As I am sure the astute regular readers among you have noticed this post looks a little different. First of all, we don’t have RCL Scripture but just Scripture and second, the sermon comes from First Baptist, Regina not Knox nor St. Mark’s Presbyterian. Well, there is a simple explanation for this, I was preaching at First Baptist, Regina and the texts for the day were diversions from the Revised Common Lectionary.
First Baptist, Regina [audio:https://wordsfromthemiddle.ca/wp-content/uploads/120617-First-Baptist.mp3|titles=Inward and outward]
Well as explanations go, that is one of the classic, “either too much or too little information.” I was deeply honoured to be asked to preach at the service of ordination for one of my very close friends, Joel Russell-MacLean. As to the Lectionary diversions you’ll have to ask someone else about those but it worked out very well for me to be in Regina while the fine folks at Knox and St. Mark’s celebrated Holy Communion under the able direction of Rev. John Ferrier, interim moderator for both congregations.
One of the things that ordination does is gives public recognition to the gifts, abilities and passions of the person being ordained; it is a service where what is fundamentally inner is recognized and celebrated. The epistle and Gospel readings were very much the impetus for the sermon that you may have listened to already, namely that it is by what is consistently demonstrated to us that we can “judge” the inner make up of a person. In the same way that bad trees do not produce good fruit, good trees do not produce bad fruit. Ordination is recognizing that this person is a good tree.
As always, thanks for reading and listening and feel free to add any comments that strike you in the comment area.
Warm blessings,
- Date: June 17, 2012
- Liturgical Sunday: Third Sunday after Pentecost
- Scripture: Psalm 119:105-112; Jeremiah 31.18-21, 31-34; 2 Corinthians 5.11-14a; Matthew 7:15-27
- Sermon Title: Inward and outward
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