Post-election and the "New Jersualem?"

Sunday School, November 13, 2016 26 Pentecost, C proper 28

Sunday School, November 13, 2016  26 Pentecost, C proper 28

Theme: Buildings and Homes

What is the first question that we ask when a house is destroyed by fire or a flood?

Do we ask first if all of the furniture and the belongings are safe?   No, we ask if all of the family members are safe.

Why?  Because a building can be reconstructed.  Things can be replaced.  But people cannot be replaced.  We know it is a very sad time when someone loses their home, but the loss of lives is even sadder.

There are important buildings in every state, city and country.  In America we think that the Capitol Building and the White House are important building.  If these buildings were destroyed it would be very sad and painful for our country, but if the buildings were destroyed, would our country be destroyed?   Probably, not because our country is not buildings, it is all of us as people and as Americans.  As Americans we could rebuild buildings, even important buildings.  In fact we are building them all of them because we are fixing them up and remodeling them. 

Jesus spoke about the destruction of the most important building in Jerusalem for the Jews.  The most important building was the Temple.  The Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple.  But was this the end of God’s people.  No.  God’s people continued to meet in synagogues and the followers of Jesus met in house churches.  The destruction of the Temple did not mean the destruction of God’s people.  In fact, Jesus taught us that God dwells within each person.  St. Paul called the body of each person, the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  So when Christians gather each person is a temple of God’s Holy Spirit.  This means that God can be everywhere people are.  We don’t have to go to Rome or to Jerusalem to meet or to find God.  God is present wherever we are and is especially known when people gather together to form what St. Paul called the body of Christ.  The Body of Christ is the Church, not the temple or any building.  Just as a body has parts which do different things for us, so in the Body of Christ, we are all parts of the body of Christ who do different things but we worked together as we are led by Christ.  St. Paul call Christ, the head of the Body of Christ.

Jesus also said that even though we have some very hard and difficult times in our lives we can still know that God is close to us.  He said that even when people do some bad things to us, we should remain true to what Jesus taught us about love and kindness.  He said that we can endure, we will preserve our souls.

Let us remember even when we lose important things like the Temple, God is still very near to us and in us.  Let us also remember that when people want to hurt us, we cannot become like them and act in hurtful ways as a response.  If we remain strong in goodness, we will prove that our souls will last because of being faithful to goodness and kindness of Christ.

Sermon

One of the nice things about our country is that we have the freedom to worship God.  So when you came to church today, the army or the police did not stop you and say, “You can’t go to church.”

  But did you know that in other places and at different times, people did not always have freedom to worship God in the way that they wanted to?

  Wouldn’t it be frightening if we came to church one day and a big bulldozer was knocking over the church building and we were told that we could not pray here anymore?

  A long time ago, in the land where Jesus was born, the people of his land lost their freedom of worship.  The land of Israel was control by a powerful army of Roman soldiers.  The King of Rome, called a Caesar decided that everyone should worship the Caesar.

  But the followers of Jesus did not want to worship Caesar.

  The armies of Caesar attacked Jerusalem and destroyed the temple where Jesus used to go to pray.

  And so the followers of Jesus had to run for their lives and they faced great danger.

  And they became great heroes because they would not worship the Caesar, they continued to worship God and follow Jesus Christ.

  They kept our religion alive because of their faith.

  And so we need to remember to keep our religion alive too.  We do that by coming to church to worship God and following the teaching of Jesus.  And parents teach their children to follow Jesus, so that when they grow up, they can teach their children too.

  So today, we gather today, to keep alive our faith and pass it on for the future.

  Let us be thankful for great heroes who kept our faith alive in some very difficult times.  And let us remember to keep our faith alive when we are given such easy freedom to worship.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

November 13, 2016: The Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Hallelu, Hallelujah; I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light; Jesus Stand Among Us, Hosanna

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

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord!  Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord!  Praise ye the Lord!  Hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord!  Hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord!  Hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord! 

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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 Prophet Isaiah

For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people;

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 98

Sing to the LORD with the harp, * with the harp and the voice of song.

With trumpets and the sound of the horn * shout with joy before the King, the LORD.

Let the sea make a noise and all that is in it, * the lands and those who dwell therein.

 

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.

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus said, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down." They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, `I am he!' and, `The time is near!' Do not go after them.  "When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.  "But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls."

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.

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: I Want to Walk as A Child of the Light (Blue Hymnal # 490)

1-I want to walk as a child of the light, I want to follow Jesus.  God set the stars to give light to the world.  The star of my life is Jesus.

Refrain: In him there is no darkness at all.  The night and the day are both alike.  The Lamb is the light of the city of God.  Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.

2-I’m looking for the coming of Christ.  I want to be with Jesus.  When we have run with patience the race, we shall know the joy of Jesus.  Refrain

Doxology

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

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

Prologue to the Eucharist

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

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

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

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All  may gather around the altar)

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

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

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

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

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.

Beaking 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:    Jesus Stand Among Us, Renew! #17

1          Jesus stand among us, at the meeting of our lives, be our sweet agreement at the meeting of our eyes; O, Jesus, we love You, so we gather here, join our hearts in unity and take away our fear.

2          So to You we’re gathering out of each and every land.  Christ the love between us at the joining of our hand; O, Jesus, we love You, so we gather here, join our hearts in unity and take away our fear.

3          Jesus stand among us, the breaking of the bread, join us as one body as we worship Your, our Head.  O, Jesus, we love You, so we gather here, join our hearts in unity and take away our fear.

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: Hosanna (Renew! # 71)

1-Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest!  Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest!  Lord we lift up your name with hearts full of praise; Be exalted, Oh Lord my God!  Hosanna in the highest.

2-Glory, Glory, Glory to the King of kings!  Glory, Glory, Glory to the King of kings!  Lord we lift up you name with hearts full of praise; Be exalted, oh Lord my God!  Glory to the King of kings.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

The Comfort and Analgesic Function of Salvation Language

26  Pentecost, Cp28, November 17, 2013

Isaiah 65:17-25 Ps. 98:

2 Thes. 3:6-13     Luke 21:5-19   

Lectionary Link

    As one who you know to be very hung up on words and language, I am often disappointed by the misuse of language or the ignorance of language or the rather lack of lyricism in how we use language in our lives and more specifically how biblical language is misinterpreted in mode and context and application.

  One of my goals in life is to get people understand the broad and deeply rich spectrum of language and word use.  Language is perhaps the greatest truth of human experience.

  The Bible is a book of language; it is a book of words that have derived from the experiences of people who struggled with the common questions of humanity that pertain to life between cradle and the grave, and the possible life beyond the grave.

  I would ask that we understand genre and use of language and not misapply in inappropriate ways the various applications of language which function for our orientation in the great stories of humanity.

  A mother who may comfort a fevered baby with words like, “there, there little one; all will be better in the morning” could be confronted by literalist, “Mom how can you speak such untruthful things; you have no proof that all will be well in the morning.”  And what would you say to such a literalist before you smacked him in the mouth?   You would probably say, “You unfeeling idiot, do you not know a discourse of comfort does not need to be infallible predictive scientific discourse?”

   This lack of language finesse accounts for most biblical disputes by those who defend the Bible wrongly and by those who attack Bible language wrongly as being something that is does not purport to be in its use and function.

  If the Bible can be called salvation history, we could understand the word salvation to mean “health.”  The function of the Bible in its origin and now in its use is to be words of health for the community.

  How were the words of the Bible readings, words of health for people in their times of composition and how can they be words of health for us today?

  Words of health might include the functions of education, comfort and pain management.  Words of comfort and pain management might not necessarily be literally true, probable or even possible.  The mom who sings to a restless baby, “Hush little baby don’t say a word, momma’s goin’ to buy you a mockingbird.”  Well, no momma’s not going to buy a mockingbird; a mockingbird can be a teasing mischievous noise maker.   Momma’s trying to create a rhyme to comfort a restless baby.

  The Isaian prophet had some major comfort to achieve within the community.  The comfort also included some major pain management and so the words of comfort had to be downright analgesic.  They had to be escapism; they had to be fantastic.  And what were the conditions like that required analgesic words?  Not just simply Tylenol words but they had to provide the most effective pain-killers of all.

  What conditions could call for such escapism?  The Isaian writer was implying that the world was so bad that God needed to start all over with a new creation.  Jerusalem was so bad that a new Jerusalem had to be built.  The Isaian writer was doing what we all do when we’re in pain; we generalize to the entire universe.  Well, if life is so dreadful for me, it must also be for the entire universe.  When life is really bad, we can want to be somewhere else with a complete new discontinuity from the way things are.  Denial is a form of pain management.  These Isaian words are similar to John Lennon’s song, Imagine:  Denying words, utopian word, analgesic words.

  What else was happening?  The beasts had taken over the world.  The lambs were getting eaten up by the wolves; “O wouldn’t it be nice if wolves and lambs were friendly playmates?”  In a predator and prey world, the predators were winning.  Only the extremely fit were surviving.   Wouldn’t it be nice if people could enjoy the labor of their own hands, their own homes and gardens?  Infant mortality was staggeringly high.  “O, wouldn’t it be nice if young people lived to the very minimal age of one hundred.”  There is an incredible amount of wishful thinking in such analgesic discourse.  Such discourse may only be relevant when it is needed.  (Take as directed). We should not criticize its use in the situations when it is needed.  On the other hand, we have modern day literalists in America who live in a comparative lap of luxury trying to literalize these Isaian words as an escapism future for themselves.  I would submit to you that they misuse and misapply such language.

   The writer of the Gospel of Luke was also using words of health for comforting people in beleaguered times.  By the time that the Gospel of Luke had come to its final textual edition, what had happened in the world and in the lives of some of the followers of Jesus?

  The Temple had been destroyed and all Jewish sects, including the rabbinical sect of Jesus, had fled Jerusalem for safer places.  When you've been scattered and your homes destroyed and Chernobylesque conditions prevail, you have to start up elsewhere and you need to maintain community and identity.   In a time of crisis the conditions of vulnerability prevail.  There is a power and leadership vacuum and there are those to step up to try to give explanation for why things happen and what should be done because of the crisis.  After the destruction of Jerusalem there was a leadership vacuum and pretenders arose to fill that vacuum.  People who want to be leaders during a crisis try to give answers as to why the crisis happened and how to get out of the crisis.  Some people will try to predict catastrophic outcomes.  While others will say  catastrophic and cataclysmic events will continue to happen until the big one, the final one occurs.

   The writer of Luke knew about conflict in various communities; such conflict led to suffering.  Obviously the Roman authorities had power to persecute.  On more local levels, members of various Jewish sects and their synagogues had power to excommunicate and to let their theological disagreements break out into actual community disciplinary actions and physical punishment.   When members of different Jewish sects disagreed with each other, families could be divided.  Former Sadducees, Pharisees, Zealots and members of the community of John the Baptist who were persuaded about the interpretation of Jesus as the messiah experienced the wrath of the members of their former communities.  The writer of the Gospel of Luke knew about the inter-Judaic conflicts between the different sects of Judaism.  This writer knew how passionately people could disagree with each other.

  A particular discourse of comfort would involve the risen Christ to be presented as an oracle of comfort for the community.  The risen Christ would have known about the destruction of Jerusalem; he would have known about splintering of Judaism into various communities.  The risen Christ as one who would have predicted all of this would be an oracle of comfort to those who had to live through the devastations.  We do not have to be literal about the words of the Gospel of Luke to understand the truth function of words of comfort.  Words of comfort arise in the form that is needed to sustain the community during difficult times and that is the greater truth.

  Words still function that way for us today.  I hope that you and I do not need the powerful analgesic words for our lives today.  I hope we can be generally pain free.  What I would pray for us to become today are words of comfort in our actions.  The United States Constitution is a document of comfort for disagreeing religious people in that it does not permit people of different religious persuasion to burn each other at the stake.  It is a more ideal language of comfort for our language to be the body language of love and justice.  What kind of language of comfort is needed today in the Philippines?  In Viet Nam?  The body language of people delivering rescue teams and supplies from concerned people all over the world.  On the ground in the areas of devastation,  the people might need the language of escape from their exigent distress even while the world tries to mobilize the corporate body language of a world organizing to bring relief.

  Whether the time of Isaiah or the time of Luke, the language of comfort and analgesia is often needed.  Such words are discourses of hope and we should not despise such language, even as we should complement such language with the body language of active justice, love and compassion.

  This is the language of comfort that the risen Christ inspires in us today.  Let us be people who receive comfort in all the ways that we can but let us generate in all of the ways we can, a full language of hope, care, love, justice, comfort and salvation today.  Amen.