Fish

 3 Easter Sunday B April 14, 2024
Acts 3:12-19 Psalm 4
1 John 3:1-7 Luke 24:36b-48

Lectionary Link

We are used to seeing on car license plates the fish sign, as a way for a person to announce that they are followers of Jesus.  Indeed the fish is an ancient symbol for Christ, perhaps older than the cross.

The fish is an acrostic as the letters of the Greek word for fish ichthus, are the letters for the names and titles of Jesus:  Jesus, Christ, God's Son, Savior.

The fish is then a symbol of Christ.  It is a single word symbol.  Can we understand also that the New Testament and the Gospels in particular are many worded symbols to express within the early Christ communities the meanings of the life of Jesus.

In the history of the church, we have continually applied the meanings of the New Testament writings within our various contexts and we have harmonized and used New Testament writings so that they might be relevance in the many subsequent settings where people have been explicating in their settings the meaning of Jesus.

The modern setting for the reading of the New Testament has been the Enlightenment era which brought scientific reason to be the throne of the preferred standard of truth.  What is the dictum of modern science when it is expressed in the logic of propositional philosophy?  A statement or proposition is meaningfully true, if and only if it was or could be empirically verified.

And so the natural laws of science became the criteria for reading ancient writings and their "meaningful truth" status.

So scientists who read biblical narratives with occurrences which violate how we understand natural laws say these things could not have happened.  Christians who realized the truths of modern science have doubled down by professing that everything that is in the Bible is true using the scientific criteria of empirical verification.

This has created a double falsehood that has been devastating for Christians and for scientists.  A scientist believes that the fundamentalistic or literal ways of reading Scripture is the only way that Scripture can be read, and they end up limiting their notion of what can be experienced as truth.  At the same time, they might be moved by music, art, poetry and acknowledge aesthetic truth.  If they would allow themselves to see biblical writings more in the realm of aesthetic and moving truths rather than scientific truths, they could be poets and scientists at the same time.  Christians who say that everything that is narrated in the Bible has to have been empirically verified, end up agreeing with the limiting of truth status to the scientific model.  They give up the profoundly moving truth of story and narrative art.

Can we appreciate the false opposition which has been created by both scientists and fundamentalists between biblical narrative and scientific discourse?

Forgive the digression, but I would return to the topic of fish and Jesus for us to appreciate the meaningful truth of the New Testament writers.

The meaningful truth of the New Testament is that many, many people were having sublime experiences, moving experiences, and these experiences were given context and meaning within their communities as experiences of the Risen Christ.  What was the empirical fact?  These experiences were happening, seemingly spontaneously and mysteriously.  The Christian community had explanations for these sublime experiences, as different as they seemed to be.

Many different people can attend a live performance of Beethoven's Ninth with complete choral performers.  And they might each have and explain the sublime effect of that artistic event differently.  But that people are effected and confess a sublime experience is a verifiable truth.

This is how we should understand the continuing occurrence of people's experiences of the sublime with explanation as being the presence of the Risen Christ.

The Christ is confessed to be Word from the beginning who is God who became totally intertwined with human flesh in a unique way in the person of Jesus.

Word is the main truth of human life as we know it.  The Gospels are textual words about Christ as the word of God.  It is undeniable that having words is the continuing sublime presence of continuing meaningful life.

Gospel writers wrote that the coming to words of the physical world in our constant perception and conscious, is in fact a symbol of the main reality of life itself, namely word always being known in the flesh and the exterior mapping of our lives.  Word as interior is also life as Spirit;  Word is really real.

But we grow up instinctually and we come to regard the external world as things which seem to have a separate existence from the entire system of words which creates the knowing of the external world as possible.  The Gospel writers and writers of all ages use the physical world as a metaphor of substantiality.  If I can see, taste, eat, touch, and hear something, I take this to be the substantial evidence of its existence.

St. Paul is the earliest New Testament writer and he did not see Jesus in the flesh.  He had a visionary experience of the Risen Christ.  In that experience Jesus did not eat with him; Jesus did not eat, bread, or fish with him or drink wine with him.  But St. Paul believe that his vision was a sublime event which changed the direction of his life.  It was a profound word paradigm shift in his life.

The early followers of Christ were a group of people who had sublime experiences which they named as experiences of the Risen Christ.  The New Testament literature occurred in the Jesus Movement decades after he lived to create a community identity for inculcating the values which surrounded the supreme event of having an experience of the Risen Lord.

And that brings us to the Risen Christ eating fish as a spiritual literature of persuasion about the substantiality of experiences of the Risen Christ.  The Risen Christ portrayed as eating fish, is an appeal to our child like sense of what is substantial.  Would we believe something is real if and only if it occurred as a seeing, touch, taste, hearing event?

Eating fish is a real physical event.  Christ is presented as doing so to prove his Risen presence.  This is the early Church writers saying, believe the reality of your experience of the Risen Christ, in the same way that you would believe an event you witnessed with seeing, touching, tasting, smelling and hearing.

The fish eating story of the Risen Christ, is an invitation for the hearers and readers of the Gospel, to believe the really real significance of the many kinds of presences of the Risen Christ who is always already known as the Eternal Word which endless guides the insides of humanity in it interactions with each other and the world outside of each human epidermis.

Dear friends, accept the sublimity of your experience of the Risen Christ.  Amen.

Sunday School, April 14, 2024 3 Easter B

  Sunday School, April 14, 2024   3 Easter B

Theme

Jesus eats again with his disciples

Before Jesus died, Jesus had a meal with his disciples.  And he told them to continue to gather in this special meal when they gathered together.  And he promised that he would be present with them when they gathered for the meal that we call the Eucharist.

A meal is a time of not just sharing food; during the meal we talk with each other and we share our stories and our friendship.  When we eat together and share friendship we experience the very best of our relationship.

When Jesus died, he was gone, and he could not be seen.  But he promised his friends that they would see him again.

In the Easter stories, we read stories about how the friends of Jesus saw him again and he ate with them again to prove to them that he was really present with them.

He did this for his friends, so that they could tell the entire world that Jesus was still alive and that he promised to be present with us always.

Jesus ate with his friends after he was raised from the dead.

We eat with each other on Sunday and when we do we celebrate and we recognize how Christ is present with us, because we believe the promise of Christ to be with us always.

The Risen Christ is inside of us and we become the replacement for Jesus in this world.  Jesus, when he was alive could only be in one place at a time.  After Jesus rose again and sent his Spirit to be in us, Jesus can be in us and be present everywhere in the world.

Jesus ate with his friends after he rose again to prove to his friends that he lived after dying, and because he lived, we too will live again after we die.

Sermon

  How many of you have a body?  Do you know what a body is?  Your body is wonderful because it is made up of many parts.   Head, eyes, nose, ears, tummy, arms, legs, feet, hands, muscles and tiny things that you cannot see nerves and blood veins and vessels.  And each part of my body is me, but it is not my entire body.

  In our words we use body in another way.

  We often say that a group of people is like a body.  Why would we say that?

  Have you heard of the Army, the Navy and the Marine Corps?  They are the soldiers, sailors and marines who protect our country.  What does Corps?  It is spelled differently than we pronounce it.  C O R P S…looks like Corpse and we know what a corpse is; but we say “cor” because it is the Latin word that means “body.”  A large company is called a “corporation” and so it too is a body.

  Did you know what “we” are called in the church?  We are called the “Body of Christ.”  Why would we be called the body of Christ?

  Can we see Jesus?  Can we touch him and talk to him?  Is Jesus here on earth now to see?  No, he isn’t.

  When Jesus lived he could only be in one place at a time.  And there was so much good work to be done and so he had to leave and give his work to other people to do.

  When Jesus left, he gave his work to other people to do so that his good work could be done in places all over the world.

  And since Jesus only had two hands, he said to his disciples, “I want to use your hands to do good. I want to use your voice to tell people good news.  I want to use your feet, your mind and your eyes and ears to do the good work that I want to do in this world.”

  And since Jesus is using our lives to do his work, we are called the body of Christ.

  And even though Jesus is not here, we are here, and we are the body of Christ because we are doing what Jesus would do if he were here.  And what would Jesus do?  He would love his neighbor.  He would help.  He would tell people good news.

  So when you think about your body today, think about another body.  The body of Christ.  You and I are the body of Christ because we are to do the things that Jesus would do if he were here.

  Raise your hand.  Say this is my hand.  Say, “But this hand is the hand of Christ, as I use it to help others.”

  To remind us that we are to become the body of Christ, Jesus gave us a special meal…It is call Holy Eucharist, Communion, The Mass.

  And at our Holy Eucharist, I will give you some bread and what will I say to you, “The body of Christ, the bread of heaven.”  When you receive the bread, it goes into you and becomes a part of you, reminding you that Christ is very near to you.  It also reminds us that we are the body of Christ, now that Jesus is no longer seen.  Can you remember that you are a part of the body of Christ?

Interegenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

April 14, 2024: The Third Sunday of Easter

Gathering Songs: Hallelu, Hallelujah; I’ve Got Peace; Amazing Grace; When the Saints

Liturgist: Alleluia, Christ is Risen.

People: The Lord is Risen Indeed.  Alleluia.

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: Hallelu, Hallelujah (Christian Children Songbook, # 84)

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah, praise ye the Lord. 

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah, praise ye the Lord. 

Praise ye the Lord, hallelujah.  Praise ye the Lord, hallelujah. 

Praise ye the Lord, hallelujah.  Praise ye the Lord.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First 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 First Letter of John

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 4

You have put gladness in my heart, * more than when grain and wine and oil increase.

I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep; * for only you, LORD, make me dwell in safety.

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 Luke

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

While the disciples were telling how they had seen Jesus risen from the dead, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."

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: I’ve Got Peace Like a River, (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 122)

I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.  I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.

I’ve got love like a river….

I’ve got joy like a river….

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.

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

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

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

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

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

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

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

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

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

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Amazing Grace, (Blue Hymnal, # 671)

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.  I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.

The Lord has promised good to me, his word my hope secures; he will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come; ‘tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun.

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: When the Saints (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 248).

O when the saints, go marching in.  O when the saints go marching in.  Lord, I want to be in that number, when the saints go marching in.

O when the girls go marching in…

O when the boys go marching in….

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Post-Resurrection Eating and Real Presence

3 Easter Sunday B April 18, 2021

Acts 3:12-19 Psalm 4
1 John 3:1-7 Luke 24:36b-48

In several of the post-resurrection appearances of Christ,  there is food involved.  On the road to Emmaus, Jesus explained the Scriptures and when he sat down to eat with two disciples, his presence suddenly became known.  In our appointed Gospel today, the Risen Christ asks to eat fish to prove to the disciples that he was not a ghost.  In the Gospel of John, he prepares a fish breakfast for the fishermen disciples.

The Risen Christ is associated with eating, and this is not by accident.

I again remind you of the reverse "chronology" of the writings of Paul and the writing of the Gospels.  The early church leaders believed that they had the mind of Christ.  They believed that they could speak in the name of Jesus.  In fact, the Gospels words of Jesus gives his followers permission to speak in his name.  So the early Christians were what I call, "oracles" of Christ.  They channeled the words of Jesus because they believed that they attained a spiritual identity with Christ, so that the words they spoke could be regarded as the words of Jesus.  Many of those oracle words were written down as red letter words of Jesus in the Gospels.

What was the practice of the early churches?  They gathered around eating.  They had meals called Agape meals or love feasts and the Eucharist was often connected with this communal eating.  Communal Eating was an important symbol of the early fellowship.  While we associate the Eucharist with the bread and the wine, the Agape meals included foods of a common meal which certainly would have included bread and fish.

The early church believed that something happened when they gathered as a community, for prayer and for eating together.  When the two or three gathered with the intention of being identified with Jesus, they believed that they experienced in some way another presence, a real presence of Christ.

Paul in his churches practiced communal eating and Eucharist as a liturgical and mystical way of realizing the presence of Christ.

So how was this custom of the knowing the presence of Christ in communal eating which was the liturgical practice of Paul and earliest gatherings of the Jesus Movement, how was it presented in the Gospels, which were written after all of the liturgical practices of the Jesus Movement had been in practice?

We make a difference between meanings which come from the five senses, and the meanings which come from the interior senses, like feeling and intuition, dreams, visions and interior events like love, joy, peace or fear, anxiety and sadness?

We know that what we see with our eyes is meaningful; but we also know what we experience in terms of things like love and joy are also meaningful.

A scientist might say that what can be seen, measured, controlled, repeated and predicted is more meaningful than the events which happen inside of us like love, joy and dreams, hopes and fear.  The stuff inside of us cannot always be controlled and it can be messy.  But just because the inside world cannot be controlled like a scientific experiment does not mean that they don't have equal true meaning.

If we understand the meaningful truths of what happens inside us; then we can appreciate the post resurrection appearances of Christ and food.

The Gospels present the physical life narrative of Jesus of Nazareth as a way to show the members of the early church that their spiritual experience of the Risen Christ is equal in truth and meaning to the actual physical life of Jesus.

The presentation of the Risen Christ eating fish was a message to the Christian community that the experiences of Risen Christ have equal truth status to the physical encounters with Jesus of Nazareth.

The physical is used as a metaphor of substantiality for the spiritual.  When Jesus is quoted as saying unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part of me, this is precisely the use of physical as a metaphor for the substantial experience of Christ in the gathered Eucharistic churches.

We live in the age of the resurrection and the departure of Jesus from this world; but we live in the age of the many, many multiplications of the kinds of resurrection encounters of many people with Christ through spiritual or inward experience.

The Gospel writers were trying to say: your post resurrection experiences of Christ through inward events are as substantial as the actual eating of food.

I do hope that we do not forget to be poets and scientists at the same time when we read the New Testament.  Our inward spiritual lives have equal substantial significance to our physical lives.  And this is what the account of the fish-eating Risen Christ is meant to teach us today.

And every account of the post-resurrection appearances of Christ were written after the early Christians were in the regular practice realizing the presence of Christ in the Agape meal fellowship and in the Holy Eucharist.  These presences of the Risen Christ, are true and meaningful even though they are different from the presence of Jesus of Nazareth in his own time.  

Let us be affirmed today by the Gospel to accept the true meanings of our inward experiences of the Risen Christ which result in the genuine practice of love, peace and justice.  Amen.

Eating As Mode of the Presence of the Risen Christ

3 Easter Sunday B April 18, 2021
Acts 3:12-19 Psalm 4
1 John 3:1-7 Luke 24:36b-48

Lectionary Link

Are we different than people who lived 2000 years ago?  Are we smarter?   Or do we have the advantage of more cumulative world knowledge and the experience gained from all of the traditions of knowledge which we have inherited?

But how are we the same as people like Paul and the disciples?  Did Paul and the disciples know the difference between poetry and commonsense reporting of experienced events?

When Paul wrote that he was seated with Christ in heavenly places, did he really think that he had a chair in a place above the firmament?  Or was this a mystical poetic expression of his spiritual elation?

I believe that we demean the intelligence of Paul and the Gospel writers if we assume they did not understand the difference between mystical and spiritual discourse and commonsense language about what can happen given the consistency of the natural laws.

A big mistake has often been made by persons who do not understand the priority of the New Testaments as mystical and poetic writings about spiritual relationship.

Paul wrote mystical poetry and theology; Paul never saw Jesus in the flesh, but he believed that he had a real and substantial relationship with the Risen Christ.  He did not feel inferior to Peter or the other disciples who walked with Jesus.

After Paul wrote the mystical poetry of relationship with the Risen Christ, the Gospel narratives of Jesus were written.

The Gospel writers presented Jesus as a physically real person as a metaphor for the spiritually real experience of the members of the early church.

There were persons who had spiritual experiences of the Risen Christ.  Were they real experiences?  And how could they prove that they were real?  Well, they said that Jesus ate fish after he appeared to them, so their experience of him had to be as real as an actual physical encounters.

Dreams and visionary experience include people eating together.  Is such eating real and meaningful?  Yes, but is such eating the same as you and I eating together.  No.

The Gospel writers used physical interaction with the Risen Christ to indicate that experiences with the Risen Christ were meaningfully real and actual for the beholders.

The message of the church in the Gospel is that the Risen Christ eats with us in his resurrected life.  If Jesus was understood to be really present at a meal in his post-resurrection appearances, then Jesus is also present when the church meets for the meal tradition which originated with Jesus Christ.

So let us appreciate the modes of presentation in St. Paul and the Gospels.  Paul uses the mystical poetry to speak about spiritual identity with the Risen Christ.  The Gospel writers, who wrote later than St. Paul, presented the physical mode of Jesus of Nazareth as the model for something that is substantial.  They wanted people to understand that the spiritual relationship with the Risen Christ was as meaningfully real and true as actual physical encounter.

Can any of us prove that mystical experience has happened?  Can anyone prove that they had a specific events within a dream?  Can a person who lost a loved one proved that they saw their departed loved one in an apparition or hallucination?   Can a recovering alcoholic prove that he or she experienced the higher power to change their lives?  We can prove the outcome of such experiences in our behaviors, even as we cannot replicate or make certain events happen again.  But you can not tell people who have had such unique, meaningful events that they did not happen, even if you imply they are mentally imbalanced or have some altered mental states.

The Gospel writers presented the fleshly Jesus to say to the post-Jesus church, that the Risen Christ is as real as the fact that Jesus of Nazareth actually lived.

The Gospel writers are writing that Jesus of Nazareth was real, so that the members of the church could affirm that the experiences of the Risen Christ were equally real and meaningful and life changing with significant moral behavior changes as proof of that profound meaning.

Let us not diminish the intelligence of Paul or the Gospel writers and assume that they did not know the difference between mystical experience and commonsense reality.

For you and me let us note the Gospel record:  Jesus ate with people when he walked this earth.  Jesus ate with his disciples in the visionary states of his post-resurrection appearances.  And what does this mean for you and me?  Christ in his Risen life still eats with us and shares his presence with us when we eat the Mass of Christ together.

Alleluia, Christ is Risen and in his Risen Life, he continues to be present in our Eucharistic Family meal together.  And his presence is still meaningfully true and real.  Amen.

Sunday School, April 18, 2021 3 Easter B

 Sunday School, April 18, 2021   3 Easter B

Theme

Jesus eats again with his disciples

Before Jesus died, Jesus had a meal with his disciples.  And he told them to continue to gather in this special meal when they gathered together.  And he promised that he would be present with them when they gathered for the meal that we call the Eucharist.

A meal is a time of not just sharing food; during the meal we talk with each other and we share our stories and our friendship.  When we eat together and share friendship we experience the very best of our relationship.

When Jesus died, he was gone, and he could not be seen.  But he promised his friends that they would see him again.

In the Easter stories, we read stories about how the friends of Jesus saw him again and he ate with them again to prove to them that he was really present with them.

He did this for his friends, so that they could tell the entire world that Jesus was still alive and that he promised to be present with us always.

Jesus ate with his friends after he was raised from the dead.

We eat with each other on Sunday and when we do we celebrate and we recognize how Christ is present with us, because we believe the promise of Christ to be with us always.

The Risen Christ is inside of us and we become the replacement for Jesus in this world.  Jesus, when he was alive could only be in one place at a time.  After Jesus rose again and sent his Spirit to be in us, Jesus can be in us and be present everywhere in the world.

Jesus ate with his friends after he rose again to prove to his friends that he lived after dying, and because he lived, we too will live again after we die.

Sermon

  How many of you have a body?  Do you know what a body is?  Your body is wonderful because it is made up of many parts.   Head, eyes, nose, ears, tummy, arms, legs, feet, hands, muscles and tiny things that you cannot see nerves and blood veins and vessels.  And each part of my body is me, but it is not my entire body.

  In our words we use body in another way.

  We often say that a group of people is like a body.  Why would we say that?

  Have you heard of the Army, the Navy and the Marine Corps?  They are the soldiers, sailors and marines who protect our country.  What does Corps?  It is spelled differently than we pronounce it.  C O R P S…looks like Corpse and we know what a corpse is; but we say “cor” because it is the Latin word that means “body.”  A large company is called a “corporation” and so it too is a body.

  Did you know what “we” are called in the church?  We are called the “Body of Christ.”  Why would we be called the body of Christ?

  Can we see Jesus?  Can we touch him and talk to him?  Is Jesus here on earth now to see?  No, he isn’t.

  When Jesus lived he could only be in one place at a time.  And there was so much good work to be done and so he had to leave and give his work to other people to do.

  When Jesus left, he gave his work to other people to do so that his good work could be done in places all over the world.

  And since Jesus only had two hands, he said to his disciples, “I want to use your hands to do good. I want to use your voice to tell people good news.  I want to use your feet, your mind and your eyes and ears to do the good work that I want to do in this world.”

  And since Jesus is using our lives to do his work, we are called the body of Christ.

  And even though Jesus is not here, we are here, and we are the body of Christ because we are doing what Jesus would do if he were here.  And what would Jesus do?  He would love his neighbor.  He would help.  He would tell people good news.

  So when you think about your body today, think about another body.  The body of Christ.  You and I are the body of Christ because we are to do the things that Jesus would do if he were here.

  Raise your hand.  Say this is my hand.  Say, “But this hand is the hand of Christ, as I use it to help others.”

  To remind us that we are to become the body of Christ, Jesus gave us a special meal…It is call Holy Eucharist, Communion, The Mass.

  And at our Holy Eucharist, I will give you some bread and what will I say to you, “The body of Christ, the bread of heaven.”  When you receive the bread, it goes into you and becomes a part of you, reminding you that Christ is very near to you.  It also reminds us that we are the body of Christ, now that Jesus is no longer seen.  Can you remember that you are a part of the body of Christ?

Interegenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

April 18, 2021: The Third Sunday of Easter

Gathering Songs: Hallelu, Hallelujah; I’ve Got Peace; Amazing Grace; When the Saints

Liturgist: Alleluia, Christ is Risen.

People: The Lord is Risen Indeed.  Alleluia.

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: Hallelu, Hallelujah (Christian Children Songbook, # 84)

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah, praise ye the Lord. 

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah, praise ye the Lord. 

Praise ye the Lord, hallelujah.  Praise ye the Lord, hallelujah. 

Praise ye the Lord, hallelujah.  Praise ye the Lord.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First 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 First Letter of John

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 4

You have put gladness in my heart, * more than when grain and wine and oil increase.

I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep; * for only you, LORD, make me dwell in safety.

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 Luke

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

While the disciples were telling how they had seen Jesus risen from the dead, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."

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: I’ve Got Peace Like a River, (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 122)

I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.  I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.

I’ve got love like a river….

I’ve got joy like a river….

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.

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

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

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

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

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

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

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

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

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

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Amazing Grace, (Blue Hymnal, # 671)

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.  I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.

The Lord has promised good to me, his word my hope secures; he will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come; ‘tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun.

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: When the Saints (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 248).

O when the saints, go marching in.  O when the saints go marching in.  Lord, I want to be in that number, when the saints go marching in.

O when the girls go marching in…

O when the boys go marching in….

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! Alleluia!  Alleluia!