George Hermanson

Seeking Wisdom, Year B, Pentecost, September 13, 2009

September 13, 2009
St. Paul's United Church, Richmond, ON
15th Sunday After Pentecost 2009

Proverbs 1:20-33
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James 3:1-12
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Mark 8:27-38
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Every day we are faced with some decision. Information about this and that surround us: issues about family life, ethical concerns, political questions rain down on us daily. We have to decide how to respond and often, because the information is contradictory or confusing, we don't know what to do or say or act. Wisdom is scarce.

The passage from Proverbs could have been written in our time. We could easily have read it in Maclean's or the newspaper. Wisdom cries out in the street. She raises her voice in the town squares, she calls out at the busiest corners. She looks for those who heed her voice and follow her ways but she finds none. Calamity and disaster prevail. Fear and terror. Death and injury and hurt. It could be written about Iraq or Afghanistan; Israel or Lebanon.

Pushing The Boundaries, Year B, Pentecost, September 6, 2009

September 6, 2009
St. Paul's United Church, Richmond, ON
14th Sunday After Pentecost 2009

James 2:1-10
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Mark 7:24-31
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I love Jazz. It takes rhythm, melody and beat to rework tunes that are familiar. The boundaries of the familiar are pushed and we are lifted into new intensity, harmony and beauty. We feel the music in a new way. Our senses are expanded. All music shares this, for you can hear Beethoven or Bach in new ways. This happens when the musicians give a performance that push the boundaries of what went before and makes us hear the piece in a new way. There is a risk taken and the boundaries pushed.

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
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John 15:1-8
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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
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1 John 3:16-24
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John 10:11-18
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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
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John 20:19-31
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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
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John 20:19-31
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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
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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.

Parades and Crosses, Year B, Palm-Passion Sunday

April 5, 2009
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Sixth Sunday of Lent
Palm / Passion Sunday

Mark 11:1-11
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Mark 14:1-9
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Our passage from Mark begins the Holy Week Journey. We did not read all of Mark’s narrative and so I want to read this from Mark, to join the parade with the outcome of that parade. (Mark 14:1-9)

In many ways we think we know what the narrative means because we hear it every Lent and Easter. Our hymns give us an image of a great parade; yet we forget that old hymn two gates to the city. Mark gave us an narrative about parades that challenged the power of Rome.

Every year, at Passover, the Roman army would come marching in. In the time of Jesus it would be Pilate at the head of the parade. It was a symbol of dominance and oppression. The parade would be full of soldiers and their weapons. It would be full of pomp and circumstance as a warning to the people. Think of those images where the invading army comes in with its might to tell the people they were nobodies. So this parade would not be looked forward to because the people knew it as a warning not to cause trouble during the Passover.

Written On Our Hearts, Year B, Lent 5

March 29, 2009
The United Churches of
Northcote - Haleys - Adamston
Fifth Sunday of Lent

Jeremiah 31:31-34
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John 12:20-33
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The Rev. Suzanne E. Sykes (George is away this Sunday)

I am kind of intrigued by our culture’s fascination with piercings and tattoos. When you think of it, it is kind of amazing - the willingness of some people to undergo often painful procedures in order to decorate or brand themselves.

A friend just gave in to her daughter’s wish to get her ears pierced - she’s five. I have to confess that I too have pierced ears - but I was 16 when I did it. That makes some kind of sense - if you’re old enough to drive you should be old enough to get your ears pierced.

And I’ve seen lots of women, and some men, who have multiple holes in their lobes for multiple studs and earrings. And it isn’t just ear lobes that get pierced. That seems pretty tame nowadays.

And then there’s tattoos.

The Light Shines In The Darkness, Year B, Lent 4

March 22, 2009
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Fourth Sunday of Lent

Numbers 21:4-9
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John 3:14-21
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

One of the childhood fears is the monsters under the bed or hiding in the closet. Some children need a night light so they can sleep with confidence. Other times a parent comes in to shine a light under the bed. It is not just children who have a primal fear of the dark. All horror movies have scenes of ominous movements in the midnight hour. Leaves move and seem to make loud noises. Shadowy figures are just beyond our light.

One of the most important evolutionary moments was the discovery of fire. At night a fire would be lighted and the community gathered around it.  A sense of security would come. We still have that feeling when we camp, the comfort of the fire in the dark night.

In a vision quest, one of the disciplines is to go out into the woods without light. I have done this and the night gets nosier and stranger. One has to learn to embrace the night and the dread that is there. Metaphorically one has to shine a light on the fear.