Musical Prelude and Service.

Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Matthew 22:34-46
Our faith tradition, rooted in Protestantism tends to be more than a little wary of discussing the ideas of saints. We don’t typically mark days dedicated to the various saints. We are aware of a number of the better-known ones. St. Patrick or St. Andrew, Peter, and Paul of course, and Mary naturally. St. Frances of Assisi gets a bit of attention.
But we don’t spend a lot of time reflecting on what they mean.
And I want to be really careful discussing this, because I will most likely get a whole bunch wrong regarding the theology behind sainthood.
But there is one aspect of recognizing saints that I have come to appreciate. That is acknowledging that our faith, our church community is built upon the hard work, the sacrifices, and the growing faith of those who came before us.
Several years ago, a few years before moving to Dunnville I officiated the funeral of a young indigenous man. I won’t go into the details, but in discussing the different parts of the service I came to the commendation. In the one I selected it mentions at one point the cloud of saints. His parents liked the imagery but asked if maybe I could change the language slightly and instead refer to a cloud of grandparents.
In Cree spirituality, the idea of grandparents is greatly expanded. It is a reverence for elders. Of all those who have come before and how they remain connected through all of creation. The large stones that are heated to be used in sweat lodges are called the grandparents. It is through grandparents that we receive our lessons and our wisdom.
So for me in that moment, using the term grandparents made complete sense.
Today we hear the story of Joshua receiving the blessing to carry on the work started by Moses. At the same time I am sure there were a great many other Israelites who picked up the work of their elders to carry on the journey these people were making to find a new home.
We as a congregation set today aside as a day to express our gratitude for this community of faith. We have many things to say thank you for. One of those is the incredible work, the example and the inspiration offered by so many who came before us.
With that in mind, I wanted to share a couple of videos I made from interviews I carried out this summer as part of my Sabbatical and the collection of Grace’s oral history. As I have said at other times and to different people. I don’t consider this project completed. And I am very happy to receive other contributions. But as an example of the stories I am collecting, I wanted to share these two.
Video of Marnie talking about Marie
Video of Sandy talking about Audrey
Earlier this morning I asked you to think about the saints you have known in your life or who are part of this church’s history.
I want to invite you if you wish and are able to, come forward and light a candle for that person. You can name them if you wish or remain silent. The choice is yours.
Amen
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789