George Hermanson

Seeing Jesus - Knowing God

October 25, 2009
St. Paul's United Church, Richmond, ON
Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost 2009

Job 42:1-6
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Mark 10:46-52
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

As I prepared, a new book by Harvey Cox caught my eye. It is called, The Future of Faith. He says that there is a “profound change in the elemental nature of religiousness.” His first book, in 1965, was The Secular City. It asked how the church was to be, when the church was being pushed to the margins of life. Not all that he said then turned out to be true. In later works, he prepared us for the saying - “I am spiritual not religious” - as the world the church must respond to.

Attitude of Gratitutde, Year B, Thanksgiving

October 11, 2009
St. Paul's United Church, Richmond, ON
Thanksgiving Sunday

Psalm 126
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Joel 2:21-27
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Matthew 6:25-33
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

We have dressed the church this morning to remind us of the beauty of the earth, life that is given by soil and care. We dress up to remind ourselves of what is important. When we go out for a special occasion our clothes reflect the meaning of the event.

Our texts reflect giving thanks and rejoicing. I especially like the passage from the prophet Joel. He writes after a period of difficulty and stress. His sense of well-being and thanksgiving is so great that he includes the soil and the animals as well as human beings in the rejoicing. It resonates for us, I think, living as we do where Autumn just bursts with exuberant colour and richness. We can say with Joel that in our coloured leaves and vivid blue skies all of creation gives joyful thanks to the Creator.

Not Being Perfect, Year B, October 4, 2009, Pentecost 18

October 4, 2009
St. Paul's United Church, Richmond, ON
18th Sunday After Pentecost 2009

Hebrews 1:1-4 and 2:5-12
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Mark 10:2-16
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Asking questions is important. We learn by asking questions. We test ideas and actions by asking questions. Yet not all questioning does that. For there is another type of question, where insight is not looked for. It is to challenge the speaker. The challenge comes with a hidden agenda. One of the response I have to such a question is, “What is the statement that you want to make?” For the question comes out of settled worldview, a sense this is how it is and I want to trap you with the question. It is not asked with sincerity but with “I am going to get you.”

Jesus’ encounter about divorce illustrates such a question. He is being tested to see if he is an authentic teacher. There is no sense of, “I want to learn,” in the question. It is clear from how Jesus responded that he understands the question as a trap.

Instructions For The Community, Year B, September 27, 2009, Pentecost 17

September 27, 2009
St. Paul's United Church, Richmond, ON
17th Sunday After Pentecost 2009

Mark 9:38-50
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

One of the issues we face in a multi-religious world is how to accept others as having insight into the nature of reality. Do other religions have truth? Is often how the question is posed. Then there are other voices that are not religious, do they have some truth? Do those outside the religious community have important insights we ought to pay attention to? Do other religions have something to teach us? Do other voices tell us something important?

Two Empires

October 19, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Twenty-Third Sunday After Pentecost

Matthew 22:15-22
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

This morning we welcomed two new members into the community of faith by baptism.  Baptism begins the process of the development of Christian character. This is a formation of an identity that is centered in a sense of God. This sense gives an identity for world care.  It is a development of a faith that is more than private and has public implications for how we act and live in the world.  We are forming a child of God so that they will reflect in their living the beauty and aim of God.  An identity that has implications for our social and political worlds.

The Gift of Thanks

October 12, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Twenty-Second Sunday After Pentecost
Thanksgiving Sunday (Canada)

Deuteronomy 8:7-18
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Luke 17:11-19
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Thanksgiving. Giving thanks. The importance of such activity is clear because we, as a society, have institutionalized it by a holiday weekend. This very event suggests that gratitude is crucial to human growth and societal cohesion.  Yet the very fact of this thanksgiving weekend comes with ambiguity.  For some, rather than a reflection of giving thanks, it is a time to close up the cottage. At the same time, it can be a time of feasting, with the joy of a gathering of family and friends. And even at the feasting we can feel a resentment of obligation. The meaning of the weekend gets lost. As well, we complain that gratitude is in short supply. Our society does not know the meaning of thanksgiving. The holiday, and our complaints, do remind us that a sense of thanksgiving is important to our well-being. It is a basic glue for our life together.

Paradise and Sacraments

October 5, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Twenty First Sunday After Pentecost

Matthew 3:13-17
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Acts 2:37-42
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

I have been exploring the concept of paradise. I have tried to indicate how a recovery of the image will aid us in our religious sensibility for our daily living. I have suggested that paradise is an image about the beauty of this world, that it is this world God loves and calls us to care for it.

We have thought of our beautiful earth, God’s good creation, as our original paradise home. We have considered how early Christians decorated their sanctuaries with images of paradise - the garden of Eden, scenes from Bible stories, saints of their own community and men and women from scripture. They made and thought of their church as a paradise on earth. We noted that Jesus called his followers friends, making us all friends, equal partners, in paradise. And then we thought about hospitality as the mark of true friendship. It is through our generous hosting of each other and all people in our community and our world that we make friends out of strangers and create a paradise of peace, justice and abundance and beauty, in our congregation, our community and our world. And we explored how prayer forms our minds in paradise.

A Modest Faith - A Subtle Shift In Grammar

October 28, 2007
Edwards (Knox) United Church
22nd Sunday After Pentecost
   
Luke 18:9-14
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson
   
Journey with the Pharisee as he comes to the temple with expectation. He is actually singing "Amazing Grace" as he enters. There are tears in his eyes as he prays. He feels this stuff. He is full of gratitude for his life. He is overflowing with religious emotion, for he does feel blessed. Talk to him at the door, and ask what about the tax collector? He will tell you, "There but for the grace of God go I."
   

Persistence

October 21, 2007
Edwards (Knox) United Church
21st Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 18:1-8
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

What a curious story this is!  This feisty widow. The story would have been even more puzzling to Luke’s readers.  Roles were very closely defined.  Women had to know their place.  Yet again, Jesus makes the rebel the hero of the story.  This would have been a challenging story.  Luke used it as a teaching story.  So we ask, again,  what was going on in the social system of the times?

When Yes Includes A No

October 14, 2007
Edwards (Knox) United Church
20th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 17:11-19

The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

This  story of the 10 lepers is  a story of healing. A story of thankfulness.  A story where healing is transformational and isn’t.  A story of where saying yes includes a no.   An interesting story for this Sunday of visioning.