Monday, August 31, 2020

Aphorism of the Day, August 2020

Aphorism of the Day, August 31, 2020

The Gospel of Matthew channels the Risen Christ giving advice about church disputes with the affirmation of a corporate presence of Christ even when Jesus is physically absent.  Such is the "democratic" presence of Christ where members vote on actions and disciple.  Remember that the presence of Christ in each person does not guarantee that all member will agree on everything.  The presence of Christ in the gathering is an affirmation of conciliar and democratic practice and democratic practice tolerates loyal minorities.

Aphorism of the Day, August 30, 2020

One of the difficulty for American Christians to claim authentic identity with New Testament Christian, is due to the fact that we have lived in the aftermath of Empire Christianity.   Jesus and the Jesus Movement were on the losing side in terms of earthly power and privilege.  American Christianity has had a hard time of identifying with the various "losers" of power and privilege in the realm of Empire Christianity.  We need a good dose of liberation theology: A discourse and practice on behalf of the poor and marginalized.

Aphorism of the Day, August 29, 2020

Peter was not so sure that he wanted a suffering servant Messiah.  Most of the churches who were "beneficiaries" of the favored status of being the "Empire" religion prefer a Caesar Messiah who gives us "the majority" religious group special favors.  We have forgotten that the Jesus Movement derived from the suffering servant.  It makes the crucible which generated liberation theology even more authentic in being connected with our Suffering Servant Messiah.

Aphorism of the Day, August 28, 2020

The confession of Peter, followed by Jesus' explanation about being a suffering servant, followed by Peter's correction of the Messiah about the meaning of the Messiah, followed by the rebuke of Jesus about Peter being on the side of Satan, IS a continuing dynamic within the history of the church.  Some desire a Caesar Messiah, a Christendom where the church is wedded to the wealth and power of a society.  Not many really want a suffering servant Messiah of public suffering and having to settle for interior triumph of Holy Spirit enduring power to suffering and relieve the sufferings of others whenever one can.

Aphorism of the Day, August 27, 2020

Son of Man?  Used a lot in the words of Jesus in the Gospel.  The title has only slight precedent in "canonical" texts, namely, the Book of Daniel.  The more expansive precedent is in the non-canonical book of Enoch.  How can the title have such significance and not derive from a "canonical" book?  It certainly means one must consider the "apocalyptic" context which defines the crucible of Jesus and the forming Jesus Movement.

Aphorism of the Day, August 26, 2020

Losing one's life to save it was the method of Christian education also known as repentance, metanoia, the "after mind, the new mind," or as St. Paul called it the renewal of one's mind.  So one dies to one's former "soul-life" or pseuche in order to take on an new state of "soul-life" in the renewal outcome.  This is spiritual process of transformation that has common meaning in the words of Jesus about taking of one's cross and in the words of Paul about being "crucified and risen" with Christ.  

Aphorism of the Day,  August 25, 2020

One might assume that "take up one's cross" became a short hand phrase for the attending metaphors of identity with the death of Christ as a spiritual method of checking one's ego at the door and allowing God's Spirit to over come evil with good.

Aphorism of the Day, August 24, 2020

A disciple like Peter allowed himself to be presented or was presented as one who had been inspired to confess Jesus as the Messiah, but then was immediately rebuked as a voice of Satan when he would not let a suffering Jesus be the Messiah that he envisioned.  One has to appreciate the division over how the life of the Messiah would be instantiated to understand the breakdown of the Jesus Movement and the synagogue.  Matthew's Gospel presents the dialogue of Jesus and Peter to exemplify this roots of this division.  Even Peter, himself who confessed Jesus as the Messiah, did not understand how he would be the Messiah, viz., the route of the Suffering Servant.

Aphorism of the Day, August 23, 2020

Having Word, we come into understanding of the vast order of differences and some word discourses cannot tolerate contradictions due to difference, even while Word is the condition of tolerating everything that can come to language.

Aphorism of the Day, August 22, 2020

It is important to understand that the Gospels are translations of oral traditions to people who are separated in time, culture, and language from the Jesus situation.  How does one communicate a "Jesus sayings" into a situation outside of Jerusalem in a time when the Jesus Movement had spread and grown and the writing of Gospel was proof of the institutional success that saw the Jesus Movement morph into the "church,"  ekklesia, meaning called out of or in secular use referred to a geographical ward?  Such a concept is somewhat seen in the notion of a parish as the identity of a gathered people in a certain geographical location.  The time of Jesus had no ekklesia but the time of writer of the Gospel of Matthew had a developing institution that was being called, ekklesia, church.  When Jesus says to Peter, "I will build my church," one can see the obvious anachronism that occurs in the translation.  Why?  The Matthean audience understood "church," and they had become separated from the synagogue so Jesus could not be translated to have said, "I will build my synagogue," because that would have been tinged with counter meanings for the readers.

Aphorism of the Day, August 21, 2020

Why could St. Paul glory in the death of Christ?  Because he experienced in the wake of the death and resurrection of Jesus a seeming inadvertent intervention in his life.  The wake of life events of Jesus had a transhistorical energy of conversion and transformation and Paul incorporated the metaphors of the death and resurrection of Jesus tinged with energy into a spiritual program of transformation.  This mystical program was reified in the narrative presentations of the life of Jesus  in the communities which generated Matthew, Mark, Luyke and John, because the churches had so progressed in institutionalization process that their mystical catechesis was "hidden" in the Christ narratives as each "initiate" projected oneself upon the Gospel "disciples" in training, as the Risen Christ, through the Holy Spirit made groove in the soul-life of each initiate.

Aphorism of the Day, August 20, 2020

One sees in the Gospel the writers using existing language to present Jesus.  Son of Man was a figure presented in apocalyptic literature, both canonical and extra-canonical writings.  The Messiah was a figure who was selected by God and "anointed" for a specific mission, about which parties disagreed.  Some thought the Messiah would be kingly, military figure to intervene on behalf of the people who were looking for a Messiah.  Others thought that the Messiah, was anointed for special suffering, even death, from which he would triumph.  And Son of God was another title for Jesus, as found in a royal Psalm, "The Lord said to my Lord, you are my son, today I have begotten you."  We should not absolutize Christological titles; we should understand that language available for people under the spell of Jesus and the Risen Chris, was the obvious poetic way of people of time to speak of his excellent greatness.

Aphorism of the Day, August 19, 2020

The most "catholic" thing about humanity, about which no one can disagree, is that humanity has word and word has humanity.  Word is the "arche" or first principle of humanity.  Everything presumes Word, if it can be known or come to conscious.   Word is infinitely reflexive and circular, in that everything in the Worded universe is but the reciprocal interaction of word products, also know as signifiers.  Theologian often have devised cataphatic and apophatic theologies and forgotten that they are using words to do so.  Eastern monks can pretend to leave the worded universe in some profound silence all the while their very posture is thoroughly coded by having language.  Word is the big elephant in the room, always reminding us that we cannot forget the profound constitution of all life by Word, by language.

Aphorism of the Day, August 18, 2020

The traditional Anglican appeal to the sources of authority, Scripture, Tradition and Reason, are really only arbitrary cuts in the pie of Word or Language, in that they are all unified by being Language Products or Outcomes.  To deny that the word of Scriptures did not occur within the traditions of receiving agents who rendered them in text would be silly.   And to deny that Reason as language interpretation involved always and everywhere would be silly.  When Jesus is quoted as saying, "On this rock, I will build my church," one can appreciate the anachronistic oracular Risen Christ channeled by the preacher in the Matthean community interpreting a Christ-designated line of apostolic authority in the becoming institutionalized Jesus Movement to center upon Peter and his witness.  And much later the Risen Christ would be channeled through the "Selectors" of what would be regarded as "Scripture" for the churches.  So one cannot divide Scripture, Tradition or Reason except for teaching specificity.  Teaching specificity pretends to remove an element of synchronicity when in fact synchronicity cannot be violated.  If I try to remove Scripture as independent of Tradition or Reason, the removal for study sake still remains a function of reason in synchronicity with the other two.

Aphorism of the Day, August 17, 2020

Peter was shown to confess Jesus as the Messiah and then rebuked by the Messiah for not understanding what he actually confessed.  Life involves confessing lots of things that we don't fully understand, like confessing a belief in the "internet" and "atoms" yet lack precise and adequate knowledge about either.  Not understanding is the condition of the student or the disciple and it really is the perpetual state of anyone who wants to continually learn.  We confess that in America everyone "should have equal justice" even as we understand that not everyone does yet.

Aphorism of the Day, August 16, 2020

How could the Temple in Jerusalem be a House of Prayer for all people?  Only if it is a metaphor for everyone person being a living and moving temple dwelling place for the image of God on a person rising to be apparent divine presence.

Aphorism of the Day, August 15, 2020

Exceptionalism can be standing out uniquely in excellence in comparison with others.  Too many people want to be exceptional people of faith in comparison with other people when exceptional faith should be done in a harmonious faith choir where everyone is exceptional in harmony and each has opportunity for solos only to step back into the choir.   Being exceptional is the balance between solo and harmony, and we are called to both.  One should not over-value one's solo, since it exists to complement the harmony.

Aphorism of the Day, August 14, 2020

Holy books which are available to certain people can make them feel very chosen and exclusive and be used mainly to build an identity of separation of "us" from the "them."  And if one knows dogs to be the angry wild scavengers who come into the city by night, then the title "dog" can come to be a designation for the foreign "them."  The problem with the belief in exceptionalism, is that it can create the practice that many other people are thereby "unexceptional."  Exceptionalism and "chosenness" can really be used as a "divine right of arrogant" pride.  When we want to claim exceptionalism, let it be in the actual practice of justice, mercy and the offering of God's salvation to everyone.  Patriotism and nationalism can sometimes become the practice of the worst kind of exceptionalism which it does not manifest the practice of letting everyone know that they are exceptional too.

Aphorism of the Day, August 13, 2020

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "Salvation is from the Jews....."  The Jesus Movement theologian Paul wrote, "in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek...."   The Canaanite woman said, "even the dogs(the outsider) eat crumbs from the master's table."  The crumb she wanted was health for her daughter and she was willing to cross dividing boundaries to seek it. And Jesus said it was her faith that made it happen.  Faith is something that everyone who is made in the image of God can have and one must exercise it within the context of one's life where one is even if it means crossing artificial boundaries created by the habits of people not getting along with each other.  

Aphorism of the Day, August 12, 2020

Psalm 22: "Dogs are all around me, a company of evil doers encircle me."  Wild scavenger dogs helped to form the negative metaphorical use of "dog."  That a dog could even get close to the master's table for a crumb would indicate a semi-domesticated tolerated status for a dog.  The Canaanite woman who was willing to embrace "dog/outsider" status for but the "crumb" from Master Jesus' table was a faith marker.  She implied the greatness of Jesus was so great, that a mere crumb from his table could heal her daughter.  And as Jesus often said, "faith makes you well."  The Jesus Movement was about Gentiles receiving the crumbs from the table of those who had been given the law as a sort of prelude to be invited as full members of the feast with a seat at the table.  The history of the arc of justice has been the conversion of societies to remove the "dog/outsider" status from people and make them to be received as equal faith partners at the table of the faithful.

Aphorism of the Day, August 11, 2020


"It's not fair to take food from the children's table and throw it to the dogs."   In this wisdom dialogue of Jesus, the Canaanite woman was willing to take upon herself the dog identity as the outsider when she replies, "even dogs eat crumbs from the table."  This kind of understanding resides within Pauline thinking of the main calling was to Israel and in the failure of their stewardship with this calling, the crumbs fell from the table for the Canaanites and other Gentiles.  This is indicative of how "Judaeo-centric" God is regarded in the New Testament.  The New Testament writers were trying to understand and explain the genealogy of the grafting of the Gentiles into the accessibility to God. 

Aphorism of the Day, August 10, 2020

"It's not fair to take food from the children's table and throw it to the dogs."  Such a phrase is an invitation to a canine social theology.  We have used human language to deprecate both humans and animals.  When a certain animal like a dog was "ritually" impure and unclean because of its familiar role as a wild scavengers, then to use this "wild scavenger" metaphor to designate unfavorable people in human eyes and God's eyes, creates a canine social theology.  One feels compelled to rehabilitate a presentation of any persons as being "sub-human" as well as presenting a dog as somehow only being defined according to how a dog interacts with human society.  Because we use words, we use words in anthropocentric ways, human-centered ways; that is our prison.  One might note the higher regard animals attain in Hindu views where the creatures of "sentient" existence have the dignity of not being designated as unclean, but also the life dignity of being "uneaten" by humans.

Aphorism of the Day, August 9, 2020

How can things like "walking on water" be literally true?  When they come to language from persons of undifferentiated consciousness where inner dreamscape co-mingles with conscious life and creates the language of what seems to have occurred.  And it did occur in a certain way.  Modern science has riven the inner and outer consciousness and colonized both, segregating discourse as appropriate to each but not mixed except in the artistic presentation which involves attempts to evoke the sublime, because to initiate an experience of the sublime is seen to be another order of truth which can exist alongside of scientific truths.  If we read the Bible from the position of riven consciousness of scientific discourse, and force biblical discourse to follow the truth standards of science, then we will mock the Bible.  What many biblical skeptics are doing is mocking the wrong presentations of the Bible by many fundamentalists interpreters who are "blessed" to have sublime experiences which inspire them to behave better except in their interpretative thinking.  They end up painting the sublime with the wrong paint of presentation.  And so their sublime is mocked as being "crazy."  What it is, is a language disorder.

Aphorism of the Day, August 8, 2020

"You of little faith, why did you doubt?"  Faith is about being persuaded about someone after adequate experiences of never been failed by the one who asks you to have faith.  The Risen Christ can seem to be a "ghost" and the logic of what is happening in the moment may make one doubt the ability of such a "ghost" to be evidence for having faith, believing, or being persuaded about.  Certainly we may doubt that the chief values of love and justice will always be prevailing in time, even while we must continue to believe that those values co-exist with their non-success in certain moments of time.  Just as we can learn to believe in another kind of safety, ultimate safety, aka Salvation safety, even when we may seem to be in direct harm's way.  Why, because Salvation is Ultimate Normalcy.

Aphorism of the Day, August 7, 2020

What is walking on water about?  It is about knowing that nature and its competitive manifestation with human duration of life, must also surrender to the passing of time.  Time and freedom mean that good and evil are defined relative to the specific contextual effects and in saying of the same it proves that Word comprehends and outlives all which occurs within the field of freedom.  So, accept one's constitution by Word as being hitched to what will survive as long as there are language users, on the field of the Big Language User.

Aphorism of the Day, August 6, 2020

In the Christology of John's Gospel, Jesus says that before Abraham, "I am," which means that he is taking identity with the ancient tetragrammaton, the unpronounceable holy name of God.  This is consistent with the poetry of Christ being Word as God from the beginning, whose word is "Spirit," and so such words can move over the face of the deep and calm a chaotic storm on a big lake and who can make every appearance seem to the observer as actual physical encounter.  If CHRIST-WORD-GOD is, then everything that can come to language is "possible" and in unique time-based situations can be made to seem and thus be reported as "actual."  This discourse of seeming, actualized poetry is a different kind of discourse than what scientists use for empirical observation, reporting and codification of theories and laws.  What is actual for scientists is different that what is actual in the poetry of faith.  Let's not confuse the two.

Aphorism of the Day, August 5, 2020

Having faith involves not generalizing the current crisis in one's life as being definitive of everything else in one's life or in the lives of other people in the world.  A storm on the lake of life co-exists with the knowledge that that storm isn't happening everywhere and isn't continuous in one's life.   Faith in Christ involves living with hope in time as the way to endure duration.

Aphorism of the Day, August 4, 2020

What happens when mystical entertainment of holy books, which comprise faith communities becomes discounted by persons of science who still believe in mystery by virtue of not being able to know everything and who project their fantasy aspect of personality on cinematic productions?  Religious people have felt forced by scientists into defending all biblical stuff as scientifically true and scientific people are excommunicated from faith communities to honor mystery in the Negligible, which they can't quantify, and further know the sublime in the discourses of the aesthetic which discursively  are removed as qualifying as authentic faith experiences by the practitioners of orthodoxies.

Aphorism of the Day, August 3, 2020

When one considers miracles and the conditions of freedom, one always prefer the "prior" miracle.  What is the prior miracle?  The prior miracle would be always being exempt from anything bad happening to us.  Which is preferably, getting healed from sickness or never having been sick in the first place?  Unless one is willing to say that one does not have faith unless one can prevail on God to always have miraculous outcomes, one should not meddle with the actuarial probability which governs what may happen within the occasion of human experience.  To have a hero who can guarantee miraculous outcomes is the teaching of an illogical aspect in order to promote the utopian direction of faith in affirming the normalcy of goodness and health.  The rhetoric of the miracle has moved into the imagination of literature and the cinema in our modern era.  We don't decry it there and neither should we decry it in the art of biblical literature.  It functions quite nicely.

Aphorism of the Day, August 2, 2020

In the story of Israel, Jacob is the last Patriarch.  He becomes the corporate person when his name is changed to Israel.  How did he become a corporate person?  With his spouses, he had children (grandchildren of Joseph)  who became the titular heads of the tribes of Israel.  The name changing event becomes the story of the sociological origin of a federation of people.  As any nation looks to history to cite events of origin in attaining identity, Jacob as the wrestler with the angel getting his name changed to Israel is the divine legitimization of receiving a "name" from God for the identity of one's federation of tribes.  Telling the story of national "name" origin was part of the "patriotic" inculcation of federation identity.  The mysticism of group identity, "esprit de corps" occurs with the ideology of origin stories.

Aphorism of the Day, August 1, 2020

One might say that "permissive" evangelism accounts for the separation of the Jesus Movement from the synagogue.  What is one willing to sacrifice in practices of piety to invite outsiders into one's faith community?  What manifestations in the lives of outsiders would count as "valid" experiences of faith?  Paul and Peter were willing to drop the requirements of ritual purity as crucial to faith identity and see the presence of "Spirit manifestation" in the lives of Gentiles as valid faith deserving the fellowship of the communities of the Jesus Movements.  Proselyte baptism and embracing ritual purity was the standard way of incorporating non-Jews into the synagogue communities.  Members of the synagogue believed that dropping the ritual purity requirement would dispense with being "separate" from the world.  Ironically, the words of preacher Jesus relayed in the Gospel were to "be in the world and not of the world."  The marker for not being of the world changed in the Jesus Movement for their Gentile membership; they could be uncircumcised and not keep the dietary rules of Judaism and still not be regarded to be "of the world."

Quiz of the Day, August 2020

Quiz of the Day, August 31, 2020


In what city were followers of Jesus first called "Christians?"

a. Jerusalem

b. Capernaum

c. Antioch

d. Ephesus


Quiz of the Day, August 30, 2020


Salome is the young girl dancer who was coached by her mother to ask for the head of John the Baptist.  Where is Salome's name found?



a. Mark

b. Matthew

c. Luke

d. Josephus


Quiz of the Day, August 29, 2020


Which is a more recent commemoration day added to the Liturgical Calendar of the Episcopal Church?



a. Nativity of John the Baptist

b. The Baptism of John the Baptist

c. The Feast of John XXIII

d. The Feast of Frances Perkins


Quiz of the Day, August 28, 2020


Which of the following were not written by St. Augustine of Hippo?


a. The Confessions

b. The City of God

c.  The Imitation of Christ

d. Christian Doctrine

e. The Enchiridion


Quiz of the Day, August 27, 2020


Monica was the mother of whom?


a. Augustine of Canterbury

b. Augustine of Hippo

c. Constantine I

d. Gregory the Great


Quiz of the Day, August 26, 2020


Thomas Gallaudet is associated with ministry to persons with which disability?



a. blindness

b. deafness

c. amputees

d. paralysis


Quiz of the Day, August 25, 2020


Who was responsible for ministering the restoration of the health of Dorcas?



a. Tabitha

b. Paul

c. Silas

d. John Mark

e. Peter


Quiz of the Day, August 24, 2020


Who is the Apostle Bartholomew often equated with?


a. Levi

b. Nathaniel

c. Lazarus

d. the Beloved Disciple


Quiz of the Day, August 23, 2020


Where did the confession of Peter about Jesus the Messiah take place?


a. Jerusalem

b. Mount of Olives

c. Caesarea Philippi

e. On the Sea of Galilee


Quiz of the Day, August 22, 2020


Who said, "The Lord gave and the Lord takes away; blessed be the Name of the Lord?"



a. the writer of Ecclesiastes

b. the writer of the Proverbs

c. St. Paul

d. Job


Quiz of the Day, August 21, 2020


What modern day country was St. Paul from?


a. Syria

b. Greece

c. Lebanon

d. Turkey

e. Israel


Quiz of the Day, August 20, 2020                                                  


How does the book of Job present the cause of Job's suffering?


a. his sins

b. a contest between God and Satan

c. the sins of his family

d. the randomness of bad luck befalling people


Quiz of the Day, August 19, 2020 


What was found to be in the House of God at Shiloh?


a. the Ark of the Covenant

b. an idol

c. Aaron's budding rod

d. the fleece of Gideon


Quiz of the Day, August 18, 2020




Derived from the Bible, what is the sin of the selling of ecclesiastical positions called?


a. the Peter principle

b. the Magus principle

c. Simony

d. the Judas principle


Quiz of the Day, August 19, 2020 





What was the name of the young man at the stoning of Stephen?

a. Demas
b. Saul
c. Junius
d. Simon Magus

Quiz of the Day, August 16, 2020

Where did the Canaanite woman's request for crumbs under the table make it into the Anglican/ Episcopal liturgy?
a. The Great Litany
b. The Penitential Opening to Holy Eucharist
c. The Prayer of Humble Access
d. The Collect for Purity

Quiz of the Day, August 15, 2020

What is something not held to be true about the Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic Tradition?
a. Mary bore no children besides Jesus
b. she was immaculately conceived
c. she was sinless
d. she reappeared under various apparitions
e. her birthday is August 15th
g. she was assumed into heaven

Quiz of the Day, August 14, 2020

What weapon did Samson use to kill a thousand Philistines?
a.sword
b. spear
c. animal jawbone
d. wooden staff

Quiz of the Day, August 13, 2020

What did Samson eat from a lion he killed?
a. lion flesh
b. falling grapes
c. fallen figs
d. honey
e. quail's eggs 

Quiz of the Day, August 12, 2020

Of the following, who was not among the first deacons?
a. Stephens
b. Silas
c. Philip
d. Prochorus,
e. Nicanor 
f. Timon
g. Parmenas
h. Nicolaus

Quiz of the Day, August 11, 2020

An angel of the Lord did not say to the barren wife of Manoah?
a. you will have son
b. your child shall never cut his hair
c. your child will be under the vow of the nazirite
d. your child shall deliver Israel from the Philestines
e. you shall name your child Samuel

Quiz of the Day, August 10, 2020

What is the the significance of Shibboleth?
a. it was magic incantation word in Ephraim
b. it was a pronunciation test to identify the Gileadites
c. It was a territory in Gilead
d. it was to expose the inability of the Gileadites to prounounce the "th" sound

Quiz of the Day, August 9, 2020

Why was the vow of Jephthah to God devastating to him?
a. he was required to marry a prostitute
b. he had to sacrifice a daughter
c. he suffered defeat to the Ammonites
d. he lost his leadership role in Israel

Quiz of the Day, August 8, 2020

Why did Abimelech ask for someone to kill him with a sword?
a. he did not want to be known for having been killed by a woman
b. he did not want to be captured in battle
c. he did not want to be killed by Philistines
d. he did not want to commit the sin of suicide

Quiz of the Day, August 7, 2020

In the book of Judges what is the talking plants, an olive tree, a fig tree, a vine and a bramble about?
a. a hymn or verse about an impending ruler of Israel
b. an allegory about the people of Israel and Deborah
c. a vision of a prophet about his role
d. a vine dresser opining about the superiority of the vine

Quiz of the Day, August 6, 2020

The Transfiguration of Jesus is not found in the Gospel which has the most references to Christ being the Light of the world.  Which Gospel is it?
a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John

Quiz of the Day, August 5, 2020

Who used the phrase, "universal restoration?"
a. Jesus
b. John
c. Paul
d. Isaiah

Quiz of the Day, August 4, 2020

What skill did Gideon's army member had to have to be selected to fight?
a. good archer
b. good with the sword
c. good with a spear
d. lap water like a dog
e. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, August 3, 2020

Who is associated with Mount Horeb?
a. Moses
b. Elijah
c. Elisha
d. David
e. a and b
f.  c and d

Quiz of the Day, August 2, 2020

What biblical person is associated with the phrase used to get instruction for the divine direction of one's life: "putting out the fleece?"
a. Deborah
b. Samuel
c. Gideon
d. Samson

Quiz of the Day, August 1, 2020

What was the topic of a song by Deborah, judge of Israel?
a. Jael, a woman who pounded a tent peg into the head of Sisera
b. her duties as a judge of Israel
c. the greatness of the armies of Israel
d. the King of Israel

Saturday, August 29, 2020

A Caesar Messiah or a Suffering Servant Messiah?

13 Pentecost,  A p17,  August 30, 2020

Jeremiah 15:15-21 Psalm 26:1-8
Romans 12:9-21  Matthew 16:21-28


Lectionary Link






The issues which are found in the Gospel are not limited to the first century; they still are relevant today.


What was a big issue in the first century religious communities of Palestine and beyond?  Was this mythological figure known as the Messiah to be a Caesar Messiah or a Suffering Servant Messiah?

This was one of the crucial issue which led to the separation of the Jesus Movement and the synagogue.

In some ways, the issue has arisen again in the history of the church, based upon the identity which the church has taken with monarchs and other political leaders.

We've been reading the Gospel dialogue between Peter and Jesus.  "Jesus, you are the Messiah, son of the living God."  Well, Peter flesh and blood has not revealed that to you, and on you and this confession the Jesus Movement will be built.  But Peter, let me tell you about the Messiah.  The way in which I will be the Messiah is to suffer, die, and be raised on the third day."  Peter could not accept this; he like many others wanted a Caesar Messiah, not a suffering servant Messiah.  "Jesus, the Messiah does not suffer and die; the Messiah will be great enough to defeat the Caesar, so Jesus, you have to be a Caesar Messiah."  How ironic is this?  Peter telling the Messiah that he does not know the true qualities of the Messiah.   And Jesus said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan who inspires this misunderstanding of Peter.  You are thinking in very human ways but not in the ways of God."

Historically, the Jesus Movement blossomed and took off.  But the Jesus Movement was not an army of people over-throwing the Caesar and the Roman Empire.  Jesus did not have armies to remove the Romans from Palestine.  Jesus was not a Caesar Messiah and the self-understanding of the Jesus Movement was that Jesus represented the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah who spoke about a suffering servant hero Messiah.  The triumph of Jesus, the Messiah,  was an inside job within the hearts of people.  When you control the insides of people, the success eventually becomes a social and external success.

And what happened?  The Jesus Movement eventually became the preferred religion of the Roman Empire after the conversion of the Emperor Constantine.

You and I live in this situation of contradiction.  We believe and confess a suffering servant Messiah even while we have lived as heirs of Empire Christianity.

The Holy Roman Empire and Christendom were essentially expression of Empire Christianity.  When the Church of England separated from the Papal Western Church, it was an Empire Church with the monarch being the head of the church.

The Episcopal Church had to separate itself temporarily from the Empire Church of England during and after the American Revolution.  And even though we supposedly have separation of church and state, all American Christians still live as heir of Empire Christianity.  We have lived as the majority religious group and so the government has functioned more on our behalf than on behalf of people in religious minority groups.

When Empire Christian became colonial Christianity around the world, how ironic that the suffering servant Messiah converted the indigenous people and the natives who were made to be slaves.  What is the result of converting people to the suffering servant Messiah?  Well, the love of God in Christ the Messiah is the offer of equal dignity.  So how can slavery and subjugation be justified in practices of Empire Christianity?  They can't be justified.  Jesus was the suffering servant Messiah so that those who knew his love could walk in wonderful human dignity.

But the power groups of Empire Christianity have not been able to make the adjustment to the true outcome of the suffering servant Messiah.

Today, we live in the aftermath of being Empire Christianity.  We can unwittingly live as though Jesus were a Caesar Messiah.   We assume that we've been on the winning side of history and so it allows a triumphalism which does not really represent the suffering servant Messiah,  Jesus.  

Can you see how the Risen Christ might be repeatedly saying to Empire Christianity, "Get behind me Satan, you are setting your minds on human things, not divine things."

Can you see how we still have before us the issue of the Caesar Messiah and the Suffering Servant Messiah?  In Latin and South American, when priests and nuns were working with the poor, they noted that the official church was actually working on the side of oppressive dictators, keeping people poor.  These priests and nuns read the Gospel and observed that the majority of the Gospel sayings of Jesus were on behalf of the poor, and so they generated what has been called liberation theology. 

In the Manifest Destiny views of the American Colonies, the invaders were Old Testament in their invasion.  They believe America was the new Promised Land.  This is why so many places in America have biblical names.  To achieve Manifest Destiny, indigenous people had to be run off their lands.  To build the colonies, slavery became the main engine of economy and work to help spread their forms of Empire Christianity.  But if you offer slaves and indigenous people the dignity of conversion to Jesus Christ, you have to really mean it to be true to Jesus, the suffering servant.

And for so long, we really did not mean it.  The conquerors tended to believe in a Caesar Messiah, while they were asking the slaves and the native peoples to believe and live the lives of the suffering servant Messiah.  Thus we have been plagued by two classes of Christians, those who inherited the positions of a Caesar Messiah and those who were forced to take the position of the suffering servant Messiah.

And we still live with the consequences of these two types of Christianities in our country today.

But let us be clear:  The true Gospel Jesus Messiah is the suffering servant Messiah.  And this does not mean that we are supposed to just accept servile oppression.  No, Jesus suffered and died in a adequate for us so that we might embrace and offer abundant life to all.   And the abundant life of Christ is the full dignity of the lives of everyone.

The Caesar Messiah and the Suffering Servant Messiah issue is about what is true about freedom.  It is a false hope to wish that some great intervener could end the conditions of freedom and force everyone to become robots of goodness.  And this is why we need to be true to the Messiah as a suffering servant.  We need to be able to live with all the conditions of freedom.  We need to know how to integrate suffering and death into a life of faith of living with the conditions of freedom.

And so what does the suffering servant Jesus the Messiah teach us today?    The power of the suffering and death of Jesus is the mystical power within us to die to ourselves.   And what that mean?  It means that we know that suffering will not go away in the free conditions of life which includes death.  The Suffering Servant Messiah teaches us that God suffers with us.  What else do we learn?  We learn that Christ suffering with us means we do not cause suffering to anyone else.  It is better to suffer that to cause the suffering of others.  And finally how can the suffering servant Messiah be triumphant?  When we use the power of the Spirit to alleviate suffering, when we heal the sick, release the prisoners, feed the hungry, and give the good news of equal worth to every single person.

May the suffering servant Messiah win our hearts today and help us bring healing triumphant power to lives of people who are suffering the most in our world today.  Amen.



Thursday, August 27, 2020

Sunday School, August 30, 2020 13 Pentecost, A Proper 17

 Sunday School, August 30,  2020     13 Pentecost, A Proper 17


Theme:

Take up your cross and follow me.

This was a saying in the early church.
Jesus died on the cross so that no one else had to.
The Cross of Jesus was made into a symbol for Christians.
We know that the Swoosh is the symbol for the Nike brand
The Cross is the symbol for the Christian brand.  We make the sign of the cross as a marking to indicate that we belong to Christ.

What does belonging to Christ mean?

It means that we live our lives as a sacrifice.

It means we have the power to say no to our selfish self in order to help and serve other people.

When we take up the cross of Jesus, we are asking for the power of God to control and tame our desire to live and do things just for ourselves. 

Think of examples of sacrifice:

Play video games or feed your pets.
Watch television or help mom with home chores.
Swing all the time or share the swing with a friend who also wants to swing.
Eat all your lunch or share some of it with someone who doesn’t have any lunch.

Sacrifice is the power to say no to yourself so that you can help other people.

This is what “taking up your cross and following Christ” means in our lives.

Sermon:

  In baseball, what does sacrifice mean?  What is a sacrifice fly?  What is a sacrifice bunt?  It is when you purposely make an out, so that another player can advance or score.
  Sacrifice is a word that comes from religion.  It means to offer something to God as an act of respect or worship of God.
  In the ancient time, people thought that God wanted them to sacrifice the life of an animal to help pay for their sins.
  Jesus came to show us the real meaning of sacrifice.
  He lived his life for others.  He gave up a comfortable life so that he could help the poor, the sick, the lonely people, the strangers, the children and the sad.
  So Jesus was a sacrifice for the life of others.  We know that he sacrificed his life for us when he died on the cross.
  And when Jesus said that we are to take up our cross and follow him, he means we are to learn how to live in a sacrificial way.  When we help others we are living in sacrificial way.  That is how we take up the cross of Christ.
  When you pick up your toys, you are helping your mom and dad, because then they don’t have to do it.
  When you help with house work, you are making a sacrifice.
  When you make peace with your brother or sister after you’ve had an argument, you are making a sacrifice.
  When you help others, you are taking up your cross and following Christ.
  Why?  Because God calls us to help each other, and we don’t need to have the attention all of the time, so when we share with others, we are sacrificing.
  A baseball player does not like to make an out.  But sometimes the manager asks a player to make a sacrifice to help the team win.
  Remember that many people make sacrifices for each of us every day:  Soldiers, police, doctors, teachers, moms, dads, grandmothers and grandfathers.  Many people have shared with us to make our lives better.  So too, we need to learn how to share.
  This is a lesson that we can learn from today’s Gospel.  Take up your cross and follow Christ.  And  we can do this by sharing our lives to make the lives of other people better.  Amen.


Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist
September 3, 2014: The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Lift High the Cross, He’s Got the Whole World,  Eat This Bread, Soon and Very Soon

 Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
People: And Blessed be God’s kingdom, now and forever.  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: Lift High the Cross (Blue Hymnal # 473)
Refrain: Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim till all the world adore his sacred name.
1-Led on their way by this triumphant sign, the hosts of God in conquering ranks combine.  Refrain
2-Each newborn servant of the Crucified bears on the brow the seal of him who died.  Refrain
3-O Lord, once lifted on the glorious tree, as thou hast promised, draw the world to thee.  Refrain
4-So shall our song of triumph ever be: praise to the Crucified for victory.  Refrain

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

Liturgist:  Let us pray
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen

First Litany of Praise: 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 Letter of Paul to the Romans
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God
Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 105

Give thanks to the LORD and call upon his Name; * make known his deeds among the peoples.
Sing to him, sing praises to him, * and speak of all his marvelous works.
Glory in his holy Name; * let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.


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 Matthew
People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?  "For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

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

Sermon – Father 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

Offertory Song:  He’s Got the Whole World (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 90)
He’s got the whole world; in his hands he’s got the whole wide world in his hands.  He’s got the whole world in his hands; he’s got the whole world in his hands.
Little tiny babies.  3. Brothers and Sister  4. Mommies and Daddies
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 our 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.

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,


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 Hymn: Eat This Bread, (Renew! # 228)
Eat this bread, drink this cup, come to me and never be hungry. 
Eat this bread, drink this cup, trust in me and you will not thirst.

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: Soon and Very Soon, (Renew!  #149)

Soon and very soon, we are going to see the king.  Soon and very soon, we are going to see the king.  Soon and very soon we are going to see the king.  Alleluia, alleluia, we’re going to see the king.
No more dying there, we are going to see the king.  No more dying there, we are going to see the king.  No more dying there we are going to see the king.  Alleluia, alleluia, we’re going to see the king.


Dismissal:   

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

  

Prayers for Lent, 2024

Wednesday in Holy Week, March 27, 2024 God of light, as it sometimes seems that the light of hope is being gradually extinguished in the dir...