Good morning,
Wherever you find yourselves this morning, I hope you will find God in worship. Sorry for the technical difficulties with the new website and the downloading of the worship service.
” Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. Romans 13:1-2
We are in Ottawa for the weekend. Our housemate, Ngadire, needs to renew her Ugandan passport on Tuesday morning. We have not spent much time in Ottawa in our lives. In this time of Covid there are not many tourists around, so there is a lot of open space to keep distant from other people.
Paul’s words about government authority have given the church lots to discuss over the years. Paul was a Roman citizen, so he came from the elite. He used this power when he was in jail in Phillippi . He was literate, and he spoke the Gospel in front of major political authorities in Jerusalem and Rome.
So, what do you do as a church in relation to the Canadian government. We come out of the British tradition where we trust the government to work on behalf of the common good. In the US, the tradition is that government is a necessary evil. You do not want the authorities to tax you, or to infringe on your life. This is why mask wearing is such a question for some people. Good government or necessary evil ? What do you think ?
Every time Paul uses the term Jesus is Lord , he is going against Caesar, Caesar thought he was God, and Paul would not agree to that. We want good government, and so what do we do when the Prime Minister does something we disagree with for our lives ? We do not give them a blank check ?
Yesterday, we walked around Parliament Hill. What beautiful buildings and statues. It is a great form of government that leads us, but we still must be ” wise as serpents and innocent as doves ” !!
Prayer
Stir us, O Lord
to dare more boldly, to venture into wider seas
where storms show Thy mastery,
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
In the name of Him who pushed back the horizons of our hopes
and invited the brave to follow.
Bishop Desmond Tutu, bishop from South Africa.
Shalom and strength for our journey of love , life and faith.