Here is my first draft of the message for Nov 18

Endings and Beginnings:  1 Samuel 1/2 2012/11/18

An old Jewish story tells of a spiritually gifted boy and his father.  It was clear to their whole community that the boy had a special connection to God.  One day they heard about a rabbi who was famous for his spirituality and wisdom, and the boy begged his father to take him to the town an hour's wagon ride away to see the rabbi.  The father reluctantly agreed to take him and they set off.  when they came to a bridge, their horse started to refuse to cross.  The father took this as a sign from God and turned around.  The son became very sad and died shortly after.  The father stopped one day at a tavern and saw the devil talking with some others.  He heard the devil describe how he tricked the father into  turning around by upsetting his horse.  He went on to say that, if the boy would have met the rabbi, he would have been the Messiah that everyone desired.  The point of the story is that it is dangerous to look for signs of God's actions in everything; that other things may be at play including random chance.

In Natalie Sleeth's "In the Bulb There is a Flower", the third verse begins with "in our end is our beginning".  Every day brings endings and beginnings, with the endings opening the way to new beginnings, and the beginnings opening the ways to an eventual endings.  What matters most is what happens between the beginning and the ending.   A healthy dose of graciousness helps the endings, the beginnings, the new endings, and the parts in between.

Let's begin with the story of Samuel.  This is one of several stories that can be very hurtful to couples trying to have children without success.  In our story, Hanna makes an offer to God, an offer that includes the gift of her first son should she be able to conceive.

And she is successful.  She gives Samuel to the shrine at Shiloh, and she has more children.  This part of the story provides a solid foundation to claiming Samuel's special relationship with God.  As a child, I loved this story, especially God's call to Samuel in the night.  Wouldn't it be wonderful, I thought, if God would call me like that?  God did call, but not in such a dramatic fashion. Today the media share many stories of the struggles couples have in conceiving, and I suspect this story could be a hard one for them to hear.  I believe God still occasionally intervenes in events in the world, but I doubt God would want to intervene in matters related to pregnancies.   In the part of the story we heard today, Hanna's childless status ends, and her status as a loving mother begins, a mother who almost certainly feels sadness in the separation from her first born, evidenced in her bringing him new clothes each year.

Samuel goes from being a happy infant to a child growing up in the shrine, then that status ends as he becomes God's new prophet/judge and priest for the Jewish people.  His life marks the transition of the Hebrews from a collection of tribes who fought with each other almost as often as they fought others like the Philistines to a people with a King, and finally to a people with a kingdom.  David's unification of all the people happens after Samuel's death.  It is important to know that, according the author of Samuel, God did not want the people to have a king or a kingdom.  God wanted them to be a free people whose lives were grounded in God instead of being ruled by a king.  But, knowing what people were like, God was prepared to help choose good candidates for the role of king.  The two books of Samuel have many examples of times when God pointed to a helpful direction, and people made other choices with painful consequences. The parts in between really matter.

In our lives we have many endings and beginnings.  It used to be that the first day of school put an ending to free play every day.  Junior high marks an end to having most classes in one room and the beginning of the need to learn complicated timetables.  Getting attached to a special other marks an end to singleness and the beginning of a relationship that can grow with us.  The birth of a first child ends a time of deciding daily what a couple will do after work.  Before children, Bonnie and I could drive for 2.5 hours to Edmonton after school for an Educators for Peace meeting, have supper afterward somewhere, and drive back to St. Paul to teach the next day.  There are many endings and beginnings in our personal lives.  Being gracious through them makes the endings less sad and the beginnings more rewarding.

Who here remembers BA gasoline?  How about Studebaker cars, probably the best built cars of their time?  I still miss Buckeye rootbeer, sold at our local drivein by the glass or by the gallon -- better than A&W or Barq's by far.  I drive a Pontiac --  they are not being made anymore.  Then there is the Commodore 64, Apple 2e's, and Underwood electric typewriters.  Yugoslavia became several countries, and the Northwest Territories has been split into Nunavut and the NWT.  When we moved to Calgary, Forest Lawn, Montgomery, Bowness and Midnapore with independent communities. The sheep farm where we fished the Bow is now Quarry Park, and thousands of people enjoy a space that used be mostly enjoyed by at most a couple dozen fishermen.

St. Matthew's used to be West Calgary United Church, and West Calgary United Church started as West Calgary Methodist 102 years ago.

There are two kinds of endings: those that are chosen, and those that happen.

You have seen some endings at St. Matthew's: long term pastorates, youth group, Sunday School are a few.  We are at a time when we need to consider other endings and beginnings, and to decide whether they will be our choice or will be imposed on us by events.  If we are going to stay here, we need to find a way to ending issues about the building.  About a half-million dollars should be enough to achieve greater accessibility and a reliable heating system along with other renovations to make the space we have more useable and enjoyable.  Such an ending needs some beginnings to be sustainable.  We need to provide new opportunities for people to develop attachments to us.  What those opportunities will be, none of us probably know at this time. They may include new outreach to the community, additional worship services, study programs or enhanced use of our space by other agencies.

If we don't invest in the building, it will become increasingly unusable to some members of the congregation, and unreliable.

There are a variety of other endings that are possible for us.   A key question before us is do we, as a congregation, want to make choices about our endings, or do we just want to let them happen to us?

A related question concerns our relationship with God and our calling as a community of faith to serve the mission Jesus has for us in this world.  How important is this calling to us?  Do we want to work for and with God?  Do we want to be in control, or are we prepared to follow?

As my opening story pointed out, it can be difficult to know what God wants exactly.  However we have some guidelines: "Feed my sheep."  "Go and baptise the nations." "Love one another." Clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit the prisoners.  Share the story. Seek life in God's empire.

My experience of this congregation is of a loving, talented, hard-working people, open to truly welcoming others, ready to speak your minds when necessary.  I hope you care enough about the mission for St. Matthew's to  have deep conversations about what you hope for the future of this congregation; about the endings you are prepared to decide, and beginnings you would like to make.  May God bless your conversations and your work.  Amen.