Showing posts with label B proper 24. Show all posts
Showing posts with label B proper 24. Show all posts

Sunday, October 17, 2021

Can We Convert Empire Christianity to the Gospel of Jesus?

21 Pentecost b P.24 October 17,2021
Is. 53: 4-12 Psalm 91:9-16
Hebrews 5:1-10 Mark 10:35-45





The trio of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are perhaps three of the most famous philosophers in history.  Plato was so influential that the philosopher and mathematician Alfred North Whitehead wrote that the Western philosophical tradition is but a footnote on Plato.

The Platonic influence began long before the rise of  modern Europe.  After Alexander the Great conquered the world, a form of the Greek language became the lingua franca for the world, especially for business and administration, a sort of "dumbed down" version of the classic Greek language of Plato and Aristotle.

It is difficult to separate the Greek philosophical approach to life from their language and so when the New Testament was written in common Greek language, the habits of Greek thinking became evident in how Jesus Christ was presented to the world.

In many ways, the Hebrew Scriptures present God in sometimes fickled human emotional terms.  The God of the Hebrew Scripture gets angry, changes his minds about destroying people and the whole world, seeks to test Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son, bargains with Abraham about destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, and the God of the Hebrew Scriptures is said to be a very jealous God, wanting the exclusive devotion of people.

The God of the Hebrew Scriptures was not as fickled as the gods and goddess of Greek mythology but certainly there were presentations of God found in the Hebraic religion that seemed to make God, all too human.

The life of Jesus was a different kind of human presentation about God.  How so?  By presenting God in the human form of Jesus.  One does not have to present God as angry and jealous, if God actually appears in a human person like Jesus, who does very human things like getting angry in the temple, like rebuking religious leaders, like weeping at the grave of Lazarus, like eating, praying, resting and the message is, if God is to be better understood by human beings, then God has to appear in bi-lingual person of Jesus to speak the nature of God within human language and experience.

But the divine cannot be too compromised by appearing in the person of Jesus, and this is where the New Testament writer understood the inner, the divine, and the cosmic side of Jesus.  The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrew is an out and out Platonist.  How so?  Plato believed that the physical world was but the shadow of the Realm of the Forms.  The realm of the forms for the Epistle to the Hebrews is also called the heavenly.  In the shadow realm of the physical world, Jesus was not a priest.  Jesus was not a conquering king using armies to set Palestine free.  In fact, when the letter to the Hebrews was written Palestine was under attack by Roman armies and by the time the Gospel of Mark was written the physical Temple where the priests had presided was destroyed.  So the shadow priesthood of the Temple priest was over and Jesus was this cosmic eternal priest after the pre-historic appearance of God to Abraham in the person of Melchizedek.

Sometimes we may not be aware of how pervasive Greek civilization and philosophy was in the formation of the presentation by the early church Jesus of Nazareth.

For St. Paul and for the majority of early Christians, Jesus was known first in an experience of the Risen Christ, through the Holy Spirit.  So the Jesus of the writings of the New Testament is a Risen Christ experience, put in the shadow physical form a narrative of the life of Jesus.  But the events in the narrative life of Jesus, actually were presentations of the heavenly ascended Christ.  Each event of Jesus recounted had a inner spiritual teaching purpose.

The stories in the Gospels use the disciples as persons who were unenlightened about the spiritual significance of Jesus, and so they were presented as those who were bound to physical meanings.

The disciples understood the notion of a king in a very literal way.  If Jesus is a king, then we want to be nobility in his kingly court when he takes over Palestine and begins to rule. 

Jesus was not an earthly king; he was not an earthly priest, he was not an earthly shepherd; all of these were shadow metaphors for the spiritual meaning of the life of the Risen Christ.  The life, the death, the resurrection, and the ascension were points of identity for the people who actually never saw Jesus.  Paul, like most of the followers of Jesus, professed the mystical experience of identity of being crucified with Christ, being raised to new spiritual life with Christ, and ascending with Christ be be seated with Christ in heavenly places.  These are not my words; they are the words of St. Paul.  He wrote about the spiritual experience of the Risen Christ within the early Jesus Movement.

What do humans aspire to in the world?  They often want to be great.  They want to be first.  "Jesus, if we follow you, why can't we be great and first?  It is very human to want to be first and great.  So, if you are king of the world, and we're your followers, shouldn't we share in your greatness as king of Palestine and the world?"

The teaching oracle of the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark which were being presented during the time of a crushed homeland and destroyed temple were words about seeing things spiritually, and not literally.

We find this method to be difficult because we have been a part of what I call Empire Christianity.  We have lived in the world, where Christians have had majority status and therefore lots of clout.  When we have power and might, success and triumph, we are tempted to over-identify the kingdom of God with our being on the "winning side."  We can see so many Christians acting as dominionist; those who believe they have a God-given right to dominate the environment and the world.

But this is not the Risen Christ; this is not words and the message of the life of Jesus as presented in the Gospel.

If we have the blessing of power, knowledge and success in our lives today, how can we adapt the Gospel to our lives which was written mainly for oppressed people?

I believe that only way to save us from the cruelties of Empire Christianity, is to be people who use power, wealth, and knowledge to help the poor and the marginalized people, some who have been marginalized by Empire Christianity.

I believe the Gospel words of Jesus Christ challenge us about how we have been living in Empire Christianity.  If we are not helping the poor and the marginalized to full dignity in our society, then we have not had the spiritual awakening and the inner conversion to the Risen Christ, the one who was proclaimed by St. Paul and the early Christians.

The Gospel words of Jesus today are calling us to work to make the "last in society, first in dignity and honor."  This is the high calling of Jesus, and our failures are frightening and the task is daunting.  Let us be a part of converting Empire Christianity to the use of wealth, power, and education for the equal expression of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all of God's children in our world.  Amen.


Monday, October 11, 2021

Sunday School, October 17, 2021 21 Pentecost B proper 24

 Sunday School, October 17, 2021  21 Pentecost B proper 24


Themes:

God spoke to Job out of a whirlwind and stated the obvious:  “Job, you are not God.  You are not big enough or smart enough to understand everything or why everything happens.”

Discussion:

What do we do when we feel small?
How do we accept the fact that we have limitation?
How do we accept the fact that we cannot know why everything happens?

It should be easy for us to realize that we are small because the world that we live in is so big and great, it overwhelms us with awesomeness.

We want to know that this great big world which can be frightening can also be very friendly to us.  We believe in God because we believe that what is Awesome can also be friendly.

One of the ways in which we don’t handle our smallness is that we want to prove that we are better than other people.  Perhaps if we can make ourselves more important that other people we will not feel so small.

The disciples James and John wanted to have a higher place in the life of Jesus than their friends.  So they asked Jesus if they could be the closest and most important people to him.  Jesus reminded them that this was not the way to become important or to feel important.  The way to become important was to serve and help each other.  Because we are all so small in this Awesome Great World, we need to pull together and help each other.  This is how we can feel good and important.  We can become very important if we help others.

Jesus was called a great High Priest, not because he tried to be great, but because He was God who decided to appear in the small world of men and women as a Person.  As a Person he showed us that the Awesome and Great God is friendly, kind and loving.  Jesus was a Great High Priest, not because he asked to be great but because he was great in serving others.

So how can we handle our sense of being small in this great and awesome world?  We can know that there is a Great and Awesome God who is a Friendly Presence in our World and who gave us Jesus to show us how friendly God is.

We can handle our sense of being small by serving each other through love and kindness.


Sermon on “Me first” or “We first”

The disciples of Jesus were fighting about having the best seats, closest to Jesus.  And were saying, “Me first.”
  Have you ever said, “Me First?”  Do you ever want to have the best seat?  Do you ever want to be the first in line?  Do you ever want to have the biggest piece of cake?  Do you ever want to win the race?  Do you ever want to win all of the games that you play with your friends?  Do you ever want to have more toys than all your friends?

  As little babies we are born in this world saying, “Me first.”  As babies we need to have food and clothes and a house and everything given to us.  As babies we cry when we need things and mom and dad wait on us and give us everything that we need.

  So as babies, we always act like we are saying “me first.”

  So how do we know when we are growing up?  We are growing up when we get taller and stronger, when we learn to walk and talk and go to school.

  But there is another way that we grow up.  It’s when we learn to say, “We first” and not just“me first.”

  It is very hard to change from “me first” to “we first.”  If we have a younger brother or sister, we have to let Mom and Dad share their time with baby brother and sister.  And so we learn how to share.  We learn how to say “we first” not “me first.”

  When we go to school, there may be only two swings on the playground and there may be 20 students.  So one person cannot be on the swing for all of the time.  We have to share the swings so that everyone gets a turn.  We learn to say, “we first, not “me first.”

  Remember if God said, “me first.”  God would not have created this world.

  Remember if parents said, “me first,” they would not ever have children.  Because to have babies and children, a parent cannot say, “me first” but “we first.”

  Jesus tried to teach his disciples a lesson.  He said to live best is to change from “me first” to “we first.”  “We first” means that we learn to share with other people.

  We come each Sunday to this meal the Holy Eucharist to remember that Jesus is teaching us to go from saying, “me first,” to “we first.” Because when we share, we are all first and best together.

  Can you say, “We first?”  I will learn how to share.  Amen.


Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

October 17, 2021: The Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: The Lord Is Present, I Got Peace Like a River,  I Love you Lord, Awesome God


Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and for ever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.
And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.
Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: The Lord Is Present  (Renew! # 55)

The Lord is present in his sanctuary, let us praise the Lord.  The Lord is present in his people gathered here, let us praise the Lord.  Praise him, praise him, let us praise the Lord.  Praise him, praise him, let us praise Jesus.

The Lord is present in his sanctuary, let us sing to the Lord.  The Lord is present in his people gathered here, let us sing to the Lord.  Sing to him, sing to him, let us sing to the Lord.  Sing to him, sing to him, let us sing to Jesus.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Litany Phrase: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia
O God, you have made us! Alleluia
O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia
O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia
O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia
O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia
O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the book of Job

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements-- surely you know!  Or who stretched the line upon it?  On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? "

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 104

Bless the LORD, O my soul; * O LORD my God, how excellent is your greatness! you are clothed with majesty and splendor.
You wrap yourself with light as with a cloak * and spread out the heavens like a curtain.
You lay the beams of your chambers in the waters above; * you make the clouds your chariot; you ride on the wings of the wind.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:
For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!
For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!
For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!
For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!
For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!
For work and for play. Thanks be to God!
For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!
For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!
For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.
Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark
People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Jesus and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They replied, "We are able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."  When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.
People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:  Fr. Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.
Since God is so great and we are so small,
We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.
We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and
     resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.
We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is
     welcome.
We believe that Christ is kind and fair.
We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.
And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.
For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.
For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.
For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.
For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.
For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.
For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.
For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.
For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.
For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Liturgist:         The Peace of the Lord be always with you.
People:            And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering.

Song: I’ve Got Peace Like a River (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 122)
1          I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.  I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river.  I’ve got peace like a river in my soul..
2          I’ve got love…. 
3          I’ve got joy……

Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.


Prologue to the Eucharist
Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”
All become members of a family by birth or adoption.
Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.
A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.
The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you
And also with you.

Lift up your hearts
We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 
Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All  may gather around the altar

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;
You have made us in your image
And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:
Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.
And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph
And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.
Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat
  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  
  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."
After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory
 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. Amen.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,
(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)
Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.
Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.
As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.
But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.
Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.
Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:        Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song:  I Love You, Lord (Renew! # 36)
I love you Lord, and I lift my voice to worship you, O my soul, rejoice!  Take joy, my King, in what you hear:  may it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear.

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;
We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.
And His Presence has been known to us.
We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers
    and sisters in Christ.
Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the
     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,
As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: Awesome God (Renew! # 245)
Our God is an awesome God, he reigns from heaven above, with wisdom, power and love, our God is an awesome God.
(Sing three times)


Dismissal:   
Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.  
People: Thanks be to God! 

 

Sunday, October 21, 2018

Service Is Key to the Messianic Secret

22  Pentecost b P.24  October 21,2018
Job 38:1-7, (34-41) Psalm 91:9-16
Hebrews 5:1-10 Mark 10:35-45 
 Lectionary Link
I would like to tell you something about what biblical scholars call the "messianic secret."  Why is Jesus often presented as saying to everyone, "Shhh, don't tell anyone about who I am and this fabulous things that just happened to you?"   And why is it that the disciples are presented as people who can confess that Jesus is the Messiah but do not know what kind of Messiah he is?  The meaning of the Messiah is even kept from Peter and the disciples.  This is seen in the notions held by the disciples as presented in today's Gospel.  Apparently, James and John once regarded the Messiah to be triumphant political and military figure who would take over the world and this Messiah would need vice presidents and cabinet members to sit next to him in his earthly administration.  After all, the Caesar needed generals and administrators, surely any worthy Messiah would need right hand men.  "And Jesus, can me and my brother be your top leaders in your administration?"  The nature of the Christian Messiah was a secret even to the disciples who walked with him.

Now why was the Messiah a secret in the time of Jesus but not a secret to St. Paul?

The members of the early church understood the difference of the Risen Christ Messiah and how no one understood how Jesus was Messiah before his death and resurrection.  Jesus of Nazareth was confessed to the "the Messiah" but his contemporary did not yet know what his Messiahship meant.

How could Jesus be a Risen Christ Messiah whose community was spreading steadily and stealthily under the radar of Roman detection to become formidable household communities in widespread cities and yet he was not recognized as truly great in his own time?

The Gospel writers used this "messianic secret" explanation to try to show why Jesus became more popular after he lived than he was in his own time.

The disciples who are presented as clueless about the messianic secret were just like all of the Jews who remained in the synagogue and could not accept Jesus as a Messiah who fit their conceptions of a Messiah, one who would be a King like David and evict the Romans and give Israel back their land.

The disciples later experienced the Risen Christ; so the essence of the Messiah for them was the resurrection.  How could Jesus on the cross be understood as a Messiah?  He was the suffering servant messiah written about in the prophet Isaiah.

The suffering servant Messiah was also the one who said to be great is to be the servant of all.   Politicians are often called, "public servants," but only a very few actually live up to that billing.

The early churches as they grew in the cities of the Roman Empire were churches of people who knew the messianic secret.  They were a "suffering servant" church.  The house churches became micro-communities to integrate people arriving in the cities who were without the families and extended families of their former rural environs.  The house churches were Johnny-on-the-spot for the urban immigrants.  The churches gave them an identity and they received an initiation into the experience of the Risen Christ, whom they came to know as their Messiah, even though as Gentiles, they did not really have a "Messiah" tradition.

The early Christians, starting with Peter and Paul became a servant church; they saw the evidence of the Risen Christ  and the Holy Spirit in the lives of Gentiles who did not even know what a Messiah was.  Peter and Paul and other Jews who followed Jesus,  understood Jesus as a suffering servant Messiah. They served the presence of the Risen Christ as he came to be known in the life experience of many new Christians, Gentile Christians.  The early church was not a visible and powerful political organization.  It did not have imposing power on society, but what it had was a faithful, silent, steady servant mentality and this was known chiefly in hospitality to new people.

The servant churches of the first century in the Roman Empire consisted of people who had discovered the messianic secret.  They had learned that service made them great because it is the spirit of service which is most expressive of the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Service may not be flashy but it is always winsome to the people who need to served.

The failure of the church today is that we've become too important; we often live without knowing the messianic secret: Jesus was a suffering servant messiah.  We too will know the messianic secret as we discover the secret of service.  Amen.


Aphorism of the Day, March 2024

Aphorism of the Day, March 18, 2024 With language we have come to explore the behaviors of the world towards us in the continual development...