Expectancy

“Expectancy” – the state of thinking or hoping that something will happen or be the case – we live with expectancy.  Some of us live, always expecting the best, while others seem to live with the constant expectation that bad things will happen. I have come to believe that there is a great deal of truth in the adage, “that what you think about, you will bring about.”  If you expect good things, you will find them, if you expect bad things, you will find them as well – where do you place your focus?

There is a story told about a traveller who was on his way to a new community to set up shop and live.  On route he met someone leaving that same village and he asked, what kind of people can I expect to meet in the village?  The woman said, “What kind of people lived in the village you just left?” and the man responded, “Oh very kind and generous people, I am so sorry that I have had to move away.”   And the woman said, “Oh, no worries, you will find equally kind and generous people in this village as well.”

A little farther along, this same woman encountered another traveler heading to the same village who asked her the same question.  She in turn said to him, “What kind of people lived in the village you just left?” and this man responded, “Oh, they were mean and hateful and just so difficult to get along with – I’m glad to be leaving.”  To which the woman responded, “I’m sorry to say, that you are likely to find those same sort of people in this village.” 

What we expect to find is often what we will find.  Our minds are wired to see the outcome we are expecting which is why in research projects one has to be so careful about any kind of bias in interpreting results.

This is a time of transition for me and for the congregation of Cole Harbour Woodside.  What are our expectations?  I am expecting good things for all of us.  I am certainly living with an air of expectancy about the future – I don’t know what it will hold, but I trust it will be good. Life is Good, God is good. 

I truly hope that the folks of CHWUC are also living with expectancy and anticipation for the future.  It will be different and it will be good.  No one should expect the Rev Michael Mugford to be me, but if you expect that he will bring his best and wants nothing but the best for you, you will not be disappointed.  Our own expectations exercise a great deal of control over how we face the future.  May this day be filled with expectations of grace and blessing.

Love

I chose the word “love” this week out of my envelope of words…4 letters with a scope of meaning that seems limitless.  In Bible Study yesterday we were reflecting on a passage from Ephesians which uses the beautiful phrase, “with the eyes of your heart be enlightened” In pondering those words it seems they lead directly to love – when we see with our heart, we are moved and love is expressed.

On Sunday, the eyes of our hearts were enlightened when we heard 3 teenagers and 1 adult speak of their own faith journey.  It moved everyone in the sanctuary – it was powerful testimony.  One young woman said, 

“Jesus was sent here to teach us all how to live in God’s way, the way he intended us all to live.  Jesus came first of all to tell the people about God and how they were never alone.  He also came as a teacher.  He taught various people about how to be kind to each other and the basic lesson that we are all human.  He didn’t discriminate about skin colour, or if you were rich or poor because it didn’t matter to him and it shouldn’t matter to us.  “Love your neighbour as yourself…” if we could all do that think of how peaceful this world would be.”

At the core of all that was shared, was a deep sense that the absolute most important aspect of our faith in Jesus Christ was a realization that God, in Jesus, came to show us how to model the love that is God’s deepest desire and the most important aspect of a church community is to be a safe place of welcome, acceptance and support…”All are welcome” and “all” means “all.”

Love is an action far more than a feeling.  Love is a choice and often not easy.  I am seeing love lived out in so many ways, as parents willingly sacrifice for their children, as friends make space in busy lives to help someone with drives to cancer treatments, as people volunteer countless hours for our production of dinner theater. When the eyes of our heart are enlightened we are able to see love more clearly.  May this be a week where you notice all the places love is alive and active and may you see opportunities to share God’s love with others for, as the very old camp song goes, 

“They will know we are Christians

 by our love, by our love, 

they will know we are Christians by our love.”

Discipleship

My word for today is discipleship.  What does it mean to be a disciple?  The word disciple must share the same root as the word discipline – which has multiple meanings or connotations – a discipline can be a field of study – to discipline is to offer some sort of corrective measure to another so that they adhere to a certain way of being – discipleship is about following and learning, sharing and growing in a particular path or way.

Jesus called 12 people from a variety of walks of life to be his first disciples and then of course there were many woman, never officially called disciples who supported his work, offered hospitality, stayed at the cross to the bitter end and were the first messengers of the resurrection.

To be a follower of Jesus is to be a disciple.  I think discipleship is a lifestyle, a way of being.  It is an answer to the question, “Will you come and follow me?”  The words of the hymn in Voices United #567 ring in my mind,

 “Will you come and follow me, if I but call your name?   

Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?  

 Will you let my love be shown, will you let my name be known, 

will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?"  

The first aspect of discipleship is saying “yes” and then it involves a lifetime of figuring out how to live into the “yes” and that looks different for all of us.

This Sunday we are celebrating conformation with 10 teenagers and 2 adults.  This is one of the ways we mark the commitment to discipleship.  Each of these people will be saying “yes” in response to the invitation to follow Jesus in their life. 

 Confirmation Retreat with our teenagers at the cottage.

 We are invited daily to say "yes" and to discern in this day what that looks like.