Sunday School, August 26, 2018 14 Pentecost B proper 16

Sunday School, August 26, 2018   14 Pentecost B proper 16

Sunday School Themes

Hebrew Scriptures

One selection is about Solomon and the building of first temple in Jerusalem.  And it is important to remember that God of the Temple was the God of everyone.  So there is a reminder that God does not just belong to us and the place of worship is to be a place for everyone.

Another selection is about the second leader of the people of Israel who led them after the great Moses died.  His name was Joshua.  He reminded his people that they were to be known as those who were loyal to the One God.  They were not become like the people who believed in many Gods.

For the New Testament lesson since the last four weeks and this week have been about the bread of heaven discourse of John’s Gospel, perhaps one can give it a rest.

Use the example of a Roman Soldier’s armor from the Epistle to the Ephesian.  Bring pictures of Roman Soldier in their battle gear.  Show a picture of modern soldier in full battle gear.  Show the comic superheroes like Iron Man and Transformers with their full battle gear.

Being prepared in life means that we have to protect our insides, especially what we see and learn.  How is our life like a war or a battle?  We try to prevent the things which can hurt us by good preparation.  How do we prepare:  Learn to do healthy things. Tell the truth.  Do right things.  Learn to have faith and not fear.   Walk in the shoes   that take us in the path of peace as we share the good news of Christ.  Learn about God’s words.  Learn that we have God’s Spirit with us to help us at all times.  We have to face things in our lives which can make us have fear, tempt us to do wrong things, lie, fight, and think unhealthy thoughts.  St. Paul uses the example of the soldier’s uniform to tell us that we always need to be prepared to face all of the struggles and hard things in our life.  We have to realize that life is often like a war or a battle because sometimes it can seem easier to do wrong than do good?  Why is it easier to eat lots of brownie but not lots of healthy food?  Why is it easier to play with our toys rather than pick them up?  Why does it sometimes seem easier to be sad and moody and crabby than to be cheerful and happy?  St. Paul said that we have to be prepared for a battle because learning how to be really excellent in life is not easy.

Sermon

      I have a pictures here of a soldier.  And this is the most famous toy soldier.  What is his name?  G.I. Joe.  And since a soldier has to fight to protect people a soldier has to wear a special uniform.

  St. Paul said that our life is like a battle; not like a real war.  It is a battle against things that are not good for us.  So like a soldier, we have to be prepared.  As school students, we have to be like soldiers and be prepared.

  St. Paul said we need to put on the armor of God.

He said we need to have the belt of truth.  A belt is very important in the armor.  In school you are learning the truth about all sorts of things.  And the more truth that you can learn the better your life will be.

  Paul said we need to wear the breast plate of righteousness and we need to have a shield of faith.  Learning to do the right thing is very important in life.  And having faith means that we do have to fear because we believe that God cares for us.  Notice on GI Joe the breast plate and shield are the same thing; he has body armor to stop bullets.

  Paul said that we should wear the helmet of salvation.  What does a helmet protect?  Our heads.  And what is in our head?  Our mind and our thoughts.  Salvation means building healthy thoughts in our mind and that is why we go to school. (Do you see GI Joe’s helmet?) 

  Paul said we needed the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Modern soldier don’t use swords; they carry knives and they use guns.

  Just as a soldier needs to know how to use a knife and a gun, St. Paul said that we need know how to use the word of God.  We need to study words, we need to learn how to read and write, we need to know how to use words in a good way, because with our words we can say some very wonderful things to help people, to teach people and to encourage people.  And when we use our words in good ways, our words are words of the Spirit of God.

  So are you ready for school this year?  St. Paul reminds that learning is like being a soldier; we prepare ourselves, we educate ourselves, we learn as much as we can so that we can do some very good things in our world.

  So remember St. Paul’s words about putting on the armor of God.

Holding our heads:

  Bless O, Lord our minds to learn new things.

Eyes:

  Bless our eyes to see and read new things.

Ear:

  Bless our ears to hear new things.

Lips:

  Bless our lips to says and speak new things.

Hands:

  Bless our hands to create art and to write wonderful words.

Feet:

  Bless our feet with strength to play and grow strong.

Heart:

  Bless our heart to love to learn many new things in school.

Bless us in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

August 26, 2018: The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Onward Christian Soldiers, We Are Marching, Let the Hungry Come to Me, Awesome God

Song: Onward Christian Soldiers  (blue hymnal # 562)

Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with cross of Jesus going on before!  Christ the royal Master, leads against the fore; forward into battle, see his banners go. 

Refrain: Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before!

Liturgist:

Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and for ever.  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

Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Litany Phrase: 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

A reading from the Letter to the Ephesians

Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Liturgist:

The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 34

The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, * and his ears are open to their cry.

The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, * to root out the remembrance of them from the earth.

The righteous cry, and the LORD hears them * and delivers them from all their troubles.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

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

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

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

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

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

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

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

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

Thanks be to God!

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

People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever." He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.   When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, "Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father."  Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:  Fr. 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.

Song: We Are Marching (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. 

Refrain: We are marching, marching we are marching, Oh, marching, we are marching in the the light of the Lord, of the Lord.  We are marching, marching, we are marching, Oh, marching we are marching in the light of the Lord.

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.

Blessing for Students and teachers as the new school year begins

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.

Children 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.

The Prayer continues with these words

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 rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

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

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song:  Let the Hungry Come to Me (Renew!  # 220)

Let the hungry come to me, let the poor be fed.  Let the thirsty come and drink, share my wine and bread.  Though you have no money, come to me and eat.  Drink the cup I offer, feed on finest wheat.

I myself am living bread; feed on me and live.  In this cup my blood for you; drink the wine I give.  All who eat my body, all who drink my blood, shall have joy forever, share the life of God.

Here among you shall I dwell; making all things new.  You shall be my very own, I, your God with you.  Bless’d are you invited to my wedding feast.  You shall live forever, all your joys increased.

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: Awesome God (Renew!  # 245)

Our God is an awesome God, he reigns from heaven above,

with wisdom, power and love.  Our God is an awesome God.

(sing three times)

We Don't Have a Choice That God Love Us

13 Pentecost proper 15  August 19, 2018

Proverbs 9:1-6  Psalm 34:9-14

Ephesians 5:15-20  John 6:51-58

Lectionary Link

Because Luke is here today to be presented for baptism, we get to have two sacraments instead of just one.  We get to have both Holy Baptism and Holy Eucharist.  There are seven sacraments and I imagine they could all be celebrated in one liturgical occasion, if we could also have a wedding, confirmation, holy unction, ordination and private confession.

I guess we could have four today, if someone comes to the altar for the prayer of the sick and if I could preach words of conviction for someone to want private confession.

But two sacraments are enough and they are the main sacraments (called dominical sacraments); Holy Baptism and Holy Eucharist.  Holy Baptism is to the spiritual life what birth is to our natural life.  In baptism, we confess that there are two orders of existence, the natural order and the spiritual order.  The spiritual order is a parallel existing order to the natural order.  Like the amphibian who lives on land and in the sea, we humans live in the kingdom of the world but we are also invited to live in the kingdom of God at the same time.

By birth or by adoption we enter the world of our birth family; in baptism we celebrate that simultaneously we belong to the family of God, because Jesus as the unique Son of God taught us that we, too, are sons and daughters of God.

Today, we celebrate that Luke is a son of God and in this rite of baptism, we remind ourselves again today that we are children of God in this great family of God.

Just as Luke did not get any choice about who he was born to or he does not get any choice about being in the family of God.  He is not old enough to make the choice so why do we ask of him to be baptized?

We baptize Luke because we want to pass on to him the very best that we have to offer.  What is the very best that we have to offer?  God loves Luke.  Luke does not have any choice about this, just as you and I don't have any choice about God loving us.  God is love and God loves us and God loves Luke.

We baptize Luke as a young child because of what is called Prevenient Grace.  This type of Grace is something we cannot choose; it is non-negotiable.  God loves us and we don't have any choice about this.

What we do have choices about is how we accept God's love and how we share it with other people.  If God's Love is prevenient Grace to Luke and to us, we are to become agents of God's prevenient grace to others, especially to Luke and those who do not yet understand it.  You and I are to live as agents of God's grace in Luke's life.  We are to model God's love, God's grace, God's forgiveness in such a way so that when Luke comes into his fuller adult capacity, he will choose to continue in this family of grace and love and pass it on to the generation after him.

Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of Christ.  When Luke was born, what was the first task of his mom for Luke?  To feed him, of course.  And Luke's family will continue to feed him.  They will provide for him many family meals.  And these family meals will not be just about eating food; they will be about friendship and fellowship and about memories.  And there will be regular meals and special meals like birthday meals, Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner with extended family.  These meals will feed Luke but also they will renew him within his special family tradition.

Before Jesus left, he gave his followers a special meal; a spiritual meal.  He told them to meet and host this meal so that they could remain united in a special fellowship tradition.  And when they met he promised that they could experience His presence which would be so significant that it would seem as though he was actually there.  Jesus identified his presence with the bread and the wine as a way of giving his friends a meal of gathering to keep them together forever.  And so today we continue in that meal tradition; and Luke is welcome to this family meal even though he may want to wait a few years before he partakes (in the Orthodox Church newly baptized babies are spoon fed the bread and the wine after they are baptized and this is the based upon the belief that baptism is full initiation into the body of Christ).

Today is a happy day of two sacraments as we see little Luke being made a Christian even as we hope that we ourselves are renewed and made better Christians as we are faithful to the word and sacraments given to us by Christ in the church.  Amen.

Understanding the Eucharist Literarily

13 Pentecost proper 15  August 19, 2018

Proverbs 9:1-6  Psalm 34:9-14

Ephesians 5:15-20  John 6:51-58

Lectionary Link

Perhaps you heard about the experience of Christ in the Mass referred to as "transubstantiation."   In Roman Catholic tradition this is defined as the change of the substance or essence by which the bread and wine offered in the sacrifice of the sacrament of the Eucharist during the Mass, become, in reality, the body of Jesus Christ.  Where did this tradition come from?  Well, today we've read the words of Jesus and the response of the literalist Jews.  Jesus said, "the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”    Jesus said, "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life."

The Protestant Reformers reacted against this Eucharistic literalism and they proposed other ways to understand how Christ is present in the Eucharistic event.  They said that Christ was symbolically present or metaphorically present or spiritually present.  Anglicans tended to say we don't know precisely how Christ is present but that Christ is mysteriously present in a Real way.

It is ironic that people who call themselves Biblical fundamentalists and read the Bible literally, tend to understand these words in a figurative sense and not a literal sense.  After substantial development within Roman Catholic Church history the theologians came to define this doctrine of transubstantiation which involves taking these words of Jesus in a very literal way.  The plain sense of the words.

Words become different in meaning depending upon the context of their writing.  In the Roman Catholic tradition, the ecclesiastical meaning of the words was prominent as it related to the exclusive role of the priest in confecting the bread and the wine in the Eucharistic offering.  The bread of the Eucharist became divorced from bread for physical hunger.   The consecrated bread became a holy bread that was reserved and displayed in be-jeweled monstrances.   Separate rites developed to view the consecrated bread of the Mass.  In the rite of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, a priest would lift the Monstrance which displayed the host and turn to kneeling devotees and bless those who revered the holy bread.  In actual practice at certain times in church history, the most numbers of Masses became votive Masses said on behalf of the departed to be an intercessory assistance to them in their afterlife and the church came to know with precision the purgatory journey of the afterlife even as they did not know about Tokyo or how to get there.  The sacrament was reserved in the tabernacle which was included in the altar reredos and the priest would celebrate the Mass in the presence of Christ in the reserved sacrament.

We are in a different age; we had the Enlightenment and Reason dethroned theology.   Explorers went around the world and found Tokyo and many other places and the church became less interested in exact and precise knowledge of the afterlife, in purgatory.

And yet the church always returns to the Bible, to the Gospel and the Gospel words.  And we've even got historical and linguistic methods of appreciating the Gospels in a different way and in a way that makes modern sense and post-modern sense.

We read the Gospel of John and appreciate it as a text that was written decades after Jesus.  It was written by writers who were ministering to their community and teaching them about the liturgies of their community.  What is the origin of the Eucharist?  Why do we practice it?  What does it mean?  How does it fit into the symbols of the churches continuity with the traditions of the Hebrew Scriptures?

How can the origin of the Eucharist be best taught?  It can best be taught as an oracle of Jesus in the church decades after he left in the preaching, teaching and writing of those who are possessed with the mind of Christ and speak and write in his Name.

What we can understand today is to avoid some of the disagreements about the Eucharist.  The early church realized and practiced the fact that the Eucharist was a new family meal.  It was a meal which was offered to people who had been alienated from or left their flesh and blood families, sometimes at great personal cost, but also in a personal nomadic adventure of a relocation forced by politics, war and economic realities.

The Eucharist was a unifying meal, a public meal for the Christian family.  It was an actual meal when people could verify that everyone present was getting enough to eat, but beyond the eating there was the experience of a fellowship presence that occurred in the gathering of In-Christed people.

The early church believed in the reality of the presence of Christ in their lives.  They believed that it was really Real.  People who could only believe in the priority of sensorial perception, were crassly literal people and they were people who were offended at the literary, artistic, and aesthetic use of plain and literal language.  John's Gospel is about Word.  The Word is God and everything comes into being or human understanding because of Word.   And Jesus also said that his word was spirit and it was life.

So eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus is a very literal image but it was used literarily to say that the presence of Christ in the Eucharist has profound and significant meaning among people who already feel a deep identity with Christ and because we exist in time, the Eucharist is a renewal event in time to remember the presence of Christ into our lives in a deeply meaningful way.  How close do you get to your food?  You get so close to your food it becomes you and you it.  And this is the dynamic that is celebrated in the Holy Eucharist.  We eat the designated bread and wine, so designated by the word of Jesus, and we become one with the bread and the wine and in so doing, we dynamically remember our oneness with Christ.

This was the Real Presence which was being taught in the community which wrote the Gospel of John.  We have gotten sidetracked by bad science in our theology about the Eucharist and tried to defend the wrong reality in the wrong way.

Do not be embarrassed by the poetry of the Gospel of John or the poetry of the meaning of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  But don't try to defend the Eucharist as a discourse of the scientific method.

If we appreciatively understand the Gospel of John at all we understand ourselves first as literary being.  In the Beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and all things came into being because of or through Word.

Once we understand the literary basis of human life itself, we can then appreciate the diverse ways in which language works to imparts lots of different meanings to express the diversity of human experience.  We can do science and poetry at the same time and be the same persons.

The Gospel of John and the celebration of the Eucharist is proof that we can be spiritual poets and people who express close fellowship with one another even while we can have our feet firmly on the ground in the "brute" facts of science.

The Eucharistic words of Jesus as an oracle in the Gospel of John celebrates the presence of Christ as the eternal Word which always already is present within us and re-creates us into each new moment of our lives.  And Word is very close to us, it is us and it becomes for us again in the Bread and the Wine Event.  You and I can receive the Presence of Christ again in the bread and wine now because it never left us.  We receive again what we already have.  Amen.

Sunday School, August 19, 2018 13 Pentecost, B, Proper 15

Sunday School, August 19, 2018  13 Pentecost, B, Proper 15

Sunday School Opportunities

Can we use the “pronoun” she for God?  There are feminine pronouns for God in the Bible.  When David died, his son Solomon became King and his son Solomon asked God for the gift of wisdom to rule his people wisely.  Solomon is known for his search for wisdom and there were schools gathered around wisdom teachers and prophets in the times of the Bible.

Wisdom in the book of Proverbs is the name that the writer gives to God's Presence in our world  and is responsible for organizing everything.  Why does everything seem to work?  How can an eagle see a tiny little mouse on the ground?  Because there is wisdom present in everything that makes it work.  The writer of the book of proverbs said that Wisdom is present and is another name for God’s presence everywhere.  The name for Wisdom in Proverb is Chokmah and this is a girl’s name.  In Greek, Chokmah is Sophia and we know that Sophia is an often used girl's name.  So God’s  being with creation has the name Chokmah because there is Wisdom in everything that exists.

Teaching Opportunity about liturgy and ritual

In the churches of St. Paul, when they gathered they sang the Psalms and hymns together.  Singing in a group together and directing the sung words toward God with each other creates an experience of God's presence in our worship together.  This is what we call liturgy.  It is gathering so that we help each other know about the experience of God.

Why do large crowds go to football games?  They want to celebrate their favorite team which is on the field.  They want to help them win by cheering.  They want to create excitement for themselves, their team and enjoy the event of being together.

In liturgy and worship, God is our “team” on the field whom we are cheering with our hymns and our songs and our prayers.  And we are doing it together to encourage each other in knowing the presence of God.  If we didn’t do it we are more likely to forget and miss something in our lives.

Another part of worship and liturgy also involves receiving communion.  The Gospel of John was written long after Jesus gave the words to his disciples when he commanded them to eat bread and drink wine in such a special way and do it with prayers, Bible readings, teaching about faith and with songs so that they could make the presence of Christ known to them in a special way.  When Jesus said that we eat his flesh and drink his blood when we take the bread and the wine, he was saying in a riddle that he would actually be closer to us than the bread that we and the wine that we drink.  What we eat and drink becomes such a part of us; our food becomes us.  And Jesus was saying that as we study and live by his Words then he actually becomes a part of us and that we abide together.

We have a Gospel lesson about Jesus teaching us about himself as the bread of life because he is like coming to know the Wisdom, who is the presence of God everywhere, inside of us and outside of us.  Knowing Christ is like knowing Wisdom as what is basic to life.

Liturgy and Ritual, prayers, songs, and our ritual meal of communion are the ways in which we leave our private selves and join with each other to remember in a profound way the presence of Christ in our lives.

Sermon or lesson about Communion

13 PTp15  August 19, 2018

Proverbs 9:1-6  Psalm 34:9-14

Ephesians 5:15-20  John 6:51-58

  Jesus sometimes spoke in riddles.  And sometimes people did not understand his riddles.  And when you don’t understand the riddle, it is easy to be confused.

    And today we continue this riddle of Jesus.  When we come today to receive the bread and the wine what do I say when I give you the communion bread?  The body of Christ, the bread of heaven.  And when you are given the wine?  The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.

  Now, you and I know that we are eating bread and we are drinking wine, but the bread and wine carry also the presence of Christ.  Why?  Because Jesus told his friends that he would be with them always.  And he told them that he would be with them in a special way when they eat the special meal of remembrance.  The meal that we call Holy Communion.

  Jesus was born in Palestine and he was an Israelite.  He followed the religion of his family.  He learned about the Jewish religion.  He learned about the law of Moses.  And do you know what they often used to call the Law of Moses?  They called it bread.  That is a riddle too.  So how can you eat the Law of Moses.  Well, you don’t chew on it with your teeth.  You study it and memorize and take it into your heart so it becomes a part of your life in the way in which you live.

  The early Christians believed that Jesus was even better than the Law of Moses.  Jesus was not just rules that were written down; he was a person who was an example of what God would look like as a human being.

  And so when we are told to eat the body and drink the blood of Christ, this is a riddle.  It is a reminder to make Jesus the most important example of our lives, to study his life and his words so that his life becomes so close to us that it is in our hearts.

  If we take the life of Jesus close into us, then we will start acting like Jesus.  And when we start acting like Jesus, we love one another and we make our world better.

  So I want you to understand this riddle of Jesus; when we eat the bread and drink the wine of communion.  It becomes a part of us.  And we get really close to it.  And when we think about how close the bread and wine get to us, then we need to remember that Christ is that close to us too.

  And that is the riddle of Holy Communion.  We receive Holy Communion to realize how close Christ is to us.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

August 19, 2018: The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: O Be Careful!; Seek Ye First; Eat This Bread; This Little Light of Mine

Song: O Be Careful!  (Christian Children Songbook  # 180)

O, be careful little hands what you do.  O be careful little hands what you do.  There’s a Father up above and he’s looking down in love, so be careful little hands what you do.

O, be careful little feet where you go.  O be careful little feet where you go.  There’s a Father up above and he’s looking down in love, so be careful little feet where you go.

O, be careful little lips what you say.  O, be careful little lips what you say.  There’s a Father up above and he’s looking down in love, so be careful little lips what you say.

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

People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and for ever.  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, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany Phrase: 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

A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians

Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

 

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 34

Come, children, and listen to me; * I will teach you great respect for the LORD.

Who among you loves life * and desires long life to enjoy prosperity?

Keep your tongue from evil-speaking * and your lips from lying words.

Turn from evil and do good; * seek peace and pursue it.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

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

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

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

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

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

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

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

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

Thanks be to God!

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

People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" So Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:  Fr. 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.

Song: Seek Ye First (blue hymnal, # 711)

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

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

Doxology

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

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

Prologue to the Eucharist

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

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

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

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All may gather around the altar

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

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

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

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  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:  Eat This Bread (Renew!  # 228)

Eat this bread.  Drink this cup. Trust in me and never be hungry. 

Eat this bread.  Drink this cup.  Trust in me and you will not thirst.

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

Hide it under a bushel, No!  I’m going to let it shine.  Hide it under a bushel, No!  I’m 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! 

Jesus the Living Bread; We Are What We Eat

12 Pentecost Cycle b  Proper 14 August 12, 2018 
1 Kings 19:4-8  Psalm 34:1-8

Ephesians 4:25-5:2  John 6:35, 41-51

Lectionary Link
The Gospel of John includes what has been call a "Book of Signs."  The Greek word for sign is "semeion," and it is word used in John's Gospel to refer to the special work of Jesus in helping people come to faith.  Faith has to do with embracing more than what we can see with the eyes, more than empirical experience.

The writers of the Gospel of John were the mystagogues, the mystical teachers for the community.  They believed that Jesus Christ had initiated them into a way of wisdom which would transform their lives.  And they wanted to initiate others into this way of wisdom.

In John's Gospel, the Signs are teaching tools; they are used to teach the initiates to switch from merely literal and empirical understanding to a spiritual understanding of life.

John's Gospel as a book of signs, is a teaching about a symbolic order.  To live in the symbolic order one has to be converted or born again or born of the Spirit to understand one's life and the world differently.

We Americans live in a symbolic order.  How many people who come to America for the first time understand what the Bald Eagle means?  How many immigrants or tourists immediately understand the significance of our flag, its history and the changes it has undergone?  How many new people to America understand the comical figure of Uncle Sam dressed in American flag clothing and wearing a top hat?   How many new people understand phrases about "sticking a feather in his hat and calling it macaroni?"  Was that the Italian pasta influence in the American revolution for such a Yankee Doodly Dandy?

To live in America as an American one has to understand our symbolic order or to say this in another way, one must understand our system of signs.

John's Gospel is a system of signs for the Christian initiates.

The community of John's Gospel met regularly and they broke bread together and they offered the blessing, thanksgiving and prayers over the bread and the wine.  And they believed that their lives were actually transformed by this symbolic participation.

As native born Americans, we might take for granted our symbols of citizenship.   We live in the transformative power of the American symbols based upon ideals that have been successful in helping us live together in a way that never would have been possible without these dynamic symbols of participation.

So too, with symbolic participation in the church which wrote the Gospel of John.

They understood than in the tradition of Jesus, "you are what you eat."

Not literally, but eating or consuming the types of facts, inspiring ideals and information which become internalized and then re-expressed in our speech, our writing and in our body language deeds.

We are consumers.  Every IT geek who chides the office worker who has a computer issue, says or thinks, "garbage in, garbage out.  It is what you do by your actions which causes the computer to malfunction; it's not the computer's fault."

In the Hebrew tradition, the Torah or word of God in the divine law was also regarded to the manna or heavenly bread of heaven.  The writers of the Hebrew Scriptures, and particular the Psalmist implore people to "taste and see that the Lord is good."  The law of the Lord is sweeter than honey.  

Just as the Torah was regarded as the bread from heaven for the people of Israel to consume and to change their lives by a practiced devotion to this great Law,  the Gospel writer of John believed that Jesus was the new equivalent of the Law.  Jesus was the Christ, the eternal Word and Word is the realization of existence by human beings.  Without Word, we would not know whether we existed.  John's Gospel's says that the Word was in the beginning, it was with God and it was God.  But such a Word is too general because such a word would include everything that could come to language in speech, text and body language deeds.

Such an ocean of Word needs a guiding exemplar; that Exemplar was Jesus.  The Word was made flesh and dwelled with us.  So general Word, became particular Word in the life of Jesus to help us make the right word choices in our lives.

We are what we eat; we are what we consume;  we are the words that we have consumed and especially the ones within us which have coalesced to become the guiding scripts of our lives.

So, let us remember the symbolic order of our Eucharist today.  Jesus is the living bread who is God's perfect exemplar human gift to us to guide us through the morass of all possible words in life.

We come to Jesus as the living bread from heaven to remember how we want our lives created by the very best words of life which have been given to us in the example of Jesus Christ.

If we partake of Jesus, the bread of heaven, we will live forever.  Why?  Because we will become a part of the absolute past to be remembered into the future by God, who is able hold us together as personally worded beings who will retain our identities into the future.

And this bread of life; this is what the mystics of John Gospel taught their initiates.  And we too are initiates in this wonderful bread of life tradition.  This is why we come into the symbolic order of  Holy Eucharist.  We are what we eat.  And so we do not want to take bad garbage in because we know that such garbage can become a controlling impulse within us and become a "garbage" out in our word and deeds.

By working upon the words of our lives which we take in, we build the reservoir of words within us which form and motivate our speech and body language deed.

The Gospel of John is a book of Signs.  The Word is God from the beginning.  And so we look to Jesus to take within us the very best words of all so that our output will always be expressive of the life of Jesus Christ.  Amen.