Covenanting Service
Message
Ha Na Park
Beautiful, bold,
courageous. These three words are
what I would use to describe an arbutus tree and its strength. This singular
evergreen tree which we often see beside the water on an exposed rocky bluff,
reveals its unique intense shades and contrasting colours – the rough
reddish-brown of its thin outer bark, with the younger, smooth, green bark
underneath emerging as the old bark falls away. In my internship journey here
at Chemainus United Church, what I am ultimately learning through working in
ministry is the call to be proud of my own beauty - to celebrate all the ways
that I have been created in God’s image. It is a strikingly exciting challenge
to explore and expand that God-given uniqueness and to find the boldness to
reveal it, as Jesus says in the Gospel of Luke, “no one after lighting a lamp
hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so
that those who enter may see the light.” I am learning to find the courage to take
that light with me and use it to enlighten and brighten the world so that
others may see themselves, their own unique, bright spirits. Undeniably
beautiful, we are asked by God our Creator to be bold and courageous in
accepting the call to claim and reclaim all of our human family and our earth
as God’s wondrous work, created and recreated by God’s original blessing, given
to all.
In this mutual journey
of finding one’s own beauty, strength, boldness and courage, we are reminded of
all those who have been denied their true selves and true destiny by their
society – those who are denied growth, those who are not allowed roots and
wings, those who are not permitted to fly.
Many women, especially,
have not been given the message and assurance that they need to hear from their
families or from society – which is, ‘Be strong.’ Do not yield. Do not
surrender. Be true to yourself. Be true to your faith. Make your voice heard.
Don’t give up pride and self-determination. For women, especially those whose
voices and feelings and hopes have been repressed, pride is not really what
they should give up. Pride of self, of one’s own being, is not a sin. It is
what a woman needs to learn and embrace through her life, to accept her gifts,
to accept her power.
In today’s covenanting
service, I hope to celebrate this very pride which I am learning to embody and
the confidence I am learning to practice, in accordance with my conscience and
spirit.
I come from a
patriarchal church culture in Korea where ordination and the right to preach
from the pulpit, the right to shine, is still a high wall for a woman to
climb up. In today’s sacred time of covenanting and celebration of the
internship journey, I wish to express my deep gratitude to all of you who have
been supporting me with prayers, encouragement and feedback. Thanks to you and
your acceptance of me as I am, I have taken the step to cross over that high
threshold of ministry. I am putting my shining lamp on a lampstand, adding it
to all the lamps here, in this country, across the globe. I will remember that
there is never just one lamp; we shine for one another, and for God.
I don’t know whether I
will ever return to Korea for good, but if I do, I hope you will be proud that
you have nurtured me in our covenanted relationship, given me a precious
opportunity to mature and proceed with what I believe and what I hope. I really
believe that you have helped God to plant and grow one more mustard seed to
change the barren, repressive, unjust and corrupted culture of the Korean church
and the nation, and our aggressive world which pushes so many vulnerable human
beings to the edge of crisis and strife.
The whole creation of
God groans from the aggressions of a civilization that uncritically promotes industrialism, militarism, and the unlimited expansion of transnational
capital. These attitudes need to be questioned; they risk the well-being, even
the lives, of the vulnerable among us, laying siege to the water, air and
land upon which we all depend.
Our mutual journey of learning, becoming and growing has no fixed end; it opens itself to unknown possibilities. Let us hold a high hope of adventure while we embrace the new task of living the Christian faith in the 21st century with its fresh challenges and possibilities.
I dream of a church
which shares the strength of an arbutus tree, thriving in even the rockiest
soil, bonding discipline, creativity and flexibility with a new and stronger
life urge. I dream that, in the next 8 months of my internship journey, we can
behold one another anew, celebrate passion, and bless one another’s uniqueness.
Passion is an original blessing God has given to every one of God’s children,
equally and differently, fearfully and wonderfully. May we sing a passionate
new song for justice and love for a new earth.
And may we be like a growing tree, with its roots firmly in place as its branches journey joyfully towards the sky. Amen.
This Message is largely based on the earlier sermon preached on Sep 8, 2013.
Here is the link:
http://peacemama3.blogspot.ca/2013/09/sermon-journey-with-no-fixed-end-sep-8.html
Prayers of the People
God of creation, thank
you for inviting us all today to this sacred time and space of covenanting and
celebration to share our blessings with one another. We have been blessed by
your presence and by each other’s the caring and truthful spirit. We have been
nurtured and strengthened. We give thanks for and celebrate the covenanting
relationships and promises we have made for one another and with you. Thank you
for welcoming us all, whoever we are, and however we have journeyed to this
place. We are a family, your family in faith and trust. Here, at home with you,
we give thanks for your faithfulness. We pray for guidance as we grow and
celebrate each of the unique calls that we have answered in faith in our
different journeys of life. Guide the Chemainus congregation and myself as
their intern minister. We pray especially for the Lay Supervision Team members
and the Rev. Murray Groom, educational supervisor, who have faithfully
accompanied me with constructive and truthful feedback and caring spirits. We
pray that we may open our hearts for one another, for you, our Creator, as we
travel toward the next milestones of our journey. We trust that you will
continue to lead us all, sometimes leading in front of us, sometimes as a
cohort with us, dreaming together a high hope to see beyond the limits. May we
honour the promises we have made with one another before you today. Bless
everyone here in their quest of the unique gift and light that only You can
give. Bless each of our home churches and their ordered and lay leaderships,
equally. With your living Spirit, enable us to live fearlessly and boldly with
courage and with gratitude for every day, every moment of today and tomorrow,
refreshed and regenerated with your new, creative energy. We pray this in the
name of Christ Jesus who taught us to be instruments of a new creation, and, in
faith, to do works greater than His own. Amen.
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