George Hermanson

A Cry of Birth, Christmas Eve

December 24, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Christmas Eve

Isaiah 9:2-7
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Luke 2:1-20
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

As we gather at the table where we are hosted by God, we remember the gift of the stable. This night is not simply a narrative of past events, it is a story that speaks of God presence with us, in this world of ours. The story begins with a birth that speaks of the “scandal of particularity.”

We miss this because there is a problem we have with the Christmas story. We know the ending before we even begin. It’s like watching the movie It’s a Wonderful Life when it’s on TV. We already know how it turns out. We see each turn in the Christmas story with such familiarity that we don't appreciate the risk and the love which was required to make it all turn out okay. The story of Mary and Joseph is not a simple story where God has already decided the outcome and everyone is merely doing as they are told. This is a moment full of risking your life and your reputation on a baby. This is a moment full of sacrifice, based on nothing more than a promise. It is a moment of free response.

A Cry of Love, Year B, Advent 4

December 21, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Year B, Advent 4

Luke 1:26-38
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Christmas pageants. We love them. We know the way we do them brings together many diverse traditions. Shepherds and Magi in one story, for we collapse Matthew and Luke into one narrative. We create one story out two different traditions. They work because we engage in what is called suspicion of disbelieve. We do not worry about the problem of facts - we let go of the view of fact fundamentalism - as this is the way it happened. Instead we feel the story. We let the story as story inform us, and carry us. We watch in the same way we look at all dramas. We watch in the same way we go to movies, read fiction, watch TV; and we know these stories are more true than reality TV. For they tell us a truth deeper than we can imagine. Pageants are enjoyed, for they touch us and take us into a narrative about God loving this world. For that is the truth of them.

A Cry of Joy, Year B, Advent 3

December 14, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Year B, Advent 3

Luke 1:47-55
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John 1:6-8, 19-28
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Fear. The word keeps coming up our discussions these days. Fear of crime. Fear about the loss in our RRSPs. Fear of terrorists. It seems we have become afraid of life itself. Fear is used to demonize those different from us. We hear in the rhetoric of politics in the use of the words "controlled by the separatists." Fear causes us to retreat from life and it is a mind killer. It paralyzes us. It prevents us from acting. It isolates us from others.

A Cry of Peace, Year B, Advent 2

December 7, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Year B, Advent 2

Isaiah 40:1-11
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Mark 1:1-8
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Isaiah gives us dramatic and beautiful images of peace that comes from God. In the metaphors of the valleys joining the mountains is the affirmation of the presences of God in the world. The mountains made low is a metaphor that God has come down from home of the gods to be the God of this world.

Isaiah gives us a picture that no place is God forsaken. The highway through the desert is the metaphor of God claiming this earth as the place of God’s love. For the desert is metaphorically the place that is full of terror and chaos - it is seen as God forsaken. So the highway carries the people through times of chaos and terror. God is on the journey with the people as guide and support. There is nothing outside God’s shalom, God’s peace.

A Cry of Absence - Year B, Advent 1

November 30, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Year B, Advent 1

Isaiah 64:1-9
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Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
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Mark 13:24-37
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Did you have a conflicted reaction to the readings? On the one hand they are so timely in November - a sense of absence and starkness.  A sense of  ennui and estrangement seems to penetrate us.  We wonder if our best days are behind us as we experience our current economic and global crises.  Yet here we are at the beginning of Advent which is the season of preparation - to prepare ourselves for in-breaking light and hope.