SUNDAY, JANUARY 19 2025 -
January 19, 2025
Wedding Disaster
Deborah Laforet
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by your Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen. (Show slide) On the day of my wedding, it poured. People kept saying that rain on your wedding day is a sign of good luck. I think people say that to make the bride feel better. Rain on my wedding day wasn’t the actual crisis though at my wedding. It was a hockey game. It was the Detroit Red Wings against the Philadelphia Flyers in the first game of the playoffs. In my mind, game one means it’s not a crucial game, but many of my guests would disagree. In fact, not even the groom would agree. Right, Jeff? So, many of my guests were in the back room, where I couldn't see them, watching the game. The miracle in the story Doug read for us this morning is very well known. Sometimes I wonder if it’s because there was a crisis at a wedding, with which most of us can sympathize, or because many people would love to have their water turned to wine! Whatever the reason, it’s an interesting story that we are going to look at today through the lens of Respect, the first of the Seven Grandfather Teachings that we are exploring as part of our Truth and Reconciliation Theme. When we hear this story of running out of wine, we may hear it as a trivial problem. Imagine though, a similar situation at a celebration that you have thrown. Imagine the months of planning you have put into this event. Usually one of the main attractions is the food and drinks. Imagine running out of food before your last guest fills their plate. Running out of drinks is hard to do in our time, but during the time of Jesus, before towns and cities had ways of purifying 2 of 6 water, wine may have been one of the main sources of drink at a celebration. To run out before the party was near its end, would not look good. Also, in some cultures and contexts, having enough for everyone is a sign of respect. At weddings, when guests have purchased tables full of gifts and envelopes full of cash, you don’t want them going home upset and disappointed. Also at weddings, many of the guests are family members and close friends, and some are your elders, who have come a long way and have worked very hard to be there to celebrate this momentous occasion. If your guests are thirsty and there is nothing for them to drink, they may tell you it’s ok, but you will hear about it for years to come. As we heard at the beginning of worship, from Elder Dr. David Courchene, respect is about giving and sharing. It’s a mutual give and take. (Next slide) I read that the reason the buffalo represents respect is because it provided everything the people needed to live a balanced life. Respect is given to all liven things because of what we take and what they share. Respect is about treating others as you want to be treated. There are several stories and metaphors within our bible about wedding banquets, about abundance, about sharing around the table and celebrating life together. This land, that we now call Canada, is a land of abundance, and it’s this abundance that attracted people from the across the water. This land could have been shared between those new settlers and those native to this land, but unfortunately, our history has unfolded as a story of scarcity and competition, with many experiencing, even today, a lack of abundance in their daily lives. Indigenous peoples respect the land. Their spirituality is based on the Spirit within living things, animals, plants, water, fire, the air, even rocks. This land is sacred to them. The settlers who came to this land had been taught a Christianity that told them God had made humans 3 of 6 stewards of creation and that stewardship was about owning and tending, taking and having dominion over all life, creating a hierarchy, from kings to subjects, from land owners to slaves, from humans to all other life. They brought this point of view with them, and the abundance of this land that could have been shared by all, became a prize to be won, a land to be owned and subjected, which included the ‘savages,’ the people seen as heathens and not as advanced as Europeans. There was no respect for the indigenous people or for the land. There was no respect when John A. MacDonald, the first prime minister of Canada, stated in 1887, “The great aim of our legislation has been to do away with the tribal system and assimilate the Indian people in all respects with the other inhabitants of the Dominion as speedily as they are fit to change.” There was no respect when Duncan Campbell Scott, who ran the residential schools for a time in the early 1900's, said, “I want to get rid of the Indian problem. I do not think as a matter of fact, that the country ought to continuously protect a class of people who are able to stand alone. . . . Our objective is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic and there is no Indian question, and no Indian Department.” These statements alone exhibit a goal of cultural genocide. And the church was heavily involved in this work. The Catholic Church and Protestant churches, including the United Church of Canada, worked together to run Indian Residential Schools, and were complicit in the abuses that happened around and within those schools. This is why, for the next several weeks, we will be talking about Truth and Reconciliation, truth about our Canadian history and the church’s involvement in the cultural genocide of indigenous peoples, and, after all this abuse and the associated trauma with that abuse, how settler Canadians and church members reconcile now with indigenous peoples. How do we build relationships? How do we build trust? How do we coexist with indigenous peoples and value their distinct 4 of 6 culture, their languages, their rituals, and their right to self determine their own nations? How do we learn to respect the individuality of indigenous peoples and their right to exist as free and independent nations? I invite you to challenge me. I invite you to ask questions. I would like this to be an open and honest conversation, one where we can challenge each other and possibly come up with ways we might move forward as a church in this community with our indigenous neighbours. You’ve seen me advertising a book study that starts this Wednesday. It’s on Marie Wilson’s new book, “North of Nowhere: Song of a Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner.” It lays out the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the many events that were hosted across the country. The book bravely shares the truth that was offered by the thousands of indigenous people that came to these events and shared their stories. Even if you can’t attend the book study, it’s a good book to read and from which to learn. If you’re not a reader, I can offer other resources - documentaries, movies, fictional novels, and more. The national body of the United Church of Canada, called the General Council, and the General Council Executive, and Indigenous bodies within the church, and many United Church congregations across Canada have attempted to discern what reconciliation looks like, and have done a lot of good work on their relationship between the settler church and indigenous peoples, working to create safe spaces for open conversations, creating policy so that indigenous peoples within the church have autonomy and can govern in their own way, and offering apologies and issuing statements that acknowledge the harm that the church has done. Officially, the United Church has offered two apologies, one that apologized for colonization and the second was specifically for residential schools. Over the next few weeks, we will look at both apologies and several other statements or initiatives within the church 5 of 6 Today, I’d like to share with you the first apology. I’m going to read it, and I invite you, as you feel called, to read it with me. 1986 Apology to Indigenous Peoples Long before my people journeyed to this land, your people were here, and you received from your Elders an understanding of creation and of the Mystery that surrounds us all that was deep, and rich, and to be treasured. We did not hear you when you shared your vision. In our zeal to tell you of the good news of Jesus Christ. we were closed to the value of your spirituality. We confused Western ways and culture with the depth and breadth and length and height of the gospel of Christ. We imposed our civilization as a condition of accepting the gospel. We tried to make you be like us and in so doing we helped to destroy the vision that made you what you were. As a result, you, and we, are poorer and the image of the Creator in us is twisted, blurred, and we are not what we are meant by God to be. We ask you to forgive us and to walk together with us in the Spirit of Christ so that our peoples may be blessed and God’s creation healed. The Right Rev. Bob Smith General Council 1986 The United Church of Canada May God be our guide on this journey as we hear each other and the voices shared with Truth and Reconciliation commissioners. May we see Christ as an example in our work with each other, our neighbour and our enemy, those we know and those who seem strange to us. May the Spirit lead us in our respect of each other, all peoples, and all life. May it be so. Amen. 6 of 6 John 2:1-11 (Introduce yourself. - Do not move or tap microphone.) The passage I’m reading is one of the most famous stories of Jesus - when he turns water into wine. It’s from the gospel of John and follows his baptism and his calling of a few disciples to follow him. I’m reading the first eleven verses of chapter two. Three days later, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and Mary, the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus and his disciples had likewise been invited to the celebration. 3 At a certain point, the wine ran out, and Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no wine.” 4 Jesus replied, “Mother, what does that have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 She instructed those waiting on tables, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 As prescribed for Jewish ceremonial washings, there were six stone water jars on hand, each one holding between fifteen or twenty gallons. 7 “Fill the jars with water,” Jesus said, and the servers filled them to the brim. 8 “Now,” Jesus said, “draw some out and take it to the caterer.” They did as they were instructed. 9 The caterer tasted the water - which had been turned into wine - without knowing where it came from; the only ones who knew were those who were waiting on tables, since they had drawn the water. The caterer called the bride and groom over 10 and remarked, “People usually serve the best wine first; then, when the guests have been drinking a while, a lesser vintage is served. What you’ve done is to keep the best wine until now!” 11 After this, Jesus went down to Capernaum with his mother, brothers and sisters, and disciples. They stayed there a few days. May the Spirit guide our understanding of this holy scripture.