8th Sunday After Pentecost

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July 18, 2021

This Sunday’s Gospel (Mark 6-30-44) is a familiar one. The verses declare that Jesus fed 5,000 men, plus an undetermined number of women and children, with five barley loaves and two fish. The text brings back memories of Children’s Sermons I have preached over the years. I would show the children 5 crusty buns and a couple of small smoked trout. I always acknowledged the Apostle John’s unique revelation, specifically, that a boy provided the food. (John 6:9). I always asked the children to consider whether this meager lunch would feed the 150-180 parishioners present. The answer was always a resounding “no!” Some child would always chime in and opine that the buns and fish could not even   satisfy the children present. I could always count on one of the children to declare that he or she would not eat those foul-smelling fish. This annual object lesson helps us grasp the profundity of this miracle.

The merger lunch was broken into pieces, placed in baskets, blessed by Jesus, and then distributed. The throng of people was divided in groups of 50 and 100, so that a count was possible. The baskets fan out among the multitude. In the normal course of events, as each hand reached into a basket and took some bread or fish, the contents of the basket would be diminished and finally exhausted. Jesus’ blessing changed everything. As each hand reached into the baskets and withdrew food, the contents of the basket grew. When everyone was satisfied, the disciples counted twelve baskets full of fish and bread. The miracle is often described in terms of the mass of the people fed. However, the miracle is the multiplication of the loaves and fishes in a way that precisely fed 5,000 men, an indeterminate number of women and children, and produced an exact surplus of twelve baskets. If the 5,000 men each consumed at least the equivalent of the boy's lunch they would have consumed 25,000 barley loaves and 10,000 little fish. If the women and the children present consumed 2/3rds of what the men consumed, the original five loaves and two fish would have had to provide the equivalent of an additional `16,000 barley loaves and 6,600 fish. The amount of food multiplied from the original lunch was and continues to be staggering.

The multiplication of the loaves and fishes point us back to some Old Testament lessons. Read 2 Kings 4:42-44. The prophet Elisha was confronted with 100 hungry men. He had 20 barley loaves and some heads of new grain. Elisha told his attendants to feed the men. Like the disciples they too declared the insufficiency of the 20 loaves. Elisha’s response: “Do it because the Lord says, ‘They will eat and have some left over.’” The word of the Lord came true. God revealed His presence among them through a miracle of multiplication of food. In our Gospel lesson the hungry crowd was at least 50 times larger and the number of barley loaves a fourth of those in Elisha’s hands. Elisha declared that the Lord had told him that this food was enough. In our Gospel, Jesus declared that all would be fed and his words came true. The miracle proved that God was among them in the person of His Son Jesus.

When Jesus divided the people into groups of 50 and 100, this mirrored God’s instructions to the Chosen People while they marched and camped in the wilderness for 40 years. The tribes traveled and camped in an orderly array consisting of four groups with three tribes in each group. There was no food in the dessert for the people to eat. Read Exodus 16. God spoke to Moses and promised them bread and meat to eat. God fed the people with quail that appeared out of nowhere and Manna. It appeared in the morning like dew. The Manna and quail were a creation of God. It proved God’s presence among His people. Words from the lips of God produced real food from nothing that God’s people really gathered, ground up, plucked and cleaned and baked, fried or boiled. In our Gospel lesson The lips of   Jesus uttered a prayer over bread and fish that multiplied into fully baked and ready to consume barley bread and fully cured and ready to eat fish. In the same way God’s presence, in Jesus, was revealed among the people that day.

This miracle speaks to me in another profound way. The Old and New Testament declare that God spoke and created all that is seen and unseen in  six days or six twenty-four hour periods. All the stars on one day, all the animals and fish on another day. 21st Century people laugh at this. "Come on!" they say, "It took billions and billions of years." Jesus points us to this miracle.  The grain that was used in the original loaf took a season to grow. It had to be harvested, threshed, ground, made into a dough and baked. The fish had to grow for one or two years, be caught, cleaned, salted and cured. Jesus was able to produce the finished product, ready to eat bread and ready to eat fish in mere seconds. He spoke and the fully mature and prepared food appeared.

Thank you Jesus for this glimpse into the very beginning, when you, God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit created all that is seen and unseen.

Grace Lutheran Church of West Kelowna, BC, has produced a Virtual Vacation Bible School (VBS). The Virtual VBS consists of three videos (each approximately an hour in length), which may be accessed online at any time.

In each video the children are engaged by a familiar Bible story: Day 1: Noah and the Ark; Day 2: Crossing the Red Sea; and Day 3: Jesus Walking on Water. Each video encourages children to sing along to popular children’s hymns and songs, including: a themed song for each day, Jesus loves me (traditional and a RAP version); Deep and Wide; Joy, Joy, Down in My heart; and many more. Each video provides a time for the children to create their own themed snack and a themed craft. Additional games and coloring sheets are also provided for each day. The children will also learn a prayer before meals and the Lord’s Prayer (using words and gestures).

The organizers of Grace Lutheran’s 2021 Virtual VBS have prepared a manual as an additional resource for parents and other church leaders who wish to host a virtual VBS in your home or church.

Cancel Culture at Work

Promise Keepers is an Evangelical Christian parachurch organization for men. It originated in the United States, however, independent branches have also been established in Canada and New Zealand.

Promise Keepers describes its goal as "to bring about revival through a global movement that calls men back to courageous, bold, leadership. Called to be the spark that calls men back to God’s Word, inspire their sharing their faith and caring for the poor and oppressed throughout the world."

Promise Keepers is a non-profit organization, not affiliated with any Christian church or denomination. It opposes same-sex marriage, and champions chastity and marital fidelity and the man as being head of the household. Its most widely-publicized events tend to be mass rallies held at football stadiums and similar venues.

This year Promise Keepers will host an event which is expected to draw 80,000 men. It will take place at AT&T Stadium, the home of the world renowned football team the Dallas Cowboys.

Recently, Reporter Mike Freeman, of the popular "USA Today" called upon the Dallas Cowboys and AT&T to cancel event. In support of his call to cancel Freeman quoted  Promise Keeper's president Ken Harrison in an appearance on what Freeman called an extremist right-wing show. Harrison said, in part:

"One of the things they're doing to make their agenda happen is destroying the identity of the American people, and if they can get Christians, especially Christian men, to sit down, be silent and be passive, then they can be effective.

"It's working. Christian men are not standing up for what's right. I mean, you think about how quickly we went from homosexual marriage to men putting on dresses, being called women, and playing on women's basketball teams. Where are the Christian men?"

Freeman called the quote an example of hate speech. He called the Cowboys and AT&T to distance themselves from these bigots that breed ignorance and bigotry.

Freeman's rants, attitudes and call to cancel must be challenged. The Hoy Christian Church, in all of its expressions, like all citizens of the United States and Canada, possesses the freedom of religion and speech. He calls anyone who opposes gay marriage and transgender rights ignorant, bigoted and hateful. He called allegations that Christians are being persecuted in North America an illusion. He called for the silencing of their speech  as a consequence of their beliefs and false claims.

Freeman does not see his use of labels for Promise Keepers, such as ignorant, bigoted  and purveyors of false claims as hate speech. He does not see calling for the cancelation of a legal event based upon the religious beliefs of an organization as an overt act of religious discrimination against the Promise Keepers.

Thankfully, this language has fallen on deaf ears and the event is going forward. However, Freeman and his allies will continue in their quest to discredit Promise Keepers and other Christian organizations.

One of our congregations has been impacted by attitudes espoused by Freeman. Goodwood Lutheran Congregation had been holding services at the Goodwood United Church of Goodwood, Ontario. The congregation has called an openly gay Pastor. The congregation put up a new sign. The CALC congregation asked if they could put up a permanent sign that indicated that they met at the church on an ongoing basis. Goodwood Lutheran's request was denied upon investigation by the pertinent facts.

September 11, 2021
9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Coast Nisku Inn and Conference Center
Nisku, Alberta

John Carpay (pictured above), counsel for Alberta-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) is on indefinite leave after admitting he hired private investigators to follow both a judge presiding over the case in Manitoba and some senior government officials. JCCF is representing multiple churches across the country fighting COVID-19 public health orders in court. Calgary-based lawyer John Carpay is the group's founder and president.

In a press release, JCCF’s board of directors stated that: "Surveilling public officials is not what we do. We condemn what was done without reservation," The board apologized to Chief Justice Glenn Joyal of the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench "for the alarm, disturbance, and violation of privacy.” They declared: "All such activity has ceased and will not reoccur in future."

The CBC reported that Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal revealed in open court that he first realized he was being followed by a vehicle on July 8 when leaving the Manitoba law courts building in downtown Winnipeg and drove around the city. He was deeply disturbed when he later learned a private investigator had been hired to follow him. The judge went on to say that the private investigator even followed him to his private residence and had a young boy ring his doorbell while he wasn't home in an attempt to confirm that he lived at the home in question. Judge Joyal also revealed that the private investigator had followed him to his cottage.

Human rights lawyer Richard Warman alleged that he has filed complaints against Carpay with the law societies of Manitoba and Alberta on grounds that Carpay’s hiring of a private investigator to surveill a judge represents professional misconduct. Warman alleges that the results of the surveillance would be used to gain leverage in the case. The private investigator may also face disciplinary action by the association regulating his profession for conducting the surveillance.

"As has been communicated in the media, I apologized this morning to Chief Justice Joyal in the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench for my decision to include him in passive observation conducted by a private investigator at my request, to hold government officials accountable.

In an error of judgement, Chief Justice Joyal was included with the observation of government officials. No other judges were included.

Over the last 16 months, Canadians have faced unprecedented restrictions on their Charter-guaranteed freedoms to travel, assemble, associate with others, and worship.

The Justice Centre’s mandate is to defend Canadians’ constitutional freedoms through litigation and education.

When public officials breach health orders, as we saw recently with Alberta Premier Kenney’s “Sky Palace” dinner, it is evidence that they do not feel compelled to abide by the same restrictions which they impose on other citizens, often with significant penalties.

It was reported to the Justice Centre that Manitoba’s leadership were similarly breaching public health regulations. I made the decision to hire an investigator to ascertain whether this was true. In no way was this intended to influence or impact the Justice Centre’s litigation efforts, or any of our court cases.

This decision was my own initiative, and was not discussed with Justice Centre clients, staff lawyers or Board members."

Please keep John Carpay in your prayers. He has been a champion for the rights of Christians in Canada. Pray that God would intervene in any disciplinary procedures against John so that he may continue to fight the good fight for the Lord.

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8th Sunday After Pentecost

What Five Loaves and Two Fish Reveal