Hi everyone,

You know, I’ve spent the vast majority of my life here in the Lower Mainland, and I feel like I’ve experienced a lot of the culture, the customs, and just the nature of this area of Canada. But for some odd reason, I feel like I’ve experienced something for the first time… like, ever…

And that is these foghorns that have been going off every few minutes.

I looked it up, the internet said that they’re coming from Burrard Inlet and they always had them for the sake of the ships that are there. It’s a pretty major port after all, and I guess those boats need to know that there is land nearby. Land that will… well… land them if they were to collide.

The foghorns are for safety of course. A warning in this foggy weather that limits visibility. An actual proclamation of truth, if your run your boat in the direction of the land, the land isn’t the one who will buckle and give, but your boat. No matter how big, how strong, how many times you’ve travelled this path… you will lose to the immovable and unbreakable earth.

Also, those foghorns can keep someone up at night. They’re loud, man.

Here are the readings for next week:
Isaiah 9:1-4
Psalm 27:1, 4-9
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Matthew 4:12-23
And a video of them being read:

It’s tough to hear Jesus calling us to repent. That’s like the job of those street evangelists that we like to avoid. One that perhaps stands on a soapbox with a megaphone and eccentric style. Or one that walks around with a picket sign or a sandwich board over their shoulders. Or someone just full of either desperate anger or pent up hate. None of these images fit the one we have of Jesus.

But the thing is, Jesus’ call for us to repent isn’t the same message as those boisterous evangelists that I mentioned. Not really at least. Or not as I understand them. I always saw their message to be “turn to God or die in hell” kind of fear-mongering. But I see Jesus’ message to be more like that of a foghorn, as a warning like “change your trajectory or crash into the immovable land” or in this case, the kingdom of God.

I don’t see this as a angry, almost hate-filled message like I do with the others. I don’t think it’s an ultimatum. It’s not a threat. But it’s more like a warning and a cautionary truth telling us to be careful, to be aware, and to understand that it’s not God is angry or doesn’t care, but that the kingdom of God is just incompatible with some of the ways of the world.

This doesn’t mean that God cannot save us. Or God gives up on us. Or God doesn’t love us. But it does mean that God wants what is best for us in the way of community, relationship, and life in general.

So I thank God for this warning and the strength to be careful and the grace to forgive when I mess it up (which I know I will). And I’m especially thankful for the light of Christ shining on our path, that even in the foggiest of nights with the least amount of visibility, that his goodness will continue to shine brightly to lead and guide us throughout all we do.

Thanks be to God! Have a great week, everyone!