Hippie talk: "Man, That's Like Really Heavy!"

5 Lent   B          March 18, 2018
Jer. 31:31-34      Ps. 51:11-16       
Heb. 5:1-10        John 12:20-33    
Lectionary Link

Imagine yourself in the community that generated the Gospel of John some 5 to 6 decades after Jesus had left the earth.  How would you write about Jesus knowing what you knew had transpired in the last 60 years?

What was not written was this: Jesus died and the Romans put down a insurrection movement and ended the life of Jesus and his Movement.  This could not have been written because if no one remembered Jesus, nothing would have been written about him.  Many crucifixions happened and yet none was remembered like the Cross of Jesus.

As a Christian, 6 decades after Jesus was gone, one had already inherited traditions of Jesus in the way his story was told.  Writing is done with a purpose and one of the purposes of the Gospel of John was to explain why things had happened in the way in which they did.

What had happened?  The members of the John's Gospel community were proof of the survival power of Jesus Christ.  Jesus was gone but the Risen Christ had become replicated in the lives of many, many people.  How could this happen?  Why are so many people still gathering in the name of Christ?  Why does the spiritual energy still get transmitted to new people?  How can we explain the Risen Christ effect that has continued for so long and shows no sign of diminishing?

To speak about the blossoming Risen Christ effect, the writers used a religious term for "fame:"  The word "Glory."  

All of us know, wittingly or unwittingly, the word for Glory in Greek.  "Doxology" Doxa as in the offertory song "praise God from whom all blessings flow."  The word "Doxa" was used to translate  Hebrew words for glory.  "kavod" is a Hebrew word for glory and for those of us who still speak "Hippie" we can understand "kavod."  When a hippie was profoundly moved he would say something like "far out," or "Man, that was like really heavy!"  "kavod" means "heavy or weighty."  Another Hebrew word for "glory" was "shekinah."  This was used to refer to the manifest presence of God in  such a dwelling as the holiest of holy in the tabernacle.

Theological words become so commonplace that they can lose their meanings.  We speak about events in the life of Jesus: his birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension and glorification.

In the succession of events in the life of Jesus, we are living in the phase of the glorification of Jesus Christ.  What does this mean?

The glorification of God in Jesus Christ is the word used to explain why the Risen Christ had become present and replicated over and over again into the lives of many people.  It was so phenomenal, the writers had to say this was happening because God was glorifying Christ above all.  If God were not doing this, it could not have happened.  The dwelling and heavy presence of God in Christ was being made known within the lives of many people. The answer for the earthly fame of Jesus was not like that of the Caesar; the Roman empire had their propaganda to speak about the divine fame of the Caesar.  In the cult of the Caesar, citizens bowed before him because they feared for their lives.  The glory of God in Christ was much different.  It was verified by the winsome presence happening over and over again in the lives of people.  The writers of the Gospel of John had to retell the story of Jesus to account for the replicating proof of the Risen Christ in the lives of many.

In our Gospel story, the heavenly voice declared the glory of  God in Christ happened when?  When Greeks came to the feast and asked to see Jesus.  What had happened in the churches of the Gospel of John?  Many Greeks and Gentiles had come to see Jesus as he was experienced as the interior Risen Christ through the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.  The Gospel of John was a thundering voice declaring the glory of God in Christ.

The power of the Glory of God Christ is known in its power to re-make events of the past.  What is the death of Jesus?  It's like the planting of the seed that dies when buried in the earth.  The afterlife of the seed is a great plant which produces many, many, more seeds to become many more plants.  You can plant Jesus in a dark tomb to get him out of sight, out of mind but from there he exploded and morphed into the lives of innumerable people.  Why did that happened?  The booming voice of heaven thunders: I have glorified God in Christ and will continue to do so."

The Bible is a book about how people have chronicle the glory of God; how God has marked human history such that people have come to confess God and God's presence.  In the Hebrew Scripture perhaps the greatest event of God's glory was on Mount Sinai.  It was an event of the "shekinah" glory even to make the face of Moses shine.  The law was written on the stone tablets.  The law was visible in exterior writing.  It had to be enforced by judges, priests, kings and prophets.  The kings of Israel did not always do well in living the law or enforcing it. The prophet Jeremiah wished for a democratic understanding of God's law; he wished that the law would be written on the hearts of people as an interior fact and not just as an exterior suppressive force.

The Glory of Christ was viewed in this succession of the Glory of God found in Hebrew Scripture.  Christ was the eternal Word of God and where does word dwell?  It is inside us so close that our lives cannot be separated from how we are constituted by the words of our lives.

Today, you and I still live as proof of the glory of God in Christ.  We, like St. Paul, can say, "Christ in us,the eternal Word,  the hope of glory."  We are proof of the glory of Christ, even as we share in the glory of Christ.  And why is this important?

The human counter for divine glory is, "fame."  Fame is an attractive drug of human culture. A certain amount of recognition is needed for the sense of personal esteem.  But people want repeated and sometimes excessive proof that they are loved and adored.  Why do people want quantity of proof that they are loved and adored?  It's a drug and it actually may be a sign of deep insecurity and it may be the sign that they have not yet been able to say with deep meaning, "Christ in me, the hope of glory."  To know Christ in us as the hope of glory is the most profound event of self esteem.  To have this experience is to be delivered from the vain glory of the drug of needing excessive fame.

My prayer for us that we will know the glory of Christ and that our parish may be a place where the glory of Christ might be known.   Amen.

Sunday School, March 18, 2018 5 Lent B

Sunday, March 18, 2018    5 Lent B

Theme:

Change

Time means that things and people and everything change

People change

Have you ever looked at your baby picture?  Are you different now?  You have changed in many ways.  In fact, you have changed so much that only your parents would know that it is you in your baby pictures.

Sometimes we can see change as it is happening.  Sometimes we can see change right now.  You blow a bubble, it floats into the air and pops and disappears.  You see clouds in the sky and they change shapes and they pass across the sky.

A seed is a tiny thing planted in the soil.  It disappears out of sight.  A root grows from it and a stem pushes out of the soil and the little seed is gone.  It has disappeared.  It seems to have died, but it became something else.  It changed.

Jesus told the people that his life would be like a seed put in the ground.  The seed would be buried and would die.  But when Jesus died he came back to life to show people how God would change all of our lives after we die.  We will live again.  We will always be changing.  We change in a big way when we die.  But the life of Jesus came to us from God to tell us that we will change again after we die.  We will become something like the butterfly breaking out of the cocoon.

Let us accept change.  Let us try to make good changes in our lives, being kind and loving and in learning more and more.  We can keep changing in good ways and live with hope even though we know that at death we will change in a big way.

Because Jesus changed in a big way when he died and when he reappeared, he gave us the message that when we died we will reappear to be with God.

Everything is changing in big ways and little ways.  We can see some changes and some change is so slow we don’t recognize it.

Jesus said at the big change that happen at his death, he would change and live again.  And now we do not have to fear the big change of death.

Sermon

  I would like to tell you about Mr. Rose.  Mr. Rose like to plant a garden every spring.  He loved to plant vegetables.  And he liked to have some fun doing it.  When Mr. Rose planted his garden, his garden looked like it was decorated for Halloween.  At the end of each row in the garden, he would put little tomb stone markers.  On one tomb stone, he would write, “Carrot seeds, RIP,(Rest in Peace).  On another, “corn seeds, RIP (Rest in Peace). And he would do the same for the other rows of vegetables.  And he would set up a Ghost Scarecrow in his garden.

  All of the kids in the neighborhood would watch Mr. Rose and his garden that looked like a grave yard.  And the joke around town about Mr. Rose was this:  “Mr. Rose is burying his seeds in the ground.”

  We have read some words of Jesus today.  He said, “If a seed is not buried in the ground and die, it will always remain a seed, but if it is put into the ground, it dies, and it becomes a plant that produces fruit and many more seeds.”

  Jesus said this to teach us about the change that occurred in his life.

  When Jesus lived, only a few people knew who he was.  But when he died and rose again, he became the most popular person in the history of the world.  Jesus has been gone for more than 2000 years, but we still celebrate his life today.  Jesus once lived in Palestine, in Israel.  But today, Christ lives in our hearts.  Jesus went through many changes in his life.  He was a baby, a young boy, and he was great teacher and prophet.  And he died.  But when he died, he did not stay buried, he became the risen Christ who could be presence to people all over the world.

  You and I are going through changes in our lives.  We all started out real small and tiny….and we were born as babies and we became children….and we keep changing and growing.  When we grow big we lose our smallness and we gain our bigness.  When we go to second grade in school, we lose first grade.  So we are always losing things in life, but we are always gaining things too.

  And when we look at death, we can think that we are losing someone in a very important way.  And we are.  But Jesus tells us to have hope, because when people die, then we know that God is taking care of them, because we no longer can.

  Jesus tells us that our lives are always changing.  We are losing some things, but we are gaining better things.

  So, when a seed is put into the ground and we know that it is gone forever, we know that the seed will sprout and become a beautiful plant.  Jesus wants us to know that God can always bring something beautiful out of everything that happens to us.

  This is the hope that we can have today.

 

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Holy Eucharist

March 18, 2018: The Fifth Sunday In Lent

Gathering Songs:

Jesus Loves Me,   When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, When Jesus Wept, May the Lord

Liturgist: Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins.

People: His mercy endures forever.  Amen.

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

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

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

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Opening Song: Jesus Loves Me This I Know (All the Best Songs for Kids, # 54)

1 Jesus loves me! This I know, For the Bible tells me so.  Little ones to Him belong; they are weak but He is strong.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  The Bible tells me so.

2 Jesus loves me!  He who died!  Heaven’s gates to open wide.  He will wash away my sin, Let His little child come in. Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  The Bible tells me so.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Chant: Praise the Lord

O God, you are Great!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have made us! Praise the Lord

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Praise the Lord

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Praise the Lord

A Reading from the Prophet Jeremiah

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt-- a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD;

The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 51

Create in me a clean heart, O God, * and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence * and take not your holy Spirit from me.

Give me the joy of your saving help again * and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.

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.

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say-- `Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:

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.

Liturgist:         The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:            And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory Song: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,   

1-When I survey the wondrous cross where the young Prince of Glory died

    All the vain thing that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood.

2-Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small; love so amazing so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist.

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is the 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 by 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. 

Word of Administration.

Communion Hymn: When Jesus Wept (blue hymnal, # 715)

When Jesus wept, the falling tear in mercy flowed beyond all bound; When Jesus groaned, a trembling fear seized all the guilty world around.

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: May the Lord (Sung to the tune of Eidelweiss)

May the Lord, Mighty God, Bless and keep you forever, Grant you peace, perfect peace, Courage in every endeavor.  Lift up your eyes and seek His face, Trust His grace forever.  May the Lord, Mighty God Bless and keep you for ever.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

Planting a Seed and the Death of Christ?

5 Lent   B          March 22, 2015   

Jer. 31:31-34      Ps. 51:11-16        

Heb. 5:1-10        John 12:20-33     

Lectionary Link

    How would do you think that a loved one of someone who had just died would feel about me saying, "Well, just think of your dear Henry's life as a seed planted in the ground in his death; and soon he is going to bear much fruit in his future life?"

  A person might say or think, "Well, Phil are you comparing my dear Henry to plant life now?  I am rather offended by you comparing my dear Henry to the seed of a tree, or a vegetable, or even a flower."

  Some people do talk to their plants but does that mean plants attain a level of sentient life so that we can make death seem rosy by comparing dying to the planting of a seed?

  Today, we have read the way in which the writers of John's Gospel believed Jesus to be speaking about his death.  The writer of the Gospel John used metaphors from agriculture and animal husbandry in various places.  Jesus is the shepherd who has sheep that must be kept safe from wolves.  Jesus is the vine, God the vine dresser, and people are branches of the vine.  These sorts of metaphors are common to John's Gospel.

  What I find amazing about the Gospels is how the dying and death of Jesus became such a glorious and wonderful event even though it is presented at the same time as an event of great suffering.

  The death of Jesus has undergone quite a makeover when we encounter it in the New Testament writings.  John's Gospel was the last canonical Gospel to come to textual form and so it comes after some decades of the success of the Christian message.  Many forms of Christ being known by people in His Risen life had come to the experience of Christians.

  And after many years of looking through the rose colored lenses of the resurrection of Christ known through his post-resurrection appearances and manifestations, the Christian community could present the death of Jesus as both gloriously necessary as well as a horrifying event.  As we approach Holy Week which begins with the reading of the Passion Gospel and then we move toward Good Friday with another reading of the Passion Gospel, from John's Gospel, we need to appreciate how the death of Jesus was understood and functioned within those early Christian communities.

  The death of Jesus on the Cross was an embarrassment if one were a Jew who held strictly to the notion of a kingly Davidic figure for the Messiah.  For those with expectations of a kingly Davidic Messiah, a true Messiah would not die on a cross in an event of capital punishment.  Did King David die a disgraceful death? No, he did not.

  So how could the death of Jesus be defended as a necessary act of God's Messiah?  How could the death of Jesus be transformed from an event of horror to an event worthy of a Messiah?

  If we understand that death is the big elephant in the room of all of us who live, so too the death of Jesus was a big elephant in the room of those who were trying to understand the confession of Jesus as the Messiah.

  How could Jesus be a consideration for the Messiah?  There were many post-resurrection appearances of the Risen Christ to people who shared these encounters with others.  There were many other visionary manifestations of Christ, such as happened to St. Paul.  The results of these manifestations of Christ was a growing successful gathered communities of people in places throughout the Roman Empire.  This success brought about the make-over and the re-interpretation of the Cross of Jesus from being a bad event that signified the failure of a person.  Success of the Christian communities changed the event of the Cross into a providential and glorified event of necessary sacrifice which would be overridden by the event of the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus.

  So Jesus of Nazareth was understood by many to be the suffering Messiah in keeping with the images presented in the Psalms and the prophets of Hebrew Scripture, but Jesus was the victorious and kingly Davidic Messiah in the power of the resurrection.  Jesus was not a Davidic Messiah who came to defeat the Roman Emperor; he was to be on the cross as the writer of John has him to say, to complete an event of judgment upon the ruler of the world, the devil.  Jesus was a Messiah not because he had armies but because he was the warrior king of the heavenly or interior realm.  The lifting up of Jesus on the cross was to be an icon of faith so that people could find in Christ their way back to recognizing God as the owner of their world; not the devil, not the emperor, not one’s possessive egoistic self.

   The spiritual practice of St. Paul and other New Testament writers was to couple the transforming events which were occurring in their lives with the life events of Jesus Christ.  So when the Gospels later came to textual form the death of Jesus was presented as being the necessary providence of God to show that the devil as the force of evil could conspire to kill the good and the perfect, but in fact, the good and the perfect is deathless.  The post-resurrection appearances and effects of the Risen Christ in the lives of people proved that what is good and perfect is deathless.  What is good and perfect partakes of the ability of the eternal return.

  And so the death of Jesus could be understood to be like the death of the seed; the seed’s appearance only changes so that it produces the fruit which in turn produces endless other seeds to be planted and so guarantee the hybrid into a future forever.

  By the time John's Gospel had been written, the cross of Jesus had become idealized and romanticized because of the effects of the Risen Christ in transforming the lives of people who were called Christians.

  St. Paul and others felt that the Risen Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit could become the clean heart which was created in each person.  St. Paul believed that the Risen Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit could become law of God written upon everyone heart, as fulfillment of the prophetic words of Jeremiah.  The writer to the Hebrews believed in the higher priesthood of Jesus because Jesus was not a member of the levitical priesthood.  Jesus was an eternal priest after the order of Melchizedek.  In the letter to the Hebrews, Jesus is presented as this mystical priest who enters the heavenly temple and provides himself as a sacrificial offering for sins.  So humanity cannot be tricked by the devil's lie that God is inaccessible to us because of our sins and imperfection.

  We are at the week before holy week; next week wee will be presented twice the horrors of the crucifixion. It will be presented only because we know how it is understood in light of the post-resurrection appearances of the Risen Christ to the New Testament writers. They came to present the narrative of the Cross as proof that the good and perfect can only seem to die and pass away for a short time, when in fact it only comes back with exponential fruitful manifestations.

  I do not believe we should use the "rosy" presentation of the death of Jesus to minimize the true impact of death and suffering in our own lives.  To do so would to be fatalistic and simply absolve bad things by saying, "God intended it so."   What the cross means for us is that any one individual event in our lives does not nullify or erase the possibilities of many other good things happening in the future for us and others.  One cannot make one's life so important as to assume that all will end because one event occurs.

  The death of Jesus did not end the world.  The death of Jesus did not end the continuing string of events and occasions of life, including the reappearance of the effects of the life of Jesus into the lives of billions of people.  These reappearing effects of Christ to so many at least deserve a confession that he is truly a Messianic Person.  Amen.

Sunday School, March 22, 2015 The Fifth Sunday in Lent, B

Sunday School Themes March 22, 2015      The Fifth Sunday in Lent, Cycle B

Sunday School Themes

The 10 commandments were written on stone tablets.

The prophet Jeremiah spoke about the laws being written upon the hearts of everyone.

This is the Promise of God’s Spirit who will use education and memory about what is good and right to help us retain and keep the laws of God.

The Psalm of the day are about God’s Spirit creating within us a clean heart

The Psalm is about meditating upon God’s law so that we can keep it written on our hearts.

In the Letter to the Hebrews, the writer presents Jesus as an eternal priest.  A priest is a person who prays to God on behalf of other people.  Jesus was a priest for us because he lived and suffered with us and so he could understand how to pray for us to God his Father.  We too are supposed to be priestly; even though we are not all “priests” we are to be priestly because we are to pray for our world especially for those in suffering and need.

Ask the children how they can be “priestly” in their prayers.

The Gospel uses the change in the plant growth cycle to illustrate what the death of Jesus means.

Present pictures of a seed, it sprouting with its roots, a small plant, a flowering and fruit tree or plant.

Show how the seed dies or quits being a seed when it spouts.

The purpose of a gardener is to bury seeds and “kill them” so that they change and become large and fruitful plants.

This is what Jesus said about his dying; it would be like a seed which dies in order to become fruitful in the lives of many people.

Puppet Show about Seed funerals and burials

Pam, the gardener, Stuart as Jesus, Catherine as Miriam, Caroline as Gully the sea gull

Pam is in front of the theatre, hoeing her garden.  In her garden there are little tomb stones in a row.  One Tomb stones reads, Beans: RIP.  Another tombstone reads: Peas: RIP.  Another reads Corn: RIP

Miriam: Hi, Miss Pam what are you doing?

Miss Pam:  It is spring time and so it is time to prepare my garden.  And as you see my garden is like a graveyard.  I have done lots of burying in my garden.

Miriam:  Burying?  Does that mean someone has died?

Miss Pam: Well not someone but something is going to die soon.  That is why I put up the tomb stones.  I’ve made one for the peas, the corn and the beans.

Gully:  Hi, Miss Pam, I hope you didn’t bury all of the seeds.  If I see a seed, I will fly down and eat it.  While you are hoeing the ground could you dig up some worms for me to eat.  Yum, yum, I like worms.   Do the children like worms;  I hope not because that will be more for me.

Miss Pam:  Gully, you stay away from my seeds.  I’ll have to put up a scare crow to keep you away.  But I do have some bread crumbs for you to eat.

Gully:  Thanks, Miss Pam.  But I’m like Miriam I don’t understand why you have tomb stones on the rows in your garden.  For me a garden means life, not death.

Miriam:  Yes, I still don’t understand your tomb stones in the garden.  It is kind of sad or silly.  Please explain what you are doing.  This is spring and it is not like Halloween when we do spooky things.  Why are you doing spooky things in your garden?

 

Miss Pam:  Well, I bought packages of little seeds.  And they are very tiny and I bury them in the ground.  And when I put them into the ground, the seeds are going to die.

Miriam: They are not going to die; they are going to become roots, stem and plants and vegetables.  How are they going to die?

Miss Pam: In two weeks if we were to dig into the ground here would we find the seeds?

Gully:  I don’t know what we would find?

Miss Pam:  Did you know that Jesus talked about seeds dying in the ground and he said that his life would be like a seed that would die in the ground?

Miriam:  That sounds like a riddle to me.  How can we understand this riddle?

Miss Pam:  Maybe we could pray and ask Jesus to help us learn the meaning of his riddle.

Gully: Okay, Dear Jesus, please come and help us to understand your riddle about the seeds.

Miriam: Yes, Dear Jesus, please come.  We want to know the meaning of the dying seeds.

(Jesus appears)

Jesus:  Hello, Miss Pam, Gully and Miriam, I heard your prayers.  Did you call for me?

Miriam:  Yes, Jesus, we want to know the meaning of your riddle about the dying seed and your life?

Jesus:  Okay, I did say that my life was like a dying seed.  And this is what I mean.   Look at the pictures of the seed in the ground.  See in the first one, the little seed breaks and out pops a little tail.  Do you see it?  Do you know what happens to this little tail?

Gully:  No, what happens?

Jesus:  It becomes the root.  And the root drinks in water and food from the ground called minerals.  And then look what happens, the top of the tail breaks out of the ground and it becomes a green shoot.  But the case of the seed is now like a hat on the head of the plant.  And when the head of the plant grows leaves then the seed case falls to the ground.  And the case is dead just like a cocoon is dead after the butterfly has left it.

Miriam:  But Jesus, how was your life like a dying seed?

Jesus:  Well, Miriam, you know that I died upon the cross?  But when I died did the world forget all about me like they would forget about this dead case of the seed?

Gully:  No, Jesus, you weren’t forgotten.  You became more famous after you died.

Jesus: Yes, that is true, Gully.  You see I was like the seed that became the root and the plant and the leaves.  Why?

Miss Pam:  Is that because you came back to life again?

Jesus: Yes!  And now I am alive in the lives of everyone who invites my Spirit to live in them.  I have become like a great tree; I am not like the seed anymore.  My life died but now I live again like a great tree, because I am now with all people who invite me to be in their lives.

Miriam:  Thank you Jesus for explaining the riddle for us.

Gully:  Boys and girls, do you understand the riddle now?  Do you see that a seed that dies becomes much more life in the root and the leaves?

Miss Pam:  That’s right!  Thank you Jesus for explaining the riddle to us.  Okay, I have to get back to burying my seeds!

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Holy Eucharist

March 22, 2015: The Fifth Sunday In Lent

Gathering Songs:

Jesus Loves Me, Kyrie Eleison; When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, When Jesus Wept, May the Lord

Opening Song: Jesus Loves Me This I Know (All the Best Songs for Kids, # 54)

1 Jesus loves me! This I know, For the Bible tells me so.  Little ones to Him belong; they are weak but He is strong.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  The Bible tells me so.

2 Jesus loves me!  He who died!  Heaven’s gates to open wide.  He will wash away my sin, Let His little child come in. Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  The Bible tells me so.

Liturgist: Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins.

People: His mercy endures forever.  Amen.

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

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

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

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Chant: Praise the Lord

O God, you are Great!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have made us! Praise the Lord

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Praise the Lord

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Praise the Lord

A Reading from the Prophet Jeremiah

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt-- a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD;

The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 51

Create in me a clean heart, O God, * and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence * and take not your holy Spirit from me.

Give me the joy of your saving help again * and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.

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.

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say-- `Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:

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.

(Add intercessions here)

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.

Liturgist:         The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:            And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory Song: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,   

1-When I survey the wondrous cross where the young Prince of Glory died

    All the vain thing that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood.

2-Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small; love so amazing so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist.

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is the 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,

(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 by 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.

Word of Administration.

Communion Hymn: When Jesus Wept (blue hymnal, # 715)

When Jesus wept, the falling tear in mercy flowed beyond all bound; When Jesus groaned, a trembling fear seized all the guilty world around.

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: May the Lord (Sung to the tune of Eidelweiss)

May the Lord, Mighty God, Bless and keep you forever, Grant you peace, perfect peace, Courage in every endeavor.  Lift up your eyes and seek His face, Trust His grace forever.  May the Lord, Mighty God Bless and keep you for ever.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God!