June 19, 2022 – 2nd Sunday after Pentecost
Thus says the Lord. Behold! I am doing a new thing! I don’t know about you but to me that doesn’t sound so exciting, as we have been pivoting from one new thing to another for the past two years. It gets kind of exhausting. At West Broadway we are coming out of this looking different from before. It is not just Covid that has changed us but joining together with two other ministries - St MM in the West End and Oak Table in Osborne Village, to become 1JustCity. (1JustCity was borne out of an initiative that started way back in the time when Bob Gilbert was the Community Minister. The four community ministers at the time realized that we needed to reach out beyond the Church for funding. that what we were doing was of value to the whole of society and that others should have an opportunity to contribute.) Well and I guess the fact that the Church as a whole is shrinking was a major part of the motivation as well. My retirement party was yesterday. In fact, this is my last sermon as Community Minister and this coming week is my last at West Broadway. So... lots more changes on the horizon. I want to share with you today something about that.
But first, let me delve into the Hebrew Scripture a little bit. What we read today is known as Second Isaiah - Chapters 40-55 were written to the people of Israel during the time of the exile about 600 BCE. God’s people were living under Babylonian rule. They had been forced from their land, left their temple behind and were in despair. They had lost the sense of who they were as God’s people. It was like they had been abandoned. The prophet is trying to bring them a word of hope.
At the beginning of the chapter 43 he goes to considerable effort to remind them of their history and all the former things - how God created them, God named them, God redeemed them and brought them out of slavery. He goes through this whole build up to invoke the past, and then continues by saying “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old!” What! The command is surprising, and it serves to get people’s attention. Boom! I am doing a new thing. Stop dwelling on the good old days.
He reminds them of who they are as God’s people. You are mine. You are loved. I am with you no matter what. The essence of who you are remains.
Before the exile, faithful Jews were tied to the Temple. How could you be a person of faith without going to the Temple... being so far away from God’s dwelling place. But during the time of exile, a new thing did happen. The synagogue movement was born. You now had a place to worship that was outside of Jerusalem. Not the same physically but, in essence, the same. You could be faithful to God without being in Jerusalem. Behold, I am doing a new thing. The essence of who you are remains. I am with you.
I know this church has been through significant changes over the years but the one most evident to me is the building of West Broadway Commons and the subsequent loss of the church hall. Those of you involved in planning of that will remember the excitement of change and no doubt, some agony. Working together, figuring things out imagining new possibilities. Some letting go of what was. Change disrupts things and brings mixed feelings. Things are no longer the way they were.
Buildings are important, ritual is important, structure and the decision-making process are all very important. But they are not the essence of who we are. The essence of who we are is less tangible.
As we undergo change at West Broadway the essence of who we are is not going to change. I want to reflect on just three aspects of who we are.
As I get ready to retire, I’ve been looking through some of the items to be archived and it is clear to me that we have been voice for justice in the public square. Sometimes it has been loud, like when Bill Rockwell, one of our long-time volunteers, was featured on the front page of the Winnipeg Free Press, describing how he had been kicked off of disability because his doctor didn’t get a letter in, in time. Here he was, in a wheelchair with a sly grin, waving his one leg in the air and asking, “What about this is not a disability? “
There have been times when we have galvanized the public, standing on the steps of the Leg, with different sized crowds over the years to protest the low welfare rates, the lack of safe and affordable housing, food insecurity. One of my favourite times was when we held 10 Days for Shoal Lake, and invited people to sign a long, long newsprint letter to Stephen Harper. We sold cups of Shoal Lake water for $1 a glass. and we marched from the Leg to the monument that celebrates the aqueduct that brings fresh water from Shoal Lake 40 to our taps here in the city,
West Broadway Community Ministry has been a voice on behalf of the marginalized and will continue to be so through 1JustCity.
While our primary purpose has been to offer food and a safe space to gather, we have also been about building capacity - giving people an opportunity to socialize, to learn skills, to have a routine, to give back to the community. If you are on EIA disability the province will give you $100 when you volunteer 8 shifts or more a month. To someone who receives less than $1,000 a month, $100 bucks is a big deal! Over the years we’ve offered other opportunities - art group, knitting group, cooking classes, computer training and support. A number of volunteers, at times, have joined me to lead worship in different churches all over the city. Public speaking. In April, Tammy and Mark, two of our volunteers, came with me to an event called Hope for Housing. It featured politicians from all three levels of government talking about the housing crisis and how it was being addressed. Both Mark and Tammy stood up and questioned them. To me that is huge. That is the beginning of a revolution when people who have lived experience of poverty can move out of survival mode and question the system that keeps people down.
While we have had a voice in the public square and helped build capacity in our immediate community, we have also had time for the individual. This is where today’s gospel story comes in. In Marks version of this story, which is found in each of the four gospels, woman honours Jesus by pouring costly perfume from an alabaster jar onto his head. And of course, everyone complains about the waste of good money that could have been used to help the poor.
During Lent in 2014, I was preparing to preach on that passage at St. George’s Crescentwood. That same week, one of our really solid volunteers vanished. I found Kelly holed up in his apartment, having not eaten for several days. He was suffering from overwhelming anxiety, and he was not able to check into the Crisis centre because he had some drugs in his system. His neighbours and so-called friends were not helping him, but in fact making his anxiety worse. Kelly and I went to Juniors for a hamburger, and he told me he just needed to get away. He was in agony.
Kelly needed more than our usual fare of a bowl of soup and a bus ticket. He needed costly perfume. He needed love poured out more extravagantly than we had in the past.
Kelly needed space. And space costs money. We decided to make this happen even though we didn’t have the money. Kelly would be going to St. Benedict’s for a 5-day retreat. One of our volunteers would drive him. I incorporated his story into that Sunday’s sermon at St. George’s ...and the money appeared. The Alabaster Jar fund was born. For extravagant gifts in exceptional circumstances. To say “We love you” to the least of our sisters and brothers.
Having a voice, building capacity, loving the underloved in whatever way we can. That is the essence of West Broadway. That has not changed.
But some things have. We are now serving supper instead of lunch. We are the only agency in this neighbourhood that is open for supper. Being part of 1JustCity has enabled us to hire an Indigenous Cultural Program Director and we have knowledge keepers at each of our three sites. We have an annual demonstration pow wow, a weekly sacred fire, medicine picking, sewing regalia, bannock making and a whole variety of activities that celebrate Indigenous spirituality. We are also able to provide enhanced programming and more special activities that give people something to look forward to.
Things at West Broadway might look different, but the essence remains the same...It may be at a different time of day, it may involve different volunteers, All Saints may no longer be involved at the Board level. But at West Broadway, people are still welcomed. The least of our brothers and sister are treated with dignity. They are loved. May it always be so.
