Lection: Acts 7

Acts 7:55-60
John 14:1-14

“Stay on the Path”

Over the last several months, I’ve been thinking a lot about pilgrimage – journeys that are undertaken towards sacred or holy places. Some of you have been participating in the “Presbyterians Read” book study on Jim Forest’s book, The Road to Emmaus: Pilgrimage as a Way of Life. And since I’ve been leading two discussion groups each week, as well as engaging with Presbyterians online about the book, pilgrimage has been on my mind.

I’ve been on a couple of walking pilgrimages – spending almost a week each time walking paths in Nova Scotia with a group of other pilgrims. And perhaps one day I’ll take the time to walk the 800 km Camino de Santiago in Spain. I’d like to do that, not so much for the destination of the shrine of the Apostle St. James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, but because of the journey itself – the walking, the challenge of making that journey, the beauty of the countryside, and the people I might meet along the way.

With pilgrimage on my mind, I couldn’t help but notice the journey theme in the Gospel reading for this morning. Perhaps that’s not what … Read more »

Acts 7:55-60
John 14:1-14

“The Gift of Martyrdom?”

Earlier this year, when the churches of Saskatoon gathered to participate in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we held a Saturday afternoon workshop to think about and discuss the different gifts that the various church traditions bring to the Christian Church as a whole. We talked about the distinctive qualities of each branch of the Christian Church, and considered what gifts we could offer to one another, and which gifts we would be blessed to receive from others.

The United Church offered their willingness to risk and try things differently, and the Mennonites brought their commitment to peace and social justice. The evangelicals contributed their boldness in sharing their faith with others, and we Presbyterians shared our distinctive form of leadership in the church – with lay people and clergy working together in sessions and presbyteries.

The workshop was going really well, and I was amazed at how easily most of those present were able to name and to welcome the gifts of the other churches. It was a wonderful celebration of the Apostle Paul’s teaching – that there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.

But then I wandered over to the table where … Read more »