Tyndale Chapel Podcast

Well, still able to say it's good morning friends, there's still 15 more minutes before it's lunchtime. It really is a privilege to be here with you, to be back in, in this space. It's been, I think, four years, since I've been able to be in in this room and to hear the echo of voices, a couple of things got in the way, a pandemic and other things. And then we're supposed to try to be here last year. And the last minute, a snowstorm left all of us sort of away. And so this is really, really, really nice to be able to be here. And so George and Barry, thank you so much for the invitation, it also works out because I have a paper to work on. So I gotta go to the library afterwards to go take out some books. So this is this is like, I'm doing this because I have to go get a paper, it kind of like worked itself out. But you know. Student life, right. And, and a what a month to be a part of a Black History Month, and to be able to be asked to to kind of open up what that month looks like for for us as students, as university students, as seminary students. And so my hope is, in the allotted time that I have, to encourage us to share the story. And so our text this morning is found in Deuteronomy 11, verses 18 and 21. They'll be on the screen if you don't have it in book form, or on phone form.

Moses says "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talk about them when you sit down at home. And when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses, and on your gates, so that your days and the days your children may be in the land of the Lord, in the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the Earth.

Deuteronomy, as you know, is Moses' final address to the people of Israel as they prepare to take on the great unknown of God's promised land together. For 40 years Moses has walked with these people, he has been their leader, he has been the vocal representation of God to them, he has been the reminder of God's way. He's also been the cautionary tale of what it means to miss the mark at times. And now he is the final professor, giving their final grade, on their final project. He is giving them these last minute instructions to go through what he's not going to be able to go through with them. So he's saying to them, keep these things that I tell you close. Don't forget this. Remember this. It reminds me of when I'm leaving my house, was living in my house as a teenager, my mother reminded me "Don't forget your keys. Don't forget your wallet. Don't forget to call. Don't forget to do this". Back in the day, we didn't have cell phones. So you had to have a quarter to go to a payphone. A payphone. You know it's too much work to try to explain all this stuff to you, those of you who are younger. But these, all these reminders that I was given, this is Moses telling these people who he has done life with, who he has seen miracles with, who he has seen and heard complaint, who he has complained about, all of these things. He's now telling them. Hey, guys, before you and I part, remember these lessons, keep them close. Tell one another, the story of our history. Tell one another the stories of God's providence, so that your lives will be long from generation to generation to generation. There's something about the sharing of this story in particular, that stands, that stands out to me. There's a story, it matters. It's matters to future generations.

Those of us who are students here at Tyndale, we're not only here because of academics and because of faculty, we're here because someone told us a story about the school. We're here because somebody was here, and they had an excellent time learning, and being a community, and they said, if you're looking for higher education, you should check out Tyndale. And we came to an open house. We came to an event like this, we came in we walked through the campus, we went on the website and we decided to give it a shot and then we had a great time. And then what did we do? We went, we told somebody else, told somebody else, told somebody else. The past, the present, the future of a school like this is on story. It's on people knowing who the school is, what the school does, and then us telling other people. Sharing the story matters. It impacts us now and it sets up a hopeful future to come.

Black History Month is all about sharing story. It is all about telling story. Much of black history has been passed down via story, despite many attempts from culture, and the world to prevent that from happening. We saw that in the erasing our original languages and cultures during the arrival of African slaves in North America and around the world, we saw that in the separating of family lines. And we even see that now in the potential blocking of classes in Florida at the hands of government. There's a fear sometimes for some of what happens if we continue to tell our story. Well, if you tell the story, people are emboldened and they are given confidence because they know that they are a part of something bigger than themselves. There is joy in the story. There's pain in the story. But there is confidence, and a growth, and a getting over and getting by and getting through in the black experience story. It is important that we tell the story. Just yesterday, I was sitting with my my family at dinner, and my kids, my kids, they love February, but they don't love February because they know they're going to hear "And there's another thing that happened to us back in the day", like they know that it's gonna come from me all the time. Because it's important that they are at the age and stage now that they know the story of of their heritage, that they know the story of, of two parents who immigrated to Canada from Barbados, and then built a life here, and had two kids in Montreal, and one grew up to be really, really, really great. And the other one's my sister, and they, they knew that. She's not here, she can, she can nothing she can do about that. But they need to know the story of the struggle that my parents had. Integrating into a French speaking culture, having accents that didn't understand the language, and finding homes, and finding life, and finding friendships, and finding culture among themselves. They need to learn that, that my parents stories connected to a deeper story that's connected to a deeper story. And the fact that my parents still smile and stuff, confidence is a beauty in them hearing that story. And then hearing me complain about how Beyonce didn't win Album of the Year at the Grammys was a whole other thing. A whole other thing. Story, it matters. Because when you know that you're a part of the story, you know that you're in something bigger than yourself, and you know that you actually represent something. My dad would always say, when you leave this house, you do not just represent yourself, you have my last name. So you represent me, you represent your mother, you represent your family. So carry that with you. And as people of colour, we recognize that wherever we go, whether we like it or not, we represent each and every one of each other. And everywhere that we go, we represent the stories, so telling the story matters. Why should we tell this story, the story of pain, the story of triumph over evil, the story of travel, the story of building and breaking down and rebuilding.

We tell the story so that people can meet new heroes, learn new lessons, and see how the past can inspire the future. There are so many men and women who have been represented in our story, who people don't get to hear about. I often think about the people, heroes in black culture, who my kids still haven't met yet, who I'm looking forward to them to meet as they get older. They can learn that these people were able to overcome something great. And if they did, so can you. The setting may be different, the language may be different, but good and evil are still the same. And I'm thankful to know that good always triumphs over evil, always. And to allow, and inspire our kids to know that is important. We tell them about these these years, we tell them about the lessons that have been learned. And we tell them that what we've gone through hasn't stopped us from being able to continue to go through. There's a value in telling people that.

Second reason why we share the story is so that outsiders have a deeper understanding of what their neighbours went through to get here, and still have to go through, in order to move ahead. I know that for some there is a slight annoyance of "Why do we need to have a black history month". Right? Why do we need this? We know, we have this person and LeBron James. You don't need to learn anything. We know everything that we need to know.

There's more than just athletes and pop culture. There are inventors, and writers, and scientists, and speakers, and all sorts of things, all sorts of people who have done amazing things within black culture. If, it's important for you to know that we're all different, that we all have different stories. We have things that unite us. And we have things that we disagree about, even within our own culture. It's valuable that those who are on the outside looking in have an understanding of who we are, of why we think a certain way of why we feel a certain way on why we're certain things we will get really excited about. And other things, we have a little bit of trepidation over, why we laugh at certain things and not laugh at certain things. Why we take things very seriously and sacred, to have an understanding of what we've gone through as a people, to have an understanding of what we go through continually, even now in 2013(?). And to help kind of clear the path, to make it safer for future generations in terms of what they go through. I am thankful for the shoulders I've gotten to stand on. I am thankful for men and women who went through so much harder, for me to be able to do what I do, so that I can then be a shoulder for my kids and their friends to stand on. And on and on. And on. It goes. As we share the story, we continue to tell how God has been good all the time, and all the time God has been good. So there's a competence know that if he was with them, then he'll be with us now. That's what Moses was trying to tell the people of Israel, remember who God was then, so that when you face pain, in the in the future, that same God is with you. Tell the story, so you're reminded of how good God is in the midst.

One commentary puts it this way, "Only by letting God's word invade every area of their lives and homes, and by diligently teaching them to their children could the nation hope to escape the seduction of false worship and find permanent prosperity in the land promise, the land of promise given by the Lord, on oath to their forefathers?" There's a, there, there's a seduction for us is cynicism, is fear, is closing off. Those are the idols that are so easily grabbed hold of. But when we tell the story, we tell the story. We open ourselves up to the possibility that God can. We open ourselves up to the possibility that God does, and we open up the possibility that God will. And so my hope for all of us here, in this space, is that we're sharing the story, that if you are a non-black person, that you're asking about the story, that you're researching the story, not so that you can say, "Well, what about this?", but you can say well, how can I learn more? How can I care more. And if you are like me, a minority within your own culture, that you are proud of the heritage that you have, that you are proud of the story that you are a part of, you are proud that somebody cleared the way for you to make it this far. And if you've made it this far, so you can in turn one day, clear the way for somebody else make it a little bit further than you. As we share these stories we learn together about ourselves and each other. We are not bound to our past, but we are connected to it as we attempt to, with the Spirits help impact our present, in order to clear paths for a brighter future, where days will be many. There is a beauty in the story, if we were willing to remember it. And if we were willing to share it.

Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, we thank you, we thank you for the gift of story. We thank you that we get to be a part of your great story. Your great story of setting the world right. And in the middle of the, in the midst of that story. There are other stories being told. I thank you for for the story that you've allowed me to be a part of and my friends, and may we be willing to share that story with others, may we be willing to learn it if we don't know it, and may we be inspired to be proud of the stories that we represent. As we go from from this place, as we go into other areas of life today. I pray that that desire to learn, that desire to share, the desire to be in community with one another would just permeate everything that we do, that we would see one another differently. That we look at one another with care and concern, and a willingness to learn, and a willingness to, to inspire and encourage one another. May the God Himself the God of peace, sanctify you through and through, may His whole spirit, soul and body, your whole spiritual and bodily be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus. The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it. Amen and Amen. Have a great afternoon friends