Lent 1 Deep in the Sea: Called to Deep Relationship Wildwood Mennonite Church // February 21, 2021 Worship Leader: Tom W // Music Leader: Josephine K // Sermon: Joe Heikman
Welcome to Wildwood! Wherever you happen to be, whatever time of the day or night, we're so glad that you've taken the time to worship together with our Wildwood community of faith! We are all well aware of the limitations of this now-familiar-but-still-strange way of worship and we continue to lament the loss of physical presence and closeness in these pandemic days. And yet, we are also grateful for the unexpected blessings of this time. Some of us have more time to spend in worship, others have fewer distractions or increased flexibility; some are able to connect across distances that normally divide, others are able to build new and renewed connections. And all of us are offered an invitation to embrace new perspectives, greater inner depths, and a fresh awareness of and desire for the relationships that hold all of us together.
Through the highs and lows, ins and outs, God is present. Welcome.
First Movement: Seeking the Depths
Land Acknowledgment and Call to Worship Land Acknowledgement As we explore the theme of “Deep Calls to Deep,” we recognize that we are living in places with deep stories already; that we are part of the stream of history that goes back deeper than writings and memories can tell. Our physical church building exists on the traditional lands of the Cree, Dene (DEN-Ē), Nakota, Saulteaux (SO-TO), and Ojibwe (OJIB-WĒ) peoples and the homeland of the Métis. We recognize that we carry forward the responsibilities of “treaty people,” living in Treaty 6 territory. We give thanks to Creator, and to those people who have stewarded this land for generations, for the opportunity to share our lives in this deep and sacred land.
Call to Worship One: God, we are here at the water’s edge, casting off from shore Many: into unknown waters. One: With fear and trembling, we drop our oars, Many: letting them go, trusting the sea. One: God, we trust the signs of your covenant: the ark through the water, the waters of baptism, Many: the rainbow in the clouds and the dove from the heavens. All: We call to you as you called us deeper into steadfast love.
Music for Settling // Deep Calls to Deep // Steve Bell
Peace Candle Prayer God we are in need of peace, which comes from you. Depending on the day, depending on the person, this peace takes on different forms. It could be peace in our family, in our workplace, in our city/province/country, or peace in the broadness of this planet. God, give us your peace.
It could be that our minds or hearts are troubled and we need you to settle us. God, give us your peace.
And God, please make us ‘instruments’ of your peace. Help us to recognize the opportunities that we have to bring a little more peace to this world. Amen
Sharing Time // “What depths are you facing?”
Congregational Prayer Jesus, who is the Christ, you are the great healer. You are the one who came to earth to show us the way; you came to show us the path to wholeness. On this first Sunday of Lent, we remember that in the process, you knew you would endure suffering while knowing that hope lay ahead. You were willing to endure suffering for our sake, in full awareness, and in complete trust in Abba God that your suffering would lead to our healing and wholeness.
Jesus, some of us don’t really care much for this season. We don’t like to think about suffering – yours, or ours. We don’t like to think about death – again, yours, or ours. It feels gloomy; it feels dismal and dark – And this year, especially, it feels like we’ve had enough of that. We look back over the past year of loneliness, of sadness, And we’ve had enough.
Jesus, help us to turn away from the past and turn toward you. Help us to draw near, to go to the depths, to hear your voice speaking to deep places within us, pointing out the wounded places in our hearts, the weaknesses in our ways of thinking.
Sometimes – oftentimes – the pointing out; the awareness is painful. But Jesus, help us to trust that you are leading us to a better place, a better life with you as our sole guide. Grant us hope, that healing will come, that a meaning-filled abundant life is on the horizon if we but wait.
Today we pray for …
Jesus, we long for the morning, but grant us patience to wait with you and walk with you in the darkness. Grant us faith to trust that because of the darkness, the sunrise and our future life will be all the more beautiful.
Son of Humanity, and Son of God, in your holy name we pray. Amen.
Children’s Story // Click here for video storytime with Kara W! This week's story is The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers.
Scripture // Inclusive Bible translation Genesis 9:8-17 God then said to Noah and his family, “I hereby establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you—birds, cattle, and the earth’s wildlife—everything that came out of the ark, everything that lives on the earth. I hereby establish my covenant with you: All flesh will never again be swept away by the waters of the flood; never again will a flood destroy all the earth.”
God said, “Here is the sign of the covenant between me and you and every living creature for ageless generations: I set my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth, my bow will appear in the clouds. Then I will remember the covenant that is between me and you and every kind of living creature, and never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all flesh. Whenever my bow appears in the clouds I will see it, and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature on the earth” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all living things on the earth.
Sermon (part A) // “YHWH Transformed” // Joe Heikman If you’d rather watch than read, click here for the video: https://youtu.be/4EVHLFwkOfE
Oh, I’m sorry, were you looking for some good news this morning? Welcome to Lent, I guess! :)
We enter the story this morning, of a world gone wrong, a humanity hopelessly corrupt, and a god lacking the power or creativity, perhaps, to do anything about it other than scrap the whole project and start over from the beginning.
You folks who have been around for a while may recognize these as the opening lines of the story of Noah and the Great Flood.
That’s so cute. And actually fairly accurate to the biblical account, with a bit of artistic license. But, in spite of the happy ending, this is not a children’s story. Not really.
It’s actually a very different kind of story than we’re used to reading in the Bible entirely.
Most Bible stories go something like this:
And sometimes it’s the negative version of that, where God creates the trouble, or tries to help by allowing them to suffer the consequences of their actions. And sometimes the humans are not changed, and that becomes a lesson.
Sometimes we the readers are the object of the story, we’re the ones who are supposed to learn the lesson and be changed.
The pattern holds, though, that God is the active character, and humans are the ones who are changed.
But with this story of the Great Flood, that gets flipped around. In this story, God is the one with the problem, and through an encounter with a human, by the end of the story, it is God who has changed.
A controversial idea, for some of us. I’ll explain.
But first let’s talk about Enlil, Lord of the Storm. Chief among gods of the ancient Sumerians … and later worshipped by the Akkadians and Babylonians, known to modern scholars through the Epic of Gilgamesh. (Don’t feel badly if you are unfamiliar with that one).
Enlil was the Lord of the Storm, with a temper to match. His most famous story is of the time he got frustrated with the overpopulation of the earth. Those blasted humans were so many, and they made so much noise, that Enlil was not able to sleep. And in his sleep-deprived rage, he unleashed a storm with so much rain that it flooded the whole earth and destroyed all of humanity.
Except for one man, Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim received a warning from another god in advance of the storm, and was able to build a boat and save his family. Enlil was outraged that some humans had escaped his wrath! But Utnapishtim and his family bowed down and pledged their allegiance to Enlil, and Enlil granted Utnapishtim immortality in recognition of his cleverness and loyalty.
Now, I could have all kinds of fun drawing parallels between these two flood stories but for … today I’ll just point out that, at the start of the Biblical version, YHWH seems an awful lot like Enlil.
Frustrated by humanity, outraged by their behavior, angry that they aren’t doing what YHWH wanted.
Now, there’s a big difference between YHWH’s complaint about unrestrained violence and Enlil’s complaint about excessive noise but that’s a difference of degree. …
Some may argue that YHWH’s anger against evil is justified. But why now? Why let Cain the murderer go free into exile, but condemn all of life to extinction at this point? Why is this the point when “enough is enough?”
There is also some degree of complicity in this trouble, no? If all of the creation is evil, even to the very “thoughts in their hearts,” what does that say about the Creator?
And again, even if YHWH is justified in his anger against humanity, how does that warrant the destruction of everything else? It must be quite a limited god who cannot be any more specific in his punishment than Enlil the Storm Lord.
That’s not a very pretty picture of YHWH, is it. A bit of an arbitrary, vindictive judge, a flawed artist, perhaps, a limited redeemer at best.
If this is who God is, why would anyone want to serve a God like that?
Actually, the best character in this story to this point is Noah.
There’s some poetic wordplay going on in the Hebrew version of the story. Humanity is described as evil, and more specifically, corrupt. The humans were diminished, decaying, corrupted versions of who they were meant to be. Not the evil violence of a malicious villain, but the thoughtless damage of an off-balance pottery wheel.
Humanity was out of balance, and that wobble was distorting and bringing destruction into everything else.
Except for Noah. Noah was “righteous”, “just”, the story says right at the beginning. NOT pure or perfect, as we see later. Noah had his flaws as well.
But, where the rest of humanity was corrupt, off-center, Noah was in balance. That’s what his name means: “at rest”--settled, satisfied, grounded. Noah was the unanxious presence in the middle of the storm.
When Noah learned of the coming flood, he responded with careful preparations. When he was asked to do the impossible, he got to work. When the storm came, his faith remained.
In the story, it is this one human who is living out of the groundedness and centeredness that turns out to be stronger than the storm, that rises above the flood.
While YHWH appears to be reactive and vindictive, Noah is the one who is responsive, collected, measured, and whole.
Can you see how this story is playing with the expectations of its audience? Who is the hero, and who is the antagonist?
God is the one with the power. But the human, Noah, is the one at rest, the one who cannot be shaken.
Noah saves God’s creation. Noah is the Redeemer in this story.
And it is God who is changed by the encounter.
The climax of the story comes as Noah’s ark rests on the mountain, and finally the floodwaters recede and the ground dries. When Noah and his family get off the boat, their first move is to build an altar to YHWH, to make sacrifices intending to keep their God happy.
Which seems like a wise move, given how YHWH reacted the last time humans failed to please him.
And YHWH was pleased with Noah’s offering.
But this is where the story turns.
What would you expect God to say at this point? The last creation attempt had failed miserably. Humanity had disobeyed and went it’s own way, and YHWH had punished them.
What do parents and teachers usually say after a punishment is over?
DON’T EVER DO THAT AGAIN! I mean, deep breath, “Billy, I know you made a mistake, and I forgive you. And now let’s talk about some strategies we might try to get a better result next time ” …
In other words, “Just, don’t do that again.”
But to everyone’s surprise in the Flood story, YHWH does not give Noah a warning, doesn’t try to teach him a lesson at all.
Instead, YHWH says, “I will never again curse the ground because of humanity, even though they lean towards evil from their youngest days. I will never again destroy every living creature as I have done.”
In other words, “I won’t do that again.”
Somehow, it is YHWH who has learned the lesson here. The teachable moment lands on the opposite of what we expect.
God doesn’t give Noah a set of commands to follow, doesn’t demand obedience in order to earn God’s favour.
And, unlike Enlil, who rewarded the one human who he found to be trustworthy and loyal, YHWH doesn’t reward just Noah. YHWH makes the covenant “reward” with all of humanity, and all of Creation. Because the covenant has nothing to do with Noah’s character: it is YHWH who is trustworthy and loyal.
“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
Consistent, compassionate, faithful and redemptive. That’s who YHWH is revealed to be.
And that’s a very significant difference from who YHWH appeared to be at the start of the story.
Now, I don’t really think that God had a complete personality change because of the Flood and the faithfulness of Noah.
What is changing, in this story, is not who God is, but the storyteller’s understanding of who God is.
The unpredictable, vindictive, limited God at the beginning of the story was what the ancients expected of their gods. They lived in a world that was like that: unpredictable, vindictive, limited.
That’s what they knew, and what they expected of the gods. And so this storyteller lets the audience start there, but nudges them along the way. Sure, the world is full of violence and selfishness: but look at Noah! It doesn’t have to be that way. There is a way to live that is grounded, whole, and just.
Sure, there are floods sometimes, and even the innocent are caught up in it: But look, there’s an ark! Something, Someone, maybe even YHWH, cares about the creation, plants and animals, the preservation of life.
Sure, the world is filled with death and destruction: but look, there’s a rainbow! YHWH has not abandoned us to annihilation.
Sure, there is much we don’t understand, and the chaos of the deep waters is overwhelming: but look, there’s a covenant, a God who is for us, who meets us in the depths and carries us through.
And as those who hear the story follow those nudges, a whole new way of seeing emerges, revealing YHWH as she has been all along.
Not denying the reality of the corruption and destruction in the world, but alongside that, offering a different way of seeing and being.
From the beginning, God has always been all about the path of Noah, of wholeness, justice, and rest.
Communion // Deep Covenant Throughout this season of Lent, the centerpiece of our services will be the ritual of communion.
If you have a bit of bread and juice, or whatever you happen to have with you, now is the time to have that ready. And if not, please do join in with the ritual in whatever way you are able.
When Noah and his family came out of the Ark, they participated in the ancient ritual of blood sacrifice. They built an altar of stone, and killed and burned some of their best animals as a sacrifice to show their dedication to God.
But where Noah and his family intended to show their commitment to YHWH, instead YHWH turned the ritual around and made it about YHWH’s commitment to them. They came to give a sacrifice, but instead they received a blessing of love and abundance and covenant promise.
We no longer use blood sacrifice in our religion, thankfully. But we do have our own ritual of covenant, the celebration of communion.
And we each have our own reasons for coming: our needs and fears, our thanks and offerings, our obligations and our desperation, our baggage and our guilt.
But, like Noah, when we come to this altar what we find is that God is not here to ask anything of us, but to show us who God is.
Pray with me the prayer of confession and assurance:
Many: We have heard that you are present in the depths, and we have come to see if it’s really true. Source of Life, we call to you from the depths of our hearts.
One: It’s true that we have been afraid to dive into the deep waters. We have stayed too close to the surface, kept too closely to ourselves, gotten out of balance, given in to our fears, And yet, faithful or not, ready or not, here we are, wading into the deep waters of communion.
Many: Hear our call, and answer us from the depths of your unfailing love.
Brothers and sisters: on the night before Jesus was crucified, he shared a meal together with his friends. During that meal, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he blessed it and broke it, shared it among them:
Let’s pray: Creator God, Giver of all Good Things, thank you for the gift of life. Thank you for providing to us the things we need: for strength and health, for community, for meaning and purpose. Whether we can see it not, whether we understand or not, your good gifts nourish and sustain us. For this, we are grateful. Amen.
This bread, Jesus said, this is my body, broken for you. Take and eat and remember.
(eat the bread)
That same night Jesus also took a cup of wine, and when he had given thanks, again he shared it with all of them.
Let’s pray: God of Life, Saviour of the World, thank you for your gift of love. We put our trust in your covenant promise that life is stronger than death, good is stronger than evil, love is stronger than hate. Give us the will and strength to follow in your way, to pour out our lives in right relationship with our world as you poured out your life for us. Amen.
“This cup is the blood of the New Covenant,” Jesus said. “This is my blood, poured out for the many, for the forgiveness of sins. Drink, in remembrance of me.”
Second Movement: Rising to the Surface
Sermon (part B) // (still) Joe Heikman If you’d rather watch than read, click here for video: https://youtu.be/4EVHLFwkOfE?t=1332
So, then, if YHWH is not the unpredictable, punitive God of the first part of the story, if YHWH is the God of the unconditional covenant, then who are we? What does it mean to be God’s People?
The vision that YHWH lays out for Noah and his family after the flood is the vision of shalom, right relationships.
In the blessing of the covenant, God tells Noah and his family to “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” Echoes of the Creation story. And this time as well, God reminds humanity that we are at the top of the food chain: all of the other creatures will fear us--we hold their lives in our hands.
But, though we can make food of anything, this comes with responsibility. Do not waste the blood of life, God says to Noah. All things die, including you, and every death will be called to account.
For “I hereby establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you—birds, cattle, and the earth’s wildlife—everything that came out of the ark, everything that lives on the earth.”
The covenant is not just for us, the covenant is with everything. Life does not exist for me, my life exists as part of everything else.
That kind of covenant way of life is hard to explain through the words of a sermon. It’s something that needs to be experienced, and practiced.
My family spent a morning at Wanuskewin this week, and I was impressed by some of the displays that have developed there since the last time I visited. The spirit of that place speaks deeply to what covenant living looks like, I think.
The respect for the land, the awareness of the sacred in the various seasons, the partnership with and learning from the buffalo and other animals, the gratitude for life and humanity's humble place within it.
If you haven’t been to Wanuskewin for a while, I definitely recommend spending some time there, thinking about this covenant way of life.
I think that was what was missing for humanity at the start of the story. The corruption was the loss of that communal perspective, the destruction that comes when one part of the system elevates its own interests above the good of the whole.
And the antidote to that was the life of Noah, whose name and life again bear witness to rest, contentment, gentle service.
And so, in the end, I don’t think this story is a warning so much as an invitation. Why would we want to live as those whose lives brought on their own destruction? The way of covenant is the better way for everyone.
I love this creative addition to the flood story, by Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso.
A Prayer for the Earth: The Story of Naamah, Noah’s Wife. By Sandy Eisenberg Sasso.
“Naamah was Noah’s wife, and why was she called Naamah? Because her deeds were neimim (pleasing).” from the ancient Jewish midrash tradition on the book of Genesis (Bereshit Rabba 23:3).
In the time when the world was still young, plants and animals and people filled all creation. In earth’s garden, there lived a man named Noah and a woman named Naamah. Noah and Naamah were kind and loving and walked in God’s ways.
God said to Noah and Naamah, “I have seen great wickedness on the earth. There is too much hate in people’s hearts. But your hearts are good, and you can help me begin again.”
To Noah, God said, “Make an ark, for your family and for two of every animal that lives on this earth, birds and cattle and creeping things of every kind.”
And to Naamah, God said, “Walk across the land and gather the seeds of all the flowers and all the trees. Take two of every kind of living plant and bring each onto the ark. They shall not be for food, but they shall be your garden, to tend and to keep.”
Naamah did as God commanded. She journeyed into the forest and carefully gathered the spores from the moss that made a carpet at her feet. She placed them in the cool, deep pockets of her apron, away from the light of the sun. She picked acorns from the oak trees, and nuts from the pecan and pistachio. The winged seeds of the maples snapped under the gentle pull of her hands. She carefully lifted the seedlings of the cedar and cypress, the persimmon and plum.
Naamah walked right past the dandelions, pretending not to notice their feathery yellow heads sprouting over the grass.
“Naamah,” called God, “gather seeds of every living plant!” And Naamah knew that God meant the dandelions, too. Reluctantly, she placed their seeds in her pockets with all the others. Sunflowers and buttercups, orchids and jasmine, dahlias and daffodils, lilies and lavender.
When Naamah had collected the seeds and seedlings of every living plant, she brought them onto the ark and arranged every plant and seed, each in its special place. Then she made a sign that read: Naamah’s Garden--these plants are not for food!
Then the sun disappeared, lightning flashed and thunder boomed. Dark clouds filled the sky and rain poured from the heavens until the waters covered all the lime green aspens and the emerald green pines. Noah and Naamah looked out over the waters and were sad for all that had been destroyed. For forty days and forty nights the skies never brightened and the rains never ceased.
After forty days, the rains ceased and a rushing wind rolled over the waters. Black sky softened into shades of blue. After many days, the waters decreased and finally the ground was dry and firm. Noah led the animals from the ark, some prancing, some flying, some slithering and crawling.
And Naamah carefully placed all the seeds and seedlings in the deep pockets of her apron. She knelt down and made small cradles in the soft, damp earth, in which to plant. She placed downy tufts of milkweed seeds in her palms and held them up the sky to let the wind carry them in all directions. She took off her sandals and let her feet sink into the soft soil. She sighed with delight at the touch of the land, and she worked without rest.
God saw all that Naamah had planted and God said, “Because of your great love for the earth, I will make you guardian of all living plants, and I will call you Emzerah, Mother of Seed.”
For a moment, God gave Naamah the vision to see from one end of the earth to the other. She saw how the seeds were carried great distances, and how they landed safely on the soft ground. And she saw, as she had feared, that the dandelions were everywhere.
Naamah was pleased to be surrounded by all the living plants, even the dandelions. She lay down in a grassy meadow, and with each breath she smelled lilies, lavender, and mint. A gentle wind blew through the grasses, and it sounded as if the meadow was whispering a prayer.
And Naamah slept, in the quiet of growing things.
Scripture // Inclusive Bible translation Psalm 42 As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul aches with thirst for God, for a god that lives!
When can I go and see God face to face? My only food, day or night, is my tears; they accuse me: “Where is your God?” they say.
These things I remember as I pour out my soul like water: how I’d go with the crowds and lead them into the House of God amid cries of gladness and thanksgiving, drunk with the dance of celebration.
Why so downcast, O my soul, and why this discontent within me?
Hope in God! For I trust I shall praise God once again, my Deliverance and my God.
This is why my heart despairs: I remember other days with you, in the land of my people, on the sacred mountains. Deep calls to Deep in the thunder of your waterfalls; your torrents rage and break over me, overwhelming me.
Every day you send your love toward me, in the night you bring me your song. In my prayers to the God of my life, I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do you keep me in mourning, oppressed by an unseen enemy?” My bones are shattered by their words, foes taunt me constantly: “Where is your God?” they say.
Why so downcast, O my soul, and why this discontent within me?
Hope in God! For I trust I shall praise God once again, my Deliverance and my God.
Song of Response // Oceans (Océanos) // Voices Together #456
Silent Reflection // "Deep in the Sea" slideshow meditation Wildwood’s photographers submitted photos for silent reflections each week during Lent
Breakout Groups // “What Are You Finding?” - What has come to mind for you with this “Deep in the Sea” theme? - What is a question that has come up for you in this service so far? - What did the communion ritual mean to you today? - What do you think it means to be “covenant people” in Saskatchewan in 2021? - What else has been “rising to the surface” for you today?
Offering Prayer God we know that your generosity is beyond what we can comprehend. In whatever ways we can, help us to be generous too. Amen
Music for Leaving // Your Love is Washing Over Me // Voices Together #166
Benediction The divine calls for us to move beyond the shallows of our lives into deep relationship. God requires our trust and vulnerability as we reach out to a neighbor, bursting the surface bubbles of our lives and striving for deeper understanding. Go into the week before you, reaching out for a story far beyond your own, in love. Amen.