Sunday School, February 5, 2017 5 Epiphany A

Sunday School, February 5, 2017    5 Epiphany A

Themes:  Salt, light and laws

Discuss with the children salt.

Do you like salt?

Why do you like salt?

Can you eat just salt alone?  Why not?

Salt makes foods like popcorn and French fries tasty.  Food can taste very boring without salt but with just a little salt it can make food taste delicious.  In the times when there was no refrigerators, people used salt to preserve foods that would spoil or get rotten especially meat and fish.  Salt can clean and kill germs.

Jesus told his friends, “You are the salt of the earth.”  What do you think this means?  It means that the way that we live, we should make life tasty or exciting.  It means the way that we live we should preserve what is good and loving.

Discuss light with the children.

Why do we need light?  So we can see.

What is the biggest light?  The Sun

What did people use for light before electric lights were invented?  The Sun, Fire, torches with fire, oil lamps.

Jesus told his followers: “You are the light of the world.”  How can people be like a light?  When we learn something new, it is like a light coming on.  When someone shows how to live better, it is like a light coming on.  A person who teaches us to live better is like a light.  And we are supposed to learn and become teachers for others to help them live better.  So we are supposed to be learning all of the time so that we can become lights to show others how to live better.

Law

What is a law?  It is rule that tells us how to act.

Are all laws the same?  No

Which law is more important, “You shall not kill,” or “You shall not turn on your sprinklers on Monday, Wednesday or Friday?”

Jesus said that we should not be like people who made less important law the most important rules.  Are the rules of soccer more important that the rules about being kind to our neighbor?  What if we are not kind to our neighbors but we make everyone know and follow the rules of soccer as the most important rules in life?  It shows us that we are more concerned about a game than we are about caring for people.  Jesus said that we cannot replace the great important laws of love and kindness with less important rules.

Sermon:

  Today, I have in my bag of tricks two things.  What is this that I have in my hand?  A salt shaker.  And what else do I have in my bag?  A flash light.  What do I get when I turn this on?  I get light.

  Jesus liked to speak in riddles with his friends.  He told them that they had to be like salt and light.

  How many of you like salt?  What does popcorn taste like without salt or butter?  A little dull isn’t it.  What do French fries taste like without salt?  Really dull.  How many of you like pickles?  Do you know what makes pickles taste so good?   Salt water.

  What does Jesus mean when he says that we should be like salt?  He means that we should make the life of other people more tasty…more interesting…more exciting.

  I saw a little boy running into school and so I asked him why he was running so fast to get to school.  And he said, “I can’t wait to see my friends so I can have fun.”  That is what being like salt means.  We are to make life fun and exciting for each other.  We are to practice how to be good friends.

Jesus also said we are to be like light.  What did he mean?  I think that he meant that we are supposed to teach each other.  If I have learned something new that has helped me; then I want to share it with you.  And when we learn something new it is like a light coming on in our heads.

  No matter how old you are you have good things that you can teach someone else.  May be you can help your baby brother or sister learn how to crawl or walk.   May be you can help them learn how to talk or read.

  Jesus said that we are supposed to be like light because we are supposed to take the very best things that we have learned and share them with other people.

  What is the very best thing that we have learned from Jesus?  Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.

  If we can teach this to everyone in this world then our lives will be fun and happy.

  So can you be like salt today?  Can you make life fun for each other?

  Can you be like light today?  Can you learn new things and teach other people the very best things in your life?  I know that you can be like salt and light today.  Amen

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

February 5, 2017: The Fifth Sunday after The Epiphany

Gathering Songs:

Jesus Bids Us Shine, We Are Marching in the Light of the Lord, Thy Word,  This Little Light of Mine

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: Jesus Bids Us Shine, (The Christian Children Songbook, #132)

1-Jesus bids us shine with a clear, pure light, Like a little candle burning in the night; In this world of darkness, we must shine, You in your small corner and I in mine.

2-Jesus bids us shine first of all for Him, Well he sees and knows it if our light is dim; He looks down from heaven, sees us shine.  You in your small corner and I in mine.

3-Jesus bids us shine as we work for Him, bring those that wander from the paths of sin; He will ever help us if we shine, You in your small corner and I in mine.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty and everlasting God, you are able to rule all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear our prayer requests, and especially in our time grant us your peace; 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: 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 Prophet Isaiah

Is not a fast to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly;

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord.

Peope: Thanks be to God

Please read with me from Psalm 112

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

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

Litany of Thanksgiving: Chant: 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 Matthew

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.  "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.  "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon –   

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

Litany of Asking:  Chant: 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 sick. 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 with you always.

People:                        And also with you.

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

Song: We are Marching in the Light of the Lord, Renew! # 306

We are marching in the Light of the Lord;

            we are marching in the light of the Lord

            We are marching in the Light of the Lord;

we are marching in the light of the Lord

            We are marching, marching, we are marching, oh,

we are marching in the light of the lord.       

We are marching, marching, we are marching, oh,

we are marching in the light of the lord.

Doxology (Stand)

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 our 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 family 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 up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give him 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 by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

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

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

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

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

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

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

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing, (Children may rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

Our Father (Sung): (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 by thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

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

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration.

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

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

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

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

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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

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

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

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

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

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God!  

Aphorism of the Day, January 2017

Aphorism of the Day, January 31, 2017

Jesus called his disciples to be "salt of the earth" and further said that if salt loses its taste it is thrown out.  If salt is "degraded" by the removal of one of its chemical components, it effectively loses its identity as salt. (The substance formerly known as salt?)  There can be the appearance of salt and "salt substitutes," but it is no longer salt if it loses the chemical composition to fulfill its function as salt.  There is no such thing as an unsalty salt.  There is no such things as an "unSpirited" follower of Jesus.  It is an either/or matter and though one may have the outer appearance of being a "follower" one loses the identity and function of being a follower of Jesus without the authentic Spirit which is the essence of the taste and function of being a follower of Christ.

 Aphorism of the Day, January 30, 2017

In the words of Jesus, his followers are called to be the salt of the earth.  Salt preserves and adds taste.   We are called to preserve this earth as a gift even though we know time and change naturally contradict the maintenance of any "static" state of being.  Goodness preserves the world through cherishing the goodness of the creation while evil often is an expression of not cherishing the state of things and so through violence hastens endings before their "natural" passing through the processes of time.  Salt flavors and can change the dullness of food to cause delight.  Our lives are meant to have collateral effects as they add flavor to the "apparent" dullness and tedium of living.  Apparently Jesus did not want this world on a "low sodium" diet; he wanted it enhanced to be tasty with the knowledge of the divine presence.

Aphorism of the Day, January 29, 2017

"Blessed are the peace makers..."  This was recommended when the Jesus Movement was separating from the synagogues and when diverse Gentile peoples of the cities of the Roman Empire were coming under the effect of the message of Christ.  Peace making was needed for the survival of a diverse community of people who were perhaps gathered unattached people in new cities looking for new local identities and the home churches were perhaps the most open and flexible social gatherings to receive "new" people.  Making peace and knowing oneself to be a child of God were matched in the beatitude.  Knowing oneself as a child of God with a new Christian family was perhaps a chief social dynamic of the Jesus Movement since in the movement of people, many become unmoored from flesh and blood ties.  The parish church as a new extended family in our "I've Been Moved" (IBM) society is an important peaceful function in our world.  In our world of refugees, the church as the peaceful and welcoming family of God has new importance.

Aphorism of the Day, January 28, 2017

"Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God."  Jeremiah: "Above all thing the heart is exceedingly deceitful."  Jesus: "From the heart comes all manner of evil."  Freud: "The unconscious is polymorphously perverse."  The Psalmist: "Create in me a clean heart O God."  John: "No one has ever seen God."  So what would be the solution to the apparent contradictions raised by the beatitude?  If the purity of heart is the Holy Spirit, then the Holy Spirit being God could see God and we can be attendants of God's self-seeing as we derive relative divinity from God's absolute divinity.  A frail attempt to evoke insight on an inscrutable beatitude "koan."

Aphorism of the Day, January 27, 2017

"Blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy."  Can this be empirically verified?  One could understand this in various ways.  Being merciful is self-authenticating, meaning that if one is so possessed to act in mercy means that one has already received mercy to be able to do so.  The reward of mercy is that one in fact is merciful and that is the blessed state to live in.  History proves that lots of merciful people have not received a tit for tat mercy reciprocity for each merciful deed; chief proof of this is Jesus the merciful one rewarded with death on the cross.  The reciprocity of mercy in actual time/space sequence may need to be perceived as eschatological mercy, meaning that in the end the one with mercy will prove to be amply rewarded with merciful outcomes even if they are posthumously realized.  Resurrection mercy came to Jesus and if we believe in a merciful God who is also the most enduring Being of all then we believe that a merciful enduring God has the restorative ability to providentially rewrite the "apparent" unmerciful deed against a merciful one with a merciful winning outcome in how the evil eventual became overcome with good because of mercy being inspired in the lives of people by a merciful God.

Aphorism of the Day, January 26, 2017

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled."  Hunger and thirst are expression of natural desire for food and drive necessary to life.  These natural desire are used as a metaphor for desire with a different object than food and water in the beatitudes.  Too much food and drink is not good for us and each person has to find the right food/drink equilibrium for maintaining bodily life ideal to one's own constitution.  To desire righteousness in a similar way would be to seek what one might call being in "appropriate" relationship to all parties and situations in life: Appropriate to God, to self, to other people, to vocation, to environment, to all things.  The promise that we can be "filled" means that we can know the blessing of contentment if we achieve what is appropriate in our relationships vis a vis all other agents and elements in our environmental settings.  Hunger and thirst for exquisite "appropriateness;" this is a worthy goal of life and a blessed state if one can achieve it.

Aphorism of the Day, January 25, 2017

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."  O really!  It seems apparent that the takers, hoarders, the greedy and the plutocrats have already taken the majority of the earth and its resources.  Frankly, the hoarders and the takers do so because they have no interior sense of the Plenitude of God in time and space.  They do not grasp God as their heavenly parent who has them in the divine inheritance.  They take what they can while they can because of their inner sense of poverty.  Taking and having gives them the apparent sense of worth and we live in a world where the takers and hoarders are rewarded as public heroes.  They are like the Caesar who crucified the meek Jesus for seeming to make a quixotic claim about his own divine kingship.  The kingship of Christ was hidden and not apparent so how could such meekness in his death on the cross be regarded to be anything but poverty, loss and failure?  The meek know that they are in Daddy's will and everything is already theirs and is meted out to them in appreciative joy to own through the profound contemplation of the divine Plenitude.  Seeming to "possess" things does not make it a reality when death can happen to anyone anytime.  In death, what does one possess or inherit?  The hoarders and the greedy and those who want to boast about their riches have their very shallow reward for now.  Blessed are the meek who know through blessed enjoyment of true wealth that they already have everything because of their participation in the Divine Life.

 Aphorism of the Day, January 24, 2017

"Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted."  What is the comfort of mourning?  It could be that the comfort is the gift of empathy when one's mourning allows one to come alongside a future mourner and be with them in an effective way to give them hope.  The gift of empathy is truly to know comfort after mourning and when the energy of empathy goes out of one, then one's mourning attains a providential meaning and purpose.

Aphorism of the Day, January 23, 2017

The Sermon on the Mount Beatitudes describing the "fortunate" spiritual state of being seem to counter to what is generally regarded to be successful.  Blessed are the poor in spirit.  Why?  One attains a sense of poverty of spirit when one is overwhelmed by God's Holy Spirit.  Then one relies upon the wealth of God's Spirit instead of one's own.  People who are very rich in their own spirit do not know or express any need of God.  They don't know the kingdom of heaven because they are very proud of their ownership in the kingdom of earth.

Aphorism of the Day, January 22, 2017

Epiphany season highlights the call of God as it became manifest in Christ.  The Christian political tendency is to reduce evangelism to getting people to agree with one's views and join one's religious group.  Indeed there may be a common elements in the call of Christ and joining a particular manifestation of fellowship.  The call of Christ cannot be statistically reduced to how many people are in one's church.  The call of Christ is an invitation of "personal spiritual mobility" to every person to surpass oneself in a future state in the Christward direction of moral and spiritual excellence.


Aphorism of the Day, January 21, 2017

As significant as social conditions are for determining the success of social and economic mobility, social conditions must be complimented with the personal spiritual mobility that comes from answering the call of Christ.  Historically, it has often been proven that the discovery of personal spiritual mobility in the call of Christ results in the heroic overcoming of social conditions which do not support social and economic mobility.  The Jesus Movement comprised of people who discovered upward spiritual mobility ended up having the social consequences of "taking over" the Roman Empire.  Once Christianity became the Empire, there has been the continuous need not to lose the sense of the personal spiritual mobility since in "empire Christianity" people can get swallowed up to be rubber stamped facsimiles of "group" think and it is often forgotten that each person needs to be rekindle by the spiritual mobility of the call of Christ.  Empire or group Christianity can actually be a hindrance to the individual and person spiritual mobility known in the call of Christ.

Aphorism of the Day, January 20, 2017

Sometimes it is presented as an amazing work of God that "lowly" fishermen could be transformed into evangelists and preachers even though we don't really know the degree of literacy which they had or achieved.  It might be more important to note that a call from God releases gifts and bondage to social strait jackets which forced people into occupations that they really did not choose because they were family legacy businesses.  Later in the history of the "Christianized" Roman Empire, men could avoid the army by going to the monastery.  One could say that the call of Christ provides the freedom for other choices.

Aphorism of the Day, January 19, 2017

"Follow me and I will make you fish for people."  Jesus converted fish-people to people persons.  There is skill and serendipity involved in fishing.  There is skill and serendipity involved in evangelism.  For both, "showing up" is required.  Being a disciple of Jesus may seem really "romantic" but it mostly conforms to the wisdom, "80 % of life is showing up."  80 % of evangelism and the call of the God is showing up.

Aphorism of the Day, January 18, 2017

One could imagine Peter thinking as he was bound upside down on his cross: "I still could be fishing in Galilee; I've come a long, long way and had some amazing experiences only to die in the great city of Rome."  This is the kind of spiritual "upward" mobility that the call of Jesus offered the fisherman from Galilee.  Peter probably thought, "Too much has happened in and through me to ever regret it."  The call of Christ is a call to a "upward" mobility.  It might upset whatever one thinks one's occupation is.

Aphorism of the Day, January 17, 2017

One can be amazed about the transformation of fishermen into disciples of Jesus.   We might be surprised that these uneducated fishermen without the benefit of rabbinical training would have the aptitude to become "preachers."  One of the outcomes of a spiritual calling is a kind of "omni-mobility" or the freedom to become released into gifts and experiences that one never would have imagined.  Sometimes one can feel stuck in the profession that mom and dad wanted for us or what seemed most socially and economically feasible and yet feel trapped in the boredom of the repetitive.  Then comes the call of Christ and one experiences the freedom of "mobility" of all sorts and it is a spiritual mobility which can happen even if one does not seem to change anything in one's external settings.  The humble fishermen of Galilee ended up being travelers throughout the cities of the Roman Empire.  Their answer to the call of Christ brought them glorious mobility.

Aphorism of the Day, January 16, 2017

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day it is good to watch, listen or read some of his moving sermons and ponder the break through and wake up call that his life and witness was to us.  It is also good to ponder how we use individual responsibility and social cause for justification of existing conditions.  Sometimes one gets impression that once slavery was "defeated" in America that some of the populace adopted the position that "now that it is over, you are on your own and you are responsible as an individual freed slave for your own social and economic destiny."  The failure to understand and embrace responsibility for the long time after-effects of slavery continues today.  We fail to appreciate the cumulative effects of social conditions upon individuals and because some individuals seem to "heroically" rise to the top, we use that to imply everyone can equally have the same mobility.  The Hebrew Scriptures describe the long lasting determining effects of sins in this way:  The sins of the father are visited upon the second, third, fourth...generations.  The work of faith is understanding individual responsibility within social context even while we hope that our laws are providing a corrective path to socially re-engineer our context to the practice of genuine justice for all.

Aphorism of the Day, January 15, 2017

The Gospel of John does not include the genealogy of Jesus or an account of his birth.  It does refer his being the Pre-existent Creating Word of God.  It does show the spiritual lineage and succession of the church.  Word from the beginning, John the Baptist and his community, and Jesus and his disciples.  The community of John the Baptist might be called the "proto-church" in the arising identity of the church since it does not derive as being direct from any other sect within Judaism.

Aphorism of the Day, January 14, 2017

One might call the community/movement of John the Baptist, the proto-church because it seems as though many followers of John became followers of Jesus.  Though conversion was uneven and not in one fell swoop, the followers of John the Baptist of all Jewish sects seem to be those most likely to become followers of Jesus.  It could be that John's emphasis upon "individual" repentance for valid faith as opposed to passive group identity in faith provided the impetus for the Jesus Movement to adapt to the more diverse settings of the cities within the Roman Empire.  Charismatic evidence of the Holy Spirit upon the life of the individual became the "marker" of Christian faith rather than adherence to purity codes.

Aphorism of the Day, January 13, 2017

One should note the reciprocity between the general sense of a "calling" from God and the specific occasions when it becomes made apparent.  Epiphany season is a season of "specific" callings of the disciples by Jesus.  Sometimes specific and apparent sense of calling result in the building a "historical" shrine and one returns to the shrine on the mountain top because the current apparent sense of call is lacking.  Living in the state of the serendipity of the call means one can attain the faith ability to understand how the general sense of the call is made specifically apparent each day.  It is like being swept out to sea in the great ocean but having daily beachings.  The beach gives apparent location of the great ocean.  But then one can let a specific call get erased in the vastness of the greater call, not to diminish the specific but rather to soften the ego which has a tendency to make an idol out of specific and apparent call.  Shore and ocean go together; general call and specific and apparent call also go together.

Aphorism of the Day, January 12, 2017

In the first chapter of John's Gospel in the "calling" of Peter event, it is evident that evangelism takes place with recommendations from people whom are trusted.  Andrew and Peter respected John the Baptist;  John the Baptist was convinced about Jesus and recommended him to Andrew and Andrew recommended Jesus to his brother Peter.  Evangelism is natural in the context of having trusted relationships.  People honor the recommendation of Jesus from those who find him to have telling significance in their lives. 

Aphorism of the Day, January 11, 2017

Recently, a politician in his biography has had his method of speaking called "truthful hyperbole."  This sounds like an oxymoron.  It maybe begs the question, "Truthful to whom?"  It may mean that anything can be said to "close the deal" as a business person and therefore what is generally referred to in speech as "facts" does not serve the truth of closing a deal which is beneficial to the one who is making the deal.  Is this a way of dressing up what we call "lying?"  Is every statement made by every person, made for the benefit of the speaker's self interest?  Perhaps the commandment of not bearing "false witness," means that one should try in life to bring one's self interest in alignment with what is also factual.  That might be a good goal for politicians and business people as well.

Aphorism of the Day, January 10, 2017

In the Gospel of Mark, we read that Jesus called Andrew and Peter while they were fishing, presumably in the Sea of Galilee.  In the Gospel of John, Andrew was with John the Baptist as one of his disciples and Jesus called him and he in turn went and got Peter.  Why the differences and does it matter?  For those who believe that truth is only detailed correct eye-witness journalistic reporting it becomes a problem.  For those who understand that the Gospels were written by different people in different phases of the development of the traditions of the community, it is no problem since a general sense of how Peter and Andrew came to follow Jesus is just fine.  Persons who defend the Gospels for being "true" in the wrong way end up having to do contortionist interpretive gymnastics.  They are trying to dance to the tune a "modern" notion of what is true rather than accept the truth that the art of Gospel can change one's life.  The Gospels are literature of mystagogic transformation and we verify their truths with changed lives.


Aphorism of the Day, January 9, 2017

Epiphany means manifestation and such may be a description of the media and the message in trying to describe why the Gospel became as popular as it did.  Jesus was the root event who like a pebble on the pond of humanity created a concentric circle ripple effect as described in the Acts the Apostles: Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the world.  The Gospels started with the willing members of Judaism who formed a rather informal movement within Judaism even as the effort to be the successor movement of John the Baptist.  What was more startling was the impact of the message to the non-Jewish populace in the cities of the Roman Empire.  The acceptance of the Gospel message outside of Judaism forced the paradigm change which resulted in the ultimate separation from the synagogue.  The social conditions were ripe for Gentile Christianity and to justify the appeal, the Christian apologists used the elements of the Hebrew Scripture which proclaimed the relevance and appeal of the God of Israel to all of the peoples of the world.

Aphorism of the Day, January 8, 2017

Baptism may be liken to a seed that include within it the full possibility of endless growth and fruitfulness.  A seed forgotten and unplanted is not activated.  Baptism may be forgotten and left in pictures of babies in cute white gowns or baptism may attain many meanings in the ministries which are possible in the lives of the baptized.  Baptismal grace has to be released to know the full meanings of baptism.  How is your baptism growing today?

Aphorism of the Day, January 7, 2017

Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use in interpretation.  In the Gospel of John the word "sign" or "semion" is used to describe the uncanny life transforming events of Jesus.  John's Gospel is built around the notion of God being named as the "Word" from the beginning which created all things.  The words of Jesus are called "Spirit and Life."  The written word of John is touted as the occasion to believe and is as blessed or if not a more blessed state of faith than actually being physically present with Jesus (see doubting Thomas story).  The stories of Jesus are "signs" and they mark the occasions in the life of the reader to initiate a corresponding inner experience of faith in the transformation of life for those who have embraced the Christian tradition found within the community which read John's Gospel.  The book of "Signs" found within the Gospel of John pertain to the traces of where the holy interact within the human life cycle.  The Holy for the early Christians was defined as occasions of the effects of encounters with the Risen Christ.  Something transformative happened in lives and the Risen Christ was the interpretive Sign for why it had happened.  The endurance of the Risen Christ being the interpretive Sign for why transformation occurs accounts for the long success of Christianity.

Aphorism of the Day, January 6, 2017

The writing of history, re-contextualizes the past; a past event is placed within the context of subsequent events and when the earlier event is recounted it is tinged with the meanings that arose later than the event itself.  Essentially the entire New Testament is the story of Jesus retold because of the subsequent events of experiences of the Risen Christ.  The experiences of the Risen Christ, the ability for people to believe an experience of Christ being born within their lives through the mysterious presence of the Holy Spirit, re-contextualized all of the recounted events in the life of Jesus.  The baptism of Jesus, perhaps without any "re-contextualization" meant that Jesus regarded John the Baptist to be his mentor and that in his baptism he accepted solidarity with John and his community in their "reform" of Jewish religious traditions.  The community of John the Baptist did not have the same success as the community of Christ within the cities of Roman Empire.  This historical outcome brought about a reappraisal and a re-assignment of the role of John the Baptist and his community in the transition to the full-blown Gentile church.

Aphorism of the Day, January 5, 2017

The magi visiting the Christ child came to be kings in fulfillment of the Psalm which stated, "May all kings fall down before him."  Early Christians had to unite the notions of the Messiah as a suffering servant and as king who was recognized by other kings.  The magi/king story fulfilled this need of presenting Jesus in a Davidic mode rather than in the suffering servant mode.  Obviously the conversion of Constantine and other kings of the world fulfilled this presentation as well, even while the Davidic Messiah appearance is delayed until a future which no one knows about.  So the future means that any event is open to being verified or falsified.  Finality is very hard to verify or falsify as long as there is time.  Time will be as long as there is the atomic and sub-atomic where particles are in motion creating a before and after.  One of the most logical functions of the magi story was to present the early foreshadowing of Gentile interest in Jesus Christ.

Aphorism of the Day, January 4, 2017

One of the most obvious conclusions of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist without taking into account of what happened with the success of the Jesus Movement, is that Jesus identified with the John the Baptist interpretive strain of Judaism.  So John was an older mentor of Jesus and Jesus was willing to identify with the community of John the Baptist as seen in his submitting to the baptism of John.  One could then posit that the antagonism that is shown in the Gospels between John and the other Jewish religious parties foreshadowed the eventual split of the church and the synagogue as Gentile Christianity freed from Jewish purity codes pertaining to food and circumcision et al., moved into a completely different interpretive paradigm in how the Hebraic-Judaic Scriptures and traditions were used as precedence for the Jesus Messianic Movement.  John the Baptist as "preparing" the way for Christ, could also be seen as the community of John the Baptist being seen as promoting a kind of "individual" faith which prepared the way for leaving the notion of faith as a "group/ethnic" automatic tacit heritage.

Aphorism of the Day, January 3, 2017

The Epiphany Gospel reading is about the quest of the magi to find the birth of a king.  The story presages the appeal of the Risen Christ to the Gentiles and is consistent with the New Testament being an apology for a Christo-centric Judaism finding an appeal beyond the synagogue communities which required adherence to the ritual purity of Judaism.  Christians have not always been graceful about understanding and accepting their departure from Judaism.  People with subsequent "revelation" redefine the previous revelation in light of their new revelation.  For those who do not find the relevance of the new revelation to their own continuity within their revealed tradition part company for practical community reasons with those who are persuaded by the new revelation.  As the globe has grown smaller with more mutual knowledge of each other of people from diverse communities, it would behoove us to embrace the universal Word at the heart of humanity, while embracing the perpetual work of translating among "word paradigms" of diverse people toward mutual appreciation resulting in peaceful living together.  Magi, wise people often find wisdom in sites far from their own familiar upbringing.  What is familiar often has been received in repellent ways because of the way in which the familiar has been lived by those who passed on the familiar.  Contempt for the familiar often leads to those seeking afar for new occasions of persuasion from "foreign" sources.  The history of faith is the history of pilgrimage of people in search of the new source of enlightenment.

Aphorism of the Day, January 2, 2017

We head toward the Epiphany or the Manifestation of Christ to the world.  We need to be delivered from viewing the manifestation of Christ to the world as an expression of the administrative control of religion throughout the world by Christian organizations.  Manifested by a star, would imply a greater accessibility to the "Christ-nature" than simply having the accident of being born in societies which give accessibility to the sacramental activities of churches.  If the eternal Word was from the beginning which creates all things, then the fact that everyone has "word" means that the "Word-nature" inhabits every human being whether they want it or not.  The "Word-Nature" is the "Christ-Nature" which is the universal "metaphysics" of humanity, since it is unavoidable.  Word-Nature as Christ-Nature is the essence of a universal Epiphany.

Aphorism of the Day, January 1, 2017

Having a holy name on the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.  Each snowflake is unique but we don't give names to snowflakes because they are unique.  They are too transitory and lack sentient existence to be worthy of a name for their unique.  Human beings and pets get personal and specific names because they are important within a community of people and even though human beings go through life cycles of changes which in isolation make a person seem to be completely different from the appearance at the time of birth to later phases of life, within a community of knowing people a person has a "unity" of existence within the changes which happen in time.  A name is the confession of the unity of existence in time for an individual within the community which knows the individual.  We have today, the method of identifying DNA to "prove" identity of existence of the individual.  The Feast of the Holy Name reveals the social method of the church in telling the importance the Jesus came to have in the life of the world.  After the post-resurrection success of Jesus, the early Christians exercised a retroactive future interior tense.  When Jesus was born it will have been proven that he represented in his special name, the meaning of God for humanity: Jesus, God is our salvation.  The Holy Spirit is the continuing proof of the "DNA" of the life of Jesus still accessible to humanity in knowing that God is our salvation, our ultimate source of preservation, even in the profound changes which take place in the transition from life to the afterlife.

Quiz of the Day, January 2017

Quiz of the Day, January 31, 2017

The following quote from Isaiah is found in what others books of the Bible: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,  who brings good news..?"

a. Matthew
b. Luke
c. Romans
d. Hebrews
e. Psalms

Quiz of the Day, January 30, 2017

The theology called "Thomism" derives from which Thomas?

a. Becket
b. Thomas, the apostle
c. Aquinas
d. Thomas Merton

Quiz of the Day, January 29, 2017

Where does the word "beatitude" come from?

a. Greek for "blessed"
b. Vulgate title for the Sermon on the Mount
c. Latin for happiness
d. Greek for favored
e. a and d
f. b and c

Quiz of the Day, January 28, 2017

Of the following, who is the most prolific writer?

a. Thomas Aquinas
b. Anselm of Canterbury
c. Peter Abelard
d. Albert Magnus
e. Bernard of Clairvaux

Quiz of the Day, January 27, 2017

Match the person with her biographic facts:

a. Lydia
b. Dorcas
c. Phoebe
1- Joppan, helper of widows, healed by Peter
2- Paul's first European convert, business woman, seller of purple
3- minister in church in Cenchreae

Quiz of the Day, January 26, 2017

Timothy, Titus and Silas are associated with what mentor and companion?

a. Peter
b. John
c. Paul
d. Barnabas

Quiz of the Day, January 25, 2017

The week from the Feast of the Confession of Peter to the Feast of the Conversion of Paul is called what on the Episcopal liturgical calendar?

a. Ember Days
b. Rogation Days
c. Candlemas
d. Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Quiz of the Day, January 24, 2017

Who was the first woman priest ordained in the Anglican Communion?

a. Carter Heyward
b. Li Tim-Oi
c. Alla Bozarth-Campbell
d. Jeannette Piccard

Quiz of the Day, January 23, 2017

The Beatitudes are found in which Gospel(s)?

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John
e. a and c
f. a and b
g. c and d
h. a and d

Quiz of the Day, January 22, 2017

Who in the New Testament was named "Legion?"

a. no one, that was the an army size
b. a disciple of Paul
c. Philemon's slave
d. the name spoken through the Gerasene demoniac


Quiz of the Day, January 21, 2017

Who are the "patron saints" of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.?

a. St. Alban and St. Peter
b. St. Peter and St. Paul
c. St. John and St. James
d. St. Andrew and St. Peter

Quiz of the Day, January 20, 2017

Which of the following is not true about George Washington's inauguration?

a. It was held in New York city
b. They forgot the Bible for the oath and had to get one from the Masonic Lodge
c. The oath was administered by the Supreme Court Justice
d. Samuel Provoost, chaplain of the senate, led a prayer service at St. Paul's Chapel, following the inauguration

Quiz of the Day, January 19, 2017

To whom did Jesus say the following: "But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go?”

a. James
b.  John
c. Peter
d. Paul

Quiz of the Day, January 18, 2017

What could be said to be ironic about the confession of Peter accounts in the various Gospels?

a. Peter did not understand what he confessed
b. Jesus rebuked Peter by saying, "Get behind me Satan."
c. Jesus told Peter he would build the church when it did not exist
d. all of the above


Quiz of the Day, January 17, 2017

Antony of Egypt is regarded to be Father of the Monks and a Desert Father.  Which of the following is not a desert father?

a. Paul of Thebes
b. Pachomius
c. Shenouda the Archimandrate
d. Amma Syncletica of Alexandria.


Quiz of the Day, January 16, 2017

What is unique about the names "Peter" and "Boanerges?"

a. They are Simon, James and John
b. They were names given by Jesus
c. They are Galilean in origin
d. The names were given at the Transfiguration

Quiz of the Day, January 15, 2017

Which of the following books of the Bible make reference to Melchizedek?

a. Genesis
b. Joshua
c. Psalms
d. Hebrews
e. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, January 14, 2017

Who said, "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath?"

a. Paul
b. Hillel
c. Jesus
d. Peter
e. Moses


Quiz of the Day, January 13, 2017

"Apple of one's eye" might refer to the sensitive pupil in the eye and in Hebrew can be literally translated as "Little man of the eye 'iyshown 'ayin (אישון עין).  It is used as a phrase of intimate endearment and can be found in all but one of the following?

a. Deuteronomy
b. Shakespeare
c. Bruce Springsteen
d. Psalms
e. Proverbs
f.  Lamentations
g. Zechariah

Quiz of the Day, January 12, 2017

Which of the following is not pertinent to the life of Aelred Rievaulx?

a. Patron of gall bladder stone sufferers
b. author of "Spiritual Friendship
c. was known by Bernard Clairvaux
d. strong proponent of the Crusades

Quiz of the Day, January 11, 2017

Archbishop William Laud served during the reign of what monarch?

a. Elizabeth I
b. Henry VIII
c. Charles I
d. James I

Quiz of the Day, January 10, 2017

Which prophet wrote the following: those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

a. Jeremiah
b. Ezekiel
c. Daniel
d. Isaiah

Quiz of the Day, January 9, 2017

What Episcopal organization is known for its little blue "mite" boxes?

a. ERD
b. UTO
c. SPG
d. ECF

Quiz of the Day, January 8, 2017

Which of the following is not a mode of baptism?

a. immersion
b. intinction
c. affusion
d. submersion
e. aspersion


Quiz of the Day, January 7, 2017

What does the Gospel of John call the changing of water into wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee?

a. a miracle
b. a work of wonder
c. the first sign
d. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, January 6, 2017

Which of the following is not a traditional theme of the season of the Epiphany?

a. Visit of the Magi
b. Baptism of Jesus
c. Multiplication of the loaves and fish
d. Miracle at a wedding in Cana

Quiz of the Day, January 5, 2017

What was the eastern boundary of the land that God promised to Joshua as he took over for Moses?

a. Jordan River
b. Damascus
c. Euphrates River
d. Syrian Border

Quiz of the Day, January 4, 2017

The following is a quite anachronistic sentiment in a quote from the Epistle to the Hebrews: "He considered abuse suffered for the Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt."  Whom does this refer to?

a. Joseph, husband of Mary after the flight to Egypt
b. Joseph son of Jacob
c. Moses
d. Jacob, when he resided in Egypt

Quiz of the Day, January 3, 2017

What did Jacob call the place where he had his famous dream about the ascending and descending angels from heaven?

a. Mamre
b. Zion
c. Bethel
d. Shechem

Quiz of the Day, January 2, 2017

The eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews revisits the deeds of the heroes of the Hebrew Scriptures by highlight one particular virtue in their lives.  What is that virtue?

a. Love
b. Hope
c. Peace
d. Faith

Quiz of the Day, January 1, 2017

The practice and rite of circumcision for males on the eighth day derived from what person of the Hebrew Scriptures?

a. Adam
b. Moses
c. Jacob
d. Aaron
e. Abraham

Blessed As What Is Most Appropriate

4 Epiphany A      January 29,2017

Micah 6:1-8       Ps. 37:1-18

1 Cor. 1:18-31    Matt. 5:1-12

Lectionary Link

What kind of advice for living would you give people in a growing Jesus Movement?  These were people who if they were Jews were being excommunicated from the synagogue.  Synagogues could be known gatherings and communities for Jews who lived in the cities of the Roman Empire, so even though Palestine had been occupied and every rebellion had been put down by the Roman armies, the Jews had a long history of living as a minority community within the great Empires, the Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Parthian, Seleucid, and the Empires of the three generals of Alexander the Great and then the Roman Empire.  The Jesus Movement did not have the advantage of being a community of people who had established ties throughout the Roman Empire as part of the Jewish Diaspora.  The members of the Jesus Movement had to find a way to survive within the Roman Empire and not being an established institution like the synagogue gave the Movement a stealthy presence within the cities of the Roman Empire.  The Jesus Movement was a movement which met in private homes and as such it could "as it were" fly under the radar.  The fact that we have so little "secular" historical records of early Christianity means that it must have been surviving and growing under the radar.  How could one live the lifestyle of guerilla Christianity?  One needed a recommended way of life appropriate to the conditions and setting.  Successful living in a given situation might be called finding how to live, think, feel, act and speak in appropriate ways.  Such discovery of the appropriate way to live in life might be called living the blessed life.  We probably like to think that a blessed life means being successful in health, material possessions and general conditions of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

I think that the beatitudes are modes of the blessed state of recommended attitudes for appropriate survival for the early Christians.

First of all they needed to believe in a larger world and a higher power than the ones which affected their every day lives.  For their lives, they lived in the kingdom of the Caesar.  That was their every day reality.  All of the Caesar's local armies and governors enforced the rules of the Empire.  One of the reasons Christians were removed from the synagogue is that they were no longer active opponents of the Caesars.  Since the followers of Christ were increasingly non-Jewish persons, they would have less of a bone to pick with the Caesar since they were already accustomed to living with the Roman authorities.

How does one live in Caesar's kingdom while at the same time acknowledging a higher power and a higher kingdom?  One lived cosmically and locally at the same time.  One lives spiritually even as one lives fully within one's body.  The faith Christians were asked to live by made them very presumptuous about their status.  They lived as children of God, they were citizens of a heavenly kingdom, not just a Roman kingdom.  They had the special vision to see God because their seeing and vision was made clear from the conditions of their hearts.  They could live in the Roman Empire in Christian camouflage; appearing to be very poor in spirit.  They weren't full of themselves and didn't have to make waves in the Roman Empire because they presumptuously believed that they were citizens of a greater kingdom.  They believed in the very difficult work of making peace.  The Christians had to learn to live together as a diverse group of people within the urbanization processes of the Roman Empire.  They had to live in peace with each other and then as a local group of Christians they had to negotiate their secret and private status within the Roman Empire without raising political suspicion.  Their situation required high levels of trust.  It also could be easy to fail one another because of the pressure.  They had to practice mercy and forgiveness with each other and they found that mercy and forgiveness were reciprocal.  One could know mercy for oneself as one offered it to other.  This quality of living was required for being a successful community.  The Jesus Movement survived by losing reliance upon the nuclear family or the clan or the tribe.  The Jesus Movement was a mix of perhaps "unattached" people who were nomadic and relocated.  If people did not share blood relationship how could they live together?  Accepting themselves as children of God meant that they had another basis for family relationship.  The early home churches would function like social clubs where people could meet and support each other and find spouses who would share common values.

One of the most challenging tasks of the members of the Christian community was to teach their member how to suffer and survive.  They had to be strong enough for non-violent maintenance of their community.  They had to learn how to deal with persecution.  They had to deal with the fact that people would lie about them and what they believed and how they lived.  Those in the early Jesus Movement could not live totally under the radar and so when they were sold out as being a threat to people in authority they could experience suffering and persecution.  They were taught the non-violent maintenance of their community.

They were like Jesus; they did not believe in armed resistance to the Roman authorities.  They knew that the message of Christ had done an inside job of persuasion in their lives.  No one forced them to believe in Jesus Christ.  They believed because the message got inside of them and changed their lives.  And this is how the kingdom of heaven occurred, not with the force of armies but through the inward persuasion which came through the message delivered by a dynamic loving community.

The wisdom of the Roman Empire was that a kingdom existed by the force and might of armies.  The method of the church in contrast was what was called the foolishness of the message of the Cross of Christ.  The Cross of Christ, an event proving a powerless Jesus of Nazareth, became a powerful interior event for people to die to what was unworthy in their lives and bring them to the recommendable behaviors needed for the maintenance of loving community. 

The prophet Micah of old criticized his people for replacing the basic required practice of life with religious cultic behaviors.  Burnt offerings and keeping religious rules could not replace what the Lord required:  Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly before God.  These are the recommended behaviors expressed in the beatitudes and they were successful behaviors of the members of the Jesus Movement as they formed these stealthy new social clubs called churches in the cities throughout the Roman Empire.  They practiced the non-violent maintenance of their communities in the Roman World which would not have accepted them as open and public competitors with the Roman Emperors.

How do you and I find "appropriate" beatitude behaviors for us today.  We are no longer a movement.  We are an institution.  We have the favor of the great Empires of the world.  It is both easier and harder to be a follower of Christ today.  It is easier because we have so many freedoms to believe and act in so many ways without people oppressing us.  Since it is so easy to be a public Christian today, it is rather easy to be less than committed to the very values of Jesus and the values of those early Christians who had most challenging settings.

We still need the values of the beatitudes today.  We need to believe in higher powers than America, Russia, Germany and England.  We need to believe in higher powers than democracy, capitalism and socialism.  We need to believe in a greater family than just our blood relatives or our ethnic community; we need to believe that all are children of God and so we have the basis for the family of the church which will continue to welcome everyone.  We need to be sure of God's actions in our interior lives so instead of projecting pessimism on the outer world, we will be able to project and see the life of God in our world.  We need mercy and forgiveness for successful Christian community.  We need the grace not to over react when people criticize us for what we believe.  We need to believe in a future beyond our own limited life where the problems of today will be resolved and viewed from a different perspective and where our fears and anxieties will prove to have been wasted energy.

The beatitudes were the oracle of Christ which were recommended for the church responsible for writing the Gospel of Matthew.  They were blessed because they were successful appropriate ways of living for survival of the Jesus Movement in the decades after the destruction of Jerusalem.  The beatitudes had their own relevance and significance for the ancient churches and they can have corresponding relevance for us as we live each day by faith in trying to find the most appropriate way to act and speak in our lives and build up the church and honor Christ.  Amen.