Quiz of the Day, August 2016

Quiz of the Day, August 31, 2016

Which of the following is not associated with Lindisfarne?

a. Columba
b. Aidan
c. Cuthbert
d. Finian

Quiz of the Day, August 30, 2016

Who was the biblical Rhoda?

a. a disciple of St. Paul
b. a seller of purple
c. a woman who wiped the face of Jesus
d. a maid in the house of Mark's mother

Quiz of the Day, August 29, 2016

According to the Acts of the Apostles, in what city were the disciples of Christ first called "Christians?"

a. Ephesus
b. Jerusalem
c. Pella
d. Antioch

Quiz of the Day, August 28, 2016

"Blessed are the poor in spirit," is found in which Gospel?

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


Quiz of the Day, August 27, 2016

What was the content of Peter's vision before he accepted the gift of the Spirit being received by the Gentiles?

a. a vision about God not requiring circumcision
b. a vision about permission to the eat the meat "non-kosher" animals
c. a vision about mikveh
d. a vision about speaking in tongues

Quiz of the Day, August 26, 2016

What could be called the "Second Pentecost?"

a. the conversion of St. Paul
b. the receiving of the Holy Spirit evidenced in the lives of Gentiles
c. Pentecost since first Pentecost happened in the Doubting Thomas event
d. the birth of the church in Corinth


Quiz of the Day, August 25, 2016

To whom did Peter say the following: " “You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile...?"

a. the Roman cohort
b. the household of Cornelius
c. Simon the tanner
d. the Gentile members of the church in Antioch

Quiz of the Day, August 24, 2016

Who, of the following, made this exclamation, "How awesome is this place; this is none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven?"

a. Moses, at the burning bush
b. Moses on Mount Sinai
c. Solomon at the dedication of the Temple
d. Jacob, after his dream about ascending and descending angels



Quiz of the Day, August 23, 2016

Peter prayed and restored Tabitha to life and health.  What was Tabitha's other name?

a. Lydia
b. Dorcas
c. Junia
d. Sapphire

Quiz of the Day, August 22, 2016

When there was a plot discovered to seize the newly converted Saul, how did he escape safely from Damascus?

a. Barnabas interceded with his accusers
b. Saul friends lowered him in a basket from the city wall
c. he was hidden in a cart pulled by donkeys
d. God shuts the eyes of guard as Saul escaped

Quiz of the Day, August 21, 2016

What commandment is about honoring the Sabbath?

a. third
b. fourth
c. fifth
d. sixth

Quiz of the Day, August 20, 2016

To what religious order did St. Bernard of Clairvaux belong?

a. Benedictine
b. Dominican
c. Franciscan
d. Cistercian

Quiz of the Day, August 19, 2016

Which of the following was not one of Job's friend?

A. Eliphaz

B. Zophar

C. Bildad

D. Schlomo 

Quiz of the Day, August 18, 2017

Who negotiated the fate of Job?  

A. The heavenly council of gods
B. Jobs friends
C. God and Satan
D. God and the Angels

Quiz of the Day, August 17, 2016

The selling of church positions is called

a. Indulgences
b. Usury
c. Simony
d. Peter's pence

Quiz of the Day, August 16, 2016

From the cross, who did Jesus commit the care of his mother?

a. Mary Magdalane
b. John
c. Someone referred to as a disciple loved by Jesus
d. Peter

Quiz of the Day, August 15,2016

To whom did Jesus say "Woman, what concern is that to you or me?"

a. Mary Magdalene

b. Mary of Bethany

c. Martha of Bethany

D. Mary, His Mother

Quiz of the Day, August 14, 2016

How did the life of Samson end?

a. suicide
b. he pulled a building down on himself and Philistine captors
c. he was killed by the Philistine army
d. he jumped off a cliff
e. a and b

Quiz of the Day, August 13, 2016

Delilah has been the name for the beguiling seductress; who did Delilah beguile to gain the reputation?

a. Solomon
b. the writer of Song of Songs
c. Samson
d. King David

Quiz of the Day, August 12, 2016

What is the classification of the role of Samson in the history of Israel?

a. prophet
b. military commander
c. nazirite
d. judge
e. priest

Quiz of the Day, August 11, 2016

Which of the following is not true of Samson?

a. he was under the vow of the nazirite
b. he ate honey from the bee hive in the carcass of a dead lion
c. he slew Philistines in battle with the jaw bone of an ass
d. his short hair was the source of his strength
e. he brought down a building on himself and his captors

Quiz of the Day, August 10, 2016

In Christian and biblical traditions, Jesus had a miraculous conception, Mary an Immaculate conception; which of the following is not one who had a "marvelous" conception?

a. John the Baptist
b. Isaac
c. Samson
d. Samuel
e. Jeremiah

Quiz of the Day, August 9, 2016

Who was the Alaskan saint who was also the first missionary to that area?

a. Juvenaly
b. Herman
c. Innocent
d.Jacob Netsvitov

Quiz of the Day, August 8, 2016

What is the biblical significance of the distinction between shibboleth and sibboleth?

a. variance in Hebrew spelling
b. a pronunciation test for gaining permission to ford the Jordan
c. a class marker in biblical sociology
d. one is a dagger, the other is a spear

Quiz of the Day, August 7, 2016

Jephthah, was cast out because he was the son of a prostitute and he became a bandit; later he was called become the commander in the fight against the Ammonites.  What was the result of a vow that he made with God if his forces would win in battle?

a. he cut out his right eye
b. he sacrificed his daughter
c. he gave his best horse to the temple
d. he sacrificed his son

Quiz of the Day, August 6, 2016

On which two occasion did bystanders hear the voice of God declare about Jesus, "This is my Son, the beloved...?"

a. his baptism and resurrection
b. his attendance at the Passover feast and the transfiguration
c. his baptism and transfiguration
d. the angels to the shepherd and his baptism

Quiz of the Day, August 5, 2016

What of the following are true about Gideon?

a. his name was also Jerubbaal
b. his son Abimelech, not Saul, might be called the first king of Israel
c. he had seventy sons
d. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, August 4, 2016

What did Gideon do with some of the gold booty from his battles?

a. fed the poor
b. made an ephod (idol) to worship
c. placed it on the ark of the covenant
d. donated it to the shrine in Shechem

Quiz of the Day, August 3, 2016

Who was the first African-American to receive a PhD from Harvard University?

a. Booker T. Washington
b. W.E.B. Dubois
c. George L. Ruffin
d. Robert T. Freeman

Quiz of the Day, August 2, 2016

Gideon had too many volunteers for his army.  How did he select the final 300?

a. he chose the best archers
b. he chose the soldier who drank water with cupped hands
c. he chose those who throw the spear the farthest
d. he chose those who lapped water like a dog

Quiz of the Day, August 1, 2016

What does the fleece test refer to in the Bible?

a. Jacob covered his arms with fleece to make himself seem hairy
b. Fleecing referred to taking money from one's enemy
c. Gideon used a fleece to seek a sign from God for a victory in battle
d. It derives from King David when as a shepherd he used a fleece to seek an oracle from God

Feeling Irrelevant to the Poor and the Stranger?

15  Pentecost, Cp17, August 28, 2016

Jeremiah 2:4-13 Ps. 112

Heb.13:1-8        Luke 14:1, 7-14

Lectionary Link

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers.  When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.

Since we are an inclusive church, why don't we just take our Book of Common Prayer to the streets of San Francisco and invite the homeless and the poor to celebrate the beauty of our liturgy.  Are you ready to go with me?  If we could get them to worship with us, then their lives would be able to change and they would learn to become fully integrated into middle class or upper middle class society and live more happily ever after?  Anyone think this would be wise evangelistic strategy?

Sometimes the words of the Bible seem to place before us an unattainable standard for us.  The words about hospitality to the strangers and homeless we are happy to leave to the saintly specialists like Mother Teresa of Calcutta and we are happy to help much more indirectly with some money gifts.

People who specialize in advising about safety do not always recommend an open policy toward strangers or even the poor.  If in fact one invited to the normal banquets of one's life strangers and people with impairment, it would be unusual unless one had the situation of that being a regular practice.

How can we read these words of the Bible and not feel guilty about our own fear about opening our homes and lives on a regular basis to the people who inhabit the tent towns of our inner cities?

We need to be honest about our lives.  In our lives it is most common for us to be found with people who have some compatible and pragmatic relationship with us in our lives.  That is, we live with people with whom we can practice mutual reciprocity.  I will do this for you and you will do this for me.

What do the poor and strangers have to do with mutual reciprocity?  If you are poor and a stranger how do you function in my life?  I can actually make the stranger and the poor person to have a function in my life.  By giving to a poor person or helping a stranger, I can feel good about myself as being altruistic or as obeying the words of Jesus.  Do I need the poor and the stranger in my lives to feel good about how I am obeying Jesus?

It could be that we often can read the words of Jesus and the Bible and feel guilty about an unattainable standard, particularly toward the poor and the stranger.  We might think that these words should compel us to visit the homeless on streets of San Francisco or San Jose and bring them to our homes and place of worship.

It is important to understand the contexts of the biblical writings.  The New Testament writings were writings which arose to teach and to expose the habits of the early Christian practice within their communities.

The chief event of hospitality within the early church was the Holy Eucharist.  The practice of the Holy Eucharist was actually the banquet of the church.  The early church invited to the Holy Eucharist a wider crowd than had been invited to the synagogue.

What had happened in Judaism of the time of Jesus was what can and does happen in any community, segregatory practices.  Segregation can happen when people want to protect themselves from outside threats and influences.  Segregation can happen when people believe that outside contact will change the community's institutional identity and purity.
Segregation can happen when people of like interest get comfortable in meeting together.  Why would we want to meet with people with whom we have no compatibility?

One of the side effects of segregatory practices is that strangers can feel like they can never belong in a group with such exclusive practices.  Outsiders and strangers may not want to change their lives in order to fulfill the requirements of community membership.

When the New Testament was being written, the urbanization of the cities of the Roman Empire brought together strangers.  When strangers arrive in a new place how do they acculturate themselves to a new place, in employment, places to dwell and social contacts?   If a new family arrives in a place to live permanently where do potential suitors go to form relationships, get married and raise families?

The secret of the success of the early Christian movement was it provided a meeting setting, a social club which allowed strangers to feel like they belonged in a new place.

Hence, we have the words of Jesus as an oracle in the early Christian community, actually touting what the Holy Eucharist had already become within these growing Christian Clubs within the cities of the Roman Empire.

The Gospels and other New Testament writings present a contrast in the practice of these new Christian Social Clubs being places where strangers were welcome and the practices of the synagogues which were places only for people who were able be completely observant Jews, complying with the ritual purity rules of Judaism.

How are the strangers and the poor and the impaired found in the early church different from the homeless poor who live on the streets of our cities today?

The strangers and the poor who became members of the early church, were people who had the ability to enter into covenantal relationship with others.  They were people who were able to perform the baptismal vows.  The strangers, the poor and the impaired of the time of the early church were those who wanted community; they wanted to be contributing members of a community but they for various cultural reasons could not find a accessible way to belong within synagogues which enforced the ritual purity of Judaism.

The reason that the strangers and the poor on our streets seem so foreign to us today is because they are socially and community impaired when it comes to the community life of most churches.  I am not suggesting that street people and the homeless do not have community;  it is just not community behaviors that conform to the socio-educational requirements of people who are formed by the liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer.

In interacting with people who arrive at the door of the church asking for money, I used to say to them: "If you come to our parish and attend every week and participate with us for three months, I think we can help change your life."  In 35 years of ministry, I have only seen it happen once, since only one woman has ever taken the challenge.  And it did work for her and her children.

What this reveals is how confused we can get when we try to make wrong interpretation of what stranger and poor meant for New Testament communities and what stranger and poor mean for us today.  The early Christian strangers and poor were people who wanted community identity but were denied it in other places but found community in the Christian social neighborhood clubs in the cities of the Roman Empire.  These Christian social clubs became called churches.   And the stranger and the poor and the impaired became expressive of health and salvation as they interacted to fulfill their baptismal vows.

I don't think that we can apply the words of Jesus and the early church in exactly the same way to the conditions of the poor and strangers we find in our cities today.  This does not mean that we do not have a responsibility to the poor on the streets of the city today;  we still have to build strategies and tactics to help the poor and the people who forever will be strange to people who use the Book of Common Prayer in their worship.

A community with common prayer accessible to the street poor and homeless is another kind of ministry and it is always worth the efforts to promote the kinds of accessible community to the homeless and poor and we cannot demand that they be able or required to follow how we practice the baptismal covenant with equal mutual reciprocity within significant community.  We cannot be disappointed that homeless poor are different than us;  we cannot ask that they become like us in how we practice our faith in communities expressive of the social aspects of middle class or upper middle class values.

We need to appreciate the success of the early churches in becoming effective social clubs for strangers to become friends, for poor to find contacts and support and for the impaired to be regarded as equally able to be gifted by God's Spirit.

The long success of the church also means that there are large sectors of the world population which inhabit the places where the poor and strangers can be found.  Some poor and strangers can become integrated into parish communities.  The immigrant strangers who have become prominent citizens need to be aware of the new immigrants.  The poor who have become people of means need to be aware of those who are still poor.  Within immigrant population there are people who have the ability to be in mutually reciprocal relationship as is found in a parish church.

The New Testament writings represent the time when strangers were becoming friends through mutual commitment to each other.  The New Testament writings represent a time when poor and isolated people could join a community and have their fortunes changed.  The New Testament communities were places where people who had impairment did not have to believe that God had punished them because their bodies came into this world formed differently.

We as a parish church still need to be a place where strangers can be come friends; poor can network to find enough; and the impaired to be valued for how they have been made by God.

Beyond this there are people who are still poor, strange and foreign to us and segregated by various kinds of impairment.  We always are called to seek tactics of love and justice which honor people for what they can do and give based upon their actual conditions.

Let us not condemn ourselves because there are still poor and strangers in our world.  Let us not condemn ourselves because not that many people will ever enjoy or appreciate Episcopal liturgy in the way in which we do.  But let us not forget that essentially the Eucharist is God's banquet to which everyone is invited to be fed by the equal and great presence of the Risen Christ.

And let us pray that the presence of the Risen Christ also gets known to people in having enough to eat, a place of shelter and dignity for themselves in the uniqueness of how they are coming to know their own integrity in their life circumstance.  Amen.

Sunday School, August 28, 2016 C proper 17

Sunday School, August 28, 2016     15 Pentecost, C proper 17

Theme: Hospitality

What does hospitality mean?

It means welcoming people into one’s life.

How do we practice hospitality?  How do we make people feel welcomed?

Have you ever arrived at school or at the playground or dance class and you did not know anyone? 

Sometimes it is not easy to be the new visitor to a place where you don’t know anyone.

How can you feel welcome or comfortable in a new place?

You can feel welcome when someone whom you do not knows is friendly to you and tries to introduce you to help you make some new friends.

And how can we practice hospitality?   We can practice hospitality by being friendly and kind to new people who have just arrived and have not made any friends yet.

Do you know what the Holy Eucharist is?  It is a celebration meal and it is a meal of welcome for all people to come and eat together and share in what we believe.  We share that God loves us and cares us and has made us sons and daughters of God.  So everyone is in God’s family and everyone is welcome to God’s meal, the Holy Eucharist, the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends.  He told them to keep having this meal as a way of welcoming new people to know that Jesus loves them and cares for them and that he is a close to them as the bread and wine that they eat and drink at the special meal.

We come to church on Sunday to remember that God practices hospitality.  God practiced hospitality by sending his Son Jesus to live with the people of this world.  He sent Jesus to form a group of people who would always be in this world to remind everyone that God is a welcoming God.  God always invites everyone to come to the welcoming meal of the Holy Eucharist.

A sermon about being welcomed

  Have you ever felt left out?  Not included?

  When I was a little boy, I moved with my family to a new town and so I had to go to a new school.  I did not have any friends in the new school.

  I felt very lonely on the first day of school.  At recess when everyone was playing outside, everyone was playing with someone except me.  Everyone one seem to have a friend, except me.  They were playing games and they were playing with the dodge ball, but I didn’t get asked to play.  So I did not know if I would like my new school.

  When it came time for lunch, I went to the cafeteria.  I got my tray of food and when I went to sit down, the tables were already filled with students who were eating together.  There was only one table open and nobody was sitting there.  So I went to the table and sat down to eat my lunch alone.

  Suddenly, a boy tapped me on the shoulder and he said, “Do you want to sit with us at our table?”  And I said, “There isn’t any room.”  But he said, “I will get a chair and put it at the end of the table.”  So I did not have to eat lunch alone.  I was invited to eat lunch by this kind boy and he became my friend and I made new friends in my new school.  And I did not have to be lonely.

  Jesus told his friends that they should be like the boy who welcomed me to eat lunch with them.  Jesus said we should welcome those who are lonely and don’t feel like they have any friends.

  Yes it is nice to have friends and to spend time with our friends, but it is good if we are always making room for new people in our lives.

  Today, we are here for a special meal.  It is called the Holy Eucharist.  We eat bread and drink the wine.  It is the special meal that Jesus started and he told us to keep having this meal.  And he told us to invite everyone to this meal.

  And so we have the meal every week and we invite everyone because we know that Jesus is friendly and Jesus invites everyone to his meal, because everyone is welcome at the table of Jesus.

  Let us always remember how friendly Jesus is.  Let us remember how friendly God is.  And let us learn how to be very friendly and welcome people into our lives.  Since we like to have friends, let us learn how to make friends and invite others to be our friends.

  How many of you like to have friends?  How many of you can be a could friend?  Let us learn how to invite new friends into our lives today? 

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

August 28, 2016: The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: This is the Day; O Be Careful; Father, I Adore You; Give Me Joy in My Heart

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

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

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

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

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

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Song: This is the Day (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 232)

This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made. We will rejoice, we will rejoice and be glad in it, and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made.

(Repeat)

Liturgist: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Liturgist: Let us pray

Lord of all power and might, the maker and giver of all good things: Make to grow in our hearts the love of your Name; help us to be truly religious; nourish us with all goodness; and let our lives grow the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

Litany of Praise: Alleluia

O God, you are Great! Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins! Alleluia

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

A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews

Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you." So we can say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?"

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 112

Hallelujah! Happy are they who fear the Lord * and have great delight in his commandments!

Their descendants will be mighty in the land; * the generation of the upright will be blessed.

Wealth and riches will be in their house, * and their righteousness will last for ever.

Light shines in the darkness for the upright; * the righteous are merciful and full of compassion.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God!

Litanist:

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

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

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

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

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

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

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

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

Thanks be to God!

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

People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus was went to the house of an important religious leader. Jesus was invited there to eat the meal on the day of worship, the day they called the sabbath. Since Jesus was becoming popular, the other guests were watching him closely. And Jesus was watching their behavior too. He saw how many guests wanted to sit in the best seats at the main table. So to teach them, Jesus told a parable. A parable is a story that hides a message within the story. Jesus said, "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the best place, because a more important person may come and they might ask you to go to a seat that is not at the main table. It’s better to take a lower seat and then be invited by the host to a better seat. For if you are excessively proud, then you will feel put down and forsaken when a humbling event happens to you. But if you are humble, you can truly know how people feel about you when you are promoted to a higher place.” Jesus also said, “When you give a party do not just invite the people who can return the favor, also invite the poor and those who are impaired. And so you will be blessed because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

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: O Be Careful (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 180)

1-O be careful, little hands what you do; O be careful little hands what you do; For the Father up above is looking down in love, so be careful, little hands what you do.

2-O be careful little feet where you go……

3-O be careful little eyes what you see…

4-O be careful little lips what you say….

Doxology

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

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

Prologue to the Eucharist

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

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

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

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

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

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

this food and drink that becomes a part of us.

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 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: Father, I Adore (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 56)

1-Father, I adore you; Lay my life before you. How I Love you!

2-Jesus, I adore you; Lay my life before you. How I Love you!

3-Spirit, I adore you; Lay my life before you. How I Love you!

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: Give Me Joy in My Heart (Christian Children’s Songbook, #53 tune only)

1-Give me joy in my heart, keep me praising. Give me joy in my heart, I pray. Give joy in my heart, keep me praising. Keep me praising till the break of day.

Chorus: Sing hosanna! Sing hosanna! Sing hosanna to the King of Kings! Sing hosanna! Sing hosanna! Sing hosanna to the King!

2-Give me in peace my heart, keep me loving, Give me peace in my heart, I pray. Give me peace in my heart keep me loving. Keep me loving till the break of day. Chorus

3-Give me love in my heart, keep me serving. Give me love in my heart, I pray. Give me love in my heart keep me serving. Keep me serving till the break of day. Chorus.

Dismissal:

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

People: Thanks be to God!

Sabbath Time is Healing Time

14 Pentecost, Cp16,August 25, 2013   

Jer. 1:4-10   Psalm 71:1-6

Hebrews 12:18-19,22-29  Luke 13:10-17

Lectionary Link

  What is the first commandment?  Thou shalt have no other gods.  How does one make the practice of not having other gods?  To use the human love analogy, one gets married and makes an exclusive commitment to one's spouse and forsakes all others in order to be devoted to one.

  A restatement of the first commandment in both the Hebrew Scriptures and in the words of Jesus was to love God with all one's heart, mind, soul and strength.  And how does one do this?

  The answer is given in the fourth commandment of the Big Ten.  The fourth command is: Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.  And what is the essence of the meaning of the Sabbath?  It means putting in deliberate and designated time with God.  It means that one spends time with the one whom one loves.  And if one does not put in the time, one may question the love.  People spend time with the ones whom they love.

  When it comes to worship time, probably most clergy of all ages agree with the words of Woody Allen:  "80% of life is showing up."  Meaning that clergy have spent lots of their lives counting worship attendance.  (Let's see, one, two, three, ......fifty...that's how popular God is today???!  Really?)  The Hebrew Scripture could be said to have been written by various members of the clergy and so there is writing about the importance of honoring the Sabbath.

 We know that honoring the Sabbath is not about worship attendance so that clergy can keep their jobs.  Sabbath worship is about not forgetting God. 

  It is easy to forget God because God in God's invisibility does not demand or force worship upon us.  Since God is invisible, God has to compete with what is visible for attention.   God can be like the forgotten spouse who is forgotten when his lover goes after many other lovers.

  The invisible God has many competitors in the visible world.  We have many other things to do with our time.  We have many other people to honor.  We have many other things to attend to and take care of.  We have ball games to attend on the day of worship.  We have the beach to go to on the day of worship.

  So those pestering clergy forever have been hassling us about keeping the Sabbath and making time for God.

  What can happen when clergy pester about religious rules is that the rules can become dislodged from practical significance.

  Rules can rise to their level of incompetent absurdity if the rules lose their connection with what is healthy, good and just for the people who are supposed to keep the rules.

  We had a baby child in Texas and so for some reason in the 1980's we had to go to the grocery store to buy a baby bottle.  We went to find that during that time there were Sunday Blue laws to protect the holiness of the Christian Sabbath.  And so we could buy beer under the Sunday Blue laws but we could not buy the baby bottle that we needed.

  How's that for a Sabbath law that had arisen to its absurd incompetence?

  So, the Gospel issue raised by the story of Jesus is this?  How do we maintain the integrity of the meaning of the Sabbath without losing the meaning in legalistic absurd incompetence in its actual application?

  This is illustrated in the words of Jesus:  "Listen, you clergy, are you telling me it is okay for a farmer to feed his animals on the Sabbath, but I cannot heal this woman of her illness on the Sabbath because healing is unlawful work on the Sabbath?  Get real, you have lost the connection of the Sabbath with the salvation of the lives of people for whom the Sabbath is supposed to serve in making their relationship with God the most important of human experience."  This is like saying let the houses burn down on Sunday because fire fighters cannot work on Sunday.

  In another Gospel Jesus is quoted as saying, "Sabbath is made for the benefit of humanity; humanity was not made for the benefit of some weekly calendar designation of Sabbath time."

  If the Sabbath is disassociated from the purpose of loving God and one's neighbor with all of one's heart and soul and mind, then it has lost its purpose.

  What else was happening when the Gospel of Luke was written?  The followers of Jesus were being removed from the synagogues.  The Christian movement was becoming more Gentile in membership than Jewish.  The Gentile followers of Jesus were not required to follow the ritual purity rules of Judaism.  Keeping the Sabbath for Jews was very important, it was not just a "Fourth Suggestion" for them; it was one of the Big Ten, non-negotiable.

  Roman Society of the time did not have a weekly holy day, even though there were many non-business days that happened during the Roman year, some of which were religious festivals.  If Sabbath was welcomed on Friday nights by the Jews, how is it that the followers of Jesus could refuse to honor the prescribed Friday to Saturday time for the Sabbath?  What gave the followers of Jesus the right to forget this specific weekly time or change it to the first day of the week?  What is it that gave Christians the right to be more flexible with "Sabbath" time?

  The witness of the Risen Christ within the early church was not to dishonor Sabbath time but to free it from being regarded as only a 24 hour chronological time of prescribed behaviors.

  The witness of Risen Christ gives us permission to elevate the Sabbath to its intended purpose, namely, the celebration of spending quality time with God in the times of one's life.

  The day of rest in the Sabbath tradition means that essentially we should give one seventh of our time to God.  And if we do this, we can know the blessing of God in the other six days of our time.  The purpose of the Sabbath is to take a portion of our human time and designate it as a gift to God and when we do this, we can find a significance qualitative improvement in the rest of the time of our lives and this improvement includes more enjoyment for ourselves and other people in our lives.

  Now any fidgety child will tell us that 24 hours of meditation can be really "boring."  They will also tell us that sitting in church for more than an hour is also, "boring."  They will also tell us that listening to long wordy sermons is "boring."  (You can yawn now).

  The lesson from the Risen Christ tells us that Sabbath time need not be limited to a 24 hour prescribed weekly time.  Sabbath time should also be about "healing" time?   How much time can you and I spend this week in healing our world?  Healing time is the active Sabbath time of taking care of each other and our world.  Healing time is not limited to the 24 hours on Sunday.  Healing time is anytime that we put in the effort to love our neighbors because we deliberately are engaged in the lifetime Sabbath work of loving God, with all of hearts and souls, strength and minds.

  Sabbath is learning to love God and our neighbors in all of the times of our lives.  Sabbath time is salvation time.  Salvation means healing time.   Sabbath time also means the time that we spend in healing each other and our world.

  Let us not be legalistic about the Sabbath today.   Let us learn from Jesus Christ to celebrate the Sabbath each day in our lives as we receive God's grace to heal each other and our world.  Amen.