Word as First Principle of Humanity

1 Christmas B      December 31, 2023
Is.61:10-62:3     Ps. 147:13-21
Gal. 3:23-25,4:4-7  John 1:1-18

Lectionary Link

We can try to imagine a world without words and language, but we can only do so by using language.

We can observe babies and animals not conversing with us and try to imagine their "unlanguaged" states, but we have to use language to do so.

As adults we can try to remember what it was like to be in the womb or to be babies without language, but we only do so by retrospectively imposing a language upon our natal state and pretend to translate what we must have felt like or how we might have described our state of infancy when we did not have language ability.

We might even describe the state of not having language as as state of unformed seeming random void.

Imagine the frustrated void of the very young Helen Keller before she was initiated into the world of language.  Her caretakers could only observe her struggles and her frustrations and anger and they could only make her a passive person of their own linguistic projections, even with profound empathy.

The beginning or birth of her life in a poignant way was when her tutor, Anne Sullivan, initiated her into the world of language.  When her naming ability was released, she became a language user and she became the co-creator of her world to be known by her in only the way in which she could know it.  Ms. Sullivan has been called the "miracle worker" for her midwifery of the young Helen into words, language, and achieving naming ability.

If we can appreciate the event of Helen Keller being initiated into her native language ability, then we can understand perhaps some of the most profound words in the Bible: "In the beginning was the Word...."  The book of beginning, the book of Genesis, assumes that everything began with words authored by a Supreme Language User.  And God said, "Let there be light.....and there was light."  So the creation story is told about God as a speaker, and the Spirit who makes flesh the words of the Creator, makes externally existent the vast order of creation.  And between Creating God as Word Speaker and the Spirit as the Ultimate 3-D printer of the world, the Word was the source of all words, and this Word was confessed by the early Christians as Christ the eternal Word from the Beginning.

Rather than reducing sublime poetry about Christ to a crassly linear history of a world with a vastness that will ever leave us mystified, even as we think that we know more and better our little patch of that world, we can appreciate the poetry of the Christ-nature of all things.  In Pauline poetry, Christ is confessed as all and in all.  That is a poetically possibility if Christ is understood to be the Word from the beginning.

The Greek word for beginning is "arche."  This word can also refer to in Greek philosophy as the first principle.  Modern science in the effort to find a unified answer for everything, always, all at once, posits a big bang beginning as a way of articulating a basement starting point, but even then rhetorically we must confess that it is still "turtles all the way down," even under the basement of a theoretical big bang.

As people of faith, we are more interested in the art of living and such an art involves integrating the wonderful insights of science, while maintaining our side of wonder based upon the experience of sheer Plenitude which mixes the simple and the complex in an infinite number of ways.

As people of faith, we can appreciate the First Principle of humanity is that we have language; that we are constituted by the language of our lives.  We are language users in a way that makes us different among the other creatures and entities of life.  Other creatures and entities have their own modes of interrelation and communication which we can observe and speculate about from our own language perspective; but we know that we have being and knowable relationship by virtue of being people with language.  Language creates human life as we know it and knowing this should help us appreciate the insight of The Great Word being equivalent with God.  Or as the Gospel of John declares in John's Christmas Story: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

In this great insight, we can appreciate That Word or Language is co-extensive with what is none greater than can be conceived, as in the ontological definition of God expounded by St. Anselm.

Word is how the Everything, Always, All at Once, gets parsed into the limitations placed upon us by Time.  An reservoir of infinite words is worthless unless those words can have instantiations within the times of actual language users.

And so we have the poetic and philosophical Bethlehem in the Gospel of John:  And the Word, (that is the Word that is God), was made, became manifest, was funneled into a fleshly person, and lived dwelled with us.   This is another expression of the emptying of the Plenitude into parseable human portions and simultaneously human experience is elevated as a valid way to come to know the horizon event of humanity whom we can come to confess God to be.

The Word was made flesh....Word constitutes our inward life because we name the geography of what is happening within us;  Word also constitute the world of our landscape and our interactions with it.  Through Him (the Word), everything was created and has being.  This is profound first principle, to have the insight that our life as being human is founded in a unique way by virtue of us having language.

And if we are constituted by language, the art of living has to do with each person finding the very best voice of their lives, the voice to love God, to love one's neighbor and to love oneself.

The very best of Word, is still attempting to lure us to use and be guided by the very best words of our lives.   We are hindered in this because we have learned some losing scripts which keep us trapped into acting out in less than ideal ways.  

We believe in Spirit because we believe that the invisible world of words within us needs to be re-ordered and constituted or constantly relearned to be made better flesh in us in the body language deeds of our lives, even the deeds of love and justice.

On this last day of the year, let us commit ourselves to the process of the Word being made flesh again within our speech acts, our writing, and within the body language of our lives.  When we as a group of people commit ourselves to finding the Voice of the words of love and justice inundating our lives, we will arise to be co-creators in the tremendous work of love and justice which needs to be done in our world.

Let us commit ourselves in the new year to the best words of our lives, following Jesus who was exemplary word made flesh.  Amen.

Sunday School, December 31, 2023 1 Christmas B

  Sunday School, December 31, 2023   1 Christmas B

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 2024

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 31, 2023 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! 

Word, God, and Jesus

1 Christmas B      December 27, 2020
Is.61:10-62:3     Ps. 147:13-21
Gal. 3:23-25,4:4-7  John 1:1-18

Lectionary Link

I was raised in a family where the Bible was the main book, so the Bible has been in my life since birth.  And one could say that I have had a growing relationship with the words of the Bible.  And the words have changed in their meanings as I have grown and become better informed about the biblical contexts and about differences between ancient paradigms and modern paradigms.

One thing that I was not prepared for was for six words of the Bible to change my later life forever, and put me into another realm of understanding.

The life changing words for me come from the Christmas story in the Gospel of John.  But you say, John's Gospel does not have a Christmas Story, just like the Gospel of Mark.  How can the Christmas Story in John's Gospel change your life?

The life changing words for me were this: "In the beginning was the word."  In my graduates studies, I was reading about Habermas' linguistic constructivism and Derrida's notion of a person's life being constituted by having language.  It occurred to me that the writer of John's Gospel long ago knew that human life as it can be known at all, is constituted within language.  Language has an omnipresence in structuring every human experience of life.  Language is very reflexive; meaning we use language to establish that we are language users who use language. So the fact that we have language is hidden even in our own understanding of ourselves being language users.  This is what I would call reflexive omni-presence of language and word ability.

You may say, "O but there is a life outside of language."  And I would say, but you used language to say that.  One cannot escape language.

O but babies and infants can't use language.  But they are born into a situation of their parents whereby they are totally coded by people whose lives are dominated by having language.  So before they are active language users, they are passive objects of our cultural coding of their existence, and so they do not escape the world of word and language.

How does John's Gospel express this omnipresence excellence of Word from the Beginning.  The writer of John goes on to say, "the word was with God and the word was God."  How much closer can Word in the broadest sense of the total Language Effect get to God?  The writer of John confesses that such Word is God.  There is no greater expression of equivalence than this.

The other book of the Bible which begins with "In the beginning," is the Book of Genesis at the start of the creation narrative.  In the creation narrative, how does God create?  God creates using words.  God said, "Let there be light!  And there was light."  God and God's Speaking in the Creation narrative are equivalent in the creation of the world.  And what does John's Gospel affirm:  Everything that has come into being has come into being through this Profound Word.

We can understand this.  It is not some philosophical abstraction.  We can only understand the existence of anything and ourselves through the mediation of Language.  Things only have knowable existence because of Language.

So why are we reading this at Christmas?  Indeed, why is John Chapter One, one of the Christmas Gospels?

We also read, "The Word became flesh and lived among us."  This is how John's Gospel states the Bethlehem event.  How do we understand this relationship between The Word and Jesus of Nazareth?

The Profoundness of the Eternal Word is too inaccessible to human consciousness which can only have limited capacity.  The Eternal Word has to be reduced through a funnel and become limited in the life of a superlative Exemplar to give us the definitive Model of how we are supposed to live our lives as language users.  Jesus is where the rubber hits the road.  The connection of where Eternal Word become instantiated within a human person.  And this person Jesus came to exemplified what loving God and our neighbor truly means.  He did this with his words.  He said that his words were spirit and they were life.  He did this with his body language, with his deeds of healing and whispering people to peace and calm.  He did this with the sacrificial giving of his life for the cause of what is love and just.

He showed us, he modeled for us how we are to best use our worded life.  If we are going to get better in our lives, it is going to involve the words of our lives.  It is going to involve the inner scripts which we are acting out without even being aware of both good and bad body language habits.

At Christmas, it is time to renew our lives with a profound commitment to Word therapy, not just in how we manifest the word products of speaking and writing; but the inner words which constitute the habits of our desires, thoughts, emotions, volition.  We need to get at the inner playwright in our lives who is determining our lives toward speaking, writing and body language deeds which are not worthy of the scrutiny of Jesus, the living model for us.

Let us this Christmastide and in the New Year take stock of how we are programmed by our word life.  Let us look to Jesus to inform the direction of the kind of changes which we need to make.  And let us use the words of prayer to become our therapy with God to alter our lives toward more Christ-like behaviors.

If we can do this, we will know that our lives to have become the Bethlehem where Christ has been born again.  Amen.

Sunday School, December 27, 2020 1 Christmas B

 Sunday School, December 27, 2020   1 Christmas B

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.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

December 31, 2017: 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!