Sunday School, May 8, 2016 7 Easter C Ascension Sunday

Sunday School, May  8, 2016     7 Easter C  Ascension Sunday

Themes of the Day

Mother’s Day

The Ascension of Christ

Question:

What happened to Jesus after he rose from the dead and appeared to his friends, but then left this world?

The early Christian believed that Jesus left this world to be with his Father.

What does Christ do now that we can no longer see him?

One of the things that Jesus does is to pray and he asks him friends to pray.  When you’re mom and dad are not with you, they have feelings of hope and love for you and they say prayers for you.  And even though they do see you all of the time they feel connected with you.

And your parents want you to feel connected with them even when you are not with them and don’t see them.  And they want you to pray for them.

Today we read a prayer that Jesus made with his Father.  And in his prayer he was asking that his friends could know the same Father that he knew.  He was wanting his friends to know that they were sons and daughters of God.

And he wanted his friends to know that they could be connected to God when they talked to God and when they prayed.  Our prayers with our thoughts and our spoken words come from an place within us and they connect us to God the Father and with Jesus even when we do not see them.

Jesus left with his friends the gift of prayer.  It is a way to talk to God and to know God even when we don’t see him.  And if we practice prayer enough, we will teach ourselves to know how close God is to us.  If we avoid God, then we will not know how close God is to us.  Jesus said that if we wanted to have a relationship with God as our Father, then we need to talk to God.

When Jesus ascended and was no longer seen, we believe that he has God to be with God the Father and he continues to pray for us.

On Mother’s Day, it is a good time to remember that our mothers pray for us and they feel connected to us even when we don’t see them.

Children’s Sermon

What do we call talking to God?  We call it prayer don’t we?

  And when do we pray?  Do we pray when we come to church on Sunday?  Yes, we pray when we gather together.

  Do we pray before we eat?  We say table grace.  Do you have favorite table grace?  Why do we say table grace?  Because we are very thankful for our food.  We know that there are many people who don’t have enough to eat.

  Do you pray when you go to bed at night?  Yes, because we want to sleep well.  We don’t want to be frightened by our dreams.  And we don’t want to be frightened by imaginary things that can come into our mind.  So we pray and ask God to keep us safe.  And we pray for our family and friends too.

  Why do we pray?    Why do you talk to someone?  You want to get to know them don’t you?  Or you talk to someone because you need something, so you ask them to help you get what you need.

  Who are the people that you talk to the most?  You’re your mom and your dad and your grandparents, your aunts and uncles, your brothers and sisters and your friend.  Why do you talk to them?  Because you like them and also you need them sometimes to help you with important things in your life.

  Today, we heard a prayer that Jesus said to his father.  Jesus believed that God was so close to him that he could talk to him just as he would his father.

  And when Jesus prayed to his father, he asked for some things.  He asked that his friends would do well.  And you know what else he asked?  He asked that his friends might know God to be their father too.  He wanted his friends to know that God was close to them and that they could pray to God as their father in heaven.  And they could talk to God, just like they talked to their own fathers or their mothers or their own best friends.

  And so that is what Jesus wants us to do.  He wants us to practice our prayer and to talk to God as the father of the entire world.  Jesus wants us to know God as a great but very friendly father, who cares about our lives.

  You are never too young to learn how to practice to pray.  And if you learn to pray as a young child, it will carry all through your life.

  How you pray?  Well, you pray by talking to God.  But you don’t even have to talk.  You can think prayers as well, because God is so close to us, God can read our minds.  That’s a good reason for always thinking good thoughts.

  Prayers can be short or they can be long.  My most-used prayer is very short.  I just say, “Help!”

  Remember when you pray, you are believing in God and believing that God is close to you.  And remember you don’t have to always be asking for things from God.  You don’t always want your friends to be asking to play with your toys.  You like them to say other things as well.  So, you can say other things to God like, “How are you doing today, God and what can I do for you to make you happy?” 

  I believe all of your prayers will make God happy.  Remember Jesus prayed to God whom he believed to be his father.  And he taught us to pray too.  Can you remember to pray?

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

May 8, 2016 : The Seventh Sunday of Easter

Gathering Songs: Hallelu, Hallelujah; Seek Ye First; Come My Way; Sing a New Song

Liturgist: Alleluia, Christ is Risen.

People: The Lord is Risen Indeed.  Alleluia.

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 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 Hallujah. 

Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Chant: 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 Revelation to John

And let everyone who hears say, "Come."  And let everyone who is thirsty come.  Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift. The one who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon."  Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 97

The LORD is King; let the earth rejoice; * let the multitude of the isles be glad.

The heavens declare his righteousness, * and all the peoples see his glory.

Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, * and give thanks to his holy 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 John

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus prayed for his disciples, and then he said. "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.  "Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."

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.

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: Seek Ye First, (Blue Hymnal, # 711)

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you Allelu, alleluia.  Refrain: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, allelu, alleluia.

Ask, and it shall be given unto you, seek, and ye shall find.  Knock and the door will be opened unto you; allelu, alleluia.  Refrain: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, allelu, alleluia.

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.

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.  Sanctify us by your Holy Spirit 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: Come, My Way (Blue Hymnal, # 487)

Come my way, my truth, my life: such a way as gives us breath; such a truth as ends all strife; such a life as killeth death.

Come, my light, my feast, my strength: such a light as shows a feat; such a feast as mends in length; such a strength as makes his guest.

Come, my joy, my love, my heart: such a joy as none can move; such a love as none can part; such a heart as joys in love.

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: Sing A New Song (Renew!  # 21)

Refrain: Sing a new song unto the Lord; let your son be sung from mountains high.  Sing a new song unto the Lord, singing Alleluia.

1-Yahweh’s people dance for joy; O come before the Lord.  And play for him on glad tambourines, and let your trumpet sound.  Refrain

2-Rise, O children, from your sleep; your Savior now has come.  He has turned your sorrow to joy, and filled your soul with song.  Refrain

3-Glad my soul for I have seen the glory of the Lord.  The trumpet sounds; the dead shall be raised.  I know my Savior lives.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Commit Optimism Today

6 Easter   C       May 1, 2016             

Acts 14:8-18      Ps. 67

Rev. 21:22-22:5      John 14:23-29

Lectionary Link

 

  Today, I would like for us to look for good news in the Psalm of the Day.  Let us read it again together:

Psalm 67

1 May God be merciful to us and bless us, *

show us the light of his countenance and come to us.

2 Let your ways be known upon earth, *
your saving health among all nations.

3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.

4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, *
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide all the nations upon earth.

5 Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.

6 The earth has brought forth her increase; *
may God, our own God, give us his blessing.

7 May God give us his blessing, *
and may all the ends of the earth stand in awe of him.

  Religions and their holy books are full of a diversity of material including people cursing each other and excommunicating each other and fighting each other and separating from each other.  And one could say that religion is an honest reflection of the diversity present in life.  One of the things which most so called New Age religions seem to do is to edit the materials found in religions and just choose the optimistic and hopeful stuff and try to sweep all of the bad stuff under the carpets.  There are some negative things in religions but let's not be reminded of it.

  Ancient pray formularies used to include blessings and curses.  It has often been acceptable to bless those whom one favors and agrees with one and to curse those who oppose or try to thwart one's purposes.

  In the midst of a world where there are significant pockets of cruel killings, hateful speech and just plain tiresome political rancor about who has the best solutions to world and domestic problems, we still need to have the permission to retreat to express our highest ideals and our aspiration for what would be the perfect conditions in our world.

  Psalm 67 is perhaps an expression of the most extreme optimism to be found in the Bible or in any holy book?  Certainly such extreme optimism could be called good news or Gospel.  What are the elements of extreme optimism found in Psalm 67?

  There is a confession that God belongs to all of the peoples of the earth.   There is a desire that God manifest mercy and blessing upon everyone.   The Psalmist asks that all be able to seeing the light of the divine countenance.  Let each person see this approving glance of Daddy and Mommy's loving approval upon them.  Seeing favor and approval from God is the foundation of personal esteem.  There is a saying that it is better to be lucky than good.  The Psalmist is not appealing to the goodness of humanity; the Psalmist wants mercy and blessing for all of us.  It is better to know God's mercy and blessing than to rest upon any sense of goodness, ability or even hard work in our lives.  We should be good, we should express our gifts and we should work hard, but beyond all of these things, we find that the great complimenting feature of life is the fortune of knowing God's mercy and blessing. 

   If God represents Greatness, then it follows that all people would have access to Greatness.  There is an expression of an invitation to freely acknowledge Greatness.  The Psalmist does not say, "Make all of the peoples praise you, O God."  It says, "Let the peoples praise you, O God."

  The Psalmist implores, "Let God's ways be known upon earth; let saving health be known among all nations."   This is the ultimate best wish for the well being of all in this world.  All of us at our best can identify with this prayer.  The words of Jesus to his disciples promises that the Advocate or Holy Spirit will remind the disciples and teach them all things about what Jesus taught them.  Jesus taught them to love God and love their neighbors as their selves. How much time in our prayers do we spend aspiring that God's saving health might be known throughout the earth?  Do we leave this to New Age, visualizers of world peace who are Pollyannaish about being able to meditate world peace into actual practice?  Do we think that we are better being realists to pray for world blessing while keeping our guns loaded? 

  The Psalmist is obviously a musician because the Psalmist says, "let everyone be glad and sing with joy."  So there is hope even for the tone deaf.  Singing can make one glad; music arises to express what we often don't think can be expressed with just words.  Singing and music are another kinds of language which humanity has to express our experience of the Sublime.  But notice that the best motivation for joy and gladness is the celebration of the way of God is known through justice.  "You judge the people with equity."  And isn't the practice of justice being realized the very best cause of joy and singing?  When we as Americans and when the people of world see justice being actualized, then we cannot help but make music.  Singing properly expresses our joyous response to justice.

  The Psalmist recognizes the reciprocity of the Earth and the Divine.  The Earth is a gift to us which bears sustaining fruit to provide us with life's necessity.  And yet we need the Divine to remind us that there is someone greater than us to give us wisdom in the distribution of the gifts of our good earth to provide for all.  Without an acknowledgement of God, human dominators take over and exploit and do not share the fruits of the earth so that everyone can justly have enough.  Human dominators do not care what kind of earth will left for our children.

  The Psalmist acknowledges that God allows people to connect personally with God; the Psalmist writes: "May God, our own God give us the divine blessing."  Jesus invited everyone to know God as he knew God; he invited everyone to say, "Our Father."  So you and I and everyone can say, "My Father God, My Mother God," not because we can presume to limit God to our narrow views, but because we can know a loving dependency upon God as simple trusting sons and daughters of God.  Instead of fighting over the superiority of my God, the Psalmist asks us to recognize that all persons can have a uniquely personal relationship with God.

  And may the ends of the earth stand in awe of God.  What is it that can qualify and interdict our behaviors?  Our appreciation of someone who is greater than we are.  In the lives of all great human beings we can find flaws and weaknesses.  Great people can inspire us but at some point we can arrive at disillusionment with all people. The very notion of God as the Greatest is the notion of ultimate horizons of surpassability.  The one who is greater than all is also the worthy authority to inspire us toward moral, ethical and loving behaviors, not because we fear God as the final Judge, but because we want to please God as our loving parent.

  The Psalmist wants the optimistic option; let us be those who are learning to be better because we know God to be great, merciful, and the one who is always blessing.

  As gruesome as some of the imagery of the Book of Revelation is, the writer also has a vision of a new earth and a new Jerusalem.  And God knows we need a new Jerusalem since the earthly Jerusalem, while being a holy city has been one of the bloodiest cities of human history.  How ironic that the city with the most religious significance in the world has been the site of such devastation and shedding of blood.  Indeed we need to visualize a New Jerusalem, a new condition between people who do not use religion as an excuse to hurt or harm other people.  In the vision of John the Divine, the Tree of life from the book of Genesis returns; it has twelve fruits, one for each month and its leaves are for the healing of the nations.  Don't we wish all of the nations of our world could start taking this herbal remedy now?

  Today, let Psalm 67 be the Gospel for us today.  If you are ever getting depressed about our world, if you are ever getting disillusioned with all of the religious and political disputes, just return to Psalm 67 and with the Psalmist commit the supreme act of optimism and let that optimism rise as the blessing of hope within us, even the blessing of God's Holy Spirit.

  May God give us and everyone God's mercy, favor and blessing.  Amen.

Aphorism of the Day, April 2016

Aphorism of the Day, April 30, 2016

Sometimes one has to commit the incredible act of universal optimism.  Perhaps the faith of all religions is best when it truly commits a verbal act of universal optimism which rides the energy of hope that we can have.  Perhaps the best example of this optimism is Psalm 67 which we should offer every day for our world:

Psalm 67

Deus misereatur

1 May God be merciful to us and bless us, *
show us the light of his countenance and come to us.

2 Let your ways be known upon earth, *
your saving health among all nations.

3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.

4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, *
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide all the nations upon earth.

5 Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.

6 The earth has brought forth her increase; *
may God, our own God, give us his blessing.

7 May God give us his blessing, *
and may all the ends of the earth stand in awe of him.

Aphorism of the Day, April 29, 2016

The future invents the past since one item of contrast does "not exist" until what it is not comes into being to make the contrast possible and define both items of contrast.  The Gospels are the results of successful churches presenting the narratives of Jesus to account for the very success of the later churches.  This is how the writing of history works.  There is "authenticate" tradition from the time of Jesus but it is used and edited under the fresh judgments of the oracles of Christ in the Christian communities to show the origins of the success of the church that had become separated from Judaism.  The future gives birth to the identity of things which happened in the past.  

Aphorism of the Day, April 28, 2016

In the departure discourse of Jesus to his disciples, he promised that he would send an Advocate to be with them.  The evidence of the Advocate would be an experience of a kind of peace which they could not receive elsewhere.  Peace as continuing presence of Christ is still a legacy and we invoke that peace in our liturgy as an indication of our willingness to receive and practice this promised gift.

Aphorism of the Day, April 27, 2016

The reason St. John is called "the Divine" pertains to his writing of the "Apocalypse" or Revelation.  Apocalypse means to uncover or unveil and the writings of John the Divine resulted from his retention of words and memories from being in a "divine, in the Spirit" visionary state.  The images of the Apocalypse are very "surreal" with the plasticity of metaphors being like the melting images of a Dali painting.  One could say that the apocalyptic vision of heaven presaged the loss of a "physical" heaven once modern cosmology and the discovery of endless outer space caused the abandonment of the "trap door" on top of the domed sky entrance to "heaven."  The Revelation of St. John the Divine reveals that being in heaven and seeing the heavenly is a humanly possible experience now.  Humanity is quite intrigued with the experiences of "savant-like" states and they come in many ways and inspire many responses.

Aphorism of the Day, April 26, 2015

A portion of John's Gospel is devoted to what might be called a "departure" discourse, one which presents Jesus as preparing his followers for his physical absence.  Herein one can see the logic of the early church presenting the transformation of the physical Jesus to the body of Christ through the omnipresence of the Holy Spirit, which is also the Spirit of Christ in His continuing presence.  Part of the writing motive of the Gospels has to do with this question: Why is the Jesus Movement so successful?  Why didn't it go away after Jesus could no longer be seen?  The Gospels present the developing self-understanding of the churches own existence.

Aphorism of the Day, April 25, 2016

The Gospel writers understood themselves to have the mind of Christ and they channeled his words in writing reporting the narrative of Jesus.  This enabled the subsequent success and the meanings of spiritual practice in the church to both be seen as anticipated by the historical Jesus as well as using the narratives to be the mystagogy of the church. After the experience sof the Risen Christ, the disciples imported those experiences back into the presentation of the historical Jesus.

Aphorism of the Day, April 24, 2016

The separation of followers in Christ from the synagogue was in part due to a "food fight" in that concessions were made to Gentiles regarding the dietary restrictions of Judaism.

Aphorism of the Day, April 23, 2016

The Gospel writings have "not so subtle ways of dating themselves" in not being "eye-witness" accounts.  Jesus said to his disciples, "Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you.."  During the life of Jesus, he was a Jew and so were his disciples.  So why does it seems as though Jesus speaks about "the Jews" as referring to people unlike himself and his disciples?  This is clearly an indication of writing done from the perspective of a mainly Gentile church.

Aphorism of the Day, April 22, 2016

The Psalmist exercises the role as a conductor who assumes that humanity can anthropomorphize everything in creation and treat every as having the volitional capacity to "praise" the Lord.  So the Psalmist commands angels, winds, sea creatures, birds, trees, son, moon and stars to praise the Lord.  The Psalmist is assuming that the divine, a non-human being, is enough like human beings to be able to appropriate the posture of praise from all created things and beings.  The biblical writings are mainly forms of poetics and even when narrative is used, it is mainly for meanings to evoke spiritual identity and not provide exact eye witness accounts of what actually happens.  Modern criteria of scientific and eye witness truth has cause many biblical supporters to forsake the value of aesthetic truths so poignant and obvious in the Bible.  The way in which many people read the Bible is akin to an Amish buggy on the freeway; quaint but out of place.  Modernity has not left the sublime aesthetic readings of the Bible; Modernity is an opportunity for people of faith to be true to the poetics of spirituality.


Aphorism of the Day, April 21, 2016

Nietzsche said that truth is "objectivity" deriving from a long used metaphor.  If people use a metaphor long enough, it becomes "truth."  So how do "truths" get changed?  How does innovation occur even to long used metaphors?  The truth of dietary purity of Judaism was abandoned by Gentile Christianity.  It had been the practice since the implementation of the Law of Moses.  Peter had a vision from God about "non-kosher" animals being proclaimed as undefiled in preparation for Peter being able to accept the new truth of God's Spirit in the life of a Gentile being the sign of religious validity.  The truth is that paradigm shifts happen and sometimes they are so much a part of one's cultural background, one does not know that one has implicitly embraced the outcomes.  Modern science became the background of Western Christian culture in such expansive ways many Christians still have not adjusted to the fact that they tacitly accept scientific thinking even while denying it in the practice of their religion.

Aphorism of Day, April 20, 2106

The legacy of the presence of Christ is the practice of love.  "By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."  It is love which establishes communal identity with Christ but it was not theoretical love, it was the practice of love as exemplified in service, foot-washing service.  For disciples who wanted important positions in the kingdom of God, Jesus said and demonstrated, "Just wash feet."  One's profound gifts have more effect if they are expressed from a general character of love.  St. Paul's complaint about the Corinthian church was they were often a gifted church but without love, and this rendered their gifts as ineffective and even counter-productive. 

Aphorism of Day, April 19, 2016

We are so used to mushy romantic love which comes so easily when it happens, i.e., falling in love is a near pathological state and one cannot help oneself when it happens.  So the command to love God with all of oneself and the command to love one's neighbor as oneself: How romantic is that?  Such is the hard and tough love of doing justice to God and to each person in this world.  And tough love is not always in line with our affinities, things which are likeable and easy to perform.  The kind of love which is based upon justice is often hard but it is the kind of love which we want expressed towards us.  Human experience involves many kinds of love, but the tough love of justice can never be forgotten.


Aphorism of the Day, April 18, 2016

"Glory" is a word found in the New Testament and the Hebrew Scriptures and refers to the self-authenticating value of God.  It could be that such divine value is known in human experience as the Sublime when one experience an event of esteem which does not seem to have any predictable cause.  Such events makes one feel beloved for no reason at all and can help free one from needing perpetual strokes from others for one's sense of worth.  So the discovery of God's glory and one's own glory deriving from the sense of unconditional love is the cornerstone of personal worth.

Aphorism of the Day, April 17, 2016

Perhaps a way to appropriate the meaning of Christ as "Lamb of God" is to understood the lamb as symbolizing the condition of innocent suffering in our world due to the play of freedom.  Everyone get caught in events of innocent suffering even when it is the collateral effect of some not so innocent willful acts.  Jesus as lamb of God was able to transform his events of innocent suffering into a ministry as the shepherd of those who suffer innocently.   We wish innocent suffering on no one, even as we know that probability theory about what can happen in the conditions of freedom indicates that it will occur in one way or another.  But we hope that innocent suffering can be redeemed in a hopeful future when we look back and say, "I did not want that to happen, but since it did I hope that empathy on my soul's resume will allow me to be a useful ministerial presence to other innocent sufferers."  Hereby lamb becomes shepherd.  The wounded becomes healer.

Aphorism of the Day, April 16, 2016

The model of the Good Shepherd and the sheep gives a metaphor of the needed balance and reciprocity toward those who have strength, power, resources and ability to help those in need.  Each person can find one to be one with strength to help but also be in the place of needing help.  In a world where 1% of the population controls the majority of the world resources essentially for their own benefit we find that the balanced reciprocal roles of shepherd and sheep are not being fulfilled.  A shepherd does not exploit; a shepherd cares and we need the wealthy people of our world to listen to the words of Jesus when he said, "To whom much is given; much is required."  The purpose of the blessing of wealth, power and strength is to celebrate the privilege of generosity.

Aphorism of the Day, April 15, 2016

Language is always an issue when dealing with meanings of biblical writing.  We have received the biblical writing through their transmission from people to people for thousands of years and we cannot verify exact correspondence of meaning of words in their original contexts with contexts in our lives today.  When we project our own correspondences upon what we read in the Bible we do so because we accept our place in the transmission of the many traditions deriving from the biblical writings.  Many of the correspondences between our post-modern lives and the pre-modern worlds of the biblical people do not have fitting ethical correspondences.  The pre-modern world tolerated slavery and subjugation of women as the "normal" virtue of their cultures and even valorized such practices within the writings of the holy Book.  Love and justice are the universal principles within the Bible and such principles should guide us today to innovate in their application toward justice and love among all people today.  One cannot consistently make one to one correspondences with all of the biblical practices which had religious sanction in various ancient biblical societies with the obvious practice of love and justice for all today.  Thankfully, we have innovating from "biblical ways" in the application of love and justice to people today.

Aphorism of the Day, April 14, 2016

Deconstruction of any statement of meaning occurs when the statement is re-stated through paraphrase and each paraphrase of the first statement is produced from a slightly different context.  Any statement could be endlessly paraphrased which means that the writing event or speaking event purports to "freeze" a particular meaning and a particular context.   Such freezing of particular meaning "in situ" can serve as the community's temporary objectivity and extended temporal use of agreed upon meaning then attains "truth" status within the community, and such truth even becomes hidden since it becomes the tacit, "it goes without saying" background of the community's values.  The plethora of interpretations of New Testament stuff has occurred because it is harder to gain precision in the control and promulgation of meaning in what is essentially "poetics."  It is hard to gain precise meanings in poetics, since poetics is appealing to more that what can be empirically verified.  We could opine endlessly about how Jesus the Christ is both shepherd and lamb since the metaphors of poetry play with the empirically grounded common sense mind.

Aphorism of the Day, April 13, 2016

 A condition posed to Jesus in the Gospel of John, "If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly."  This indicates the on-going discussion about the nature of the Messiah which characterized the parties within Judaism which eventually brought about the separation of Christians from the synagogues.  In the Gospel of John, the works of Jesus were presented as proof of his messiahship, like the various signs which he performed, culminating in his resurrection.  The work of the Messiah which many Jews wanted to see was the work of a restored Israel with a David-like king upon the throne and the people free from occupation by Rome.  The suffering "Lamb of God" Messiah was a voice which could not be heard by those who were taught another definitive meaning of the Messiah.

Aphorism of the Day, April 12, 2016

The Fatherization of God is very pronounced in the Gospel of John.  Jesus said, "The Father and I are one."  The Gospel agenda of the writer of John was for people to realized that they had been born "from above" to gain access to another quality of life.  Simultaneously a person has natural birth and entry in the world as God's child because of the divine DNA image implanted upon each person.  This divine identity is not always realized because the demands of the life of natural birth communities cause a forgetting of our original blessing.  Jesus is God's Son who fully realized the Original Blessing and expressed it as experiencing full identity with his heavenly parent.  The church has busied itself with making Jesus so unique while Jesus was trying to share with everyone the reality of being "one with the heavenly parent."

Aphorism of the  Day, April 11, 2016

John 1:1, "and the Word was God."  Hence word has endless possible morphing capacity even to the point of signifying contradictions with no problem at all.  For example, Jesus the Christ is both Lamb and Shepherd.  Makes no sense if one limits the meaningful use of language to empirical verification.  Let's set our minds free with the endless metaphorical capacity of language.

Aphorism of the Day, April 10, 2016

The continuity of the church does not just depend upon the fact that Jesus made the post-resurrection appearances recorded in the Gospel and other New Testament writings; continuity has happened because the very energy of resurrection is able to be known in the many guises of the sublime which kiss our lives today.

Aphorism of the Day, April 9, 2016

One can probably underestimate the success of the Jesus movement in the cities of the Roman Empire.  It could be that synagogue and church separated as fast as it did because of the amazing success of the Gospel within the Gentile peoples.  The paucity of history does not give a full record of the success of the message in so many places; the New Testament preserves the message of the Gospel in the succession of leaders centering around Peter, Paul and the Beloved Disciple and community.  Other strains of Christian succession are found in apocrypha Gospels often labeled as "Gnostic" by modern day scholars or as "heresy" by competing Christian leadership groups.  There was great diversity in the Jesus Movement; the New Testament writings are the result of need to standardize the Christian presentation as Christianity was becoming the preferred religion of the Roman Empire.  Today we find so many different Christian traditions comprised of people who interpret the biblical writings so different to fit the projections of the needs of their personal and social situations.  Meanings are hard to control inside the minds of people even when apparent standardized "objective" meanings are enforced by church administrations.  Diversity prevails even under the guise of uniformity.



Aphorism of the Day, April 8, 2016

The Gospel of John presents the disciples trying to back to fishing after the death and resurrection of Christ.  And fishing can never be the same; what they used to do simply becomes the occasion to know Christ in a different way.  A kairotic event in one's life will make the repetition of familiar things new and different.

Aphorism of the Day, April 7, 2016

One of the most favorable reports in the Gospels of a companion of Christ is found in the Gospel of John, where the person is referred to as the "beloved disciple."  This disciple is the to whom Jesus commits the care of his mother from the cross.  Scholars speculate that portions of John's Gospel were written by the beloved disciple or within the beloved disciple's community.  Is it John, son of Zebedee?  John, son of Zebedee was involved in the dispute about having the best seats in the kingdom of Christ.  John and the beloved disciple may not be the same person.  In John's Gospel, Lazarus is referred to as one who was loved by Jesus.  Sometimes we might get hung up on historical identity of Gospel personalities rather than to read the personalities as thematic personalities bearing the projections of all who were in a process of realizing a relationship with a Christ who had taken up internal residence in each person.  The Gospels project outwardly in story form the dynamics of what was happening inwardly in the disciples spiritual progress.  It is a better insight to read the Gospels as mystagogy in the transformation of one's life than as specific details of historical data.  There need be no apology for the truth of literature of transformation of character.


Aphorism of the Day, April 6, 2016

A Gospel writing perspective to note is this:  How does one write about events in the life of Jesus after great events have occurred, like the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple?  One cannot help but present Jesus with a voice of predictive clairvoyance as a way to assert that major traumatic events did not overthrow God's purpose or cease the existence of the church.  In the last chapter of John's Gospel, Jesus is quoted as saying to Peter, "someone will take you where you did not wish to go."  This was written many years after the death of Peter, supposedly by being crucified upside down.  The one who had denied Jesus on the way to His crucifixion later has the boldness to embrace the same method of death.  The Gospel writer writing in the first quarter of the second century knew well the traditions about Peter.

 Aphorism of the Day, April 5, 2016

April 4th marks the anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  One cannot underestimate the witness of his life in bringing to light malpractice of justice in our country.  Dr. King with non-violence reminded all about the normalcy of loving one's neighbor as oneself and that all of us are neighbors.  Today, the work of love is still not finished and we still need to practice neighborly love more than ever.

Aphorism of the Day, April 4, 2016

While the Roman senate could confer "august" or divine status upon an Emperor, the birth stories of Jesus out did Roman Emperor "divine" propaganda.  The divinity of Jesus was conferred beginning with an announcement from a heavenly angel to the one chosen to be God's child-bearer.  In the Roman context, the birth narratives of Jesus really outshone the Caesar birth propaganda stories.  One might say that the birth narratives of Jesus upstaged the origin stories of the "divinized" Caesars.

 Aphorism of the Day, April 3, 2016

We know so little about Thomas of Doubting Thomas fame that he has easily become a caricature representing a kind of seeing is believing faith.  We should realize that in reading about biblical figures we initially treat them as actual people even as we realize that they are presented by biblical writers as instances of faith experience and so in the Bible as a spiritual manual the people presented therein become mirrors onto whom we the readers can projects aspects of the life of faith.  Apparently Thomas went onto to live down his moments of doubt.  Peter went on to over come his time of denying Jesus.  Judas did not go on after his betrayal.  People still name their children Thomas and Peter today; not many children named Judas Iscariot today.  It is a shame how perfectly good names can get "ruined" by the kind of deeds associated with the people of those names. 

 Aphorism of the Day, April 2, 2016

The Doubting Thomas story is evidence of the early churches supporting valid alternative "presences" of Christ.  The Real presence of Christ could be known through the Spirit, the experience of peace, the practice of forgiveness and through Gospel writing.  The story is evidence that the physical body of Jesus had escaped limitations to retain identity with God as Eternal Word and hence could morph and be found to be an endless Real Presence to anyone who has the occasion to know such a Presence.

 Aphorism of the Day, April 1, 2016

In the Gospel of John, Word is equivalent with God, Word creates the human world as we can know it, the word oracles of Christ in the discourses of John are called "spirit" and "life," and the written word of the Gospel of John has the creative power to invite belief in Christ.  As much as we may take comfort in making an idol out of the physical Jesus of Nazareth, the Gospel of John indicates that Word Constituted Divinity was from the beginning.  In actual human practice we process physicality by virtue of using words.  We may think that physicality and "presence" is before word, but we can only know it through words.

Quiz of the Day, April 2016

Quiz of the Day, April 30, 2016

What does the Feast of Booths commemorate?

a. the making of the tabernacle
b. living in "booths" during the wilderness journey of Israel
c. the temporary quarters of the Israelites in Egypt
d. the toll collection places along the wilderness of Paran

Quiz of the Day, April 29, 2016

What did Jesus tell his followers not to throw before swine?

a. the children's bread
b. your pearls
c. holy things
d. your secrets

Quiz of the Day, April 28, 2016

Which of the following is not a "rule" found in Leviticus?

a. you shall not make your daughter a prostitute
b. you shall not tattoo any marks on you
c. you shall not oppress an alien
d. you shall defer to the elderly
e. you shall not eat pelican flesh

Quiz of the Day, April 27, 2016

What is the biblical notion of "gleaning?"

a. a special purity ritual in the Temple
b. the eighth day rite for women
c. leaving edges of the field for poor to harvest
d. the biblical tithe

Quiz of the Day, April 26, 2016

When Aaron confessed the sins of the people and symbolically placed them on the "scapegoat" to be sent into the wilderness, who was the "scapegoat" sent to?

a. Yahweh
b. Lucifer
c. Azazel
d. Melchizedek

Quiz of the Day, April 25, 2016

Saul (Paul) and Barnabus disagreed about the usefulness of what missionary companion?

a. Peter
b. Luke
c. John Mark
d. Silas

 Quiz of the Day, April 24, 2016

Who consecrated Aaron and vested him in the priestly garments?

a. God on Mount Sinai
b. His older brother Moses
c. The Levites
d. Joshua and Hur

Quiz of the Day, April 23, 2016

In the biblical record what structure was the precursor of Solomon's Temple?

a. Phoenician temples
b. Greek temples
c. Zorastrian temples
d. the Tabernacle

Quiz of the Day, April 22, 2016

What did Moses wear after he left the presence of God?

a. a special priestly robe
b. phylacteries
c. Urim and Thummim
d. a veil for his face

Quiz of the Day, April 21, 2016

Which of the following saints is associated with the ontological argument for the existence of God wherein God is defined as "That which none greater can be conceived" and further that existence would be a minimal requirement of the Greatest Being?

a. Thomas Aquinas
b. Augustine of Hippo
c. Anselm
d. Nicolas of Cusa

Quiz of the Day, April 20, 2016

When Moses asked to see God, what did God permit?

a. a show of God's light
b. a cloudy presence
c. a view of God's back
d. God touched Moses with God's finger

Quiz of the Day, April 19, 2016

What did Moses have his supporters do when they saw the people of Israel worshiping the golden calf?

a. send them back to Egypt
b. strap on their swords and kill about 3000
c. build an altar of repentance
d. punish his brother Aaron

Quiz of the Day, April 18, 2016

When Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Law, who was responsible for making the golden calf?

a. Miriam
b. Hur
c. Joshua
d. Aaron

Quiz of the Day, April 17, 2016

What fruit was embroidered on the hem of Aaron's priestly vestments in-between bells?

a. apple
b. fig
c. pomegranate
d. grapes

Quiz of the Day, April 16, 2016

The Ark of the Covenant was originally built to be housed where?

a. Solomon's Temple
b. The Shrine at Shiloh
c. The tabernacle
d. Bethel


Quiz of the Day, April 15, 2016

When Moses went up Mount Sinai, how long did he remain their during his first occasion to receive the law?

a. 6 days
b. 7 days
c. 40 days
d. 77 days

Quiz of the Day, April 14, 2016

The writer of the Epistle to the Colossian church warned his readers about being deceived by what?

a. another Gospel
b. plausible arguments
c. the wisdom of the Greeks
d. skepticism

Quiz of the Day, April 13, 2016

Who called the scribes and Pharisees a "brood of vipers?"

a. Jesus
b. Paul
c. John the Baptist
d. Judas Iscariot

Quiz of the Day, April 12, 2016

God said to Moses that the divine presence would encounter him in what way on Mount Sinai?

a. a pillar of fire
b. a still small voice
c. in a dense cloud
d. a hand writing on a tablet of stone

Quiz of the Day, April 11, 2016

What person gave Moses the good advice of delegating and not doing all of the work himself?

a. his wife
b. Aaron
c. Miriam
d. his father-in-law

Quiz of the Day, April 10, 2016

From the Gospel accounts which of the following is not true about Mary Magdalene?

a. she was the first witness of the resurrection
b. she had seven demons cast out of her
c. she was a former harlot
d. in her grief she thought the resurrected Christ was a gardener

Quiz of the Day, April 9, 2016

What did Aaron and Hur do while Joshua fought the Amalek tribe?

a. they prayed
b. they blew ram's horns continuously
c. they held up the arms of Moses
d. they fasted in the tabernacle

Quiz of the Day, April 8, 2016

Jesus said to his disciples, "I have called you friends."  Which religious group has taken their name from this quote?

a. Seven Day Adventists
b. Congregational Church
c. The Quakers
d. Mennonites

Quiz of the Day, April 7, 2016

In which Gospel are the following metaphors used for Jesus: Vine, Gate, Light, Way, Truth, Life, Resurrection, Living Bread and Good Shepherd?

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John

Quiz of the Day, April 6, 2016

Why did the people of Israel complain to Moses after God had delivered them from the Egyptians at the Red Sea?

a. lack of drinking water
b. not enough tents for sleeping
c. a large fire in the wilderness threatened them
d. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, April 5, 2016

"The Song of Moses" could also be called "The Song of         "

a. Aaron
b. Joshua
c. Miriam
d. the Defeated Egyptian Army


Quiz of the Day, April 4, 2016

Who is the angel of the annunciation?

a. Michael
b. Raphael
c. unknown
d. Gabriel

Quiz of the Day, April 3, 2016

What did Jesus say about marriage in heaven?

a. people are not given in marriage in heaven
b. people remain married in heaven
c. angels marry in heaven
d. a person is always married to their first spouse

Quiz of the Day, April 2, 2016

Whose burial remains did Moses take with him when he led the people of Israel from Egypt?

a. Joseph's
b. Rachael's
c. Potiphar's
d. Benjamin's

 Quiz of the Day, April 1, 2016

According to the Gospel of Luke, when Mary Magdalene and her companions told the apostles about the resurrection, what was the apostles response?

a. disbelief
b. praise
c. wonder
d. acceptance