George Hermanson

The BBQ On The Beach

Season of Easter
Third Sunday

John 21:1-19
Read the Bible passage: John 21:1-19, The Message;   or   John 21:1-19, The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

Click here for the complete Holy Textures background commentary on John 21:1-19.

Click here: George Hermanson's sermon, for an easy to print or email Adobe PDF version of this post.

The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

John gives another experience with the risen Jesus. We have just come from the upper room event with Thomas, which followed the earlier event with Peter and Mary. Now we are back to lake Galilee.

The disciples have gone back to their earlier habits of life - fishing. A small question emerges of why? Here they are - back fishing. Then a stranger on the shore yells at them - “lads, you haven’t caught any fish, have you?” They respond with some frustration -no. The man yells again - “try another side.”

Lets stop for a moment to experience the narrative - to play with its meaning. The old habitual way of fishing was not working. Like many of us, the habits of the past keeps us acting the same old way, even when it does not work. Then a word comes - change - try another approach. Rethink and break your old habits.

Standing With Thomas

Season of Easter
Second Sunday

John 20:19-31
Read the Bible passage: John 20:19-31, The Message;   or   John 20:19-31, The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

Click here: George Hermanson's sermon, for an easy to print or email Adobe PDF version of this post.

The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Thomas is a most modern man. He fits with zeitgeist, the sensibility of our time. If you read the articles by Robert Silbley in the Citizen over Easter weekend you would have caught the sensibility of what is called modernism - a sense of that what we know is determined only by the five senses. Then there was the front cover of MaCleans - Is God Poison? - a study of the latest books by atheists, some of whose books have been on the best selling list.

Built into our modern consciousness is a skepticism about taking anything at face value. Before we commit ourselves to something, we want to know whether it will work thus worth the energy or commitment. So Thomas would not of been out of place in our time. For after all he is known as "doubting Thomas."

However, to read him and his question this way is to do a disservice to the him and the issues he represents. He is a child of our time. However, when we read more deeply we find he expands what is meant by experience. And as such he is a helpful illustration of a faith that affirms reason as part of a belief system.

The Rising

April 4, 2010
St. Paul's - Richmond United Church
Season of Easter
Easter Sunday

John 20:1-18
Read the Bible passage: John 20:1-18, The Message;   or   John 20:1-18, The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

Click here: George Hermanson's sermon, for an easy to print or email Adobe PDF version of this post.

Short, easy to use, faith-provoking insights by David Ewart, John 20:1-18, Holy Textures

The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

One of the warnings we get is be careful with your personal information because there are people out to steal our identity. Identity theft is with us and it has always been with us. Those who experience it speak of losing their sense of self. They have become a nobody - a sense they no longer exist. They say their sense of self - their soul has been stolen. They no longer exist, cannot be seen. In the past, though, it was much more violent. The Romans used the Cross to achieve this - the one crucified becomes a nobody. Their identity stolen. Their reality is destroyed - it is as if they never existed. Crucifixion destroyed identity.

Yet here we are with Mary. The one she loved was crucified. The Romans tried to wipe away any sense of Jesus - to make him a nobody, to wipe away all memory of him. But for Mary it was not an end. She is still searching. She is looking for meaning. We, too, gather this Easter morning to celebrate the memory of a crucified one - Jesus.

The Seeker, Year B, Easter 5, Sermon

May 10, 2009
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Mother's Day

Acts 8:26-40
Read the passage: The Message   or    The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 

John 15:1-8
Read the passage: The Message   or    The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 

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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

In Acts, Philip asks if the Eunuch understands what he is reading. He replies that he needs a guide. What an important metaphor for mother's day. An important reminder of the role of the church.

One afternoon a friend of mine, when we were teenagers, dropped in to see me. I was not there. Only my mother was there. Jack sat down with her and began to ask questions. My mother listened. Finally, as it was getting dark, my mother said, "Maybe we need to turn on some lights." What is so important to me is that the conversation went on and on, questions asked and responded to. There was no hurry. For Jack, he had been listened to, taken seriously. It was for him a life changing experience, for when my mother died, he flew out for her memorial service.

Questions are the stuff of life.

Saying and Doing, Year B, Easter 4

May 3, 2009
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Fourth Sunday of Easter

Psalm 23
Read the passage: The Message   or    The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 

1 John 3:16-24
Read the passage: The Message   or    The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 

John 10:11-18
Read the passage: The Message   or    The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 

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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

The image of the Good Shepherd is one of the most iconic images in the church. It is one that is found in the Hebrew texts and of course Psalm 23. Every Sunday, when I was growing up, I looked at the stain glass image at the front of the church. It was so vivid that when I close my eyes I can still see that iconic picture of Jesus as the great Shepherd. There he was in vivid color, with the lamb over his shoulders.

There was a strange comfort in that image. Yet most of us are at some distance from the care of sheep. Being a prairie boy, lambs and sheep were not in my experience. Cows, pigs and chickens, yes. Sheep, no.

Trust

Second Sunday in Easter
April 19, 2009
St. Paul’s United Church, Richmond

Psalm 133
Read the passage: The Message   or    The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 

John 20:19-31
Read the passage: The Message   or    The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 

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The Rev. Suzanne E. Sykes

This past Monday, after all the excitement and activities of Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, I finally had a chance to catch up with my reading.  Reading the weekend’s newspapers.  As I sat in my  chair, by the living room window, in the sunshine, watching the river run, drinking my coffee, an article in Saturday’s opinion section jumped out at me. It got me thinking.  And it really stuck with me.

Can We Trust God?

April 19, 2009
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Second Sunday of Easter

Acts 4:32-35
Read the passage: The Message   or    The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 

John 20:19-31
Read the passage: The Message   or    The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 

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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

This story of Thomas is such a modern story. We hear it in the phrase, "show me the money." In an article by Robert Sibley (Citizen April 11, 2009) he says that trust is the sleeper issue of our time. For the "economic trauma we living through is fundamentally a crisis of trust."

We do not often think about how we got to where we are, how we have become who we are. Our sense of liberal democracy has been based on cooperation, trust based on commonly shared values. Trust is necessary for a healthy, vibrant society. This is the idea of working for the common good, and to do that means trust is needed. However, since the Second World War the sense of community and trust has been slowly disappearing. The last few decades, the trust we have had in institutions, churches, and governments has been lost and some feel it never will be restored in their lifetime. Polls have consistently shown  "a much larger pattern of declining trust in public figures and institutions."

The Rising

April 12, 2009
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Easter Sunday

John 20:1-18
Read the passage: The Message   or    The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 

Click here for an easy to print or email Adobe PDF version of this post.

The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

We have all heard of identity theft. Those who experience it speak of losing their sense of self. They have become a nobody - a sense they no longer exist. They say their self  - their soul has been stolen. They no longer exist, cannot be seen. The Romans used the Cross to achieve this - the one crucified becomes a nobody. Their identity stolen. Their reality is destroyed - it is as if they never existed.

Yet here we are with Mary. The one she loved was crucified. The Romans tried to wipe away any sense of Jesus - to make him a nobody, to wipe away the memory of him.  But for Mary it was not an end. She is still searching. She is looking for meaning.

Witnessing - Testimony

May 4, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Seventh Sunday of Easter

Acts 1:1-11
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Luke 24:44-53
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

One of the ideas we explored on our study leave is how the church is in continuous experimentation.  The church has gone through and is going through questions of how shall we live our faith?  What does it mean to witness and give testimony? If you check out Wondercafe.ca you will find both lament and hope over where are we as a church.  A typical comment of lament is this:

Maybe church, as we know it, is a thing of the past and 100 years from now on a "then and now" thread someone will post "Do you remember Churches? Do you remember God?"   

Who Are You Going To Serve?

April 27, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Sixth Sunday of Easter

Acts 17:22-31
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

John 14:15-21
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Paul’s encounter before the Areopagus is a very current issue.  Bob Dylan rephrased it in his song “you're gonna have to serve somebody.”  They are suggesting we all are going to serve someone or something or some idea.  Paul Tillich suggested that everyone has an Ultimate Concern.  Whether it is stated or not, we all work out of some meaning system which tells us what is worthy of our loyalty.   Sometimes, what we say with words is not what really motivates us or what is most important to us. In fact, actions can tell us what is of ultimate concern for us; what we do shows what we really serve.