Glen Rhodes United Church

Witness, Study, Fellowship and Service                   May 27, 2018

Rev Sarah Miller.

John 3:1-17

We don’t talk a lot about being Born Again in the United Church.  But here it is, the passage made famous in baseball stadiums and on street corners.

The idea that we must be born again in order to be saved drips with conservative evangelical Christianity, but the concepts can be reclaimed-

Jesus responds to Nicodemus’ cutting straight to the heart of the matter: no one can see God’s reign without being born again/from above

the Greek word anothen means both “again” and “from above,” and both senses are important here.

Unless Nicodemus allows God to change his whole way of being in the world, he will not be able to perceive God at work.

And that’s what being born again means, changing our way of being, our way of interacting with the world and how we see ourselves.

The Greek word translated as “save” or “saved” in John 3:17 is sozo, which means save in the sense of rescue, heal, and make whole.

So we must be reborn from above to be made whole.

We’ll look today at some of the ways we are invited into wholeness and fullness of life in community.

Today we celebrate the work of the United Church Women or UCW at Glen Rhodes,

The Vision of the United Church Women of Canada says;

As women of faith, we believe in nurturing Christian spirituality

by reaching out through commitment and devotion

to all God’s people in the promotion of truth, justice, peace, caring, and respect

for all throughout the earth, God’s world;

We believe in honouring God the Creator,

and loving others through generous giving and joyful living;

And we believe in affirming and strengthening ourselves

both individually and together

through creative study, prayer, and action.

The UCW at Glen Rhodes is a small but mighty group who live out the call to be the church through the life and work of the Friendship Circle, the name they adopted over a decade ago, reflecting the support they offer each other and the congregation.  The presence of the UCW is seen in cards sent to let people know they are in our thoughts, through reaching out to cheer up those having difficult days, and to be present to one another through the ups and downs of life.

The legacy of the UCW lives on in the famous hospitality at Glen Rhodes.

I think the call to be born again is a call to engage in spiritual practices.  The UCW’s principles outline some of the key practices for being a person of faith; Witness, Study, Fellowship and Service.

The work of witnessing is the task of telling your story- how has God been active in your life? What is saving your life these days, what is bringing you closer to wholeness?

There is great power in telling our stories, in sharing our journey of struggle and triumph with one another.

In the church, our practice of learning is ongoing.  We are called to continue to explore questions of our faith and to be open to new ideas and changes in our way of thinking.  Our worship services should always be a place to explore what we believe and to learn more about our faith and what’s going on in the world around us.

Fellowship, or community is a vital part of the life of a church.  The experience of being part of something larger than ourselves is powerful.  There are situations in the world that are troubling.  To be part of a church that stands with the Palestinian people in their fight for equality and justice, that works for reconciliation with first nations communities and that is a place to share ideas, hopes and dreams is a powerful thing.

Finally, the ways we reach out, at Glen Rhodes, the food bank and community dinner are key to our way of being Christian in the world around us.  Service is following Jesus to live out our faith by sharing resources and advocating for changes in the world.  Next week we begin Pride month and celebrate that Glen Rhodes was one of the first Affirming congregations in Toronto.  In 1999, I first came to Glen Rhodes as a theology student looking for a queer positive church.  You welcomed me immediately, and I know you have shared the healing power of unconditional welcome and acceptance with so many others.

When we preach that God so loved the world, we need to mean it:

For migrants crossing borders, for children separated from parents, for those struggling with mental health challenges and those

For those who will vote for the candidate we can’t stand, those who disagree with us on our most dearly held values.   God so loved that world that God sent love for all of us and all of these difficult and dear ones.