Quiz of the Day, March 2017

Quiz of the Day, March 31, 2017

Which of the following are not lines from John Donne?

a. No man is an island
b. ..for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
c. any man's death diminishes me...
d. Death be not proud
e. This is the way the world ends Not with a whimper but a bang

Quiz of the Day, March 30, 2017

Whom of the following would qualify as being resurrected as opposed to resuscitated in the biblical record?

a. widow's son by Elijah
b. Dorcas
c. centurion son by Jesus
d. Lazarus by Jesus
e. child revived by Elisha
f. Jairus' daughter
g. Jesus
h. Eutychus
I. son of the widow of Nain
j. a dead prophet who body touched the bones of Elisha

Quiz of the Day, March 29, 2017

John Keble is credited with beginning which of the following:

a. Oxford Movement
b. Tractarian Movement
c. Anglo-Catholic Revival
d. all of the above


Quiz of the Day, March 28, 2017

Whom of the following woman received the confession of Jesus that he was resurrection and life?

a. Mary Magdalene
b. Mary of Bethany
c. Martha of Bethany
d. The Virgin Mary

Quiz of the Day, March 27, 2017

The account of the brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany being called back to life from his tomb is found where in the Bible?

a. Matthew, Mark and Luke
b. Luke and John
c. Mark, because it is the earliest Gospel
d. John

Quiz of the Day, March 26, 2017

What is Fourth Sunday of Lent called in the Church of England?

a. Mothers' Day
b. Mothering Sunday
c. Pink Sunday
d. Rose Sunday

Quiz of the Day, March 25, 2017

What Feast is also known as Lady Day?

a. Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary
b. Feast of the Annunciation
c. Feast of our Lady of Lourdes
d. Feast of the Visitation


Quiz of the Day, March 24, 2017

Archbishop Oscar Romero was a martyr from what country?

a. Mexico
b. Honduras
c. Cuba
d. El Salvador
e. Panama


Quiz of the Day, March 23, 2017

Which Gregory was the apostle to Armenia?

a. Gregory the Great
b. Gregory of Nyssa
c. Gregory the Illuminator
d. Gregory of Nazianzus
e. Gregory Palamas

Quiz of the Day, March 22, 2017

Bishop James DeKoven was associated with which of the following controversies?

a. reunion of the church after the Civil War
b. ritualism
c. lay presidency
d. pacifism

Quiz of the Day, March 21, 2017

Which of the following is not true about Thomas Cranmer?

a. dispensed with clerical celibacy and got married
b. appointed Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry VIII
c. gave papers of annulment for King Henry VIII's marriage
d. Martyred in the reign of Queen Mary I
e. translated the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English
f. was the chief wordsmith of the first Book of Common Prayer

Quiz of the Day, March 20, 2017

Which of the following is not true about Joseph, the spouse of the Virgin Mary?

a. he was from the house/lineage of King David
b. he was a carpenter by trade
c. he is referred to as the Guardian of Jesus
d. his feast was set according to the date of the spring equinox

Quiz of the Day, March 19, 2017

Mikvah is what?

a. refers to the Jordan River
b. a transition rite for occupation in Judaism
c. a bath for immersion of Jewish converts
d. the water of the Rock struck by Moses

Quiz of the Day, March 18, 2017

In which Gospel are all the following metaphors for Jesus?  Light, Lamb of God, Word, Vine, Gate, Way, Truth, Life, The Resurrection, Good Shepherd.

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


Quiz of the Day, March 17, 2017

Which of the following does not pertain to "St. Patrick's Breastplate?"

a. a poem/prayer attributed to St. Patrick
b. aka Lorica of St. Patrick
c. "I bind unto myself" hymn in the Episcopal hymnal
d. the armor St. Patrick wore to defeat a pagan king
e. a prayer for protection by invoking God in all of God's attributes

Quiz of the Day, March 16, 2017

Which of the following is not true about St. Patrick?

a. Native Irish
b. Native English
c. Slave
d. Captured by pirates

Quiz of the Day, March 15, 2017

Who died on the Ides of March?

a. St. Stephen
b. Julius Caesar
c. Judas Iscariot
d. Simon Peter

Quiz of the Day, March 14, 2017

Samaritan comes from "Shamarim," meaning the keepers, guardians or watchers of what?

a. the messiah
b. the Torah
c. the ark of the covenant
d. the Temple on Gerizim

Quiz of the Day, March 13, 2017

Which of the following is not found in the discourse of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well?

a. living water
b. field white with harvest
c. Jacob's well
d. living bread
e. God is spirit

Quiz of the Day, March 12, 2017

Why does Abram and Abraham refer to the same person in the Hebrew Scriptures?

a. Abram means noble father
b. Abraham means father of many
c. Abram was his name when he was childless
d. Abraham was his name when he had sons
e. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, March 11, 2017

What is the liturgical wear for Jews who were instructed to bind God's law on their hands and fix them on their foreheads?

a.Tallit
b. tefillin
c. gartel
d. kippah
e. phylactery
f.  all of the above
g. b and e

Quiz of the Day, March 10, 2017

Whom of the following was not a Cappadocian Father?

a. Basil the Great
b. Gregory of Nyssa
c. Macrina
d. Gregory of Nazianzus

Quiz of the Day, March 9, 2017

Why were there two sets of the 10 commandments written on stone tablets?

a. one for the ark and one for public display
b. one for the temple and one for the shrine in Shiloh
c. Moses, in anger about the golden calf, broke the first tablet
d. one copy was on earth, the other in heaven


Quiz of the Day, March 8, 2017

In which Gospel(s) does Jesus invite his followers to eat his flesh and drink his blood?

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John
e. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, March 7, 2017

Where were Perpetua, Felicity, Revocatus, Secundus and Saturnius martyred in 202?

a. Alexandria
b. Timbuktu
c. Carthage
d. Rome

Quiz of the Day, March 6, 2017

The phrase "born again" derives from a dialogical discourse of Jesus with whom?

a. Peter
b. Thomas
c. Nicodemus
d. Mary of Bethany

Quiz of the Day, March 5, 2017

Which of the following is not a biblical name or agent of the evil one?

a. Satan
b. the Devil
c. the Anti-Christ
d. Mephistopheles
e. Lucifer
f. the Beast
g. the false prophet


Quiz of the Day, March 4, 2017

Which of the following is not true of Paul Cuffee?

a. He was a Shinnecock Indian
b. He is on the Episcopal Calendar of saints
c. He was an Episcopal priest
d. He was a Presbyterian minister


Quiz of the Day, March 3, 2017

How did the Methodists receive their name?

a. John and Charles Wesley conceived it
b. Oxford students branded the Wesley's "holy club" as a group of Methodists referring to their rule of life
c. John Wesley conceived of it when at the Oglethorpe colony in Georgia
d. It came from the Quaker friends of the Wesleys

Quiz of the Day, March 2, 2017

A responsorial prayer is called what?

a. Kyrie
b. Intercession
c. Litany
d. Antiphon


Quiz of the Day, March 1, 2017

How many Fasts are prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer for the church year?

a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4

A Most Important Adverb

4 Lent A        March 26, 2017

1 Sam. 16:1-13   Ps. 23 

Eph. 5:1-14     John 9:1-38      

The Gospel of John is built around the contrast of the physical world and the spiritual world, the outer world and the inner world.  The inner world is the world of words, soul, thought, volition, dreams, desire and spirit and we have to have our inner world changed if we want to affect our agency or how we act and speak in the outer world.  We need to know our inner world as the kingdom of God if we are going work to make God's will done on earth in the outer world like it is done in the inner world which can be effective place of the kingdom of God.

So what are the physical situations and rites of passage in human life?  Birth, sight, drinking, eating, walking, dying, believing and human vocation.

Jesus told Nicodemus he had to be born again in another way.   Jesus told the woman at the well to drink another kind of water.  Jesus told the man born lame that he could walk again.  Jesus told the blind man that he could see again.  Jesus told his disciples about Eucharistic bread being the living bread and food of life.  Jesus told the sisters of the dead man Lazarus that he would live again.  Jesus told the doubting Thomas, who once had believed that he could believe again.  Jesus told the once called Peter who denied and failed him, he could be forgiven and called again to ministry.

The Gospel of John is all about how we can learn to live from this parallel existence in the Kingdom of God by being born of water and the Spirit.  Birth and new birth.  Blindness and sight.  Light and darkness.  Crippled or mobilized.  Thirsty and quenched.  Hungry and fed.  Death and Resurrection.  Doubt and Faith.  Failure and Forgiveness.  These are the contrasts found in the teaching of the Gospel of John.

The illustration used in our appointed Gospel for today is the giving of sight to the blind man.  The blind man had to receive his physical ability to see.  Physical sight was only the first seeing; the eyes of faith to understand Jesus as the Christ was the second seeing for him.

There is a model in this story which is descriptive of the community which was responsible for writing the Gospel of John.  What was a significant dilemma within their community?  One of the dilemma was this:  Why did not everybody come to see Jesus as God's special Messiah?  If people have the physical ability to see, then why could they not see that Jesus was God's special Messiah?

And the answer is that seeing Jesus in a qualitative way is not just about having physical proximity to Jesus or having information about him.

There were religious people during the time of the writing of John's Gospel who knew about Jesus but they were blind about the significance of Jesus which was the basis for the church.

Seeing Jesus and knowing him as a life changing Messiah was not everyone's experience.  An inner condition of the heart was needed to be aware of how Christ could change their lives.  There is something very cruel about the conditions of freedom.  Like why can't everyone be in love?  Doesn't it seem cruel that everyone can't be in life-changing love with Christ?  The preachers of the early church found it hard to believe that everyone did not find Jesus Christ to be irresistibly winsome.  How could anyone resist this irresistible Jesus Christ?  Why aren't other as madly in love with him as we are?  And why are they actively opposing us who have found Christ to be the light of our lives?

This Gospel stories encodes the reality about those who comes to belief and those who do not.    In everything that we do in life, how we see and believe is determined by the inner condition of our lives.  We see from within.  The Gospel of John is all about the inner life of the Word and the Spirit.  If the words of our inner life can be rearranged into certain lenses, then we will be able to see through those word constructs and see Christ in a way that inspire us.

There is the ambiguity of freedom in our lives.  Those who don't believe in Christ feel sorry for us that we believe in Christ.   Those who believe in Christ feel sorry for those who don't believe in Christ.  And what is the difference?  The difference is about the conditions inside of us.  The difference resides in how we are constituted by the words that have come to make up the scripts of our lives.

What is the up side of this very ambiguous freedom of who believes and who does not believe?  The up side of freedom is time.  Time means we have a future.  And the future means that we can always come to the vision of new belief and new belief in Christ.

The blind man who was healed by Jesus had to learn to see again.  He had physical sight but he came to also have spiritual sight in knowing who Jesus was. 

I think that positive message in the Gospel of John can be summed up in one of the most important adverbs in the human language.  What is that adverb?  "Again."  Why is the adverb "again" important?  "Again" refers to basic human repetition.  Human behaviors can be summed up by this adverb.  In life, we continually do things over and over again.  Repetitions may seem to being doing the same thing, but because they are later in time, they are different.  "Again" means life can be either the routine of a boring and losing habit or state of ignorance, or doing something again can be the possible expression of something new and insightful and life changing.

The Gospel of John is all about the possibility of a better future of doing things again, only with better seeing.  As the blind man was able to see again and see Christ as a new hopeful model for living, his seeing again was a better way of seeing.

The Gospel of John is also about the danger of the continuous repeating our losing habits of seeing the world in ignorance without insight and understanding.

Today, you and I are invited by Jesus Christ to the positive notion of the word, "again."  We cannot help but do, see, know, think and speak again.  So the question is this?  How are you and I going to see, know, think and do "again?"  Are we going to perform everything again with a better excellence than we have been doing before now? 

Who are we going to use as the models to inform the standards of excellence in seeing and doing?  Let us ask ourselves who are the heroes of our lives now to whom we submit as models for our lives, our thinking and our actions.  Do the models of our lives line up with Jesus the Messiah?

The Risen Christ invites us to see again today.  We do not want our seeing to be a blindness to the Risen Christ.  We ask for the Risen Christ to open our eyes to see him and his excellence which will help us perform the words and deeds of our lives in an enlightened "again."

If you and I cannot avoid repetition of the adverb "again," how will we perform the next repetitions in our lives in word and deed?  Will we be informed by seeing the excellence of the Risen Christ?  Or will we repeat the words and deeds of our lives in unenlightened blindness to the excellence of Jesus Christ.  May God grant us enlighten vision again as we receive the life of the Risen Christ. Amen.

Sunday School, March 26, 2017 4 Lent A

Sunday School, March 26, 2017   4 Lent A

Theme:

Seeing

What kind of vision did Superman have?

He had X-ray vision.

What could he see with X-ray vision?  He could see the what was behind a wall.  He could see a hidden gun in a pocket.  He could see through things.

Before David was chosen to be king, a Judge named Samuel was sent to the house of Jesse to look for the next king.  David had many bigger and stronger older brothers, but God did not tell Samuel to choose any of the older brothers.  God told Samuel to choose the youngest boy, a shepherd boy named David.  And Samuel ask God, “Why should I choose David when there are so many other stronger brothers?”  And God told Samuel, “I don’t choose like people choose; people look at things on the outside like muscles and appearance, but I choose because I see inside a person.  I see their hearts.  And so I choose David to be the next king.”

Jesus healed a blind man and when the blind man could see he learned to see that Jesus was the Messiah.  Many religious people could not see that Jesus was the Messiah but this blind man learned to see that Jesus was the Messiah.

We have to be changed inside of our hearts through learning and through prayer to learn to have God’s X-ray vision and see what is in the hearts of other people.

There are many people who do not “look pretty, or strong or successful” but inside they are really good and kind people.  And we need to learn how to have this kind of X-ray vision to learn how to see and honor true goodness.  The most popular people are not always “good” people in kindness and love.  We need to learn to find God’s X-ray vision which helps us see goodness.

If we practice looking at Jesus by reading and studying his life and by prayer, we can learn to receive the X-ray seeing and vision of God that helps us find true goodness.

Sermon:

Could you close your eyes for a moment and pretend that you cannot see.

  And imagine that you could never see.  And try to imagine sitting on the street and asking people for money to help you live.

  That would be a really difficult life wouldn’t it.

  That is what people who were blind used to have to do.

  Today, we know that a person who is born blind can do many things that seeing people do and they also do many things better than seeing people do.

  Jesus met a blind man and he made the blind man to see.  But he also taught people a very important lesson about blindness.

  You and I can see, but that doesn’t mean that we always see everything.  We miss seeing lots of things.

  What about when your mom asks you to clean your room and pick up all of your toys?  And you finish and you say,”I’m done Mom.”  And then Mom comes in your room, and she sees some clothes on the floor and toys.  And she says, “Didn’t you see these toys?  How could you miss seeing these toys?”

  Sometimes we miss seeing things don’t we?  Why?  Because we’re not paying attention.  Or we forget.  Or we’re in a hurry.  Or we just don’t think it’s important.

  When Jesus helped the blind man to see, he also said that there were many people who could see, and yet they acted as though they were blind.

  They missed seeing this blind man; for them he was just a beggar sitting on the street.

  If they truly saw the blind man they would have helped him and taken care of him so he wouldn’t have to beg.

  And we too, even with good eyesight, we can miss seeing some important things in this life.

  Jesus said that misfortune and bad luck was just an opportunity for God’s work to be done.   And so we have to have our eyes open to the people whom God wants us to care for.

  If we care for the people who need our care, then we will not miss the good work that God wants us to do in our lives.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

March 26, 2017: The Fourth Sunday in Lent

Gathering Songs: Only a Boy Named David; Have Thine Own Way,  The Lord is My Light;  May the Lord

Liturgist: Bless the Lord who forgives all of our sins.

People: God’s mercy endures 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: Only a Boy Named David (All the Best Songs for Kids:  # 112)

Only a boy named David, only a little sling.  Only a boy named David, but he could pray and sing.  Only a boy named David, only a rippling brook.  Only a boy named David and five little stones he took.  And one little stone went in the sling and the sling went round and round.  And one little stone went in the sling and the sling went round and round.  And, round and round and round and round and round and round and round.  And one little stone went up in the air, and the giant came tumbling down.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany of Praise: Praise be to God! (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have made us! Praise be to God!

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Praise be to God!

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Praise be to God!

Liturgist: A reading from the First Book of Samuel

Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here." He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one." Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd; * I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures * and leads me beside still waters.

He revives my soul * and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

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

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

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

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

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

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

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

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

   Thanks be to God!

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

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, `Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight." They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."  They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened." He said, "He is a prophet."

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:  Have Thine Own Way Lord  (LEVAS, # 145)

1-Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way.  Thou art the potter, I am the clay.  Mold me and make me, after thy will, while I am waiting, yielded and still.

2-Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way.  Search me and try me, Master, today.  Purer than snow, Lord, wash me just now, as in thy presence humbly I bow.

Doxology

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

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

Prologue to the Eucharist

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

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

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

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All may gather around the altar

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

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

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

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

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

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

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

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

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration

Communion Song: The Lord Is My Light (Renew! # 102)

The Lord is my light, my light and salvation: in Him I trust, in Him I trust.

The Lord is my light, my light and salvation: in him I trust, in him I trust.

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: May the Lord (Sung to the tune of Eidelweiss)

May the Lord, Mighty God, Bless and keep you forever, Grant you peace, perfect peace, Courage in every endeavor.  Lift up your eyes and seek His face, Trust His grace forever.  May the Lord, Mighty God Bless and keep you for ever.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

Living Water As Spirit of Truth

3 Lent  A              March 19, 2017
Ex.17:1-17           Ps.95:6-11     
Roman 5:1-11         John 4:5-42

Lectionary Link

Why do the Samaritans have a special status in the Bible and in the Gospels and in the book of the Acts of the Apostles?  Are Samaritans Gentiles?  If they are Gentiles why are they given a different status than say the people who are called Greeks or who are native of the various areas in the Roman Empire?  Samaria is a region.  Samaritan referred to someone who lived in the region to the North in Israel and to people who were members of a different sect of the Torah religion.  The Samaritans during the time of Jesus were the hated former members of the unified kingdom of Israel.  After King Solomon, the unified kingdom of Israel was divided into the northern Kingdom of Israel, located in the area of Samaria and the Southern Kingdom of Judah which claimed Jerusalem as the capital and spiritual home.

The Samaritans, during the time of Jesus, regarded themselves to be the true conservatives of the Torah.  They believed that the Jews who returned after the exile in Babylon and Persia brought back a different religious expression of the Torah.  The Samaritans believed that they retained a more traditional understanding of the Torah and that Mount Gerizim near the ancient Shechem was the location of the true temple.

Recent population census indicated there were 777 Samaritans left in the world.  Their DNA tests show that they share a common heritage with the Jews but also indicate others strains shared with other people in the Middle East as well.  The Jews during the time of Jesus are presented in the Gospels as those who despised and shunned the Samaritans.  The Samaritans are given their own unique status in naming;  they are not grouped with the Gentiles because they shared common lineage and a Torah based religion with the Jews.  The Samaritans were despised because they were not regarded to be "pure bred."  They supposedly had intermarried with Gentiles and lost their genetic purity.

One might say that Jesus was closer to the Samaritans than to the Jews in Jerusalem.  Why?  He was from Galilee in the north of Israel and so he lived closer to the region of Samaria and would have had more geographical proximity with the Samaritans.  He must have been close because one of the criticism leveled at him was that he was a Samaritan.  I guess that was better than saying that he was a glutton, a drunk, mad and in league with the devil.  These were other criticisms of Jesus that are found in the Gospels coming from the mouths of his opponents.

What is the significance of the Samaritans in the Gospels?  One of most famous parables in the Gospel is about the Good Samaritan.  I would proposed to you that Samaria functions within the symbols which the Gospel preachers used to speak about the church and its mission.  St. Paul and the early preachers proclaimed the church as the "new Israel."  And what would be new about this "new" Israel?  Well, it really wasn't a land-based country in this new understanding.  St. Paul said that the walls of division and enmity had been broken down by Jesus Christ.  Jews and Gentiles were now friends and practicing fellowship and mutual respect within this new Israel.  And because the church came to Samaria, the church as the new Israel was believed to be a re-unification of the once separated Israel into two Kingdoms.

Can we now appreciate this discourse of Jesus and the woman at the well?  It highlights important aspects of this practice of the church as the new Israel in the preaching of the church.  In the new Israel, there was neither male nor female.  The disciples in the Gospel story are presented as males who carried the bias of cultural separation of men and women.  But Jesus is shown to be unafraid of women and he is unafraid of a foreign woman who was despised by Jews.  Jesus is shown to be breaking a highly restrictive social taboos.  Jesus was shown to reveal himself as the messiah to this foreign woman. 

This discourse with Samaritan woman is also presented as an origin discourse of the church in Samaria.  The Acts of the Apostles indicate that the church spread into Samaria and this Gospel reading would indicate that the Jesus Movement in Samaria was planted before the crucifixion, before the resurrection and before the day of Pentecost.  This Gospel is a testimony to the deep roots of the church in the region of Samaria and among those who had been members of the Samaritan Torah-based religion.

It is instructive for us to look at the appeals made by Jesus to the Samaritan woman.  We are tempted to honor regional or denominational loyalties as being the main issue of religion.  I'm Episcopalian and the bishops says this is how to worship.  I'm Roman Catholic and this is how the pope says to worship.  You can only do authentic worship in my Episcopal Church, my Roman Catholic Church, my Lutheran Church, my Methodist church.  What does Jesus say?  God is Spirit and you have to worship God in Spirit and in truth.  And  God's spirit can be on Mount Gerizim, in Jerusalem, in the Episcopal Church, in the Roman Catholic Church, in the synagogue.  God's spirit is not limited by gender, race, location or even religion.  So, essentially Jesus was saying, "Don't limit God to your own small little local understanding of God and your particular pieties."

What do the words of Jesus in this Gospel teach us about understanding God?  Jesus teaches us not to be too literal in our understanding.  The Samaritan woman was talking about drinking water; Jesus was speaking something inside of a person whose deepest inner thirst could be quenched and relieved.  When a person converted to Judaism they had to be baptized.  It is called mikvah.  The water had to be "living water."  Jesus promised the Samaritan woman a baptism  with living water that would be inside of her.  This baptism is a different kind of cleansing and a different kind of thirst quencher than what one gets with actual water.  The disciples were speaking about Jesus eating food.  Jesus was speaking about experiencing another kind of inner sustenance which could do something substantially different for the soul than what food could do for the body.

So how can we practice the Gospel that we've read today?  First, by always being the peacemakers; offering friendship.  If we believe God is Spirit, then we will believe that there is always the possibility for peace.  If we want to over-emphasize our differences, we will not be peace makers.  Next, let us practice the Gospel as a message of unification and re-unification of all people.  Are men and women different?  Are gay people and straight people different?  Are Roman Catholics and Episcopalians different?  Are Jews and Christians and Muslims and Atheists different?  Are Americans and Canadians and Chinese different?  Yes, yes, yes but is the Spirit available to everyone who exists in a world of differences?  Yes, and we should seek this inner baptism of the living Water of God's Spirit to help us find love, justice and unity in a world of differences.

Those who worship God must worship God in Spirit and in truth.  Truth here could mean honesty and sincerity.  The secret to living in the midst of differences, small and extreme differences, is to exert one's energy of worship in Spirit and in honest sincerity. 

The Gospel of Jesus to the Samaritan woman was this: God is Spirit and those who worship God must worship God in Spirit and in sincerity.  And this is the same Gospel for you and me today.  As we center ourselves upon the One Spirit, we can negotiate peace with people who are different; not to overcome or deny difference but to partake of the only thing that can unify us, even God as Spirit.  Jesus invites us to worship in the one Holy Spirit.  Jesus came to share the secret of discovering that God's Spirit is one in and through us as we worship as very different people.  Amen