The Alchemy of Transmuting Fear into Faith

12 Pentecost, C p14, August 7, 2016 

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 Psalm 50:1-8, 23-24

Hebrews 11:1-3 (4-7) 8-16 Luke 12:32-40

 Lectionary Link

Jesus told his followers, "Don't be afraid."  All of us know what fear is.  We all have the capacity to be fearful, and if not fear as sheer terror, we know the more common boutique varieties of fear: worry, anxiety, fretting, concern, foreboding, and melancholy.  Is this perhaps due to the great attention that is given to the bad news in our world?  Such great attention to the bad news tempts us live our lives according to Murphy's Law:  If something can go wrong, then it probably will.  If five events of terror happen in this world in three weeks, then that must mean that terror and evil are omnipresence and surely going to come to the locations of my life.  So, I need to frightened in advance because perhaps all of my fearful energy will actually prevent the terror of evil thing from befalling me.
  The force of bad news is why we need to remind ourselves of FDR's words, "We have nothing to fear, except fear itself."  Fearing fear is to deplete and waste our energy and make our lives truly miserable.
  And if we have this capacity to live in fear and anxiety what are we supposed to do with our fears?
   The first tip about fear which Jesus provides us in today's Gospel has to do with the cause of fear.  Fear is based upon some future loss: loss of one's life or a significant person in one's life, loss of property, loss of dignity, loss of job, loss of money, loss of friends, loss of family and loss of health.  So if fear is based upon loss, then we need to do an "attachment" review.  What is our treasure?  If we have loving devotion to so many idols, then the loss of those idols will in some way end our lives because of our over-identification with those idols.  So, Jesus reminded his followers not to be afraid and to sell their possessions and to give alms.   If we can transact in our minds that everything we have could really belong or be given to someone else who needs it more, then we learn to release ourselves from our fearful attachment to "stuff."  Jesus was essentially saying, "Let go of your stuff, not by being irresponsible with your things but to lose fearful attachment that we often have with all that we love and often manage wrongly in our lives."  If we establish that God is the treasure of our lives then we know that even when we experience loss, we cannot lose God.
  The next way to deal with fear is train ourselves to be prepared and ready.  Education is supposed to help us to be ready and prepared for as many life circumstances as possible.  Being prepared has to do with commonsense, wise probability theory.  If you have a wedding; get thee to the church on time.  It's your own fault if you miss the vows and you face the shame of not honoring your friends by your late arrival.  In the wise actuarial practice, Jesus reminded his friend not to be naïve by only assuming goodness in other human beings.  If you know that there are thieves in the area; lock the doors of your house and be prepared.
  How do we deal with fear?  First treasure God above all and then whatever we might lose cannot cause the loss of God.  And don't be naïve; practice wise probability theory in all that we do.
  These are excellent ways to deal with fear but there is something further that can be done with fear.  Fear saps an incredible amount of life energy and that same life energy can be transformed and expressed as its opposite.  What is the oppose of fear?  It is faith.
  The Faith chapter of the Bible is the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews.  Faith is defined as the assurance of things hoped for; the evidence or conviction of things not seen.
  Fear is a wrong relationship to the future.  Fear is based upon building worst case scenarios and letting those scenarios keep us from effective action now.  Fear is based upon what we cannot see yet in the future but projecting the worst outcomes and then acting accordingly.  (How many remember the Y2K scare and the many people who acted out in fear?)
  Faith is inspired by hope and hope is the gift of vision of what is  good and more perfect.  With faith we let the magnet of hope inspire creative actions which attempt to reach the goals of hope.  Faith is not hope; faith is creative action in the direction of the perfection of the vision of hope.
  Hope does not exist in a vacuum; hope needs exemplars.  Hope needs the vision of God as our perfect treasure.  Hope needs the example of the life of Jesus to show us how God would live a human life.  Hope needs the examples of saints, holy people, moms, dads, friends, teachers and mentors.  Why?  Faith needs the positive visions provided by living examples of what is good and decent, positive and optimistic.
  Today we are invited to the life of faith, just like all of the heroes of faith written about in the Bible.  These heroes were not perfect; they had human weaknesses, but they had faith.  They had the ability in the midst of the varied circumstances of life to execute their actions toward the better and more perfect visions of hope.
  Without faith, we cannot please God.  Without faith we cannot make progress toward what is better.
  But with faith we can continually make creative advance in our lives and in our community.  With faith we can always be at the work of surpassing ourselves in excellence in a future state.
  And we owe it to ourselves and to our communities to live by faith.  If we live by faith we become examples to the young and to each other to provide encouragement and positive direction in our lives.
  The Gospel for us today is that our fear can be transformed to faith.  And so the energy of faith can propel us to complete the vision of hope.
  Jesus says to us today: Do not be afraid, don't worry, be happy and exercise your faith.   Amen.

Sunday School, August 7, 2016 C proper 14

Sunday School, August 7, 2016   12 Pentecost  C proper 14

Themes

The Gospel reading is about Jesus telling his followers that they needed to always be ready.  One of the reason we go to school and learn things is so that we can be ready for the many things which are going to face in life.  We might live in fear if we are not prepared for some very challenging situations.

Why do we do our math problems?  Yes, so we can pass a test, but also so we know how to take care of our money or use math to build a new kind of airplane in the future.

What is the best way to be ready and be prepared to live our lives in the very best way with God and with each other?

The answer is to live by faith

Hebrews chapter is call the “faith” chapter.  It defines faith and then gives the examples from the lives of many Bible heroes of faith, people like Abraham, Noah, David and others.

How is faith defined?  Faith is the assurance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen.

What does that mean?

Hope is about the future and the future has not yet happened.  And because it has not happened we can be fearful about what might happen.  If we are fearful about might happen, we might just try to hide in our rooms and not do anything.

Faith is not fear; it is a different way of living toward the future.  With faith, we get up and do good and wonderful things which are aimed toward future good goals and targets.

Faith is acting because we are aim our lives toward very good goals and targets.

We study and we practice now not because we are afraid of the future but to prepare ourselves to be better at the good things which we want to do.

So, remember Jesus wants us to be ready and prepared for the future.  And we do this by living with faith.  Faith is living in a positive way with positive goals.

A sermon

Do you know what a wish is?

 What are some things we might wish for?

 Do you wish have a certain toy?

 Do you wish to be a good soccer player?

There was a boy who once saw a beautiful bicycle and he wanted this bicycle a lot.  So he asked his parents to buy him this bike, since he did not have much money and the bike was very expensive.

  His parents said he could have the bike but first he had to complete some chores and some projects.  They said if you finish these projects then we will get you bike.

 Some of the chores were easy, but some of the chores were harder.  He had to make his bed every day.  He had to keep his room clean.  He had to help watch his younger brother when they played in the back yard.  And sometimes the boy did not do his chores and his parents reminded him about the bike and his promises.  So he kept doing his chores, though he was getting very impatient.

  One day, day his dad told him to go into the garage and get a hammer.  And when the boy went into the garage, he saw the new bike.  Of course he was excited.  But then he asked his parents, “Why did you make me work for this bike?”

  And his parents said, “We wanted you to have faith.”

  We wanted you to believe us that we would get you the bike.  But we also wanted to teach you a lesson about wishing and dreaming and hope and faith.

  When you are young you can wish for something and think that because mom and dad gives it to you right away…you can think that everything in life is very easy.

  But not everything in life is easy.  Sometimes you have to work and you have to work hard to get something.

  Like if you want to be good in soccer or baseball, you just can’t wish to be good, you also have to work hard and practice, practice, practice.

  Faith is important because when you see what you want to do, you need to have faith to work hard to do what you really wish for in life.

  So faith is when we see what God wants us do and we work to do it, even if it very hard and difficult.  When we have faith, it means that we do not give up working for some very important things.

  So faith is very important in life, because everything does not just happen with magic in life.  Your parents are trying to teach you to have faith, when they encourage you to work for the good things in your life.  And if it seems hard, just remember you are learning to live with faith and you are building faith muscles to do lots of great things.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

August 7, 2016: The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Awesome God, My Jesus I Love Thee, Let All That Is Within Me,  Lord Bid Your Servant

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

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

Song: Awesome God,  (Renew!, # 245)

Our God is an awesome God.  He reigns from heaven above.  With wisdom, power and love, our God is an awesome God.

(Sing three times, repeat ending on third verse)

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Liturgy Leader: In our prayers we first praise God, chanting the praise word: Alleluia

Litany of Praise: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. .By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 33

Our soul waits for the LORD; *he is our help and our shield.

Indeed, our heart rejoices in him, *for in his holy Name we put our trust.

Let your loving-kindness, O LORD, be upon us, * as we have put our trust in you.

 Liturgist: Before we offer our thanksgiving, is there anything special you are thankful about today?

As we thank God, let us chant, “Thanks be to God.”

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God!

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus said to his disciples, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. "Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. "But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Liturgist: As we offer our prayers for people in need, let us chant: “Christ, have mercy.”

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

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

People:                        And also with you.

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

Offertory Song:           My Jesus, I Love Thee, (Renew!  # 275)

My Jesus I love thee, I know thou art mine.  For thee all the follies of sin I resign.  My gracious redeemer, my savior art thou.  If ever I loved thee, my Jesus tis now.

I love thee because thou has first loved me.  And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;  I love thee for wearing the thorn on thy brow, if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.

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)

Liturgist continues:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments) 

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Let All That Is Within Me, (Renew! # 269)

1-Let all that is within cry holy.  Let all that is within me cry holy.  Holy, holy, holy is the Lamb that was slain.

2-Glory   3-Jesus

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: Lord, Bid Your Servant Go In Peace, (Renew! # 295)

1-Lord bid your servant go in peace; your word is now fulfilled.  These eyes have seen salvation’s dawn, this child so long foretold.

2-This is the Savior of the world, the Gentiles’ promised light, God’s glory dwelling in our midst, the joy of Israel.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

Faith, Being Beckoned into the Future by Hope's Targets

12 Pentecost, Cp14, August 11, 2013   

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 Psalm 50:1-8, 23-24

Hebrews 11:1-3 (4-7) 8-16 Luke 12:32-40

 Lectionary Link

  In our lives we live with an intuition that is provided us from a kind of parallel kingdom that is within us.  This intuition that can arise from within us comes in the form of a message that says to us always, “There is something better.  There is something more.  There is other life, another life, life  in our future.”  And even when we are getting ready to leave this life and when our dear friends are getting ready to leave this life in the body as we know it now;  our intuition tells us that there is still more life.  Why does it do that?  Plenitude of life teaches us the humility of knowing that we are always contained by something greater than us because we can know that our great Container preceded us and will also succeed us after the wicks of our bodies burn down toward their ashy residue.  Our intuition also inspires imaginations of an afterlife as well, as a kind of humility in recognizing that the few decades of our lives are not the only and final or even significant decades in the life everlasting.

  We are born with a biological life that gives us orientation in growth, so we know that such growth implies a future.  Growth means we have a future whether we want it or not; the question then becomes how do we live into our future?  What does our future mean?

  We have the general and automatic future promised to us by the very nature of growth but we need to process automatic growth with intentional meanings.  And this effort to be intentional in the meaning of growth into a future is where we encounter a way of living, called the way of faith.

  The writer of the letter to the Hebrews wrote in a way about faith that became watershed reflections upon the faith of people who are the legendary and historic figures of the Salvation History that is recounted in the Bible.    Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets: What did all of these have in common?  According to the writer to the Hebrews, they all had faith.  Many of them had weaknesses and faults but what distinguished their lives in the midst of the mixed blessings of personhood and circumstances, they had this virtue called faith.

  How does the writer to the Hebrews describe faith?  “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  Things that we hope for have not happened yet.  So hope has created a host of events that have not occurred yet.

  The shadow of hope is despair and pessimism.  We can let the negative vision of the future cripple us now with fear and anxiety.  The visions of worst case scenarios can rise before us to defeat us before we even try to do anything.  The boredom of the ordinary or the mediocre can depress us to try to do anything different.  After all, what difference will it make?   We cannot change the world in any significant way.

  Faith is a deliberate way of living with hope.  Faith is an intentional way of articulating hope.  Faith is acting with a purpose; acting towards a future target that has captured our imagination toward making our lives better and the life of our world a more excellent place.

  Faith involves focusing upon a target and so in faith we profess a love and a desire for something that has not happened yet.  This focus aspect of faith is crucial since with faith we can have the proper relationship towards hope and the future.  An unhealthy relationship with hope and the future is manifested in mere dreams and fantasy as entertainment in our present pain, boredom or discomfort.  To live by faith is to not let the vision of hope degrade to cloudy dreams without feet upon the ground.

  The heroes of faith written about by the writer to the Hebrews were people who had to pick some very real and down to earth targets.  They felt they were inspired to wants some important things for their future.  Abel, an accepted offering for God; Enoch, a faithful walk with God; Noah, a crazy notion for building a ship; Abraham and Sarah, wanting their own child.  Isaac, to pass on the family blessing; Jacob, a promise of a divine blessing; Joseph, the vision of not being trapped in Egypt; Moses, a promised land; Samuel, leadership for his people; Rahab, a harlot who wanted to survive an attack on Jericho; David, a king who wanted an established kingdom and line of succession.  Prophets; who wanted listening faithful audiences to love God and practice justice.  All of these people had specific targets created in their contexts from the inspired intuitions of hope.  They did not let these targets go; they focused and they worked and they persevered.  They did not give up.

  The writer of the Hebrews said it was important to have targets of hope and act in faith towards those targets.  The writer also said that none really achieved their targets in any final way, writing they were all really looking for a better country, a better location, a better environment, a better place to be, a heavenly country.  They were always looking for another specific future.

  What is the difference between achieving a future with faith or without faith?  Frankly, biology guarantees that we will all have a future of sorts.  But do we regard ourselves to be in the automatic ruts of our family or our society or our current peer group to attain the cookie cutter pre-ordained roles given for us in the future?

   Faith, is not just living in the ruts which guide up toward the future;  faith involves a worship of Greatness, a worship of the Great One and in that worship finding an inspired intuition that gives us specific targets of hope in our future.  And then with intention, deliberation, preparation, hard work, perseverance, prayer, pleading, intense desire, tenacity and grace we exercise the daily narrative of events in our lives toward the targets of hope realizing that the targets are not ends in themselves.  The achievements of the target goals are significant milestones toward the next milestone in a never ending journey into the future.  
  Faith involves a calling from the One who seems to mark our lives with sublime modes of communication.   I can remember the call to the priesthood.  Oh, to be a priest.  There is my target of faith, to be a priest.  And then I got there and as I carried a plunger towards the church bathroom, I thought, “Wow, is this it?   Thousands of people hanging on my every word…..Not!”  But do we regret hope’s targets because they are temporary and not final?  Not at all because within the attainment of the target, thousands of more targets of hope open up to continue to beckon us to live with the attitude of life called, faith. 

  Jesus, as the one who lived with faith towards hope’s future, gave us the vision of living towards having  the treasure of faith with God.  Faith is living in the state of being prepared.  Faith is living with the freedom to be disillusioned with the temporary attainments in life even as good as they seem to be in our quest for them, why?  Because there is always more.  There is always hope’s visions of new targets for our faithful actions.  There is always Son of Man; There is always Super Man/ Super Woman; There is always the Surpassing Humanity as a target person of each of us in a surpassing future state to keep us, keeping on.  And it is the focus of “keeping on” which is God’s most graceful achievement of faith in our lives.

  The targets of hope are not about arriving at a final destination; they are lures to focus the intentional acts of faith by which we continue to believe that hope is the best of all vision and not the cruel tease for us to want things we can never have.  We come here today to worship God so as to open ourselves up to the intuitions of hope; these intuitions create targets and these targets of hope for us personally and for our community can inspire us to live by faith.  And as Scriptures say, “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.”  Amen.