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October 4, 2009 “Radical Inclusivity”

For he that is not against us is for us. – Mark 9:40

Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another. – Mark 9:50

On World Wide Communion Sunday, Christians from a multitude of denominations on all continents acknowledge our connectedness. We are one in the Spirit. Having said that, we in North America should also notice that we have a very comfortable and safe culture in which to practice our faith.
On June 16th North Korean Christian Ri Hyon-ok was publically executed for the crime of distributing Bibles. As her parents, husband and children were forced to look on, the 33-year-old mother was shot in front of a city crowd. Her grieving and distraught family were then packed off to a prison camp.
In July, a mob in Pakistan heard rumours that a Koran had been defaced during a Christian wedding ceremony. The mobbed burned more than 50 homes and a church in the Christian section of Gorja. At least 14 Christians were killed in the rampage, including one woman and three children who were burned alive in their homes.
2000 years ago, the apostle Peter wrote a letter to friends encouraging perseverance, “because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (I Peter 5:9)
Our part of the world is pretty tame, and our lives quite safe in comparison to happenings far away and long ago. So on this World Wide Communion Sunday, let our sharing in this sacrament be tinged with sympathy for sisters and brothers under persecution, AND also tinged with gratitude and thanksgiving, for the freedom and security that surrounds us as we practice our beliefs. Amen.
With love … ORVILLE

Wellington Square United Church

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October 4, 2009 “Radical Inclusivity”

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