values. It is the astounding news that God is working out humankind’s redemption incognito - below our spiritual radar - in the details and confusion and stresses of a very material world. How extraordinary. God entering the world and redeeming the nations through an obscure Jewish birth in occupied territory. Do you see? If then, also now. If there, also here. If them, also us.

velcade (round two - cycle seven)

Life on bortezomib (Velcade), cyclophoshamide and dexamethasone continues as I am now well into another thirty-five day cycle of weekly doses. Did I say that I am just a little tired of the weekly mood and energy swings caused by even my relatively mild dosage of dex? Oh, yes, I did. Nothing new on that front. However, my struggles with dex are offset this month with the good news that the free light chain count dropped from the last report of 145 to 95 - under 100 for the first time in awhile. It is a welcome Christmas gift to receive. After the slow and steady increases in the free light chains it is a bit surprising to see this reversal. It will be interesting to see if it continues following cycle seven and cycle eight. That will be the end of this round on Velcade. We have been assuming that the ever increasing numbers meant shifting to a new treatment plan in the Spring. But if the numbers stay low perhaps there will be the possibility of gaining approval for another round of this treatment. In the meantime, we carry on ...