We Still Live in the Era of the Suffering Servant Messiah

 17 Pentecost Proper 19   September 15, 2024
Isaiah 50: 4-9a. Psalm 116:1-8
James 3:1-12    Mark 8:27-38

Lectionary Link

What are some of our misreading habits of the Gospels?  We commit chronology mistakes.  We assume that because Jesus lived before Paul was converted to the Risen Christ, that the Gospel stories were written before the writings of Paul. To correct this misreading we need to appreciate that the theological themes of Paul and others are hidden in the narrative presentations of the life of Jesus as they are found in the Gospels.

Another mistake is that we can think that the Gospel writers wrote with the full knowledge that their writings would be eventually included in a book called the Bible.  We falsely assume that the writings had the respect of infallible authority and finality for the people to whom they were writing.  Because of this misreading, some people get all worried at contradictions between the presentations found in the various Gospels.  It is more accurate to read the Gospels as the developing practices and understandings of the growing Jesus Movement in different locations with people who had access to different strains of oral tradition.  While some people try to elevate the presence of Holy Scripture above community traditions, such a view misses the obvious point that there had to be people in community in a tradition to generate the holy writings which later become definitive of the beliefs and teaching of the future community.

Another misreading of the Gospel is to assume that the Gospels are the source of invention of the topics and traditions which are found within the Gospels.

Today's appointed Gospel topic is one such topic.  And the topic is the Messiah.  The traditions of Messiah predated the Gospel writings.  They are found within Hebrew Scripture and derive from the language used to speak about how God's will is specifically manifest, anointed, within human experience.

In the witness of Hebrew Scriptures, God is known through chosen agents and the results of the contract between the One God and the human community. This  special contract is designated as a covenant because of the attributed character of God as the originator of that covenant.  The covenant came through designated people like the Patriarchs, Moses, and his brother Aaron the first High Priest, and it reached a particular climax in the revealing of the Law. The Law or Torah includes specific recommended behaviors and community ritual practice for the perpetuation and inculcations of those divinely recommended behaviors, or best practices for human living for the time.

Before Israel had kings, the Torah, the law was the anointed, the God's designated will of God in community and the law was taught and mediated through Moses, Joshua, the priests and judges.

In Saul and David, the practice of the divine right of kings came to Israel and in the divine right ritual, the chosen king was anointed as God's chosen.  The very name Messiah derives from the investiture ritual of the pouring of oil on the head of the chosen one.

The kingly lineage or messiahs of Israel did not last that long, and certainly not with the perpetuity of the promise to David regarding future off-spring.  The kings of Israel had various success and they often did not model Torah living in their lives.  A crucial failure of the kings of Israel and the divided kingdom of Judah was their inability to defend their country from more powerful kingdoms.  In succession, the kingdoms were the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greek Empires deriving from Alexander and his Generals, and the Roman Empire.  The history of the kings of Israel is over-shadowed by the powerful kings whose armies overran Israel and carried the people of Israel into the lands of their captors. 

In the lands of the captors, a poignant factor to retain the identity of the people of Israel was to use writings, teaching, ritual practice, and gatherings to retain and perpetuate the unique identity of the people to resist assimilation into the cultures of their captors.  Part of the literature which grew was fueled by the nostalgia of being in their homeland with a king who was expressive of what the divine right of kingship could mean.  Out of this profound nostalgia and a strong belief in the One and greatest God, there arose the projection of a future anointed one like King David who was the most successful king of Israel.

The aspirations for superheroes is a very human aspiration, especially for peoples who are long suffering.  One can say that the topic of the messiah as the aspiration of the Jewish people was one that had a currency during the first century and the many, many, years before.  It was born out of reflections in the Hebrew Scriptures but also in many extra-Scriptural writings which the learned teachers had access to.

The Gospels are proof that the discussions about the meaning of the Messiah was still a fluid topic within the people who were likely participants in the Jesus Movement.  The fluidity regarding the topic of the Messiah is seen in the disagreements and and such disagreement is instantiated in the Messianic confession of Peter followed by a severe rebuke by Jesus regarding his misunderstanding about the one whom he confessed.  So severe was his misunderstanding that we have the words, "Get behind me Satan!"  These words indicate that the teachers in early Jesus Movement were trying assert that the limitation of the notion of the Messiah to a military conquering king was not adequate.  The Messiah for the Jesus Movement was to be understood to also be a suffering servant Messiah such as was written about in the Prophet Isaiah.

But that then raises the issue, how then is Jesus a Messiah like King David?  And this is where we must appreciate the fluidity in the understanding of Jesus as the Messiah.  How is Jesus a Messiah like David?  First, his post resurrection appearances are indications of a kingly uniqueness in a way that David could not match so that Jesus had a spiritual origin quite different from David.  But what about being a Messiah who can restore the territorial integrity of the promises to the Patriarchs and Israel?  How is Jesus is that kind of Messiah when it is so obvious that the Roman Empire dominated the world?

The answer lies in the continuing notion of the apocalyptic and future Messiah.  The Second Coming of the Messiah becomes the words about the future being a hopeful one.  At anytime all things could be harmonized and reconciled by a future Messianic manifestation.

We today still live in this fluid and developing notion of Jesus as the Messiah.  Like people of old we still aspire, dream, and imagine about cosmic harmony and reconciliation in a way perceived as being completely human community friendly in giving us the sense of belonging in a promised homeland.

We need to realize that we still are in the suffering servant phase of Jesus as the Messiah.  We are still as it were, "filling up what is lacking in the afflictions" of Christ.  We are caught in the tangle of the probabilities of everything that can happen, and it is not all favorable to us in our lives and in the life of our world.

Today, we need to receive the rebuke of Jesus to Peter if we are denying the validity of the predominance of the suffering servant Messiah in our world today.  And while we accept that the freedom of life often finds us in harms ways, we don't succumb to a passive fatalism about the victory of pain and suffering; rather we accept and invite hope and goodness to help us weave a contrasting healing of the sickness in our world.  We accept that true freedom validates the worth of morality and spirituality.

We have Jesus as the suffering servant and the one risen beyond death to inspire us with the kind of hope which we need to live realistically with how human experience actually is.

May the Risen Christ help us to live as suffering servant agents of the suffering servant Messiah, but not for the exaltation of suffering, but for constant and hopeful work of healing.  From our many woundings, let us arise as healers.  Amen.

Sunday School, September 15, 2024 17 Pentecost, B proper 19

Sunday School, September 15, 2024   17 Pentecost, B proper 19

Sunday School Themes

The reading from Proverbs calls Wisdom the way in which we can discover that God is everywhere.  The Psalm states that the heavens declare the glory of God.  People who look in the sky and also observe the way in which things are made are fascinated and so they confess the presence and existence of something greater and anything that we can do or make as human beings.  But since we see this greatness and if greatness is greater than us as persons, then the greatness of God must also have a Great Personality and so we come to believe that we have a personal relationship with the Wise Great Being og God whose works we can observe everywhere.

The Epistle of James is about the small muscle of the tongue and how destructive can be.  Everyone needs a lesson in learning self control in what we say.  The things we say can harm and do hurt to each other.  But the nice and kind things which we say can also do some lovely and wonderful things to build relationships.

Since September 14 is Holy Cross Day, the Gospel lesson gives us a lesson on the cross.  Peter did not want to accept the fact that Jesus would suffer and die.  He wanted Jesus to be just a Messiah superhero.  Jesus told Peter that he was wrong in his thinking about who the messiah was.  The messiah would suffer and die and know fully all of the hardships of human suffering.  Jesus as the suffering messiah was proof that God has and is and will suffer with us.

You can instruct about the notions of life in the riddle of Jesus about losing and gaining our lives.  The life that Jesus told us to lose is psueche or soul life which is the life of our minds, emotions and choosing power.  Education means that we lose the ignorant states of mind and we gain wisdom and education.  This is how we lose and gain our lives.    In the church, taking up the cross and following Jesus means that we learn to give up our selfish selves as we make room to help others through love and kindness.

Gospel Puppet Show: What kind of Messiah Is Jesus?

Puppet dialogue between Roary the Lion and Interviewer

Roary the Lion (holding a soccer ball and sobbing): Wah…Wah….Wah….Wah….

Interviewer: What’s wrong Roary, why are you crying?  Have you been playing soccer?

Roary the Lion:  Wah, Wah, Wah, Wah, Wah, Wah…

Interviewer:  Roary, I think you need a hug… Calm down now and talk to me.  Can you tell me what’s wrong?  Did you have soccer game?

Roary the Lion: Wah, Wah, Wah, Wah……

Interviewer: Roary,  I’m here to help you.   Let try to help you.  May be I can help you get your happy roar back.  Will you let me try?

Roary the Lion:  Wah…Wah….okay but I’m not too happy.

Interviewer:  What happened to make you so sad?  I’ve never heard a lion cry so loudly?

Roary the Lion:  Well, I played soccer today and our team lost the game, 4 to zero.  And I was the leading scorer.

Interviewer: Well that’s good isn’t it?

Roary the Lion: No..no…no…I scored two goals for the other team.   Wah…Wah And I’m so embarrassed.  Why did that happen to me?  And why did my team lose?

Interviewer:  Well, let’s see if we can learn something from you and your soccer game?  All of us will be winners if we can learn from you and your soccer game?  Will you help us all?

Roary the Lion:  Okay but I don’t know how my losing a soccer game can help others.

Interviewer: Was anyone happy after your soccer game ended?

Roary the Lion:  The winning team were happy, of course.

Interviewer:  When it rains really hard the farmer is happy to get rain for his corn and his wheat.  But if the same rain comes in the middle of the baseball game, the teams are sad because they have to stop playing baseball.  You see the same rain made some people happy and made some people sad.

Roary the Lion:  So that’s like every soccer game; if one team wins the other team loses.

Interviewer:  Yes and life is like that some times there are things that make us happy and there are things that make us sad.

Roary the Lion: I don’t like to be sad.  What good is sadness?

Interviewer:  It is not fun to be sad but being sad can turn out to be good?

Roary the Lion: How can being sad turn out to be good?

Interviewer:  Well, let us remember the Gospel story today.  Peter was upset at Jesus.  Peter only wanted Jesus to be a strong King.  Peter did not want Jesus to ever suffer.  He did not want Jesus to ever feel sad.

Roary the Lion:  That’s right!  Jesus told Peter that some very sad things were going to happen to Jesus.  He told Peter that he was going to suffer and even die.

Interviewer:  And Jesus said that Peter had to understand life better.  He said that Peter needed to understand that life is made up of wins and losses.  Life is made up of sickness and health.  Life is made up of happiness and sadness.

Roary the Lion:  So to learn how to live is to learn how to live with both.  But I prefer to win.  I would rather be happy.  I don’t ever want to be sick.

Interviewer:  I know Roary,  but what good can come from sadness, loss and sickness?

Roary the Lion:  I don’t know Interviewer.  It would take a great magician to turn sickness into health, happiness into sadness and losing into winning.

Interviewer:  Well, Jesus is better than the greatest magician.  And he showed us how to do one of his greatest tricks.

Roary the Lion:  I like magic.  What is the greatest trick?

Interviewer:  Roary, the next time you play a soccer game and when you win the game, what are you going to say to the little boy who lost the game to your team?

Roary the Lion:  Well, I’m going try to make him feel better.  I’m going to tell him that I lost a game too and it was very sad.  I going to tell him that he played a good game.   And I’m going to tell him that is more important that we have fun playing the game than if we win.

Interviewer:  Why would you say those nice things to him Roary?

Roary the Lion:  Well, because I know what it is to lose and be sad.  So I want to help someone else when they are sad.

Interviewer:  And Roary, that is the magic of Jesus.  Because you were sad, you knew how to help a boy who also was sad.  And that was the message that Jesus was trying to teach Peter.

Roary the Lion:  So God can help us better because God gave his Son Jesus to suffer too.  And so we can know that God is with us when we are sad.

Interviewer:  Bingo!  Now do you see how your loss and your sadness can turn out to be winning.  You always win when you are able to help others.

Roary the Lion:  Interviewer do you think that the boys and girls can learn this too.  I’m shy, could you ask them?

interviewer:  Boys and Girls, do you see how Jesus taught us the meaning of suffering and sadness?  We can turn our sadness into happiness and winning because what really makes us happy in life is to be able to help someone else.  Have you learned the lesson from the Gospel today.  Can you say, Amen?  Amen.  Can you say bye, bye to Roary?

A Sermon for Children about the Cross of Christ

What is the most important sign of the Christian religion?  When you look around the church, you see this sign.  Some people wear a necklace and they have this Christian sign done in gold or silver.

  The sign I am talking about is the cross. 

  Why is the cross the sign of Christianity?  Was it a pleasant or happy sign?  It was not a happy sign, because it was used to put Jesus to death.  The only reason that it is a happy sign for us today, because Jesus came back to life and showed us how we can have hope and happiness in our world that has sadness and death.

  So the cross is an important sign for our Christian faith.  And we use this sign in many ways.  We use it as our Christian brand.  Do you know what a brand is for cows?  The cowboys will burn a mark on a cow, with the sign of their ranch, so that if the cow wanders away, they will be able to tell who the lost cow belongs to.

  Did you know that the cross is like our Christian brand?  Do you know what happens after we are baptized?  The priest dips his thumb into some special oil called chrism and then draws a cross on the forehead of the person who has been baptized and the priest says: You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptized and marked as Christ own forever.  Can you trace that sign on your forehead now and remember that you belong to Christ.

  We make the sign of the cross on our selves and over things, to remember that we belong to Christ and that we dedicate our lives and the things of our lives to God.  We make the sign of the cross in our worship as a way of punctuating the words that we say: like before the Gospel or before receiving communion.

  Today is the Sunday before a special feast day, the feast of the Holy Cross.  This was a day that celebrates the building of a famous church in Jerusalem when they believed a piece of cross of Jesus was found, many years after he had died.

  Jesus said something in a riddle.  He said that we had to take up our cross.  He said that we had to lose our lives in order to gain our lives.  What does that mean?  The life that we have to lose is not our physical life where our heart stops beating.  It is the life of our soul, our psychological life that we must lose in order to gain it.  When we learn something at school we are losing our old life of ignorance and gaining a life of knowledge.  Whenever we want to change our lives and make them better, we have to lose something of our former lives in order to make them better. 

  And we are asked to take up our cross, not because Jesus wants us to die.  The cross of Jesus is a sign of sacrifice.  Sacrifice is the most important principle in life.  Sacrifice is needed for family and community to survive.  If people only did selfish things for themselves, then we would not be able to survive.  The Cross of Christ is a most important sign to us, because it is a reminder that we need to say no to our selfishness in order to learn and in order to help other people. 

  So today we celebrate the cross of Christ as an important sign of our lives.  Repeat after me: I am seal with the Holy Spirit, and I am marked as Christ’s own forever.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist
September 15, 2024: The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs:  There Is a Redeemer;   Lord, Be Glorified; Lift High the Cross;

Song: There Is a Redeemer  (Renew! # 232)

There is a Redeemer, Jesus, God own Son, precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One.

Refrain:  Thank you, O my Father, for giving us your Son; and leaving your Spirit ‘til the work on earth is done.

Jesus, my Redeemer, name above all names, precious Lamb of God, Messiah, hope for sinners slain. Refrain

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

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

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

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

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

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany Phrase: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia
O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia
O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia
O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia
O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia
O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the letter of James

For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 116

Then I called upon the Name of the LORD: * "O LORD, I pray you, save my life."

Gracious is the LORD and righteous; * our God is full of compassion.
The LORD watches over the innocent; * I was brought very low, and he helped me.

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 Mark

People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.  Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:  Fr. 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. (chanted)

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.

Song:   Lord I Lift Your Name on High,   Renew! #4

Lord, I lift your name on high; Lord, I love to sing Your praises.  I’m so glad you’re in my life.  I’m so glad you came to save us.  You came from heaven to earth to show the way, from the earth to the cross, my debt to pay.  From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky; Lord, I lift your name on high!

Doxology

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

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

Prologue to the Eucharist

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

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.
Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.
A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.
The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 
Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All  may gather around the altar

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

You have made us in your image
And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:
Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.
And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph
And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.
Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat
  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as    this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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:        Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song:  Lord, Be Glorified (Renew!  # 172)

In our hearts, Lord, be glorified, be glorified.  In our hearts, Lord, be glorified today.

In our homes, Lord, be glorified, be glorified, in our homes, Lord, be glorified today.

In your church, Lord, be glorified, be glorified, in your church, Lord, be glorified today.

In your world, Lord, be glorified, be glorified, in your world, Lord, be glorified today.

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: Song: Lift High the Cross  (blue hymnal  # 473)

Refrain: Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim till all the world adore his sacred name.

Led on their way by this triumphant sign, the hosts of God in conquering ranks combine.  Refrain

Each newborn servant of the crucified bears on the brow the seal of him who died. Refrain

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

Half Messiah; Full Messiah

16 Pentecost Proper 19   September 12, 2021

Isaiah 50: 4-9a. Psalm 116:1-8

James 3:1-12    Mark 8:27-38

Lectionary Link

The great divide between the Jesus Movement and the dominant party of the synagogues was caused by a disagreement on the understanding of the Messiah.

The recounting of the famous confession of Peter and his misunderstanding which resulted in a rather severe rebuke from Jesus pinpoints this early controversy.

Remember that the Gospels are spiritual manuals which highlight the before and after life of a disciple, before the experience of knowing the presence of the risen Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The early church leaders are trying to come to grips with why many of their fellow Jews did not follow Jesus.  Well, even Peter once misunderstood the meaning of the Messiah, and so do lots of other people.

The Messiah of the early church was a suffering servant Messiah, not a king who would come with angelic armies to conquer Palestine and deliver the Jews from Roman rule.

Peter was rebuked for speaking with voice of Satan because of his human understanding of the Messiah.  And we can't be too critical of Peter, because we too are all too human as well.  We prefer to be with the great winners.  We prefer to be Empire Christianity, not suffering and persecuted Christianity.

And historically the church has made quite a shift.  Ironically, we as Empire Christianity have been more on the persecuting side than on the persecuted side.  Look at the history of slavery and the conquest of indigenous peoples done by Christian Empires.

The human truth is that we are like Peter, we don't really like a suffering servant Messiah.  We want to be the ones who have the absolute power to prevent our own suffering, and we are willing to let hurtful things be done by our group of people and country because of wanting to maintain our power position.  We have lots of Christians who want to remove the suffering Messiah identity from our current lives.  They may say that Jesus died and suffered so we don't have to.   Welcome to blessing and prosperity Christianity.  If anyone stands in the way of our blessing and prosperity they are persecuting us because God wants us to prosper and be the ones calling the shots.

This kind of Christianity is found in many places in our country today.  And many people cannot hear the Risen Christ say, "Get behind me Satan, you are seeing things from a selfish human comfort viewpoint."

It is easy for us to love butterflies and resurrection and try to avoid or forget the cocoon and death phases of life.

We cannot be true to the witness of the early Church, especially to St. Paul, if we try to eliminate the cross of the suffering servant Messiah from our faith.

St. Paul said that he gloried in the cross of Christ.  He said that he was crucified with Christ and that he suffered with Christ.

In the field of freedom, the very conditions of God as pure creativity, we have to learn to live with the full range of probabilities in life.  And this means we have to learn to integrate loss, death, change, and suffering into our life experience without it destroying us.

And this is where the suffering Messiah and a Cross-centered Christianity comes in; it helps us to be realistic about the conditions in life.  The suffering servant Messiah will not let us be naive or pollyannaish about life.  Faith is learning how to integrate all of the probabilities of life in a way that makes us better and stronger and in a way that helps us to be those who help the suffering people of the world, rather than be those who cause the suffering of people in this world.

The writer of James gives us a hint about how we can prevent suffering in this life.  The tongue is a small muscles but if it is not controlled by a greater inward loving self, it can cause great damage and suffering on a small scale or on a large scale.

On a large scale the tongue represents the worst kind of cruel propaganda against entire races and groups of people.  The propaganda of the tongue is what causes the persecution of other people and on a grand scale so that groups of people practice self-justification for their cruelty to others.

On the small scale in our families and micro-communities, an uncontrolled tongue can spew hatred and lies and in subtle ways, not so subtle ways cause havoc in human community.

As much as the writer of James feels compelled to share the horrendous effects of how public communication destroys, we should also work to present what good, loving, just, comforting, instructive, and kind communication can do.

Because the spoken word is so powerful, we should take special care to value the words which we chose publish with our spoken words and with the body language of our lives.

And how can we best use our published words today?  With the message of the Gospel of the Messiah.  Not a half or partial Messiah.  The full Messiah is the suffering servant Messiah who provides us a refuge of identity to integrate the suffering and the death that will surely come to us all in various ways.  But the full Messiah is also the Risen Christ, who assures us that death and suffering are not the final events.  The Risen Christ is the Gospel of the surpassing experience of life which includes the faith to integrate in hope everything that can and will happen in God's great field of freedom.

And if we haven't accepted the fact that we're in quite an adventure of varied probabilities in this life, let us do so today, and know that we've taken up our cross and are following Jesus in the path of the continual renewal of our lives.  Amen.

Sunday School, September 12, 2021 16 Pentecost, B proper 19

 Sunday School, September 12, 2021       16 Pentecost, B proper 19

Sunday School Themes

The reading from Proverbs calls Wisdom the way in which we can discover that God is everywhere.  The Psalm states that the heavens declare the glory of God.  People who look in the sky and also observe the way in which things are made are fascinated and so they confess the presence and existence of something greater and anything that we can do or make as human beings.  But since we see this greatness and if greatness is greater than us as persons, then the greatness of God must also have a Great Personality and so we come to believe that we have a personal relationship with the Wise Great Being og God whose works we can observe everywhere.

The Epistle of James is about the small muscle of the tongue and how destructive can be.  Everyone needs a lesson in learning self control in what we say.  The things we say can harm and do hurt to each other.  But the nice and kind things which we say can also do some lovely and wonderful things to build relationships.

Since September 14 is Holy Cross Day, the Gospel lesson gives us a lesson on the cross.  Peter did not want to accept the fact that Jesus would suffer and die.  He wanted Jesus to be just a Messiah superhero.  Jesus told Peter that he was wrong in his thinking about who the messiah was.  The messiah would suffer and die and know fully all of the hardships of human suffering.  Jesus as the suffering messiah was proof that God has and is and will suffer with us.

You can instruct about the notions of life in the riddle of Jesus about losing and gaining our lives.  The life that Jesus told us to lose is psueche or soul life which is the life of our minds, emotions and choosing power.  Education means that we lose the ignorant states of mind and we gain wisdom and education.  This is how we lose and gain our lives.    In the church, taking up the cross and following Jesus means that we learn to give up our selfish selves as we make room to help others through love and kindness.

Gospel Puppet Show: What kind of Messiah Is Jesus?

Puppet dialogue between Roary the Lion and Interviewer

Roary the Lion (holding a soccer ball and sobbing): Wah…Wah….Wah….Wah….

Interviewer: What’s wrong Roary, why are you crying?  Have you been playing soccer?

Roary the Lion:  Wah, Wah, Wah, Wah, Wah, Wah…

Interviewer:  Roary, I think you need a hug… Calm down now and talk to me.  Can you tell me what’s wrong?  Did you have soccer game?

Roary the Lion: Wah, Wah, Wah, Wah……

Interviewer: Roary,  I’m here to help you.   Let try to help you.  May be I can help you get your happy roar back.  Will you let me try?

Roary the Lion:  Wah…Wah….okay but I’m not too happy.

Interviewer:  What happened to make you so sad?  I’ve never heard a lion cry so loudly?

Roary the Lion:  Well, I played soccer today and our team lost the game, 4 to zero.  And I was the leading scorer.

Interviewer: Well that’s good isn’t it?

Roary the Lion: No..no…no…I scored two goals for the other team.   Wah…Wah And I’m so embarrassed.  Why did that happen to me?  And why did my team lose?

Interviewer:  Well, let’s see if we can learn something from you and your soccer game?  All of us will be winners if we can learn from you and your soccer game?  Will you help us all?

Roary the Lion:  Okay but I don’t know how my losing a soccer game can help others.

Interviewer: Was anyone happy after your soccer game ended?

Roary the Lion:  The winning team were happy, of course.

Interviewer:  When it rains really hard the farmer is happy to get rain for his corn and his wheat.  But if the same rain comes in the middle of the baseball game, the teams are sad because they have to stop playing baseball.  You see the same rain made some people happy and made some people sad.

Roary the Lion:  So that’s like every soccer game; if one team wins the other team loses.

Interviewer:  Yes and life is like that some times there are things that make us happy and there are things that make us sad.

Roary the Lion: I don’t like to be sad.  What good is sadness?

Interviewer:  It is not fun to be sad but being sad can turn out to be good?

Roary the Lion: How can being sad turn out to be good?

Interviewer:  Well, let us remember the Gospel story today.  Peter was upset at Jesus.  Peter only wanted Jesus to be a strong King.  Peter did not want Jesus to ever suffer.  He did not want Jesus to ever feel sad.

Roary the Lion:  That’s right!  Jesus told Peter that some very sad things were going to happen to Jesus.  He told Peter that he was going to suffer and even die.

Interviewer:  And Jesus said that Peter had to understand life better.  He said that Peter needed to understand that life is made up of wins and losses.  Life is made up of sickness and health.  Life is made up of happiness and sadness.

Roary the Lion:  So to learn how to live is to learn how to live with both.  But I prefer to win.  I would rather be happy.  I don’t ever want to be sick.

Interviewer:  I know Roary,  but what good can come from sadness, loss and sickness?

Roary the Lion:  I don’t know Interviewer.  It would take a great magician to turn sickness into health, happiness into sadness and losing into winning.

Interviewer:  Well, Jesus is better than the greatest magician.  And he showed us how to do one of his greatest tricks.

Roary the Lion:  I like magic.  What is the greatest trick?

Interviewer:  Roary, the next time you play a soccer game and when you win the game, what are you going to say to the little boy who lost the game to your team?

Roary the Lion:  Well, I’m going try to make him feel better.  I’m going to tell him that I lost a game too and it was very sad.  I going to tell him that he played a good game.   And I’m going to tell him that is more important that we have fun playing the game than if we win.

Interviewer:  Why would you say those nice things to him Roary?

Roary the Lion:  Well, because I know what it is to lose and be sad.  So I want to help someone else when they are sad.

Interviewer:  And Roary, that is the magic of Jesus.  Because you were sad, you knew how to help a boy who also was sad.  And that was the message that Jesus was trying to teach Peter.

Roary the Lion:  So God can help us better because God gave his Son Jesus to suffer too.  And so we can know that God is with us when we are sad.

Interviewer:  Bingo!  Now do you see how your loss and your sadness can turn out to be winning.  You always win when you are able to help others.

Roary the Lion:  Interviewer do you think that the boys and girls can learn this too.  I’m shy, could you ask them?

interviewer:  Boys and Girls, do you see how Jesus taught us the meaning of suffering and sadness?  We can turn our sadness into happiness and winning because what really makes us happy in life is to be able to help someone else.  Have you learned the lesson from the Gospel today.  Can you say, Amen?  Amen.  Can you say bye, bye to Roary?

A Sermon for Children about the Cross of Christ

What is the most important sign of the Christian religion?  When you look around the church, you see this sign.  Some people wear a necklace and they have this Christian sign done in gold or silver.

  The sign I am talking about is the cross. 

  Why is the cross the sign of Christianity?  Was it a pleasant or happy sign?  It was not a happy sign, because it was used to put Jesus to death.  The only reason that it is a happy sign for us today, because Jesus came back to life and showed us how we can have hope and happiness in our world that has sadness and death.

  So the cross is an important sign for our Christian faith.  And we use this sign in many ways.  We use it as our Christian brand.  Do you know what a brand is for cows?  The cowboys will burn a mark on a cow, with the sign of their ranch, so that if the cow wanders away, they will be able to tell who the lost cow belongs to.

  Did you know that the cross is like our Christian brand?  Do you know what happens after we are baptized?  The priest dips his thumb into some special oil called chrism and then draws a cross on the forehead of the person who has been baptized and the priest says: You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptized and marked as Christ own forever.  Can you trace that sign on your forehead now and remember that you belong to Christ.

  We make the sign of the cross on our selves and over things, to remember that we belong to Christ and that we dedicate our lives and the things of our lives to God.  We make the sign of the cross in our worship as a way of punctuating the words that we say: like before the Gospel or before receiving communion.

  Today is the Sunday before a special feast day, the feast of the Holy Cross.  This was a day that celebrates the building of a famous church in Jerusalem when they believed a piece of cross of Jesus was found, many years after he had died.

  Jesus said something in a riddle.  He said that we had to take up our cross.  He said that we had to lose our lives in order to gain our lives.  What does that mean?  The life that we have to lose is not our physical life where our heart stops beating.  It is the life of our soul, our psychological life that we must lose in order to gain it.  When we learn something at school we are losing our old life of ignorance and gaining a life of knowledge.  Whenever we want to change our lives and make them better, we have to lose something of our former lives in order to make them better. 

  And we are asked to take up our cross, not because Jesus wants us to die.  The cross of Jesus is a sign of sacrifice.  Sacrifice is the most important principle in life.  Sacrifice is needed for family and community to survive.  If people only did selfish things for themselves, then we would not be able to survive.  The Cross of Christ is a most important sign to us, because it is a reminder that we need to say no to our selfishness in order to learn and in order to help other people. 

  So today we celebrate the cross of Christ as an important sign of our lives.  Repeat after me: I am seal with the Holy Spirit, and I am marked as Christ’s own forever.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist
September 12, 2021: The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs:  There Is a Redeemer;   Lord, Be Glorified; Lift High the Cross;

Song: There Is a Redeemer  (Renew! # 232)

There is a Redeemer, Jesus, God own Son, precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One.

Refrain:  Thank you, O my Father, for giving us your Son; and leaving your Spirit ‘til the work on earth is done.

Jesus, my Redeemer, name above all names, precious Lamb of God, Messiah, hope for sinners slain. Refrain

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

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

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

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

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

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany Phrase: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia
O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia
O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia
O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia
O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia
O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the letter of James

For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 116

Then I called upon the Name of the LORD: * "O LORD, I pray you, save my life."

Gracious is the LORD and righteous; * our God is full of compassion.
The LORD watches over the innocent; * I was brought very low, and he helped me.

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 Mark

People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.  Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:  Fr. 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. (chanted)

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.

Song:   Lord I Lift Your Name on High,   Renew! #4

Lord, I lift your name on high; Lord, I love to sing Your praises.  I’m so glad you’re in my life.  I’m so glad you came to save us.  You came from heaven to earth to show the way, from the earth to the cross, my debt to pay.  From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky; Lord, I lift your name on high!

Doxology

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

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

Prologue to the Eucharist

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

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.
Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.
A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.
The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 
Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All  may gather around the altar

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

You have made us in your image
And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:
Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.
And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph
And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.
Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat
  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as    this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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:        Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song:  Lord, Be Glorified (Renew!  # 172)

In our hearts, Lord, be glorified, be glorified.  In our hearts, Lord, be glorified today.

In our homes, Lord, be glorified, be glorified, in our homes, Lord, be glorified today.

In your church, Lord, be glorified, be glorified, in your church, Lord, be glorified today.

In your world, Lord, be glorified, be glorified, in your world, Lord, be glorified today.

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: Song: Lift High the Cross  (blue hymnal  # 473)

Refrain: Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim till all the world adore his sacred name.

Led on their way by this triumphant sign, the hosts of God in conquering ranks combine.  Refrain

Each newborn servant of the crucified bears on the brow the seal of him who died. Refrain

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God!