Thursday, January 22, 2015

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Mark 4:21-34

As we enter into this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity for 2015, it is a privilege to contribute a brief  reflection on this complex collection of parables as they are found in St. Mark’s Gospel.  I echo appreciation to Matthew Kieswetter for his co-ordination of this local blog project.

Among my earliest memories of Church School and Camp is singing “This little light of mine”, especially the verse with the question and responses: “Hide it under a bushel?”,  “NO!”, “I’m gonna let it  shine.”

The verse is based on Jesus’ rhetorical question - “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand?” – refers to the mystery of the Kingdom he came to proclaim.  Usually I add the phrase “of Peace with Justice” when describing the Kingdom, but the harshness of some of Jesus’ admonitions don’t seem especially peaceful or just!  More accessible is his very familiar Parable of the Mustard Seed.  True to form, Jesus takes everyday examples and ‘throws them alongside’ – hence parabola, or parallel – his teachings about the Kingdom.   In this case, it is from the smallest of seeds that the most hospitable of shrubs emerges; that great results cannot be estimated by modest beginnings.  Such is the mustard  seed, and the large and accommodating shrub it  yields.  So too with the Kingdom.

Early Christian sister and brothers often gathered in ‘house churches’ to worship, learn and support one another as part of the ‘oikumene’, the  household of God, which gives us the word ecumenical.

It is heartening that neighbouring churches in the Forest Hill area of Kitchener are conducting a pulpit exchange to witness to that Christian Unity.  The mutual openness to have leaders from Highland Baptist, Forest Hill United Church, Calvin Presbyterian and St. Francis Roman Catholic Parish lead worship and proclaim the Word in each other’s ‘church homes’ is a wonderful example of ecumenism.  

Meanwhile, the world has been convulsed anew by terrorist violence, most recently in France, ostensibly motivated by a distortion of the just and peaceful purposes of Islam, and claiming the lives of  Muslims, Jews and Christians, among others.  An ecumenical community in France, founded soon after the Second World War, can be a source of consolation and encouragement.    On the last Sunday evening of most months between September and June, the K-W area is blessed with an ecumenical Service of light, song and silence, modelled after the Taize Community in France. Flickering candles, meditative  singing, and silence shared offer us another glimpse of ecumenism and seeking the Kingdom together.  Check our www. kwests.ca for details on the local Taize Services.

Especially in this Season of Epiphany, as Christians celebrate the manifestation of God’s presence in Jesus, together, may we “let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.”

- John Lougheed

(Rev.) John Lougheed is the Director of Spiritual Care at the Grand River Hospital and Regional Cancer Program.   He is a United Church Minister, and a Voluntary Associate at Westminster United, Waterloo.