Having a Word Transplant

1 Christmas  A     December 29, 2019

Is.61:10-62:3     Ps. 147:13-21

Gal. 3:23-25,4:4-7  John 1:1-18

Lectionary Link

In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God.  All thing came into being through Him.  In him was life and the life of the light of all people.

This revisit of the creation story has always made me think of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan, the so called "Miracle Worker."

Helen was unable to see, to hear or speak.  She despite her impairments was a very capable person, but she was locked off from discovering her capacities.  She thrashed around being organized and domesticated by people who had their full language ability.  Her life was an interior chaos.  What could move over the deep of her chaos?

One day after repeated efforts of her teacher to sign into her hand; the association of water running over her hand and w-a-t-e-r being signed into her hand suddenly created her life.  She suddenly became a word fanatic; she wanted to know every word.  She wanted the full creation of her life.  In the word is life or John's Gospel says "zoe."  Helen Keller had life, she since birth had had "bios" or biological life; but she needed "zoe" life or abundant, creative, telling, spirit-life.  It is Word which create human life and makes us different among the other biological life.

I have come to believe that you and I are constituted by the words of our lives.  How we have taken on the words of our lives forms the character in that they have become the repetitive scripts of our lives that we live out.

We are at the end of our year and we might be pondering some New Year resolutions, in hopes of making some change.  How can we change some to the repetitive scripts that we have been living out?  The one's that we or others have come to call losing scripts, scripts which are not good for our physical, psychological, social or spiritual health.

Words are life.  Words are spirit.  Words are the driving scripts of our lives.  In John's Gospel, Jesus is quoted as saying, "My words are spirit and they are life."

So if we are going to be involved in changing our lives, we are going to have to have a "word transplant" in our lives.  We are going to have to dissolve existing word conditions which are losing scripts.  How do come into word transplants in our lives toward the positive change of repentance?  Through words.  We expose ourselves to new words.  We read, we look for new models and mentors who can give us new direction.  We practice new words in doing things different with our body language.  We change our dance choreography; we change the choreography of our body behavior toward health, love and justice.

Here we are; we are comprised of language, life scripts that we cannot help but live out.  And yet we still want something more; we want "zoe" creative, abundant life, beyond our biological existence.  We want to be explorative, even like Helen Keller who discovered that words were the creation of her life, and she really ended up having her life created very well by words.

Please make the year 2020 a Word year for yourselves.  Discover how your life and your behaviors are constituted by the ways in which you have taken on language even into the programming of your body behaviors.  Journal, write, speak, pray, read, learn, get in touch with the words that you have and how they use you for good and bad in your life.

How do you and I change our lives?  The best way is to have our socks knocked off by some new insights, new awareness when we come to say, "Wow, I'm never going to be the same."

This is what I hope for each of us in our Word life in 2020: That we will come to some very insightful "Wow!" experiences which will make life changes exciting and not drudgery.

In our beginning of significant human life has been the Word.  The Word was with God.  The Word was God.  The Word is our life.  The Word is our Light.  The Word is being made flesh in us.  The Word is trying to take over our body language toward love, kindness and mutual regard.

We see so much of dark human words and behaviors on display today in our media.  We truly need Christ as the Enlightened and Creative Spirit Word in our lives today.  Amen.

Sunday School, December 29, 2019 1 Christmas A

Sunday School, December 29, 2019    1 Christmas A

Theme:

A different kind of Christmas Story

If we say that Jesus is the eternal Son of God, that means he has always been.  So, where was Jesus the eternal Son of God, before he was born to Mary in Bethlehem?

The Gospel of Jesus gives us the answer to this question.  In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  The Word was made flesh…the Word was found to be in the baby Jesus who grew to be a grown adult man.  So, the Word, which created everything, lived with us in the person of Jesus.

The Gospel of John tells us about Jesus, the Christ, before he was born in Bethlehem.

Word is a very good metaphor for Christ and for God.  Why?

Word is the most distinguishing thing about being human.  People have and use words in a way that no other creatures do.  Words make us human.  The only way that we can know that we know anything at all is by having and using words.

Why is it important that Jesus as WORD AND GOD?  To be the very best human beings, we have to learn how to use words in the very best way.  We have to learn to use words to be wise, to know as much as we can, to speak with love and kindness, but we have to remember our body language too.  We have to have our body perform deeds of love and kindness.  Jesus is the Word made Flesh and though the life of Jesus, God showed us how we can create our lives in the very best way through the ways in which we use words, with our speaking and with our writng and with our body language.

As we begin the new year, let us make a resolution to improve our word use, in our speaking, in our learning new things, in our writing and in our body language.

Remember God as Word is everywhere, inside of us and outside of us because God as Word is Life and Light.

My Word to You:  Happy New Year and God bless you in how you use your words in 2018

Sermon

  Let’s pretend for just a minute.  Let us pretend that we cannot see.  Let us pretend that we cannot hear.  Let us pretend that we cannot speak.

  It is hard to pretend this.  Because if we had never learned the word pretend, we wouldn’t know what pretend.

  Maybe we should think about a little baby who is crying.  Do we know why a baby cries?  Can the baby tell us why exactly he or she is crying?  No, but we try to guess.  Do we need to change a diaper, or give the baby some milk, or give the baby some medicine?  Do we need to burp the baby?  Does the baby have a tummy ache?  Or is the baby cold?  Or is the baby too hot?  Or is the baby lonely?

  We try to guess why a baby is crying, but we cannot be sure why a baby is crying.  Why?  Because a baby does not yet know how to speak or to use language.  And when a baby begins to use language, a baby starts to become more like a grown-up.  Why?  Because the baby can now talk to mom and dad and to brothers and sisters and Grandmothers and grandfathers.  And so we always celebrate when a baby says the first words, because we know that the baby is becoming able to tell us how she feels.

  There once was little girl named Helen Keller.  When she was a baby she had a sickness and she lost her ability to see, to talk and to hear.  Because she could not see, talk or hear, she had no way to learn how to talk.  Can you imagine what her life was like?  She was not happy and she was very hard to care for, because she had no way to talk with her parents.   Her parents hired a teacher to try to teach her.  And it is very hard to teach someone who cannot see, hear or talk.  But the teacher used her hands to make letters in her hand.  But she did not even know the letters, until one day when water was pouring over her hand, the teacher spelled “w-a-t-e-r” into the hand of Hellen Keller.  And Helen suddenly understood what words meant.  And she was so excited she wanted to know the name of everything that she could touch.  And when she could use words, her life was suddenly new, because she could now talk with her parents using her hands.  Helen Keller grew up to be a famous and well-educated person, and she helped and inspired people who did have the ability to see, hear or speak.

  Jesus Christ is called the Word of God.  And from the life of Helen Keller, you and I can understand how important Words are for us.  Everything in our world is created with Word, because we don’t know what anything is if we don’t have words.

  Let us be thankful today that we have words.  With words we don’t have to live alone and be lonely, because with words we can talk with the important people in our lives.  And let us be thankful that God our creator made us special because we were made to use words.  And so today we use our words to thank God who made us to have words in our lives.  And we should be very careful about how we use the words of our lives.  Our words can create love and kindness; or our word can cause war and fighting.  Let remember when we use words; they are special gifts to us that God gave us to use. Amen.

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

December 29, 2019: The First Sunday after Christmas

Gathering Songs: What Child Is This?;   Go Tell It On the Mountain; God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and for ever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

What Child Is This  (Blue Hymnal # 115)

What child is this, who, laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping?  Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping?

Chorus: This, this is Christ the King, whom shepherds guard and angels sing;

   haste, haste to bring him laud, the babe, the son of Mary.

Why lies he in such mean estate where ox and ass are feeding?  Good Christian fear: for sinners here the silent Word is pleading.  Chorus

So bring him incense, gold and myrrh, come, peasant, king, to own him; the King of kings salvation brings, let loving hearts enthrone him.  Chorus

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany of Praise: Chant: 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 of Paul to the Galatians

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God..

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 147

Hallelujah! How good it is to sing praises to our God! * how pleasant it is to honor him with praise!

Great is our LORD and mighty in power; * there is no limit to his wisdom.

The LORD lifts up the lowly, * but casts the wicked to the ground.

Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; * make music to our God upon the harp.

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 John

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.  And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

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

Song: Go Tell It On the Mountain, (Blue Hymnal, # 99)

Chorus: Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born!

While shepherds kept their watching o’er silent flocks by night, behold, throughout the heavens there shone a holy light. Chorus

The shepherds feared and trembled when lo above the earth rang out the angel chorus that hailed our Savior’s birth.  Chorus

Down in a lowly manger the humble Christ was born, and God sent us salvation that blessed Christmas morn.  Chorus

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 God.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All  may gather around the altar

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

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: 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 :    

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: God Rest You Merry Gentlemen (Blue Hymnal # 105)

God rest you merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay; remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day, to save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray.  Chorus: O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy; O tiding of comfort and joy!

From god our heavenly Father a blessed angel came and unto certain shepherds brought tiding of the same: how that in Bethlehem was born the Son of God by name.  Chorus

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

S.A.T.-onics or Word Made Flesh

1 Christmas       December 29, 2013

Is.61:10-62:3     Ps. 147:13-21

Gal. 3:23-25,4:4-7  John 1:1-18

Lectionary Link

Katie:  Well, here we are again in the pulpit.  Are you up for this gig today?

Connor:  I’m not sure.  I’m feeling rather laconic, how about you James?

James: I don’t know if I’m up to homiletic discourse today.

Katie:  Puh…..leeze guys….You’ve finished your S.A.T.’s.  You don’t have to throw around those fancy words anymore.  There should be a special dialect of English for the S.A.T. test.

Connor: What would you call it?

Katie:  I guess you could call it S.A.T.-onics.

James:  So S.A.T.-onics is a special dialect of English that High School juniors and seniors are forced to learn in order to pass a test to try to get into the college of their choice.

Connor: So surreptitious, recondite, arcane are all important words to know in S.A.T.-onics?

Katie:  Yes and in order to be a college freshman, a group of people have decided that we should know some words even though we will probably never have the occasion to use them.

James:  So the purpose of S.A.T.-onics is to learn language for the purpose of passing an exam.

Connor:  That’s about it.  But I guess it never hurts to increase our knowledge about more words and vocabulary.  It is like a painter looking for more color combinations to paint a picture.

James:  It could be that Word and Vocabulary are involved in life itself as a great test.

Katie: The Gospel of John opens with: In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.

Connor:  This expression tells us that our human consciousness is created because of words and our language ability.

James: Using words then is the big test in life, even a greater vocabulary test than the S.A.T.

Katie:  Our language ability is what makes us as human being different from other animals.

Connor: If we are unique because of our ability to use language, then the biggest test in life has to do with how we use language.

Katie:  We need to learn how to speak well.

James:  Does that mean we have to have a big vocabulary?

Katie:  No, I think the purpose of the S.A.T. vocabulary is for reading and writing in an academic setting.  Speaking well means something else.

Connor:  Like what?

James: Speaking well probably means learning to say the right thing at the right time and in the right way.

Katie:  It takes our entire life time to learn how to do this.  Controlling our tongue can be very difficult.

Connor:  It can be difficult to speak the truth.

James: To learn how to speak well means that we need good models and examples.

Katie:  The writer of the Gospel of John believed that Jesus was a very good example to show us how to use our words.

Connor:  But there is a more profound use of words than even our speech.

James: What would that be?

Connor:  It is what might be called “body language.”

Katie:  Our bodies do speak a language.  Our bodies have something like a dance choreography about them.

Connor:  The Gospel writer said, “The Word became flesh and lived with us.”  The Word of God was expressed fully in the entire life of Jesus.

James:  It is very important that the words which speak agree with the things that we do.

Katie:  It is called walking the walk and not just talking the talk.

Connor:  Well, I find it quite easy to say, “Do as I say, not as I do.”

James:  Learning to walk the walk is the greatest word test in life.

Katie: Other names for our body language are morals and ethics.  What do the actions of our lives say to others?

Connor:  Once you think about it, learning S.A.T. vocabulary seems quite easy compared with the great word test of life itself.

James:  Well, it is about the end of the year.  And some people use this time to review what they have done during the past year.

Katie:  And other people use the end of the year to think about what kind of changes they want for their lives in the New Year.  Have you guys thought about your new year’s resolutions yet?

Connor:  New Year’s resolutions have to do with the great word test of life.

James:  How can we learn to say the right thing, at the right time and in the right way in the new year?

Katie:  And how can we let our bodies do some good talking in the New Year?  How can we let the good word be made flesh in the actions of our lives in the New Year?

Connor:  What should we use for the test of our word life in the New Year?

James:  Is what I say and do kind?  Is it creative?  Is it appropriate to the situation?

Katie:  I think this Gospel for today require all of us to ask this question:  How will the Word of God be made flesh in our lives in the New Year?  Let the love and kindness of Christ be our guide in the New Year.  Amen.