Sunday School, November 3, 2017 1 Advent B

Sunday School, November 3, 2017   1 Advent B

Topic

Advent

What does Advent mean?

It refers to the coming of Christ into the world, in the past, the present and the future.

How did Christ come into the world?

He came as the Baby Jesus.

When do we celebrate the birth of the Baby Jesus?

At Christmas.

We know that Christmas is exciting because of gifts, Christmas lights and Christmas trees and family gatherings and special food.  And the celebration takes lots of preparation to get ready.

Advent is a season about always being ready for the coming of Christ.

If we know a guest is coming to visit our homes, what do we do?

We clean our homes really well and we make special meals to feed our guests.  Why?  Because we love them and we want to make them feel welcome.

Advent is a season of preparing for the coming of Christ in the Christmas celebration, but also to be prepared for the coming of Christ each day in our lives.  It is also a preparation for the future coming of Christ into our lives and our world.

During Advent the color is purple.  This is a color of preparation.  It means we are watchful and in special training to be prepared to invite Christ into our lives.

During Advent we use an Advent wreath with candles to count down the weeks before Christmas.

Today, we light one candle.  The light of this candle is a reminder to us to be prepared for the comings of Christ into our lives, at Christmas in the baby Jesus, now as the Spirit of God present with us, and in the future as our King.

Let us always be prepared and ready to welcome Christ as the guest of our lives.

Sermon:

Do you ever ask you mom or dad:  When is my birthday?  And you are so excited about your birthday arriving that your mom puts an X on each day as you count down for your birthday.

  In the church we do a count down to Christmas because whose birthday is Christmas?  It’s the birthday of Jesus.

  Today is the First Sunday of Advent.  This is the first day of the Christian New Year.  So Happy New Year to you.

  And in Advent, we have a special way of counting down till Christmas.  We use the Advent Candles on the Advent Wreath.  You can make one of these for your home too.  It is a good way to count down the time till Christmas.

  There are five candles here.  And we light one new candle each week.  And on Christmas Eve we light, the big white candle in the middle.

  The season of Advent is a Season of practice.  It is when we get ready to welcome the most important guest in the world.

  When does your house usually get cleaned the best?  When you have some guests coming for dinner or for a visit right?  When a guest is coming, your parents make you clean up your room real well, don’t they?

  In the Season of Advent, we are supposed to be getting our world ready for a visit from someone very important.  We are supposed to be getting our world ready for a visit from Christ.

  How do we get our world ready for the visit of Christ?

  We get ready by showing God how much we care for one another.  We get ready by showing God that we love one another, by helping the poor and the sick and the people who are sad and suffering.

  So we have Four weeks to get ready for Christmas.  Let us do some special things in these four weeks to show God that we are ready for a visit from Christ.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

December 3, 2017: The First Sunday of Advent

Gathering Songs:  Light a Candle, Soon and Very Soon,  O Come, Let Us Adore Him, When the Saints

Song: Light A Candle   (tune: Jimmy Crack Corn)

1          Light a candle for hope today, light a candle for hope today, light a candle for hope today.  Advent time is here.  (Sing three times while first Advent candle is being lit)

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.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

Liturgist: A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind-- just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you-- so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 80

Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, * the son of man you have made so strong for yourself.

And so will we never turn away from you; * give us life, that we may call upon your Name.

Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; * show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Liturgist:

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 Mark

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus said to his disciples, Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time of the visit of the Son of Man will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake-- for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake."

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. (chanted)

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Liturgist:         The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:            And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering.

Offertory Song: Soon and Very Soon, (Renew # 276)

1          Soon and very soon, we are going to see the king; soon and very soon, we are going to see the king; soon and very soon we are going to see the king.  Hallelujah, hallelujah, we’re going to see the king.

2          No more crying there, we are going to see the king; no more crying there, we are going to see the king; no more crying there, we are going to see the king.  Hallelujah, hallelujah, we’re going to see the king.

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 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 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 up 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, 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: O Come, Let Us Adore Him, (Renew! # 1)

O come, let us adore him; O come, let us adore him; O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

We’ll give him all the glory.  We’ll give him all the glory.  We’ll give him all the glory, Christ the Lord.

For he alone is worthy.  For he alone is worthy.  For he alone is worthy, Christ the Lord.

We’ll praise his name forever.  We’ll praise his name forever.  We’ll praise his name forever, Christ the Lord.

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

1-O, when the saints go marching in, O when the saints go marching in.  Lord I want to be in that number, when the saints go marching in.

2-When the boys go marching in….

3-When the girls go marching in….

Dismissal   

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

People:      Thanks be to God! 

Aphorism of the Day, November 2017

Aphorism of the Day, November 30, 2017

There seems to be two presentations of what is not and never will be in the Bible presented in what might be called apocalyptic literature and utopian literature.  (utopian is a much later notion and has to do with the presentation of "perfect" worlds).  The distinction between apocalyptic and the utopian, as I see it, would be that perfect worlds happen because of interior magical transformation.  What would cause a lion and lamb to be playmates except an interior transformation of the preditor-prey dynamic of nature?  Apocalyptic literature is less about interior transformation and more about suppression of what is regarded to be bad by a superior force from the outside.  One is interior magic, the other is external force.  The utopian perfect world scenario is more naïve and child-like wishing not to get into the dirty details of how much antagonism resides in the free conditions of the world.  Apocalyptic literature is truer to the seeming warring nature of humanity, admitting that in the end God's might expressed forcefully in some intervening superhero is the only realistic vision of peace given the warring natures of selfish humanity.  So the biblical writings include both the Disneyesce naïve vision and the Tolkienesce war to end all war metaphors.

Aphorism of the Day, November 29, 2017

The irony of the apocalyptic genre in the Bible is created by those who read it and its place in their lives.  The apocalyptic writings arose in suffering people who had a hard time reconciling their innocent suffering with an all powerful and all loving who supposedly had "chosen" them.  "If we're chosen, then why do the tyrants oppress us?"  In a world of freedom the "chosen" but oppressed people have to deal with the reality of the "bad guys winning."  The apocalyptic catastrophic ending is just like the "lion and the lamb" visionary imagery; it is utopic, meaning there is "no such place or circumstances."  The apocalyptic writing is a coping literature using visualization to assert justice over injustice.

Aphorism of the Day, November 28, 2017

Do not fear or be ashamed of the biblical apocalyptic.  Be wary of biblical interpreters who use the Bible something like predictions of Nostradamus.  In our time we have moved the apocalyptic into science fiction, cinematic presentations of the "threaten of the end" and the superheroes that are imagined to save us from such doom.  The apocalyptic corresponds to a human mood with a corresponding discourse.  Behind the apocalyptic discourse is thankfully, the normalcy of justice and just outcomes for all people who fall under the reckoning of justice and love.

Aphorism of the Day, November 27, 2017

Advent is a season when the Apocalypse is a "topic."  Apocalypse or apocalyptic is language use whose purpose is to "unveil" the end of life as we know it.  Apocalyptic language is used by persons who are still living and whose lives have not ended.  The closest empirical reality of the apocalypse is the death of a person.  Death is an "ending" and the universe of the individual dies to the lives of one's survivor.  We no longer have access to be "within" the universe of the person who has died and who has had us in their perceptual fields.  Apocalypse needs to be deconstructed since it does not mean the end of all things, particularly, the end of all language users, including God.  Apocalyptic can sum up much of the popular culture in our cinema of impending disaster, bombs to destroy life as we know it and super heroes to save the day in the midst of apocalyptic threats.  Apocalyptic use in culture has never gone away; it has moved from religious to secular political and entertainment venues. 

Aphorism of the Day, November 26, 2017

It might be said that most genuine ministry is hidden from the one who ministers.  The one who minister simply does the ministry at hand without knowing it is ministry and then retroactively someday may find out it was done to and for Christ.  Such hiddenness of ministry by the ministry is good and natural humility.  In the ministry to the needy, one may find that one is actually kissing the ring of the creator of the universe.  Anticipate God as incognito, always, already.

Aphorism of the Day, November 25, 2017

The major irony of the Gospels is that Jesus is a King who was put on a cross.  King  on a cross is a stark oxymoron, but this expresses the dilemma of theodicy: how can an all powerful, all loving God permit innocent suffering?  The Christ the King irony is further presented in the parable of the practice of finding God's presence in the lives of the homeless, poor and prisoners.

Aphorism of the Day, November 24, 2017

It could be that the divine presence is everywhere but may be stealthily concealed only to be discovered as one’s inner sight is purified to see it.  The wisdom instructions of Jesus hint that the divine presence may become apparent in unobvious situations when one is not aware of doing anything but the care of those in need.

Aphorism of the Day, November 23,2017

Thanksgiving is a universal experience which is sometimes unavoidable when a person is surprised or overwhelmed by a sense blessing,favor, fortune and worthwhileness in life.  It also has to be cultivated by reciprocal and collaborative interaction with others.  To have a sense of being constantly sustained by a great Plenitude is the cosmic sense of thankfulness and such needs to be complemented with strategies and tactics of provision for actual needs of people in order for others to be able to be thankful in concrete ways.

Aphorism of the Day, November 22,2017

Like a parent who hide a treat for a child to find while cleaning the child’s bedroom so God hides the divine presence within the poor,hungry, and prisoner as a motivation device for people to look for God in the places they consider to be “wrong places.”

Aphorism of the Day, November 21,2017

It is easier for Christians to find Jesus in the bread and the wine than to find Him in the poor,hungry, and prisoner.  God’s lure is to point the direction of divine presence in those not readily sought out by us. 

Aphorism of the Day, November 20, 2017

"When you did it to the least of these, you did it to me."  This parable is about a hidden incognito presence of God in the unlikely poor and hungry.  The divine plot is to hide divinity in the unlikely as a mystical lure for the pure in heart to discover God in the kind of sensitivity that discernment requires.  Much of American Christianity is about finding God at "church" and being "proud" of it.  The Messiah is the one hidden in those with no profile in society.  Finding God is not as obvious as the official religious people like to make it.  The God of the Messiah is hidden in ways which require the inner character to discern the divine presence.

Aphorism of the Day, November 19, 2017

The parable of the talents reveals that investment is inspired by hope and faith about a better future of surpassing one's assets in a future state.  The slave with one talent stated that he buried his talent because of fear of loss.  Herein in the dilemma of life regarding what motivates us in our current action: Hope and faith of gain or fear about future loss.  The fear of the loss of what one has results in atrophy and loss of what one has.  Eternal life functions as future present utopia as motivational recovery from the fear of loss dominating a life which has a mixture of weal and woe. 

Aphorism of the Day, November 18, 2017

The irony of the parable of the talents involves a progressive dissatisfaction with the status quo.  The future state of being more perfect should make everyone "dissatisfied" with one current state of development.  At the same time one is suppose to refrain from coveting and envy of what belongs to others and one is to be "content" with one's current life.  This is the tension between the grace of future perfection calling out the grace of present contentment.  It is great to be contented with the state of one's current assessment of one's "gifted state" but gifts are not static trophies on a shelf to admire, they are living organisms to be developed in further appropriate applications and expansion in one's future.

Aphorism of the Day, November 17, 2017

Try applying the parable of the talents of 5, 2, and 1 to the individual person.  Each person possesses measures of gifts.  A person tends to develop and invest for the gifts which seem most obvious or prominent and the gift which seems small goes neglected.  A goal in life might be to be well rounded enough investing and developing all one's gifts in surpassing ways.  We all have the gift for doing the "menial" tasks, like house chores but one may become "too important" to do the little things and lose touch with some basics, like how to wash clothes, shopping for groceries and fixing food.  When one's support team is gone, then the atrophy in such areas makes one vulnerable.  Also by learning to do the "small things," one learns empathy and appreciation for people who do "small things" as their life vocation and are people who form the scaffold for the survival of the world.

Aphorism of the Day, November 16, 2017

In the parable of the talents, recipients are given 5, 2, and 1 respectively.  This is an indication of the difference and unevenness in how abilities are distributed in human functions.  The parable indicates that all are equal in having gifts but different in the kinds of gifts.  The divine imperative is to develop what one has and not worry about comparison with others.  The notion of justice is based upon the wisdom of what is appropriate relative to the individual circumstances.  Equal but different is an enduring principle to be found in the Bible.

Aphorism of the Day, November 15, 2017

Worthless slave being thrown into outer darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth?  How's that for the punchline of a parable?  Rather harsh?  The parables often have harshness about them because as in the case of the parable of the talents, the law of atrophy is harsh.  The parables personify the harshness of the reality of atrophy of wasted lives.  One can see the harsh reality of wasted gifts in our current opioid crisis.  Making continuous addictive choices build in such determining habits and the good gifts die from atrophy.  The harsh language dramatically highlights the sad reality of wasted lives and is meant to be a cold water teaching rebuke to make the choice to develop our gifts.

Aphorism of the Day, November 14, 2017

Atrophy is a most feared natural and spiritual law.  Use it or lose it.  Atrophy means the loss of function and gifts through lack of use.  This principle of atrophy is starkly presented in the parable of the talents.  It also ties in with the most fearful literal meaning of hell.  Hell or Gehenna, was the equivalent of a "waste site" in the Valley of Hinnom.  Atrophy of gifts is "hell" or the waste of what one has been given to develop in life.  Indeed, such atrophy is both personal and communal "hell."  Something to be feared and mourned.

Aphorism of the Day, November 13, 2017

One of the goals of physical therapy is to counter the harsh law of atrophy.  The parable of the talents indicates that people are gifted in unequal and uneven ways, but each person is only judged by a person's future self, in how one develops the gifts that one has been given.  Atrophy is also a harsh law for practice of faith, love, generosity and justice.  One should not worry about being compared with others; one should only look to surpassing oneself in a future state.

Aphorism of the Day, November 12, 2017

The parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids allow us to project upon it both the wise and foolish aspects of our personalities.  We have been both; in foolishness we have often missed the mystical encounter with the Risen Christ.  When we have been wise we have been blessed with serendipity.

Aphorism of the Day, November 11, 2017

Sometimes we use actuarial probability theory to prepare for the worst.  We should also use actuarial wisdom in our prayers as intercession and petition for good things to happen as indicated in the words of Archbishop William Temple when he said,"When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don't, they don't." Actuarial serendipity seems like an oxymoron, but how many people miss serendipity because they weren't prepared to recognize it?  The parable of the foolish and wise bridesmaids is about actuarial wisdom of being prepared for the wedding, or in Christian mysticism, the mystical union with the Risen Christ.  Some miss the wedding.  Don't miss the wedding!

Aphorism of the Day, November 10, 2017

The five foolish bridesmaids of the parable of Jesus, did not purchase enough oil for their lamps and when they finally arrived at the wedding, they were locked out.  If church doors were locked for all latecomers attendance would be substantially less.

Aphorism of the Day, November 9, 2017

The Psalmist wrote about opening his/her mouth and speaking in parables to declare the mysteries of ancient times.  In modern genre a mystery is a detective novel where an issue has to be solves.  A parable is a story that parallels actual life to provide insights about our lives.  And the greatest insight in life is about the mystery of what we cannot know or do not yet know.  I do not believe that the parables of Jesus are meant to solve the mysteries of life; they are insights about the mysteries of life and coming to insightful faith to live with the mysteries of life.

Aphorism of the Day, November 8, 2017

The parable about the "foolish" bridesmaid who did not take enough oil for their lamps, indicates that they had to go and purchase oil and so they missed the great procession and they subsequently were not allowed into the wedding.  The wisdom teaching behind this seeming cruelty of not be allowed as a latecomer to the wedding indicates the absoluteness of the past.  A missed chance is missed forever; that is the nature of the absolute uniqueness of each moment and each choice.  It cannot be repeated and the question is how do we live with the fact that we have missed opportunities.  We do so by learning from what we have missed and going forward.  But we cannot avoid the grief and the poignant sting of missed opportunities.  The road not taken can remain a painful memory even if it can also be a teaching memory.  Dwelling in regret is unresolved grief.

Aphorism of the Day, November 7, 2017

The Bible might be called a book of actuarial wisdom of writers who were inspired to take into account the issues of living in their times.  Since most biblical people travelled but a few miles from their homes in their life time the "outside" world was really big and unknown and the future of the future was a major topic.  In modern Emergency Response Teams, we have come to have the wisdom to send in counselors and clergy to comfort people in the time of injury and loss of life and property.  This is seen as good actuarial wisdom to deal with the "unseen" aspect of the human person.  When humanity has not known about the vast universe from the perspective of satellites and space telescopes, humanity has exercised more imaginations on "what's out there" in terms of a physical place of "heaven."  As we have gained more access to understanding the universe, we have tended to move "heaven" to a parallel inner space which is just as real as outer space but the inner space inspires different kind of language use than what science has come to use in the empirical exploration of space.  Biblical interpreters who transfer modern science empiricism back to the biblical exposition of inner space have engendered the modern phenomenon that is often called "fundamentalism."  Unwittingly, such people have acknowledged the superior knowledge of "science" and so all the inner spatial knowledge of biblical wisdom has to be "science" too.  What is true about "inner space" knowledge is that people have a variety of discursive practices, all of which are true, in the ways that pertain to how they function given the specific task of the actuarial wisdom.  Wisdom involves knowing what discourse is being used when and for what purpose.

Aphorism of the Day, November 6, 2017

Five wise bridesmaid took enough oil for their lamps; five foolish bridesmaid did not and the missed the show.  One can rush and give too much precise and specific religious interpretation to his parables when at face value they include wise actuarial probability practice which include a real respect for the free conditions in the natural order of things.  Events are serendipitous if they are experienced as positive blessing and fateful if they are not.  The message of the parable encourage us to respect the free conditions of life even while from observation we should take up wise probability theories and have some plans that are inclusive of multiple outcomes.

Aphorism of the Day, November 5, 2017

Mark Twain, "Clothes make the man; naked people have little or no influence on society."  Of course this saying was made when American society had not yet become the pornographic society that it now is.  Jesus noted the vestments of the religious and opined in a similar way, "Clothes do not make the religious person."  Vestments and all of the external trappings of faith, including titles and certificates do not make a person of faith.  What does?  Inner attachment to one's heavenly parent and to the Messiah from whom one receives the charism or grace to bring authentic validity to the outer persona of one's life in one's calling or profession, which include uniforms, certificates and titles.

Aphorism of the Day, November 4, 2017

The words of Jesus warn about being costumed and cosmetic people of faith; looking the part on the outside in one's "Sunday goin' to meetin'" clothes or vestments and yet in one's inner motives and one's lack of practice of love and justice belying what one's exterior identity proclaims.

Aphorism of the Day, November 3, 2017

As the Jesus Movement was being separated from synagogue Judaism, the Gospels were written presenting Jesus as the origin of this separation.  He is the reformer who challenges the existing institutions and this is seen in his injunction to "call no one father" or "rabbi/teacher."  Martin Luther was a reformer whose impact brought churches to be separated by having a common Savior and the Protestant /Catholic divide has at times been regarded to be as severe as the separation which occurred between synagogue and Jesus Movement.  Institutions can get lax and exist on "automatic" assumptions and self-perpetuating titled authorities.  Reformers challenge what is "taken for granted" in the basic background assumptions of who have the authority to control how the populace is constituted in their social and religious identities.  Reformations occur because old authorities are not competent to the new realities on the ground in the lives of real people.  The Christian Movement was based upon the reality of Israel as an autonomous nation as impossible in the Roman situation.  The Jesus Movement response was not to live separate within the Roman World and hope to gain some land to be independently cloistered in; rather the Christian Movement was to be evangelical and convert the Romans of the Roman world.  To do this, Christians believed they had the inspired insights to give up the ritual purity aspect of Judaism which allowed the Roman and Gentile citizenry to have the interior evidence of God's Spirit without have the cultural markings of observant Jews.

Aphorism of the Day, November 2, 2017

Day of the Dead.  All Souls.  For all the Departed.  This is a day to remember very local and personal saints, not canonized by official procedures of the church but canonized because they made a difference in our lives.  Local saints remain remembered by a generation or two and then their rememberers die as well.  Traces of them remain in genealogical trees and in family records and sites of their remains.  We go to the "cities" of the dead to observe the traces of their having once been alive and with us in a different way.  We ponder the antithesis of fame, viz., not being remembered by anyone.  And so we confess God to be the one with the greatest memory of all to record our having been and making us an absolute past and an everlasting future.  All Souls Day is a day to remember those who have become invisible to us but who still have a very personal reality for us.  We celebrate the invisible and parallel interior kingdom where we weave the unseen with the seen and we celebrate how those departed continue to live on with us, but who lost their physical and visible continuity with us.  We do not minimize the event when physical continuity is lost even as we celebrate how they invisibly continue with us.

Aphorism of the Day, November 1, 2017

In our day of the proliferation of "comic" superheroes of all sorts, we need not, on All Saints' Day be apologetic about the heroes of the Hall of Fame of the church.  Most of them are presented as ordinary people doing the extraordinary and not thinking that they were doing anything except what seemed obedient and necessary in being faithful in their situation in time.  Yes, saints have attained legendary status because it is natural to use honorific language to indicate respect for persons who have lived in a way to draw from us the desire to emulate their high standard of values.  We also may use honorific language to excuse ourselves for our despair in thinking that God could ever do something "heroic" through us.  Fortunately God hides from us mostly what God is doing through us; the saints did not consider what they did as heroic when they were doing it.  They did what they were impelled to do when the occasion arose.  No one seeks "canonical" sainthood; we should only seek to be faithful in what is before us and keep rising toward our highest insight regarding the practice of love and justice.  That is the saintly thing to do.

Quiz of the Day, November 2017

Quiz of the Day, November 30, 2017

How was St. Peter introduced to Jesus?

a. by his brother Andrew
b. a direct encounter with Jesus
c. not exactly sure
d. all of the above depending upon which Gospel one reads

Quiz of the Day, November 29, 2017

Which of the following books of the Bible does not include apocalyptic references?

a. Song of Solomon
b. Revelation
c. Ezekiel
d. Daniel
e. the Gospel

Quiz of the Day, November 28, 2017

In what way could  Kamehameha and Emma, be called retroactive American saints?

a. they became saints after the "lessor feasts and fasts" became a part of the church liturgy.
b. they were named when the Episcopal Church started celebrating saints' day
c. they were Hawaiian before Hawaii became a state
d. Before the statehood of Hawaii, they would have been Anglican saints

Quiz of the Day, November 27, 2017

What book of the Bible is also called "The Apocalypse?"

a. Jude
b. Revelations
c. Ezekiel
d. Daniel

Quiz of the Day, November 26, 2017

The Last Sunday after Pentecost is also known as

a. Thanksgiving Sunday
b. Harvest Sunday
c. Christ the King
d. Advent Eve


Quiz of the Day, November 25, 2017

Where is the phrase "weeping and gnashing of teeth" found in the Bible?

a. Paul's letter
b. Proverbs
c. Parables of Jesus
d. Jude

Quiz of the Day, November 24, 2017

What happened on the 25th of Kislev?

a. Antiochus profane the Temple
b. The second Temple was rededicated foe worship
c. Judas Maccabeus died
d.  Israel’s birthday 

Quiz of the Day, November 23,2017

Which of the following is not true of the Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower?

a. They were  Brownists
b.  They were dissenters 
c.  They were non-conformists
d.  They opposed the Crown
e.  They were anti-papists

Quiz of the Day, November 22, 2017

What is the geometrical shape of the city of Jerusalem in the book Revelations?

a. Circle
b. Rectangle 
c. Square
d. Triangle

Quiz of the Day, November 21, 2017

Who wrote music for the familiar doxology: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow?”

a. John Merbecke 
b. William Byrd 
c. Thomas Tallis 
d. Henry Purcell

Quiz of the Day, November 20, 2017

In what book of the Bible are Gog and Magog listed as hostile nations?

a. Genesis
b. Isaiah
c. Revelations
d. Jeremiah

Quiz of the Day, November 19, 2017

The Maccabeus of Judas Maccabeus means what?

a. the sword
b. the viper
c. the hammer
d. the whip

Quiz of the Day, November 18, 2017

St. Hilda is best known in church history for what?

a. hosting a synod at Whitby to unite the Celtic and Roman churches
b. a change in monastic tonsures
c. the more severe penitential rites
d. the retaining of celtic languages for the liturgies
e. the circled cross

Quiz of the Day, November 17, 2017

What "pet" is associated with St. Hugh of Lincoln?

a. dog
b. cat
c. duck
d. swan

Quiz of the Day, November 16, 2017

Why isn't the feast of Hanukkah found in the Jewish Bible?

a. it developed too late in antiquity
b. because it is found in the Christian Bible
c. it is found in the Maccabees, not regarded as a canonical part of Hebrew Scriptures
d. it developed to give Jews a counter feast at Christmastide

Quiz of the Day, November 15, 2017

Succoth or Sukkot  is the Jewish festival which involves what kind of structure?

a. the Temple
b. the Tabernacle
c. a booth
d. a palace

Quiz of the Day, November 14, 2017

Why wasn't the Eucharistic Prayer in the first American Book of Common Prayer the same as the 1662 Book of Common Prayer which was used in the American Colonies?

a. the American Revolution also meant a liturgical revolt
b. the Episcopal members of the Continental Congress insisted on the different prayer
c. it was purposeful defiance of King George
d. the first American bishop, Samuel Seabury was consecrated by the Scottish Church using their 1764 BCP, and in agreement, the Americans adopted the Scottish Communion Rite.

Quiz of the Day, November 13, 2017

What might be the lesson of the parable of the 5, 3, and 1 talent?

a. use it or lose it
b. atrophy is real
c. one's life is a gift to invest wisely
d. surpassing oneself in a future state is the requirement of faith
e. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, November 12, 2017

What did Paul tell Felix, the governor, as to why he was being charged?

a. for challenging Roman law
b. because of his belief in the resurrection
c. his assertion of Jesus as the Messiah
d. his complicity in the stoning of Stephen


Quiz of the Day, November 11, 2017

"Melita" is the name of the tune which goes with an appropriate hymn for Veterans Day.  What are the first words of the hymn?

a. Mine eyes have seen the glory
b. Eternal Father, strong to save
c. My Country 'tis of Thee
d. O beautiful for spacious skies

Quiz of the Day, November 10, 2017

Whom of the following saints does not have his name qualified with "the Great?"

a. Leo
b. Gregory
c. Basil
d. Peter

Quiz of the Day, November 9, 2017

What did King of kings, Artaxerxes of Persia provide for Ezra the prophet?

a. a synagogue in Susa
b. permission and all things necessary to restore worship in the Temple in Jerusalem
c. armed guards for his preaching occasion
d. secretary for his writing

Quiz of the Day, November 8, 2017

Where is the beast known as the dragon found in the Bible?

a. Genesis
b. Zechariah
c. Revelations
d. Psalms

Quiz of the Day, November 7, 2017

Whom of the following was the missionary to Frisia?

a. Wulfstan
b. Boniface
c. Willibrord
d. Wilfrid

Quiz of the Day, November 6, 2017

What was John the Divine commanded to do with the scroll of the angel?

a. transcribe and copy it
b. memorize it and destroy the copy
c. eat it
d. take it to the seven churches

Quiz of the Day, November 5, 2017

What were Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem known for in Hebrew Scriptures?

a. their devotion to the Samaritan Torah
b. founding the synagogue movement in the Exile
c. opposing the rebuilding of the Temple by Nehemiah
d. conspiring with Darius of Persia

Quiz of the Day, November 4, 2017

In which books of the Bible is a person both Shepherd and Lamb?

a. Matthew and Mark
b. Isaiah and John
c. John and Revelations
d. Hebrews and Psalms

Quiz of the Day, November 3, 2017

Whom of the following is associated most distinctly with Anglicanism as the "via media" and the three-legged stool of authority, Scripture, Tradition and Reason?

a. Jeremy Taylor
b. William Laud
c. Richard Hooker
d. Thomas Cranmer

Quiz of the Day, November 2, 2017

What was the "day job" of the prophet Nehemiah?

a. stone mason
b. shepherd
c. valet to the king
d. cupbearer (one who pre-tasted the wine before the king drank)

Quiz of the Day, November 1, 2017

The genre of literature written about the saints is called

a. ecclesiastical biographies
b. sanctography
c. hagiography
d. grammatology

Advent Wreath Devotions

Will We Have Found Christ?

Last Sunday after  Pentecost: Christ the King Cycle A  proper 29 November 26, 2017
Ezek. 34:11-16, 20-24     Ps.100      
Eph. 1:15-23      Matt. 25:31-46

Lectionary Link

We in the church say that there are seven sacraments.  Sacraments are outward and invisible signs of an inward and invisible grace, which is to say that we believe we find Christ present in the events of the sacraments.  In the Eucharist, we find Christ in bread and wine, in the Baptism in the blessed water of the rite, in marriage in the vows of the commitment of spouses,  in ordination and confirmation in the laying on the hands, in unction in the anointing with oil and in reconciliation in the declared absolution of sins.

We in the Church also find Christ present in the reading of Holy Scriptures.  The Holy Scriptures provided  the flood of a worded environment to form and constitute our inner moral and spiritual lives.

But we can also sometime limit God and Christ to the sacraments and the Bible but the Bible and the sacraments do not exhaust the presence of God and Christ.  In fact, they are to be invitations to find the presence of Christ in all the times and places in our lives.  And in our social habits sometimes we behave as though we don't want to find Christ somewhere, like in homeless people, in poor people, or in the people who often disagree with us or disturb us.  When people can seem to be an inconvenience to us and our schedules and programs, why would we want to find the presence of Christ there?

Because of our tendency to want to domesticate God and seemingly control Christ and lock him up into the Bible and churchy activities, we need to be trained to look for Christ in other places.

This was an issue in the early churches.  The writer of the Epistle of John wrote that we are hypocritical to say that we love God when we don't love our brothers and sisters.

The ancient summary of the law is about loving God and our neighbors and the two cannot be separated.  If we loving God, then we are loving our neighbor.  If we are loving our neighbor, we are loving God.

But sometimes we need motivation to put God and neighbor together as those to be loved and cared for.

And so we have the wonderful motivational parable of the Gospel.  How can God get us to love others?  By convincing us that the divine presence is specially, and unknowingly found when we minister to others.

How can we be genuine in our love?  We are genuine in our love when we practice it without even knowing it.

When the king reviewed and appraised the behaviors of his subjects, his subjects were startled.  When did we do something for you?  When did we fail to do something for you?

When you did it to the hungry, the poor, the prisoner, the ones without clothes on their backs, you did it to me.

When did we fail to serve the divine king?   When we failed and neglected the poor, the hungry, the prisoners, the ones without clothes on their backs, we failed to serve the king and Son of Man.  Gospels present Jesus as a completely ironic king; he was not one to be minister to on a mighty throne where his majesty was obvious.  He was the lowly, seeming powerless one on the cross, who needed our ministry.  He is the king who resides within the lowly and seeks the most unselfish ministry of all.

The outcomes of the parables often seem very harsh, because they represent the seeming finality of the character of our lives.  If we neglect the obvious needs of people that lie before us in this life; this is character that we take with us which sums up our life.

The lesson of the parable of Christ is this:  We do not want to miss ministering to Christ.  If we minister only to get approval and reward, we can miss the purpose of our ministry.  Christ is buried in the need of others and it is to Christ everywhere that we are to minister.

Such thinking, is an indication of the kind of motivation which Jesus left the church so that we do not limit where we think Christ is in our lives.

This is stated quite clearly in our baptismal vows:  Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?   And we answer: "I will with God's help."

The parable of Jesus is the parable of our baptismal vow, and so I end by asking us all.  Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

And we answer: "I will with God's help."  Amen.