Greed; the Publicly Popular Deadly Sin

8 Pentecost, Cp13 July 31, 2022

Ecclesiastes 1:2,12-14;2:18-23  Psalm 107:1-9,43

Col. 3:1-11  Luke 12:13-21

 

 

Why are there so many different kinds of 12 step programs today?  Probably because impulse control can be difficult.

 

Impulse control is perhaps the chief task of human life.  Some might think that the reason people like to be intelligent, wealthy, and powerful is because then you don’t need impulse control since you can get away with anything that you do.  That is the life of a dictator.  It is also the attempted lifestyle of a very petulant child.

 

How does one have wealth, intelligence, and power?  The book of Ecclesiastes is wisdom writing about one who had a grand experiment in wealth, intelligence, and power.  He had everything which his heart desired.  And he concluded, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”  He is perhaps the chief skeptic found in biblical writings.  He realized after all that he had, knew, and did was time dated.  He could not take it with into the afterlife.  He would have to leave everything to people who perhaps were not worthy to receive it.  His conclusion was this: Fear God, that is come to know God as the Awesome One, who has duration on all us, and outlives us all to retain final ownership of everything.

 

Twelve step programs revolve around the controlled use of basic life force or power, differently named.  Desire, libido, lust, wrath, or greed.  What is the etymology of misdirected life force?  It is what not fearing God is, namely, idolatry.  Idolatry is trying to treat and respect something in life which cannot live up to the profound uniqueness of a holy God.  It is being devoted to something with continuous repetitive behaviors which is not and can never be the only great God truly worthy of worship.  In behaviors, extreme idolatry is what is called addiction.  Addiction involves ingrained habitual behaviors which involve trying to make something be what it cannot be, namely, the one and awesome holy God.

 

Have you noticed that in public sentiment, not all addictions are equal in how they are regarded?  We consider things like alcohol and substance abuse as being socially and personally destructive behaviors.  But what serious addiction is seen as publicly celebrated?  The idolatry known as greed.  Forbes magazine celebrates those who have attained the most in money and possession in their list of the wealthiest.  Greed is one of the so-called deadly sins, but in fact those who have been greediest are sometimes the most celebrated people in society.  We don’t greed shame the wealthiest people, even as people often “fat shame” the gluttons of life.

 

And yet greed is perhaps the most harmful idolatry of the human community.  The biggest problem in our world is that not everyone in our world has enough because a very few people have taken so much and have not learned to fear God enough so as to make sure that everyone has enough.

 

Karl Marx saw this and came to believe that was only through the power of revolt the power of greed could overcome; unfortunately, all the members of society were not angelic, and the party bosses became the new greedy.  Capitalism is kind of based upon the acceptance of the sin of each person being self-interestedly greedy.  So, what does one do in capitalism?  One tries to legislate and trick the greedy impulse for publicly redeeming outcomes.  And how successful has that been?  Well, the top one percent own 60 to 70 percent of the overall wealth of society.

 

Now what does St. Paul recommend regarding evil desire and the greed of idolatry?  If sin comes to all people, Jews, Gentile, men, and women, is there a cure which is available for evil desire, greed, and all the froward human impulses?  St. Paul had been a good religious man, Saul of Tarsus, but his religious fervor included the desire to punish and even kill the followers of Jesus Christ who were not religious in that way that he was.  His behaviors were interdicted in the event of his famous conversion.  He came to recommend a program of transformation which he called identity with the life of Jesus Christ.  In this spiritual program, one accepted the power of the death of Jesus on the cross to die to the evil control center of desire and one’s life forces.  But not just die; he recommended identity with the resurrection power of Jesus Christ, whereby one received the Holy Spirit of God as the new regulating center of life.  The Holy Spirit is the one who can make evil and harmful desire into good desire, the kind of desire which allows us to enjoy all things with joyful pleasure without being addicted.

 

With the Holy Spirit as our higher power, we are able to let all things be transparent, and not opaque idols.  With the Holy Spirit we can let our life energy pass through things with beneficial enjoyment?  Why?  Because we are letting our life force and desire return to the one and only worshipful God.  This is why we are here today.

 

We are here today to remind our selves, to die with Christ to our selfish selves, so that we and others can come under the high power of the Holy Spirit.  This is the secret, not to just over power and trick wrong desire, but to transform it for creative community endeavors.

 

The goal of St. Paul was to know Christ as all and in all, for in this identity with Christ Paul found the way of transforming.

We too can enter this identity with Christ and know ourselves to be on the path of transformation. Let us transform our desire to good desire, as we seek to find Chrst as all, and in all. Amern 

 

Aphorism of the Day, July 2022

Aphorism of the July 31, 2022

If desire can be evil, how can desire be good?  Surely, desire is the gift of life force which continuously propels us into the next moment?  For desire to be good, it has to be rightly directed in the love and affinity of appreciation for the gift of life, with its things, locations, and people.  But things, activities, people, cannot become idols which addict us and make desire evil as wrongly used life force.  The secret is to find the Holy Spirit underneath our desire so as to constitute it primarily as worship of God, and life force on its way to God can be the good and healthful desire of enjoyment of the goodness of life.

Aphorism of the Day, July 30, 2022

Ever notice how alcoholics and drug abusers get castigated whereas for the greedy celebrated lists of the most wealthy are published to record the Olympics of the Wealthy?

Aphorism of the Day, July 29, 2022

When life force is misdirected and projected upon objects leading to addicting idolatry, we use terms like lust, greed, alcoholism, substance abuse et. al.  Life force is named as desire, chi, and libido.  Life force is not bad, but it needs to be directed in worship toward God who is "no-thing."  We need Holy Spirit to direct life force so that all things can be "transparent" for our enjoyment and use, even as we allow Spirit to direct our life force through all things back to our Creator All.

 Aphorism of the Day, July 28, 2022

The writer of Ecclesiastes was successful at accumulating wealth of all sorts, and concluded, "Vanity of vanities,"  or perhaps the futility of presuming permanent ownership, because you can't take it with you, and one's heirs may be devoid of stewardship values.  It's better to just let God be the continuing owner of everything and gladly and thankfully settle into a stewardship role of care with the gifts that one has been given and developed.

Aphorism of the Day, July 27 2022

The consumer society's response to Descartes, "I think, therefore I am," is "I have, therefore I am."  It is existence as greedy lifestyle.

Aphorism of the Day, July 26, 2022

Greed seems to be elevated to a public virtue as if life is an an olympic competition for wealth.  Some believe that democratic capitalism is comprised of strategies to "trick greed" to make its energy serve common good projects so as to try to convince the greedy that the common good can benefit even the wealthy, as in, giving the masses enough to buy the bread and circuses which the wealth are selling.

 Aphorism of the Day, July 25, 2022

Greed is the complete lack of moral creativity.  If profit is the only motive in a "free market" system, then the very few amass the most.  A morally freed and creative market would make universal human care the sign of success.

Aphorism of the Day, July 24, 2022

The Bible present a continuous version of adjusting providence to fit the human occasion.  How can the greatness of God be upheld when things seem to be so bad for humanity in intermittent contextual settings?   Providence is an adjustment to the conditions of weal or woe, but mainly providence is an apology for the conditions of freedom which create the all of the probable situations.  This need not be like the mocking Voltaire in Candide, "whatever is, is right."  Whatever is, is because of the free conditions, and the possibility of future condition means that value judgments are merely contextually limited to the valuing agent in the moment saying, "I am experiencing what is bad, or I am experiencing what is good, for me/mine."

Aphorism of the Day, July 23, 2022

Forgiveness is the mode of living we adapt so that we can be continually accountable to the perfection which beckons us to surpass ourselves in excellence, even while we fall short of the ideals we confess.  Forgiveness and accountability go together because without adding accountability to forgiveness, we can be mere hypocrites, acting as though we have attained the high standard when we haven't.

Aphorism of the Day, July 22, 2022

Features of the most used prayer: Being a child of God by referring to God as Father.  Ask for enough food,  daily bread.  Ask for forgiveness. Ask to be spared trials.  It's pretty basic and we find ourselves asking for much more.  It is also a corporate prayer using the pronouns "our" and "us."  We are asking all this on behalf of "us."  Let keep expanding who we mean by "us."

Aphorism of the Day, July 21, 2022

"Deliver us from evil, or "save us from the time of trial," and "if this cup pass from me," are all words of Jesus indicating the normalcy of not wanting bad things to happen to us, even as Jesus knew that the world of freedom has trial and evil as probable occurrences, and with death as the eventual occurrence.  The scenario of the teaching about the "Lord's Prayer" includes a realistic view of what can probably happen, but a happening is only a moment in time which will be superseded by a future.  Eternal or everlasting life hopeful thinking means that the present and past occurrences will always be superseded by other events of freedom with the distinct possibility of something better.

Aphorism of the Day, July 20, 2022

The first words of The Lord's Prayer are "Our Father."  The one who says this is believing that one is a child of God.  People as children of God is a chief metaphor of the Bible even as people often live as though they are orphans, without any knowledge of such high parentage.

Aphorism of the Day, July 19, 2022

Prayer is like perpetual voting within the interior realm; we add up the prayers to tip the psychic order of freedom toward the values of love and justice.

Aphorism of the Day, July 18, 2022

The advice in the words of Jesus about prayer is "be persistent."  We may think that in perpetual "nagging" we might succeed in getting what we want, but it could be that persistence in wanting the right thing is how our character is formed to be right in our behaviors of love and justice.

Aphorism of the Day, July 17, 2022

Martha said to Mary, "Get up and help me serve food to Jesus."  Mary remained silent.  Jesus spoke for Mary, "Chill Martha, Mary is doing what is needed now."  And what did the church say?  "Let make spiritual typology out of Mary and Martha forever from one event in their lives."

Aphorism of the Day, July 16, 2022

It is a messy world often, and speaking truth to power even when we know that we aren't perfect still has to be done because our failure has nothing to do with the standard of love and justice.  Yes, there is more fruitful validity when we can more fully approximate love and justice in our behaviors, but we cannot give up the standard because we're not perfect.  This is why this "messy" dilemma requires contemplation in continually finding the place of renewal to "keep on, keeping on."

Aphorism of the Day, July 15, 2022

Be a contemplative activist and an active contemplator and do not pit contemplation against activism.  Contemplation involves an inner discipline of prayer; activism toward justice and love is the prayer of oblation when one's body language deeds are presented as active prayers to God.

Aphorism of the Day, July 14, 2022

If the God of Love and Freedom is dependent upon coercive religious and political authorities to "enforce their versions of love and freedom," is that not a complete contradiction of genuine Love and Freedom?  God's Love and Freedom is a persuasive Lure, not a coercive suppressive or oppressive force.

Aphorism of the Day, July 13, 2022

Seeing images from the Webb Space telescope makes one feel small and in that smallness one projects a Totality, an endless More-than-human existence, confessed from merely the human perspective.  Some persons project the Totality to be a Personal Totality because the medium of projecting is language which is a personal entity.  Is Totality a friendly place and if it is how can we make friendliness contextual in our lives?

Aphorism of the Day, July 12, 2022

Anthropomorphism might best be said to be linguistic-centrism, since we assume language and language use before we posit anthropomorphic practice in seeing everything through human experience.  In our language prison, we seek to speak/write of the extra-linguistic, i.e., everything that is not language.  In valuing exercise we try to honestly state the superlative.  Contextually in time, Jesus Christ came to be called the Word from the Beginning, and the image (icon) of the Divine.  The quest for the superlative in how we speak about the ideal involves the effort to articulate the specifics in contexts of how the arc of history bends toward justice.  This assumes though that one embraces justice as a supreme value.

Aphorism of the Day, July 11, 2022

The Mary and Martha story of Martha as a troubled anxious active hostess and Mary as the contemplating space-case are overblown stereotypes and simplifications.  Mary and Martha can model both personal differences between people and their callings but also the need for inner balance between action and contemplation.  It is not either/or; but both/and. 

Aphorism of the Day, July 10, 2022

Loving one's neighbor is not about who my neighbor is, it is about who I am as a neighborly person.

Aphorism of the Day, July 9, 2022

Good Samaritan Message answers the question: Does God require that I love outside of my own immediate circle of people?

Aphorism of the Day, July 8, 2022

The meaning of "neighbor" can become limited to people proximity or to one's favorite people to hang out.  I love my neighbor as long as they are quite like me, can be the the way in which we interpret loving neighbor as self.  The wisdom story of the Good Samaritan deconstructs any limiting notions of neighbor.  A neighbor is anyone who offers love and care.  A neighbor is everybody who deserves love and care.  Our world is full of lots of neighbors and our world needs continuous neighboring in the giving and receiving of care and kindness.

Aphorism of the Day, July 7, 2022

The set up for the Good Samaritan wisdom story is when a lawyer wants clarification on which people qualify as neighbors required to be loved by the law, "love one's neighbor as oneself."  The story exposed the lawyer's impoverished notion of "neighbor" by revealing that both the caregiver and the receiver of care are neighbors.  It is more important that one is being a neighbor by giving neighborly care rather than trying to limit the people one thinks worthy of such care.

Aphorism of the Day, July 6, 2022

In our world, neighbor has often come to mean someone who shares our own ideological proclivities.  The Christ ideal and the American ideal of humanity is that we are all neighbors, passively and actively, in deserving care and in offering care to anyone who needs it.  The parable of the Good Samaritan highlights the active and passive notions of being neighborly.  If one is wounded on the roadside, one wants care.  If one see one wounded on the roadside, one offers care.  Both wounded and care-provider sum up neighborly reciprocity.

Aphorism of the Day, July 5, 2022

When someone asks, "Who is my neighbor", the hidden question might be "whom am I required to help according to local religious law."  Can I morally get away with ignoring people who are inconvenient to me?

Aphorism of the Day, July 4, 2022

The Good Samaritan?  Essence of the kindness of strangers.  One who has not been on one's "A-list" can be the one who kindly saves one's life, simply because responding to need is the neighborly thing to do.

Aphorism of the Day, July 3,2022

It is easy to interpret Scriptures as being community identity building for a very small group of people within the specific context and then to make one's own current community the God ordained corresponding community.  It is one thing to find universal patterns embedded in biblical language which have human correspondence for anyone; it is another thing to falsely believe that we are the divinely ordained people who are precisely intended for a Christo-triumphalism over our own designated foes.

Aphorism of the Day, July 2, 2022

Time is what deconstructs in that meanings are shifted with the growing field of actual linguistic use.  More occasions of language events means that every previous language event gets altered/deconstructed by the new larger contexts of  greater fields of possible meanings.

Aphorism of the Day, July 1, 2022

Discovering something that has always been available for the first time creates the exaggeration: "I must have originated it."  The experience may be original with solipsistic overtones in being so individual as to be truly unshared with anyone, but such does not change the fact that wonderful things like love, preceded our discovery of them.  Solipsism is deconstructed by having being within language which is the most universally shared human trait.

Quiz of the Day, July 2022

Quiz of the Day July 31, 2022

Why is the Bible referred to as "Gideon's Bible?"

a. because Samuel Gideon translated it

b. Gideon was a biblical Judge who edited the Torah

c. Gideon as obeying God was adopted as a name for an organization

d. Wisconsin businessment decided to start and organization to distribute Bibles and name their organization after the biblical Gideon

e.a and b

f. c and d

Quiz of the Day, July 30, 2022

Who wrote "vanity of vanities, all is vanity?"

a.Ecclesiasticus

b.Ecclesiates

c.Moses

d.David

e.Solomon

Quiz of the Day, July 29, 2022

Of the following, what are Deborah and Barak known for?

a.pursuing and defeating the Philistines

b.serving as co-judges of Israel

c.singing in duet song about Israel and success in battle

d.fighting with faith, not weapons

e.all of the above

Quiz of the Day, July 28, 2022

The biblical Jael is known for

a. birthing triplets

b. being a friend of Deborah

c. driving a peg through the temple of Sisera

d. being in the army of Israel

Quiz of the Day, July 27, 2022

The Gospel record some of the last words of Jesus on the cross as being in which language?

a. Latin for the soldier's sake

b. Hebrew for the native of Jerusalem

c. Greek as the lingua franca

d. Aramaic, a leftover lingua franca from Assyrian occupation

Quiz of the Day, July 26, 2022

What does Ba'al mean?

a. owner, Lord

b. refers to a Phoenician god

c. can also be a qualifier of Yahweh

d. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, July 25, 2022

What is the Hebrew equivalent of "James?"

a. Yeshua

b. Yacob

c. Schlmo

d. Pincas

Quiz of the Day, July 24, 2022

The phrase, "thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever" 

a. is in all Greek versions of the Gospel

b. was in the Greek version used by the translators of King James Bible

c. is found in a translation of the Gospel of Luke

d. is found in the KJV translation of Matthew

e. a and c

f. b and d

 Quiz of the Day, July 23, 2022

Who succeed Joshua as leader of Israel?

a. Caleb

b. Eli, the priest

c. Gideon, a juduge

d. Othniell, first of the Judges

Quiz of the Day, July 22, 2022

Who is the first apostle of the resurrection?

a. John

b. The Beloved Disciple

c. Peter

d. Mary Magdelene

Quiz of the Day, July 21, 2022

What American woman who is on the calendar of saints was the first woman to lead the U.S. Army in war?

a. Harriet Tubman

b. Clara Barton

c. Sojourner Truth

d. Harriet Beecher Stowe

Quiz of the Day, July 20, 2022

Who organized the publishing of the "Women's Bible?"

a. Amelia Bloomer

b. Elizabeth Cady Stanton

c. Mary Daly

d. Dorothy Day

Quiz of the Day, July 19, 2022

Simon Peter is not listed as the sword bearer who cut off the ear of Malchus in which Gospels?

a. Luke and John

b. Matthew and Mark

c. Matthew and John

d. Mark and Luke

Quiz of the Day, July 18, 2022

Who wrote, "love fulfills the law?"

a. Writer of Epistles of John

b. Jesus

c. Paul

d. James

Quiz of the Day, July 17, 2022

Which of the following is not true about Rahab?

a. she was a former harlot

b. she lied to Jericho authorities

c. she is in the lineage of David and Jesus

d. some rabbis believed that Joshua married her after her conversion

e. she was the mother of Boaz

f. she used a blue rope to let spies down from her window

Quiz of the Day, July 16, 2022

Which of the following is not true of Joshua and his armies?

a. he fought 13 battles

b. Jericho was his first battle

c. Joshua won all the battles

d. Joshua lost at Ai

e. Joshua lost because Ai kept war booty

Quiz of the Day, July 15, 2022

When did the Manna cease to be supplied to Israel?

a. when they disobeyed God

b. when they arrived at the Jordan River

c. when they crossed the Jordan River

d. when they ate of the produce of the Promised Land

Quiz of the Day, July 14, 2022

Which of the following might be called the "gateway" to the Promised Land?

a. Mt. Sinai

b. Mt. Horeb

c. Mt. Herman

d. The Red Sea

e. The Jordan River

Quiz of the Day, July 13, 2022

Of the following, who was not involved in a "parting of the waters" event?

a. Gideon

b. Elijah

c. Elisha

d. Moses

e. Joshua

Quiz of the Day, July 12, 2022

Where was Rahab from?

a. Jerusalem

b. Jericho

c. Ashdod

d. Salem

Quiz of the Day, July 11, 2022

Which monastic founder is associated with a famous "Rule" for monastic life?

a. St. Francis

b. St. Ignatius

c. St. Francis Xavier

d. St. Benedict

e. St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Quiz of the Day, July 10, 2022

What might be feminist about Philip of Caesarea?

a. he had a prophetess daughter

b. he had two prophetess daughters

c. he had three prophetess daughters

d. he had four prophetess daughters

Quiz of the Day, July 9, 2022

Which of the following mountain is not associated with Moses?

a. Pisgah

b. Sinai

c. Herman

d. Horeb

Quiz of the Day, July 8, 2022

What would best characterize Matthew, chapter 24?

a. Beatitudes

b. Parables

c. Healing Ministry

d. Passion Narrative

e. Apocalyptic word of Jesus

Quiz of the Day, July 7, 2022

Why wasn't Moses allowed to enter the Promised Land?

a. Personal disobedience (striking rock instead of speaking to it for water)

b. because of sins of the Israelites

c. Because God chose Joshua

d. either a or b, or both, depending on which source from the Torah read

Quiz of the Day, July 6, 2022

About whom of the following is it written in the Bible that God hated?

a. Cain

b. Esau

c. Jezebel

d. Ahab

Quiz of the Day, July 5, 2022

Who was the Refuge Cities built for?

a. foreigners who came to live in Israel

b. accidental killers who needed protection from avengers

c. persons under threat over property disputes

d. women who were divorced unfairly by their husbands

Quiz of the Day, July 4, 2022

In contrast to the American system of government, the Israel of the Hebrew Scriptures would be called

a. a partial democracy

b. a theocracy

c. a monarchy

d. an oligarchy

Quiz of the Day, July 3, 2022

Who succeeded Moses as the leader of Israel?

a. Aaron

b. Eleazar

c. Joshua

d. Caleb

e. David

Quiz of the Day, July 2, 2002

Why didn't the Sadducees believe in the resurrection?

a. they needed to oppose Jesus

b. they opposed the Pharisees' teaching on the resurrection

c. they could not find support for it in the prophets and writings

d. they could not find support for it in the Torah

Quiz of the Day, July 1, 2022

Who said, "render unto Caesar's the things that are Caesar's?"
a. Paul
b. Peter
c. Jesus
d. Judas 

Sunday School, July 31, 2022 8 Pentecost, C proper 13

 

Sunday School, July 31, 2022 8 Pentecost, C proper 13

A lesson about Greed

Jesus taught a lesson about how the things that we own can own us instead.

We can become a slave to the things that we own.

How so?

When we buy something then we are responsible to take care of it.  Anything that we own requires that we spend time to care for it and protect it.

And so we may end up spending more times with things we love rather than spending time with the people we love.

We can end up by taking care of the things of our lives and not taking care of people in this life who are more important.

There is a judgment that will happen to everyone to test whether their life treasure will die or whether their life treasure will live on forever.

If a person teaches someone to read, the student will also grow to teach another person to read, and each person who teaches someone to read is giving an eternal gift forever.  So teaching someone is a gift which lasts forever.

If someone gives money or a car to someone, these things get spent or wear out or just take more time to store and attend to.  Things require our time and devotion and care.  And it is easy to take care of things that give us pleasure right now, but do not give anything to other people.

Being rich and having treasure toward God happens when we love our neighbor as ourselves.  When we love, we created domino effect into the future.  With love, we inspire others to love too and so the future becomes “rich” with love.

Let us remember not to be a slave to the things we own.  Let us see that what we own, we are truly in control of so that we can use all of our lives to love God and our neighbors.  This is how we create everlasting treasure which will never end.

Sermon on being rich toward God

  Once upon a time there were two brothers, Mark and John;  and they both grew up wanting to be great builders.  They studied architecture; they studied how to build houses.  And so they set out to become great builders.

  Mark decided that he wanted to build the perfect house that he could live in.

So he began to build this perfect house.  This house was built in the mountains where very few people could come.  It was very hard to get to and it took many, many years to build.  In fact, Mark was quite old when he finally finished building his perfect house.  And it had cost him all of his money to build this perfect house.  And after finishing his perfect house, Mark died, and he had only been able to live but a few months in this perfect house.

  And when Mark died, his family did not want to live in the house because it was so far away from everything, so Mark’s perfect house, remained empty, unused, and unseen.  And no one even wanted to buy the house.

  John, his brother also became a builder.  And John did not build a big perfect house.  John went to poor neighborhoods and poor countries and he taught many people how to build houses that they could live in.  And when John would finish teaching poor people to build houses for them selves in one country, he would go to another poor country and help people learn to build houses for the homeless.

  And one day, John too died. But when he died, he had built hundreds and thousands of houses.  And the people whom he taught to build, kept building more houses, and they also taught other people to build houses.  And so even though John was dead, he was still building houses.

  Mark built one perfect house that was not worth much.

  And John built lots of houses for lots of people.  And he taught people how to build houses and taught them how to teach others to built houses.

  Between Mark and John, who was the best builder?  Which builder was best for this world.

  When Jesus taught us how to be rich toward God, he meant that when we love and give to others, we are building things that will last forever and ever.  If we teach someone who teaches someone who teaches someone…then in some way, what we do will last forever.  That is how we can be rich toward God and that is how we help our world survive and be a better place.  Let us learn how we can make our lives good and useful for God and each other.  Amen.

Holy Eucharist, intergenerational and young child friendly

July 31, 2022: The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs:The Butterfly Song,If You’re Happy, Father I Adore You,  How Great Thou Art

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: The Butterfly Song,  (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 9)

1. If I were a butterfly, I’d thank you Lord for giving me wings.  If I were a robin in the tree, I’d thank you Lord that I could sing.  If I were a fish in the sea, I’d wiggle my tail and I’d giggle with glee.  But I just thank you Father, for making me, me. 

Refrain: For you gave me a heart and you gave me a smile.  You gave me Jesus and you made me your child, and I just thank you Father for making me, me.

2. If I were an elephant, I’d thank you Lord by raising my trunk.  If I were a kangaroo, you know I’d hop right up to you.  If I were an octapus, I’d thank you Lord for my fine looks.  And I just thank you Father for making me, me.  Refrain

3. If I were a wiggly worm, I’d thank you Lord that I could squirm.  If I were a billy goat, I’d thank you Lord for my strong throat.  If I were a fuzzy wuzzy bear, I’d thank you Lord for my fuzzy wuzzy hair, and I just thank you Father for making me, me.  Refrain

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Litany of Praise: Alleluia

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 to the Colossians

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 107

Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy * and the wonders he does for his children.

For he satisfies the thirsty * and fills the hungry with good things.

Whoever is wise will ponder these things, * and consider well the mercies of the LORD.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God!

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 Luke

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, `What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' Then he said, `I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, `Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, `You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."

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.

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.

Youth 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:

            If You’re Happy and You Know It, (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 124)

If you’re happy  and you know it clap your hands.  If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.  If you’re happy and you know it then your face should surely show it.  If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.

If you’re happy and you know it stomp your feet.  If you’re happy and you know it stomp your feet.  If you’re happy and you know it, then your face should surely show it.  If you’re happy and you know it stomp your feet.

If you’re happy and you know it, shout, Amen!  Amen!  If you’re happy and you know it shout, Amen!  Amen!   If you’re happy and you know it, then your face should surely show it, if you’re happy and you know it, shout, Amen!  Amen!

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)

The Celebrant now praises God for the salvation of the world through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration

Communion Song:  Father, I Adore You (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 56)

Father, I adore you, lay my life before you, how I love you.

Jesus….

Spirit…

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: How Great Thou Art, (Renew!  # 250)

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder.  Considered all the worlds thy hands have made.  I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, thy power throughout, the universe display.  

Refrain:  Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee.  How great thou art!  How great thou art!  Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee.  How great thou art!  How great thou art!

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.

People: Thanks be to God!