George Hermanson

Fresh Visions

February 14, 2010
St. Paul's - Richmond United Church
Last Sunday After Epiphany
Transfiguration Sunday

Luke 9:28-36
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Vistas are crucial to our seeing. Vistas create our perception. Vistas and geography give us metaphors for living.

I grew up on the Prairies and I could see for miles. A friend said I had flat land thinking. By that he meant, I was always extending my perception of the world. There was no end to the geography. I moved on to the next rise in the ground, looking far and wide. In a sense there was nothing that blocked my vision - there was no end in sight - so let us move on and on into the unknown.

The Call

February 7, 2010
St. Paul's - Richmond United Church
Fifth Sunday After Epiphany

Luke 5:1-11
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

There you are. Quietly minding your own business. Doing your job. Cleaning out your nets. Tired and frustrated for things had not gone as well as they could have. As you felt the sweat run down your face, you looked around and saw the crowd. You knew that you could not join unless you first purified yourself, for your very vocation had made you ritually unclean. Yearning for more, and then - this man walks up and demands a boat ride.

You had not asked for this. You were relatively happy doing what you did, as your father did before you. You had your brother with you. Friends to share the work. Then this guy says, "Lower your nets." A thought floated through your mind, "Doesn’t his guy understand what effort we have put in for nothing?" Then to everyone’s astonishment the fish overflowed. What was going on?

Before you could catch your breath this man tells to drop what you doing and follow him. Sounds crazy, yet you do. You and your friends drop their nets and follow this way into the unknown, to participate in something that is still to become clear.

The Carpenter's Son

January 31, 2010
St. Paul's - Richmond United Church
Fourth Sunday After Epiphany

Luke 4:21-30
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Every so often we hear in a new way something that is very familiar. This happened to me when I heard Fred Craddock in Victoria. He was preaching on Jesus’ baptism and he pointed to Luke’s description of it. In it, Jesus lines up with all the others. Lines up, not taking any special place. Lines up with all who line up: the poor, the rich, the soldiers, the shepherds, and all who seek. Lines up.

This insight was in my mind when I read this week’s text. We have the reaction to Jesus reading in the synagogue. This activity was a normal event in the Jewish male’s spiritual journey. Think of it this way - Jesus turns up in worship and takes his turn in reading the assigned text. Turns up, reads and then the mumbling begins - first that was interesting. And then when it sinks in - "Isn’t this Joseph's son?"

We have all done this - listened, began to be moved and then held back. Isn’t this the snot nose little kid I use to know? I remember him in high school.

Charity Doesn't Begin at Home

January 24, 2010
Richmond United Church
Third Sunday After Epiphany

1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
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Luke 4:14-21
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

When we are faced with events like the earthquake in Haiti we are forced to ask questions about our responsibility to others. Our basic values determine our responses. We can sum up that basic value in a few sentences or one image.

One such saying is "Charity begins at home." This view point does well in a self referencing world, where we think everything that happens is about us. Just look at all the reality shows on TV - these are social artefacts that are completely egotistical. The self has become the center of experience and self interest is considered the highest value. As the old song goes, "You are so vain that you think this song is about you." Our culture wants to reinforce that sense of the ego that is so common today. Just look at ads, or the issues about health care, or the well being of society.

Beginning at home, or the self, as the basic reference seems benign, harmless, as a guiding principle. It does not work as a guiding principle in face of events that are distant and events that are not immediately touching us. It is ultimately destructive. When we focus on our own needs first, the needs of the larger good get lost.

With Jesus

January 10, 2010
Richmond United Church
First Sunday After Epiphany

Luke 3:15-22
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

This morning we have Luke’s version of Jesus baptism. And the implications of it for the early church.

Baptism is one those things we do in church and think we know its meaning. But there is confusion. The confusion is seen in the words ‘done,' or ‘christening.' Then there is the debate over adult or infant baptism. What we know is understandings have changed over time.

Our passages give us many understandings from which the church has built doctrine and rites. To understand how our understandings have changed requires discernment.

This morning I will be giving a teaching sermon. Today we know much more about the times in which Jesus lived then we ever did. And we know more the shape of the religious reality of his day.

I think faith is a basic trust in wonder and beauty and that meaningful existence is possible. But faith needs language and a system so it can be shared and be more than private experience. This is where a belief system comes in. We live in the Christian belief system that has evolved out of historical experience, personal experience and human reflection.

Being Possessed

February 1, 2009
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Fourth Sunday After Epiphany

1 Corinthians 8:1-13
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Mark 1:21-28
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Driving out Demons? What are we to make of this? In our modern world we have had many theological debates over the term. For some it refers to some psychological problem - or illness, to explain away the word. In doing so we can rob it of its metaphorical meaning and what it could mean to us.

Decisions

January 25, 2009
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Third Sunday After Epiphany

Jonah 3:1-10
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Mark 1:14-20
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Decision making is basic to us, and to all living things. No matter who we are, we are being invited to make a decision about this or that. Even animals have the capacity to make decisions about their environment, and our human consciousness is even more dependent on decisions made, personal or corporate. What is, arises from our creative responses to our environment. Decisions are also influenced by decisions made by others, our personal and corporate histories. Our health and our history influence what we decided. Our decisions are also influenced by unconscious factors and the conscious influences of our world. For example, Macleans has an article about advertising which now works on, "Its all about You."

Come and See

January 18, 2009
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Second Sunday After Epiphany

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)
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John 1:43-51
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

John gives us a great drama in this story. Jesus is in the process of organizing his posse, and after Peter and Andrew, he calls Philip. In response, Philips seeks out his neighbor Nathanael. He says "we have found the one we were looking for." He lays out a list of expectation that were filled, but adds one unexpected quality - Jesus is from Nazareth. In response to this information Nathanael says - Nazareth? - give me a break. Philip says yah, but come and see, test the waters to see if they are good. He has repeated a mantra of Jesus of come and see. It is the experience that confirms the words. It takes a jumping in, not a holding back with a default position. No half hearted and tentative response.

A River Flows Through Us

January 11, 2009
Edwards (Knox) United Church
The Baptism of Jesus

Genesis 1:1-5
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Mark 1:4-11
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Liturgy is our way of shifting gears. It's purpose is to ask us to stop in mid stride and ask again where do we want to go? What is it that will inform us for our living? As we know, the Christian New Year began with Advent, a time of preparation for us to welcome the light of wisdom to guide us on our journey. This Sunday we reflect on Baptism as the foundational experience for our ministry in the world. Our texts tell us that baptism began Jesus’ ministry and we are called to live out that symbolism.

Light Breaks In

January 4, 2009
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Epiphany

John 1:(1-9), 10-18
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Matthew 2:1-12
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

One of the issues of our time is the power of words to reveal and the power of words to hide. Harold Pinter, who died this Christmas eve, was a playwright who has influenced much of what we see in movies, on stage. “His plays were all about the dangers of speaking, in pubic or in private, and the danger of speaking. His characters use language as evasion, as defense, as weapons, but rarely to communicate what they mean.”¹ He used silence and pauses to speak a truth deeper than the words.

This issue of the use of language comes out in such phrases, "can we trust the words of politicians."  Even those who preach are under question about what they say. Our world is full of images that seek to manipulate our senses. Yet at the same time, we question all that is being said.