66th Anniversary Sunday - April 24, 2022
Psalm 150 and Acts 5:27-32
Deborah Laforet
Better to Obey God Than People!
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by the Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
This year, Jeff and I marked our 25th wedding anniversary. This year I marked 15 years since I got my diploma in Diaconal Ministry and was commissioned as a minister out of Bay of Quinte Conference in Baltimore, On. Also, this July marks ten years since I came to St. Paul’s to be the Christian Education minister.
Anniversaries are a time to mark and recognize years of highs and lows, times of difficulty and celebrations, and a time to share stories, fun, sorrowful, and meaningful stories that have stayed with us through the years. Anniversaries can also be a time to reflect on what lies before us, a time to discern if the status quo works, if change is needed, or even if the time has come to dissolve or mark an ending.
This year, the United Church of Canada marks 97 years since it was first established. Its 100th anniversary is in 2025 and there are plans in the works for celebrations. Of course, many of the United Churches across Canada were first Methodist, or Presbyterian, or Congregationalist, so they are much older than the United Church of Canada, and are celebrating anniversaries of more than 100 years. And many of those churches, and many others outside of the UCC, have had to make some difficult decisions. Especially over the past couple of years during the pandemic. Churches have had to make difficult decisions to join with other churches, lay off their ministers or cut them back to part time, sell property, or sometimes to close their doors for good.
This year, St. Paul’s marks its 66th anniversary. St. Paul’s has been fortunate so far that we have not had to make these difficult decisions, but it hasn’t been easy. In 1956, the church began with more than 200 members, and it grew from there. Rooms were bursting with children and youth. There was always money for more than one minister. There were lots of volunteers and lots of programming. There was lots of money to give to local outreaches. The church and our society looked very different 50 and 60 years ago. There are some who still mourn those differences, who still long for a return to those days when everyone came to church on Sunday, and churches were being built on every corner.
Those days just don’t exist anymore. We live in a country where there are many different faiths and many who don’t subscribe to any faith. Christianity and church is not seen as a dominant force, where one can achieve status by being at church on Sunday or where church groups can have influence on government policy. Sundays are not a day of sabbath anymore where the only activities are church activities.
There are some who would love to go back to those days, but there are others who are grateful for the changes. I don’t want to say these changes are good or bad; they just are. They are changes to which, in many ways, we have become accustomed, and in other ways, we are still catching up.
St. Paul’s has been a worshipping community for 66 years. We remember and we recall stories from over the years. This has been a vibrant and supportive community for its members. There have been many faithful people on the board, in the UCW, doing children’s programming, caring for this building and its grounds, making music together, planning bazaars, variety shows, and other community events, praying and praising God, and supporting one another through the challenges and celebrations of life. 66 years later, these things are still happening.
In our scripture reading today, we hear of the apostles being arrested. You’ll notice, we’ve gone from calling the followers of Jesus disciples to apostles. Disciples follow. Apostles go out.
The temple authorities are upset that the apostles keep preaching about Jesus and keep acting in his name. One of the reasons they encouraged Roman authorities to put Jesus to death was because they were afraid Jesus would start a rebellion which would bring Roman soldiers into their city, killing and destroying. Now these apostles had picked up the mantle of Jesus. The apostles were arrested as a way to stop their actions and silence them, but we are told that an angel from God released them, and said to them, “‘Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.” When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching.’ (Acts 5:20-21)
Can you imagine the frustration of the temple authorities when they discovered the apostles missing and then being told they were in the temple teaching!? The response of Peter and the apostles is, “Better for us to obey God than people!” (Acts 5:29)
As a church, as a community of faith, we are followers of Christ. We read the stories of Jesus, we read the sacred texts from which he learned about God and the faithful people of God, and we read of those people who followed Jesus and strived to be faithful people of Christ. We are a community of faith that strives to follow in the footsteps of these faithful people of God. We strive to be compassionate, merciful, justice-filled, and loving people to one another and all of God’s creation.
Some who follow God are arrested for their work. Some are put to death. Some are ignored or mocked. Some are encouraged to go the easy way. Some are tempted to worship other idols or be faithful to this world’s kingdoms and powers. As followers of Christ, as disciples and apostles, do we have the courage to say, “Better for us to obey God than people!”?
For a long time, churches have been following people. They’ve been partners with the government and their political agendas. They have seen what’s popular in culture and attempted to follow the trends. They have been complicit in patriarchalism, colonialism, imperialism, sexism, racism, ableism, ageism, and so many other ‘isms.’ Maybe it’s about time to stop following people, to stop following those in power, to stop trying to gain power.
What does it look like for us to obey God instead? Don’t get me wrong. It’s not easy to discern God’s way, especially when we have so many distractions in our lives and no time to sit and be, sit and attune ourselves to the messages of the universe. It’s easier to follow the loud voices, to follow the crowd, to do what’s always been done. As a people of faith though, we have made a commitment to follow Christ, to resist evil and temptation, to be co-creators, and to love our neighbour and our enemy.
This community of faith, the people of St. Paul’s, has been following Christ for 66 years. They have been praying and praising, serving and giving, listening and obeying. What does that look like for this community for the next 66 years? It’s probably going to look a lot different. We will still pray and praise, serve and give, listen and obey, but how we do that will look different from how it was done 66 years ago.
The world has changed. The world is changing. In some ways though, nothing has changed. We are still a people of God. We still wrestle with what we are called to do. We are imperfect and we make mistakes, but we read scripture, we pray together, we lift one another up, we challenge each other to be disciples of Christ, to act as apostles, sharing our faith, healing others, eating and drinking with the marginalized, speaking truth to power, seeking justice and peace, and creating God’s kingdom on earth.
It is better for us to obey God than people! May we do so for the next 66 years. May it be so and thanks be to God. Amen.