Sunday School, December 13, 2015 3 Advent C

Sunday School, December 13     3 Advent C

Gaudete Sunday

You can use the Advent Candles and Wreath as a countdown calendar for Christmas.  Just like a child might mark each day waiting for his or her birthday, the four Advent Candles provide a countdown to

Christmas.

The third Sunday is called Gaudete, the Latin word which means Rejoice.  And the Epistle reading is, “Rejoice in the Lord, always and again I say Rejoice.”

The candle for the third Sunday in Advent is pink and different from the purple color of the other Advent candles.

Today we put together the words rejoice and repent.

Repent is just a fancy religious word for “education.”   What is the opposite of education?  Ignorance.  What is the opposite of Rejoice?  Being sad.

Education and rejoicing go together.  Much of the suffering and the pain in our world is caused by human ignorance.  One of the reasons we repent or get educated is to learn how to prevent bad things from happening to us and to others.

A very young baby is ignorant about fire and so if a baby is not taken care, the baby might be fascinated by fire and put his finger in the fire and get burned.  And the baby would not rejoice if he got his finger burned.

Repentance is education or learning new things and when we learn new things we can learn to behave and act differently and we can help to make our lives and the lives of other happy.

John the Baptist was a special prophet of repentance.  He encouraged us to become more educated so that we could avoid future disasters and future sadness.

God has given us rules and laws for us to learn and if we learn these laws we can prevent many disasters and we can create rejoicing.

If we love God, give God some time by prayer, honor our parents, respect life, tell the truth, respect our families, and be content with what we have, we will have much to rejoice in our lives.

Repentance is learning how to act to prevent bad things happening to us.  And if we prevent bad things from happening, we will have joy and rejoicing rather than sadness and suffering.

If you go skateboarding without your knee pads, you might scrape and hurt your knee if you fall.  The you would suffer and be sad.  But if you learn to wear knee pads, and you fall, then you knee would be just fine and you would be happy and you would be able to rejoice in the fun that you are having.

Discuss how repentance or education is about doing things that can prevent suffering?   And if we can prevent suffering, then we will be able to live in rejoicing and happiness.

The Bible readings on this day teach us about repentance and rejoicing and it is a good time for us to learn about how education can prevent future suffering and sadness.

  What if I fall and scrape my knee?  Would that hurt?  And what if you came to me and said, “Father Phil, be happy!”  How would I feel?  I would not feel happy.

  This Sunday in Advent is called “Rejoice” Sunday or Be Really Happy Sunday.  But what if there are things that have happened and we don’t feel like being happy, should we still try to be really happy?

  When I hurt my knee, does everyone else hurt their knee at the same time?  No.  Can I be happy that other people did not hurt their knee?  Well, yes.  When I hurt my knee, do I have people who love and care for me?  Well, yes I do so I can be happy about that.   When I hurt my knee do I still have a home to live in, clothes to wear, and food to eat?  Well, yes I do so I can be happy about many things even when I am not happy about hurting my knee.

  When I hurt my knee, does the sun still shine and give me warmth and light?  Does water still quench my thirst?  Do pets still make me happy?  Do I still get to play sports?  Do I still get to read interesting books?  Do I still have friends?  Does God still love and care for me? 

  So, you see when I hurt my knee all of the millions and millions of other good things in life do not stop and so I still have many things to be happy about.

  But there is something very strong about pain.  When I hurt my knee and when I feel pain, that pain acts like a monster that wants to take over my whole life and my whole world.  The monster of pain tries to tell me that because I hurt my knee, everything in life is bad and painful.

  So when I hurt my knee, I need my friends to help me deal with the monster of pain.  I need my friends to show me that the million other good things in my life is so big that it can make the monster of pain become like a little ant.

  So this is rejoice and be happy Sunday.  When we rejoice, we start counting all of the good things we have in life and we begin to find how they are much more powerful than the bad things that happen to us in life.

  Today, there may be some very bad things in life and we have to gather and pray and learn to count up all of the good blessings in life and we have to learn how use the good blessings in life to prevent as many bad things from happening.

  If I scraped my knee when I was roller blading what should I do?  I should wear knee pads, right?

  And so if we rejoice in good health, then we look for ways to prevent injury in accidents.

  So, today is rejoice Sunday.  It is when we look at what is good in our lives.  But it is also repent Sunday.  After we see what is good, then to repent means that we work to prevent bad things from happening.

  Can you say Rejoice and Repent.  This is Rejoice and Repent Sunday.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

December 13, 2015: The Third Sunday of Advent

Gathering Songs: Light a Candle; Jesus Stand Among Us,  Peace Before Us; Thy Word,  When the Saints

Lighting of the Advent Candle:   Light a Candle

Light a candle for hope today, Light a candle for hope today, light a candle for hope today.           Advent time is here.

Light a candle for peace today..3. Love…  

             

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.

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.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, 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 to the Philippian Church

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

 

Liturgist: Let us read together from the First Song of Isaiah

Surely, it is God who saves me; *  I will trust in him and not be afraid.

For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, * and he will be my Savior.

Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing * from the springs of salvation.

And on that day you shall say, * Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name;

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

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

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

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

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

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

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

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

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family. Thanks be to God!

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

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

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: Peace Before Us (Wonder, Love and Praise,  # 791)

Peace before us.  Peace behind us.  Peace under our feet.  Peace within us.  Peace over us.  Let all around us be Peace.  Love,  Light, Christ

Children’s Choir:  Greater Than These Is Love,   by Russell Nagy

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,

(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:       Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Thy Word, (Renew! #94)

Refrain: Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path

1-When I feel afraid, think I’ve lost my way, still you’re right beside me.  And nothing will I fear as long as you are near.  Please be near me to the end.  Refrain.

2-I will not forget your love for me, and yet my heart forever is wandering.  Jesus, be my guide and hold me to your side; and I will love you to the end.  Refrain

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

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

Boys….. 3.  Girls  4.  Saints

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

  

Remembering a Good Man

John Harold Ward Requiem

December 5, 2015

  We gather today to give thanks for the life of John Harold Ward, a true native son of Morgan Hill.  I have come to know John in his days of retirement since moving back to his family home.  John was a fixture at our early services on Thursday and Sunday mornings.  And if John was in town, he was in church.

  From his quiet and gentle and understated manners, one would not immediately guess that John had such a wide and varied life experience.  John was not one for self-promotion.  But just reading about John’s travel, work, and his hobbies one realizes that he had a wonderful sense of adventure.

  As far away as he got from home, his home always had a pull for him.  He did, after all, live in Paradise, Paradise Valley, that is, and who would not want to return there.  The imprint of his native home brought him back to finish his life here.

  If you lived in Paradise Valley then you had the Machado School experience.  John could not have an excuse for being late to school since he lived so closed.  It is amazing how the Machado School identity has remained with so many of its graduates.  There is something special about Machado as a sort of end of an era little red school house.  There is no official sociological study on the phenomena of being a Morgan Hill “townie” or a rural Machadoite, but it could be observed.  Machado was a place where there were so few student that you could not get lost.  Machado School and Morgan Hill schools were influenced by the farming in the valley.  The way John explained the start date of school in the fall was something like a movable feast.  With Bill Britton and John’s father on the school board, school began when the farmers were done with their “child laborers” for the harvest.

  John’s friend from second grade at Machado said that John was always diligent about being good and not getting in trouble.  My own experience of John and his gentle character and his perpetual kindness was that he was just “naturally good.”    I often thought that John was one of the few person I have known who was not affected by original sin.  He just seemed that good without even trying.

  Although, John’s perfection was recently seen in a different light.  His friend John Atkins said that once when they were in high school and they were playing tennis on the courts near Monterrey Road, old 101, John Ward instructed his friend John Atkins to hit the tennis ball over the fence.  This gave John permission to retrieve the ball but while retrieving the ball, John would sneak over to the Orange Freeze and get a candy bar or a snack and then come back to the tennis court.  But his friend said that John did share his snack.

  I guess if this is the worst skeleton in John’s closet, then his good reputation is still intact. 

  There is a saying in rabbinical tradition that when a person dies, an entire universe dies.  When I think of John, I think of the beatitude in the Sermon on the Mount which reads, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.”  I believe that John’s meekness sums up my experience of him.  John did inherit the earth; he inherited the only version of the earth which he had from his own experience.  And the sad thing for you and me is that we enjoyed having a place in John’s universe, in John’s version of the earth.  We enjoyed John’s version of us; we enjoyed John’s irony on us.  I believe that John had a better view of us than we often had of ourselves and it is comfort to know that there are people who do not seem jaded by politics, skepticism and cynicism.  John saw the world and us in a childlike and innocent way without being childish.  The way John saw the world and us is something that I will deeply missed.  I don’t know about you, but I loved being in John’s version of the world.

  And if we thought that John might be a bit too naïve or simple, we were wrong.   We were wrong and the way in which we can know this is to ponder his visions of the world in color.  John was a colorist.  He had to paint.  He had to experiment with color.  He had to experience Pollack, Gaugin, the Impressionists, and Pointillists and be inspired to express and experiment with his own vision of colors.  Within the soft spoken man was a soul of fire full of colors.  He expressed his complexity through his painting.  He did because he had to do it.  He had to release his vision.

  Several years back we discovered that John’s living spaces were just full of his wonderful expressions of color.  There were hundreds of canvases in his garage alone waiting to be in future need of “restoration” if not moved to other places or given other showings.  It was a magnificent event to see the walls Machado School covered from top to bottom with his wonderful work.  You can see a pictorial catalogue in the narthex of John’s paintings that was prepared for this event.  It is wonderful that many people can now share in John’s vision of his world.  We have some of his paintings in our home; they are not just special because we enjoy John’s vision of color.  They are extra special because we had the privilege of knowing John.

  Each day of my life I have a living dialogue with John’s paintings around me.  I see new things; I project onto them; the paintings for me continue to keep me in an active and lively dialogue with John.  And so John will continue to be in our lives with his brilliant color iconography.

  I was told that John received encouragement in art from his Aunt Edith Grace Ward, a professor at College of the Pacific in Stockton, who was a Stanford graduate and quite a prolific artist herself.  It was wonderful that John could combine his passion for art with his career as an educator.  He combined art, teaching, administration and traveling into quite a charmed life.  He lived and taught and served as an administrator in Venezuela.  He traveled and painted in Spain, Italy, Greece and England.  And John had a special group of friends in San Miguel Allende in Mexico.  He would frequent this wonderful place for painting and fellowship often.  I once spoke to John about an experience which we shared, that of living abroad as an expatriate.  Sometimes within our own homes, families and hometowns, we only have a limited number of ways to come to know ourselves.  What the expatriate circumstances did for John was give him freedom to come to know and accept himself as he truly was.  And I believe John was a person who became very comfortable and honest about who he really was.

  In being an expatriate and a traveler, John became something of an Anglophile.  And the curios and Britannia Memorabilia shops were thrilled about his obsession.  He had a vast collection tea cups, teas spoons and thimbles and he loved to share it with those who had similar interests.  John grew up in the best and most famous wayward child of Anglicanism, the Methodist Church.  Certainly the Ward family was a fixture in the Morgan Hill Methodist Church but with John we received back into the Anglican Episcopal fold, this son of Methodism.  And it probably had to do with Anglican liturgy and John’s Anglophilia.  He loved the Rite One liturgy, which we are using today even though it can be difficult to keep saying liveth and reigneth hundreds of time without developing a lisp.  As John’s eyesight got worse, he knew the Rite One liturgy by heart and so he did not even need the Prayer Book.  John served here at the altar as a Eucharistic minister at our 8 a.m. Rite One, Eucharist for many years and his partner Ken played the piano for this service.  The 8 o’clockers as we called them were a very close group.  John was a devoted in attendance at our Thursday morning Rite One Eucharist and he always stayed to listen to the rest of us pontificate about religion, politics and culture, and John’s silence was his way of saying, “When everything is said and done, it’s mostly said.”   John also served on our Preschool Board and he was a very generous person.  John gave because if you enjoyed something it really pleased him.

  It is sometime said that “you can never go home.”  John proved this to be wrong.  He returned to the house of his upbringing and he got involved in many organizations including the Morgan Hill History Society. He spent many hours there organizing the archives there and he was involved in the move of the Hiram Morgan Hill House to its current location on Monterrey Road.  He remained connected with Machado community and supported his brother Paul and Henk Marselis in their efforts at Machado.  His retirement gave him the opportunity to paint, paint, paint and that he did.  And he had various shows for his paintings in the area.

  As a patriot John served in the Army during the Korean war.  He was stationed at Fort Ord in Monterrey.  The majority of John’s teaching career was in Menlo Park and he was active in the Episcopal Church there.

  In our lives we come to be known not as just an individual but as a team, especially with our spouses.  For me, knowing John was to know him as John and Ken.  For me the two were inseparable and we have enjoyed many grand hours of conversation with them.  Some of you, including my wife know that John was a great dancer.  This sometimes understated person loved the dance floor and since I am one who is dancing impaired, my wife Karen was happy to have John as a dance partner.  Jean Pinard, and others can attest to this zest which John had for dancing.

  We cannot end this remembrance of John without acknowledging his affliction and suffering.  John did live a charmed life but he also has on his life resume the fact that he was not exempt from affliction and suffering.  Alzheimer’s is a terrible creeping affliction and it is communal because it affects the community of people who care for a person who often feel helpless to intervene or understand how the affliction is affecting their loved one.  If it was painful for us to watch John in his last days, we cannot truly know how he experienced his affliction.  We who believe in a loving God, also believe that God’s love includes an incredible freedom for lots of things to happen.  We who believe in the Christ believe that Christ is evidence of God suffering in and with us in the freedom of all that can possibly happen in our lives.  In faith, we look for words of meaning for affliction and suffering, if only as coping mechanisms to continue to bear up.  In the words of Donne, “No man is an island,” and we believe that there is a solidarity and connection among us and so we would like to believe that John did his part in filling up what was lacking in the afflictions of Christ.  And so we honor John’s suffering and affliction and we hope that it has brought us deeper training in empathy and compassion.  Most of all, we honor the devotion of Ken to John during his last years; it was truly lived out vows of “till death do us part.”  So we salute you Ken for your care and devotion to the end.

  John loved life; he loved his life; he loved our lives.  John and we, do everything we can do to preserve our lives.  We know that time and the effects of time upon our minds and bodies eventually bring us to the limits of our ability to preserve life.  We can see death as the sword of Damacles hanging over our heads and live with the despair of knowing that we dreamed and hoped for more than we will ever achieve.  But we can also, believe that ultimately this universe is a friendly place, as least as friendly as John was.  And in believing the universe is a friendly place, we can hope that a Great Friend will remember us with a mind and memory to give more than the proverbial “fifteen minutes” of earthly fame. 

  And in believing in a Great Friend with a great memory, we can in faith commend John to God as the Great Friend with a great memory to preserve him forever and reconstitute him in an afterlife worthy of a resurrection act of God.  John was a member of a resurrection community; and to the resurrection from the dead we now commend him in the great train of Jesus Christ.

  John, we thank God for you.  We are thankful that we lived in your world and that you had good versions of each of us who knew you.  Because of you we believe in friendship, meekness, gentleness, kindness and in abundant vibrant Color.

  We bless you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Making Transitions in Excellence

2 Advent  Cycle C     December 6, 2015

Malachi.  3:1-4      Song of Zachariah  

Philippians 1:1-11     Luke 3:1-6

Lectionary Link
 

   You and I can be very presumptuous about what we read in that we take what we read very personally.  Surely this book was written for me?  Really?  Even if the author did not know me or my circumstances?
  You and I can think that the Bible and the Gospels are written for us.  Why do we feel this?  The truth is that everything which comes to language can feel like it is for us because whatever is in language is open to universal accessibility.  If something comes to language, it is no longer a secret and if the shoe of the text fits, then you can wear it as your own.
  But the Bible and the Gospels were not specifically written for you or me.  Their authors had their own purposes and contexts.  And in being such ancient texts, the specifics of the writing purposes are often very hard to discover.
  What happens when writers write about the life of person?  Particularly, what happened when the lives of Jesus and John the Baptist were written about?  A great reduction happened.  If John and Jesus lived for around 33 years, they lived for about 290,000 hours.  But from all of those hours a few selective events were chosen to characterize the lives of both of these men.
  The first question that we might want to ask the Gospel writers is why did you write so much about John the Baptist?   John the Baptist is quite important in the Gospels.  He like Jesus is presented with a marvelous birth story, like the marvelous birth stories of Isaac and Samuel.  His birth story is only surpassed by the miraculous birth story of Jesus.
  Why was John the Baptist presented with more Gospel ink than the twelve disciples?  The Gospels were written with a purpose and they were written to specific target audiences.  One of the major target audiences of the Gospel was the significant community that followed John the Baptist.  John the Baptist had such a great following that there was speculation about him being not only being a great prophet but also the messiah.
  The Jesus Movement was a Movement which succeeded the John the Baptist Movement.  In the Gospel we read that the ministry of Jesus did not fully begin until the death of John the Baptist happened even though there is presented in the Gospels an overlap in the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus.  But by the time the Gospel of John was written, the relationship between John and Jesus was seen as the handing on of the torch of leadership.  By the time the later Gospel was written it was assumed that Jesus of Nazareth was the legitimate successor of John the Baptist.  So if you had been a follower of John the Baptist, you could in good conscience follow Jesus.
  The Gospels present John the Baptist mostly in a very good light, though it does indicate that he had a small lapse in faith while he was imprisoned.  
  If you and I think that the Gospels were written for us; the community of John the Baptist was perhaps the primary target audience for the Gospel message.  Many of the disciples of Jesus had previously been followers of John the Baptist.  So since they had made the smooth transition to follow Jesus, they wanted to persuade and convince all of the followers of John the Baptist to make the transition to Jesus Christ.
  So how did they help others make the transition to Jesus? They wrote about the respect that John the Baptist had for Jesus as one who had become a surpassing protégé.  The writers showed that Jesus had respect for John in submitting to his baptism. They wrote about how the role of John the Baptist fit into the salvation history that was being realized in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
  If Jesus was a fulfillment of the figures and types presented in Hebrews Scriptures, then so was John the Baptist.
  You and I read about John the Baptist and Jesus with a primary naiveté as if what we read is about the actual events in the life of Jesus and John.  But really the Gospel writings are about the Jesus Movement and the John the Baptist Movement.  They use the examples of their leaders to give an explanation for the spiritual processes that were happening within their community.
  So yes, we read the Bible first in a primary naiveté as personal literature for you and me with an "as if" encounter between John the Baptist and Jesus and us.
  But we also must make the honest attempt to understand the function of the Gospel writings in their own contexts.
  Today, on this second Sunday of Advent, remember that John the Baptist was very important because he had a significant community of followers.  And the leaders of the Jesus Movement wanted to convince all of the members of the community of John the Baptist to become members of the Jesus Movement.
  The Gospel writers wanted to show that there was no competition between the message of John and the message of Jesus.  In contrast, the Gospel writers show Jesus at odds with other parties within Judaism, like the Pharisees, the leading scribes and the Sadducees and the Herodians.  But among all of the parties within Judaism, the sect of John the Baptist include people who would most likely become members of the Jesus Movement.  The Pharisees and Sadducees were presented as those who turned Jesus over to the Romans for crucifixion.  The community of John the Baptist is presented as the proto-community of the Jesus Movement.  They are presented as a transitional phase in the development of the early church.
  There is another message in the transition of the community of John the Baptist to the community of Jesus Christ.  In our lives we often make transitions in our spiritual lives.  Can you list the succession of mentors and influential social groups in your lives?  Sometimes a very good mentor like John the Baptist  has to be let go of when the next phase of spiritual advancement is presented in the person or event bringing another phase of excellence. 
  It is sometimes hard to let go of loyalties to a person and a movement of the past.  We can get so locked into social settings of our prophets, teachers, gurus and mentors.  Sometimes social pressure does not let us leave to explore who we are supposed to become in future self-surpassability.
  The Gospel writers wrote favorably about John the Baptist but they also wrote that he was a transitional figure to introduce a group of people to the surpassing greatness of Christ.
  You and I are still in quest of what the surpassing greatness of Christ means in our lives.  And we have gone through and will go through transitions as we are drawn to new insights which bring us to further excellence. 
  The Advent message about John the Baptist is a message for us today, because we are always a people in the transitional process towards excellence.  And the Risen Christ is more than the written words on the page about Jesus of Nazareth.  The Risen Christ is adaptable to next person, writing or event which calls you and I to greater excellence in our lives today, as we strive to love God with all our hearts and love our neighbor as ourselves.
  May John the Baptist be an Advent witness for us as we continue in the process of excellence in discovering who the Risen Christ is for us today.  Amen.

Sunday School, December 6, 2015 2 Advent C

Sunday School, December 6, 2015   2 Advent C

Topic: The Role of John the Baptist

Why is John the Baptist important in Gospels?   There is much information about John the Baptist in the Gospel.  That must mean he was important.

John the Baptist was a popular preacher and prophet.  There were many people who followed him.  There was something like a “John the Baptist Church.”  But John the Baptist died; he was killed by King Herod.  His friends and the members of his community were sad.  What would they do?  John the Baptist baptized Jesus and Jesus became the leader for those who used to follow John the Baptist.

When you are in first grade and really like your first grade teacher, you want to keep your first grade teacher forever.  But when you go to second grade, you have another teacher and at first that might make you sad.  You might miss your first grade teacher.  But as you learn new things from your new teacher you learn that you can like more than one teacher.  You learn that you can graduate to a new teacher.

John the Baptist was the first teacher of many of the people who later graduated and became students of Jesus Christ.  During Advent, we always read about how John the Baptist was the first important teacher for many of the followers of Jesus. 

During Advent, we learn about how important John the Baptist was because his community became the first churches of Jesus Christ.

What does a blocker do in football for a running back?  He pushes and shoves tacklers out of the way so the running back can run far with ball.

 What do we use bulldozers and earthmovers for?  We used them to build straight and level roads so we can get places quicker in our cars.

 Today we read about a man named John the Baptist.  And John the Baptist is a person who was like a blocker or like a bulldozer.

 He was like a blocker, in that he pushed aside everything, to prepare a way for Jesus Christ.  He was like a bulldozer in that he was trying to help people come directly to knowledge of God.

 John the Baptist lived a very different life.  He camped out all of the time.  He lived out amongst the wild animals all of the time.  He probably slept in caves.  He wore a camel hair robe and do you know what he ate:  He ate grasshoppers and honey?

John came and he wasn’t very popular, because he saw some things that were wrong that needed to be corrected.  And no one likes to be corrected, do we?  When our parents or teachers correct us, it is not always fun.  But why do they correct us?  Because they want us to be better.

 John the Baptist corrected people, because he believed that they could be better.  And he really wanted them to be introduced to Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ was a important gift from God to us.

  Today, when we think about John the Baptist, let us remember that sometimes we need to be corrected so that we can get better. What If we never were corrected, then we could not get better.  It does not always feel good to be corrected, but remember we do want to get better.  And the only way to get better is to have someone show us how.

  Jesus Christ showed us how to be better.  He showed how to love God with all our hearts and how to love our neighbors.  Let us be thankful today for the people that God gives to us to help correct our behavior so that we can become better.  That is what the season of Advent is about: Correcting our behavior so that we can be better.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

December 6, 2015: The Second Sunday of Advent

Gathering Songs: Light a Candle; He’s Got the Whole World; This Little Light; Jesus Stand Among Us; Lord I Lift Your Name on High

Lighting of the Advent Candle:   Light a Candle

Light a candle for hope today, Light a candle for hope today, light a candle for hope today.         Advent time is here.

Light a candle for peace today….

        

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.

Song: He’s Got the Whole World (Christian Children’s Songbook # 90)

He’s got the whole world; in his hands he’s got the whole wide world in his hands.  He’s got the whole world in his hands; he’s got the whole world in his hands.

Little tiny babies. 

Brother and the sisters  

Mothers and the fathers

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; 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 First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians

Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Canticle 16

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; * he has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior, * born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old, that he would save us from our enemies, *  from the hands of all who hate us.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

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

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

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

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

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

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

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

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family. Thanks be to God!

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

People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

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: This Little Light of Mine (Christian Children’s Songbook # 234)

This little light of mine.  I am going to let it shine.  This little light of mine, I am going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Hide it under a bushel, no.  I am going to let it shine.  Hide it under a bushel, no.  I am going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Don’t let anyone blow it out; I’m going to let it shine.  Don’t let anyone blow it out, I’m going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Shine all over my neighborhood, I’m going to let it shine.  Shine all over my neighborhood, I’m going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

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: Jesus Stand Among Us, Renew! #17

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.

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.

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: 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!

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God!