Sunday School, February 3, 2019 4 Epiphany C

Sunday School, February 3, 2019  4 Epiphany C

Themes

A wrong excuse:  I’m too young to do something important for God

Being envious

Love

Sometimes we think that we live in a world controlled by adults and so only adults can do important things.  Only adults need to do important things for God.  A child might think, “I’m too young to do something important for God.”

The prophet Jeremiah tried to use this excuse when God called him.  “He told God, “I am only a boy; I can’t do something for God that is as important as what an adult could do.”

Assignment:  What can children do for God in their home and family, at school and in their parish church.  Acolytes, liturgists, watching younger children and special community projects.  Make a list of what children do in your parish church and inform the adults about the importance of the children in the church.

Jesus went back to his hometown and his hometown were envious of his fame and so they did not accept him.

Sometimes if our brother or sister or close friend receives awards, attention or honor, it is hard for us to accept, because we know the person really well and we don’t think that he or she is “that much better” than we are and so it is a temptation for us to be jealous and envious of the gifts and talents of those who are close to us.  We also need to remember that the reason we have gifts and talents is to share them with our community to make our community better and not to make us feel more important than others.  Jesus came to his hometown to share his gifts but his old friends did not accept what he wanted to give them because they were jealous.

St. Paul wrote about Love:  He said that “Love is not envious.”    This is also what he wrote about love: “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”  St. Paul wrote to a church in Corinth where people where arguing about who had the best gifts and talents.  He wrote that gifts and talents were not worth anything if they were not accompanied by love.  He wrote that Love is the greatest thing. We should all try to grow in love.

There are three kinds of love that are found in the New Testament:

Love as the magnetic attraction between people.

Friendship love, like when we have favorites or best friends.

But the third kind of love is the kind of love that God has for this world and the kind of love that Christ has shown us.  It is a special love which means we have to treat everyone fairly and with justice even if they are not are favorites or if they are not attractive to us.

We have to love people whom we don’t like or attracted to us.  This is that third kind of special love.

Why do we have to love people whom we don’t like or are not attracted to?  Because we want them to do the same for us.  Not everyone is attracted to us and not everyone likes us as their best or good friend, but we still want them to treat us with kindness and respect and fairness.

Sometimes it is hard to respect people who are not our favorites but this special kind of love is the love from God.  God is love because God’s heart is big enough to make everyone God’s favorite.

We need to continually learn how to make our heart grow larger to be able to love more and more people.

A Sermon:

  How would you define a good student?  Someone who studies hard, does their homework and is always ready to learn new things.

  How would you define a good baseball player?  Someone who can throw a baseball far, hard and accurate.  Someone who can hit homeruns.  Some who can run fast.  Someone who can win the world series.  They are the best baseball players.

  How would you define or talk about a good dancer?  Some one who practices a lot of ballet steps and movements.  Some one who becomes so good that they can dance on the stage with a famous ballet company.

  How would you define a good inventor?  Some one who can design and make new things?

  How would you define a good artist?  Someone who learns how to paint or draw and learns how to create beautiful paintings and sculptures.

  But how would you define a good Christian?  How would you define someone who is following the teaching of Jesus Christ?

  St. Paul wrote about it.  He wrote about the greatest ability in the world.  And do you know what St. Paul said was the greatest thing in the world?

  He said that love was the greatest thing in the world.  St. Paul wrote that we can have many talents and skills, but if we don’t have love, then our talents are not worth anything.   What makes our lives perfect is when we add love to all of our gifts and talents and abilities.

  What is love?  Love is how we should live with God and how we should live with each other.  What is love?  Love is how we act when we are patience, kind, forgiving, cheerful and respectful.

  Jesus said that there are only two rules in life:  Love God with all of your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.  And so if we want to be good Christians, then we will spend our lives learning how to love God and one another.

  Are we to ever stop loving?  No, because love never ends.

  Remember to be a good Christian, we have to always be learning how to love.  God gives us many gifts and talents, and with all of our gifts and talents, we also need to learn how to love.  Love is what is perfect in life.  Whatever we do in our lives, we need to have love accompany it.

  So what is the greatest thing in the world?  Love.  And God is love and God ask us to learn how to love in our lives.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

February 3, 2019 The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Gathering Songs: Jesu, Jesu; I’ve Got Peace Like a River; The Gift of Love; If You’re Happy

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.

Song: Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us with Your Love, (Renew! # 289)

Refrain: Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love, show us how to serve the neighbors we have from you.

Kneels at the feet of his friends, silently washes their feet, Master who acts as a slave to them.

Neighbors are rich and poor, neighbors are black and white, neighbors are near and far away.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Litany of Praise: Chant: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

Liturgist: A reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 71

For you are my hope, O Lord GOD, * my confidence since I was young.

I have been sustained by you ever since I was born; from my mother's womb you have been my strength; *my praise shall be always of you.

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 Luke

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

In the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus read from the book of the prophet Isaiah, and began to say, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Doctor, cure yourself!' And you will say, 'Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'" And he said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown.

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People:                        And also with you.

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

Offertory Hymn: I’ve Got Peace Like a River (All the Best Songs, # 195)

1-I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.  I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.

2-I’ve got love like an ocean, I’ve got love like an ocean, I’ve got love like an ocean in my soul.  I’ve got love like an ocean, I’ve got love like an ocean, I’ve got love like an ocean in my soul.

3-I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got joy like a fountain in my soul.  I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got joy like a fountain in my soul.

Children’s Choir:  Amazing Grace

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.

Children may gather around the altar

The Celebrant now praises God for the salvation of the world through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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 may 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: 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 Hymn: The Gift of Love   (Renew! # 155)

1-Though I may speak with bravest fire, and have the gift to all inspire and have not love: my words are vain; as sounding brass, and hopeless gain.

2-Though I may give all I possess, and striving so my love profess, but not be given by love within, the profit soon turns strangely thin.

3-Come, Spirit, come, our hearts control, our spirits long to be made whole.  Let inward love guide every deed; by this we worship, and are freed.

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: If You’re Happy and You Know It  (Christian Children’s Songbook  # 124)

1-If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.  If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.  If you’re happy and you know, then your face should surely show it, if you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.

2-If you’re happy and you know it make a high five.  If you’re happy and you know it, make a high five.  If you’re happy and you know, then your face should surely show it.  If you’re happy and you know it, make a high five.

3-Make a low five….

4-If you’re happy and you know it, shout, Amen!  If you’re happy and you know it shout, Amen!

If you’re happy and you know it, then your face should surely show it, if you’re happy and you know it shout, Amen!

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

   

Aphorism of the Day, January 2019

Aphorism of the Day, January 31, 2019

When events of love happen within a person they seem so right and providential that one in poetic utterance one exclaims that such must have been preordained and designated from the beginning, wherever and whenever the beginning was.  Love seems preordained when it happens.

Aphorism of the Day, January 30, 2019

Love is one of those trillion megaton words; it has exploded and its energy is diffusely omni-present but it does seek specificity in human situation and testimony of the same even if comes in a meaningfully corny Country luv song.

Aphorism of the Day, January 29, 2019

St. Paul famous praise of "love" is proof that the biblical language is mainly poetic and aesthetic.  Even the historical narrative with actual references to seemingly actual people and places are used for spiritual teaching goals.  When one speaks of love, it is a meaningful word but rather imprecise.  Most everyone knows what it means but knows the meaning of it in highly personal and individual ways.  When one moves from the general meaning of love to the more individual experiences of it, it moves into the subjective meanings and truths.  Subjective truths cannot be general truths and so when religionists present religious meanings as empirically verified truths they should not be surprised at the rejection.

Aphorism of the Day, January 28, 2019

St. Paul wrote some incredible things about what/whom he seems to make a person in his 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians.  What does it mean to say "love believes all things?"  Is love an impersonal "virtue" or is love a personified force?  By saying such a thing, he is implying that to invoke the word love is to speak about the most valuable value of all namely, namely the force of such a positive regard for existence that "believing" all things means that regard is given toward everything that could possibly come to language by a language user or language users.  Too much of theology is built upon the negative or what we don't believe about God because we hold that God is too big to presume that we know how and what to believe.  Love is believing all things because it is the affirming of the positive plenitude of everything that has and will become.  Love is the cure for those who commit quietism and apophatic minimalism for fear of unwieldy involvement with everything.

Aphorism of the Day, January 27, 2019

Propriety can be regarded as a sentimental flowery flattery language used to impress people about one's cleverness or propriety might be regarded as saying and acting in the way that fits a situation in the best possible way.  In this sense propriety is good news and Gospel.  One should seek propriety in the way in which words come to structure one's life so one can live good news for others.

Aphorism of the Day, January 26, 2019

I would like to add to the meaning of Gospel, the rhetorical goal of the belle-lettrists, namely propriety.  Gospel means enlightened and wise propriety, or saying, writing or doing the best possible language manifestation in the particular situation such that the poor have good news, the captives are freed even as the captors are rebuked and the oppressed are freed and the oppressors rebuked and the blind are given the understanding eyes to see what is truly good for them.

 Aphorism of the Day, January 25, 2019

The conversion of Paul may be the most important turning point in the Jesus Movement  Why?  Paul as Saul opposed the nascent Jesus rabbinical movement as being heretical within Judaism.  Saul not only wanted to excommunicate followers of Jesus from the synagogue and Temple; he wanted to remove them from life.  The threat of their success obviously troubled him greatly.  Saul snapped when his life situation devoted to keeping the commandments found him trying to justify a holy war to kill some heretics.  Saul internal condition made him vulnerable to a major event.  It happened on the road to Damascus when the one who was devoted to love and forgiveness even at his death, call Saul to a mission of love.  When Saul became Paul, he became the architect of Gentile Christianity and his mission was subtly written into the later Gospel stories to highlight the arc of a message out of Israel reaching the entire known world.

Aphorism of the Day, January 24, 2019

The self understanding of Jesus about his ministry? Bring good news to the poor.  Release to the captives.  Recovery of sight to the blind.  Proclaim the year of God's favor.  Jesus of Nazareth in three years of known active ministry was limited to doing this in very context specific ways.  To do this in a general way to the vast need requires that the Gospel become institutionalized, politically activated and complete systemic for maximal effect.  The church has become comfortable with handing out context specific band aids in a world that is hemorrhaging from a great bleeding wound of need.  The Gospel has to convert toward great systemic healing acts to ably do the Gospel healing that is needed in our world.  Will our world heal if 26 people own equal to what half of the rest of the world own?

Aphorism of the Day, January 23, 2019

Evangelicals have reduced the meaning of the Gospel or Good News (Evangel=Gospel=Good New=euangelion=basar) to preaching about "accepting Christ" but what is forgotten is that the Gospel for Jesus meant the "doing of the good news" as defined by the prophet Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."  The messianic action=anointing is about having the power to make good news happen in the lives of people who need it.


Aphorism of the Day, January 22, 2019

One result of success is the institutionalization of success to make it further accessible and available to more people.  In the process of institutionalization, the truth of administration subtly becomes more important than the original attractive effervescence.  What happens is that cookie cutter membership ensues and the institution says to many who do not fit the molds, "I have no need of you.....unless you can contort yourself to fit one of the institutional molds."  And so people get locked out.  It happened in the history of churches.

 Aphorism of the Day, January 21, 2019

It is easy to assume that "gospel" originated in the Jesus Movement but it is as old as the prophet Isaiah.  Good news or "basar"  is what the prophet said the Spirit of the Lord was on him to bring.  And when Jesus read Isaiah, he understood that bringing "basar" or good news summed up the purpose of his life.

Aphorism of the Day, January 20, 2019

Consistent with the first verse of John's Gospel of the Word, being God, Jesus is Word in flesh and as Word in flesh he is a sign and a sign maker pointing to the fact that language is inseparable from human experience as anything that can be known. In the trivial and the crises, all occurs within the field of language users being used by Language.

Aphorism of the Day, January 19, 2019

St. Paul called Christ as "all and in all?"  How could that be possible?  In the Gospel of John Christ is the omni-linguistic reality of everything that we can know.  The WORD was God.  By privileging Word as co-extensive with even knowing that we exist or that we are language users, we posit through having words that we have words as language users and the omni-language user would the total possible discursive universe.  That God is Word and we are in God's image because we are word users.

Aphorism of the Day, January 18, 2018

Today, the feast of the Confession of St. Peter, one might note that the Gospel presentation of the same is not without poignant irony.  Peter confesses Jesus as the "Messiah" and is rebuked by Jesus when his view of the Messiah does not line up with what Jesus tells him about his imminent suffering and death.   Peter and the disciples in the Gospels are presented as naive and unenlightened as teaching examples all disciples in the process of coming to know about the mystery of Christ as it was known in Jesus.  The Gospels are teaching stories which use the disciples as examples of any disciple in the process of coming into the higher mystagogy of the Risen Christ.

Aphorism of the Day, January 17, 2019

The Gospel of John is a narrative form of the Pauline and metaphorically poetic exclamation regarding Christ as "all and in all."  The Book of Signs within the Gospel of John presents the sign as a faith switch that occurs within a person something what happens when one switches from seeing the duck to seeing the rabbit in the famous op art picture.  Where is Christly presence to be found?  Everywhere including a wedding, stormy sea, starving crowd, blind person, lame person, in foreigners and strangers, at a well of water and in death.  Being born again is having one's faith switch engage to perceive another kingdom, another reality at work in the midst of the seeming quotidian or everlastingness with everydayness.

Aphorism of the Day, January 16, 2019

In spite of John's Gospel, Irenaeus said the "Plain reading," was the preferred reading for Scripture.  John's Gospel uses the term "sign" to refer to the acts of Jesus which defy the natural laws of causation.  Sadly, the aesthetic and artistic value of the John's Gospel has been diminished because empirical verification has been the sole arbiter of what is "true," even while in experience we have more honest evocative experiences because of aesthetic and artistic truth.  Why have we sold out the incredible value of aesthetic truth, artistic truth of beautiful moving truth?  John's Gospel perhaps uses the notion of the sign for people to "switch" their interpretative behavior from the literal to the spiritual.  This is back up by the continual scorn that Jesus shows for his interlocutors who are "crassly" literal, e.g. Nicodemus trying to get back into his mother's womb, the disciples thinking that Lazarus is "sleeping," and the Pharisees reflecting on what "blindness" means.

Aphorism of the Day, January 15, 2019

In the mysticism of the early church the historical Jesus was seen as lifted up on the cross something like a rocket to become the Risen Christ who poetically was "all and in all."  Such an ascension from particular Jesus of Nazareth to universal Christ is indicative of the continuum between the particular and the general or universal.  The "re-entry" of the universal Christ back into the particulars of each person's life is a testimony to the adaptability of the Gospel message.  If my particulars of the Risen Christ are not yours because you have different context and setting, then so be it.  However, one should not elevate the relativity of one's differences in the particular to overwhelm the universal Christ who is "all and in all."  Once institutions, nationality, politics and other particulars are elevated to the universal, people find reasons to fight and disagree and become divided over having a Common Christ.  To which I say, "Rise to the universal to protect oneself from the pettiness that can occur because of the prison of the particular."

Aphorism of the Day, January 14, 2019

On the scale of significant problems, Mary had a rather trivial one but important if one is helping in some way to cater a wedding in Cana of Galilee.  What was the problem?  They've run out of wine.  Guests are going to think the hosting family was unprepared and it will be major family embarrassment.  Seems that Jesus had at first, a "mom, it's no big deal" kind of response.  Mary, despite his dismissive response, put Jesus in charge of getting the wine.  No late night convenience stores open, Jesus did his first "sign" in perhaps hypnotically bringing the feast members to agree that anything served in a wine goblet was wine.  And water can taste winely, if wine is a standard of what tastes best.  And if one is honest, water is the "wine" of all beverages.  People who live on wine get drunk; people who live on water are properly hydrated for living.  The sign of God's incarnation in Jesus is that God being with us reaches to all of the trivial things of life too, even running out of wine at the wedding party.

Aphorism of the Day, January 13, 2019

Jesus was with humanity; he became so much "with humanity" that he died with humanity, because every human being must die.  Jesus is God being so baptized, so immersed into humanity that he  even went to the terminal place of humanity, death itself.

Aphorism of the Day, January 12, 2019

The baptism of Jesus presented as a Trinitarian event.  Jesus is declared to be Son by a Heavenly Parent and the Dove Spirit descends upon Jesus.  That Jesus underwent baptism by John in John's community is a sign that he saw himself in solidarity with a particular group of people.  Baptism is the ritual of solidarity with God and one's community with solidarity being expressed in vows: vows of the baptized to God and the community, vows of the community to the baptized and faith in the vows of the Trinity to initiate the baptized in the "holy" family.

Aphorism of the Day, January 11, 2019

The Spanish language departure blessing for good bye (God be with you) means Go with God.  The name of Jesus borrowed from Isaiah was Emmanuel or God with us. In the solidarity ritual with humanity expressed when Jesus was baptized by John, ironically we have the divine expression of Humanity with God.  God with us as humanity; Humanity with God.  This expresses the reality of the divine as a human experience.  The incarnation is the admission that within human experience there is the designation of such an exalted horizon that seems so extra-human in our experience as to be called the Divine.  So the incarnation is the acceptance of human experience as a valid way to come to know what is very best about human experience, namely, the divine or the exalted Horizon expressing the best and greatest.

Aphorism of the Day, January 10, 2019

People who deride baptism for its irrational silliness should be careful to be consistent and rid themselves of all "silly" significant initiatory ritual of human solidarity.  It is impossible to do; might be better and more humble to say "my silly initiatory is not yours.  For those who admit that they are embedded in the web of language, they also must admit they practice all sorts of initiatory rituals which bind them within the communal solidarities of their lives even if they absent themselves like a hermit from physical presence with others.  The stealthy tether of language co-opts one everywhere and cannot be escaped from the always already coding of community participation.

Aphorism of the Day, January 9, 2019

Since people have language, they are made for solidarity.  Baptism is a body language rite of human solidarity aided by the helpful discourse of grace need for successful human solidarity.

Aphorism of the Day, January 8, 2019

Baptism has been both an active and passive rite of human solidarity.  Passive when it is ministered to infants who have no choice but to have their lives through their linguistic words thoroughly coded with the taxonomic practice of their adult mentors.  As a child becomes more active in language use, he or she can embrace the received baptismal values in the development freedom which occurs with aging.

Aphorism of the Day, January 7, 2019

Why baptism?  Why the baptism of Jesus by John?  One could ask, why human solidarity and human solidarity rituals?  To be human is to have language and be organized by having language.  The essence of language is communication among language users.  Language is also visual in body acts and rituals are body language acts signifying solidarity which expresses the personal identity of an individual within a community.  The mutual dynamic between an individual and community has both the promise of aid and support and the crisis of conflict and disagreement.  The ritual of baptism is a declaration that the group ego will be checked to receive one more person who will change the group even as the individual ego is checked in submission to the solidarity identity.  Baptism signifies the continual human dynamic of individual in community and community in the individual.  Baptism is different from "secular" initiation ritual in the acknowledgement of the need of interior Spirit grace to achieve the beneficial marriage of individual and community.

Aphorism of the Day, January 6, 2019

The Epiphany is referred to as the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.  Gentiles comes from Hebrew words meaning nations in a general sense but sometimes specifically refers to people other than the people of Israel.  The Epiphany sums up the paradigm shift in religion and theology for the Jesus Movement which began as a party within Judaism and became separated "structurally" from Judaism when the theology of Gentiles embracing Jesus as the Messiah became definitive of the Jesus Movement without the requirements of the ritual purity observances that characterized those who frequented the synagogue as an expression of their practice of religion.  Christians, who had a Jewish upbringing, found it difficult to remain ritually pure in their piety as they embraced Gentile followers of Christ who did not observe the rituals of Judaism. The Christian Movement purported to be a Movement of the interior event of having the Risen Christ realized in oneself through the Holy Spirit.  This interior event gave one freedom to dispense with the piety requirements of synagogue Judaism, even while it began the process of Christians beginning to develop their own ritual piety.  Becoming a follower for Christ meant a change in ritual piety.  The change in ritual piety requirements signaled that a paradigm shift had occurred.

Aphorism of the Day, January 5, 2019

What about the motive of the "unrequited" in New Testament writings?  The preachers who saw the success of the Gospel for many Gentiles were disappointed that the Gospel was offered to and not accepted by many in the synagogues.  One cannot discount the experience of incommensurability between the church and synagogue which factors into the New Testament writings.  The paradigm shift to the Gentile populace meant that the Jesus Movement and the synagogue were using the same words but the words had different meanings within the different paradigms, e.g., God as Father,Son and Spirit and Messiah as Jesus.

Aphorism of the Day, January 4, 2019

The appearance of the magi in the Gospel after the writings of St. Paul were an apology for letting the Gentiles into the stream of salvation history without full ritual compliance means that wise people everywhere are to follow the natural signs to find the birth of Christ within.  Like the story of Simurgh in Attar's "Parliament of the Birds," so is the meaning of the birth of Christ as the discovery of the always already image of the divine upon each person.  The birds of the Parliament decided to journey to find the mystical "Simurgh" and they came back to their original location and found out that "Simurgh" was themselves, viz., Simurgh means "30 birds," and that how many they were in number.  The wise travel long distances to discover the "original" blessing that has been so close but missed.  The image of the divine upon each is the Christ nature which resides like a Trojan House within each of us and is ready at any vulnerable moment to break out within us with an Epiphany.

Aphorism of the Day, January 3, 2019

The magi symbolize the long journey that Gentiles made to receive the "Christ event."  The heavens declaring God's glory in the form of a star became the guide to bring these foreigners to Christ.  The story of the magi evokes one of the many "non-standard" journeys that are taken on the way the epiphany of the realization of the Christ nature within oneself.  The journey to Epiphany has as many paths as there are travelers.  Each person is to follow the "lodestar" to one's highest insight.


Aphorism of the Day, January 2, 2019

When someone has an epiphany he or she experiences a revealing, an uncovering of something hitherto unknown.  An epiphany marks human experience with life changing results.  It is an event which does not let one's life be the same and it is an event which requires response to a new state of enlightenment.  The Epiphany as it has come to be known in Christian faith community sums of the effects of the life of Jesus Christ for the world.  The world couldn't and hasn't been the same since Christ has been manifested in many different ways to many different people.  And the Epiphany is still ongoing.

Aphorism of the Day, January 1, 2019

On the feast of the Holy Name one can observe the competing dynamics of the Gospel writings  There is great care to present Jesus and his family as fully observant Jews in the ritual life of his nascent community; at the same the Gospels present Jesus as a radical reformer of the practices of Judaism of his time such that the basis of the separation of synagogue and the Jesus Movement is "anachronistically" presaged.  The Gospels were written as "we want to be the legitimate successor of the Hebrew Scripture tradition" even while we have broken with some of the basic requirements of Judaic identity enforced in the practice of the synagogue.

Quiz of the Day, January 2019

Quiz of the Day, January 31, 2019

Which Greek word is used for "love" in the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians?

a. storge
b. phileo
c. eros
d. agape


Quiz of the Day, January 30, 2019

Which is not true about faith, hope and love?

a. they are a trio listed in Paul's 13th chapter of First Corinthians
b. they are Cardinal Virtues
c. They are Theological Virtues
d. they are Fruits of the Spirit
e. all of the above
f. a and c
g. b and d

Quiz of the Day, January 29, 2019

In what town did people try to throw Jesus off a hill?

a. Nazareth
b. Jerusalem
c.  Capernaum
d. Jericho

Quiz of the Day, January 28, 2019

Which philosopher influenced much of the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas?

a. Socrates
b. Plato
c. Aristotle
d. Plotinus

Quiz of the Day, January 27, 2019

What caused the people of Israel to weep in the public gathering led by Ezra and Nehemiah?

a. the start of the rebuilding of the temple
b. the end of the rebuilding of the temple
c. the reading of the Book of the Law
d. the return from captivity

Quiz of the Day, January 26, 2019

The apocryphal book, "Bel and the Dragon" is associated with as an "attached" chapter of what Book of the Bible?

a. Ezekiel
b. Daniel
c. Nehemiah
d. Esther

Quiz of the Day, January 25, 2019

Which of the following is not found in the account of the conversion of St. Paul in the Acts of the Apostles?

a. he was on the road to Damascus
b. he was on a mission to persecute followers of Jesus
c. he fell off his horse
d. he saw a blinding light
e. he heard the voice of God

Quiz of the Day, January 24, 2019

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

a. Carter Heyward
b. Alla Bozarth-Campbell
c. Alison Cheek
d. Florence Lee Tim-Oi

Quiz of the Day, January 23, 2019

Where in the Bible is God quoted as saying, "I create weal and woe?"

a. Psalms
b. Romans
c. Isaiah
d. Jeremiah

Quiz of the Day, January 22, 2019

Who is a biblical messiah?

a. David
b. Saul
c. Cyrus the Great
d. Jesus
e. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, January 21, 2019

What was Martin Luther King, Jr.'s father's name at birth?

a. Michael King
b. Joseph King
c. Jeremy King
d. Robert King

Quiz of the Day, January 20, 2019

Who said this to Mary, mother of Jesus: "Woman, what does this have to do with me?"

a. Gabriel
b. Joseph
c. Elizabeth
d. Jesus

Quiz of the Day, January 19, 2019

Who at the Wedding of Cana in Galilee knew the origin of the final wine served besides Jesus?

a. Mary
b. the Steward 
c. the disciples
d. the servants

Quiz of the Day, January 18, 2019

Where did the confession of Peter take place?

a. Jerusalem
b. Capernaum
c. Caesarea Philippi
d. The Mount of Olives

Quiz of the Day, January 17, 2019

Which of the following is not true about the Desert Father, St. Anthony?

a. he was the first Christian ascetic
b. his biography written was written by St. Athanasius
c. he is known for the temptations which faced him
d. he the the Father of Monks

Quiz of the Day, January 16, 2019

When a liturgist refers to the "Venite" what is meant?

a. first word in Latin of an open Psalm for Morning Prayer
b. Psalm 95
c. a Matins canticle
d. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, January 15, 2019

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

a. Changing water to wine in Cana of Galilee
b. the Magi
c. the baptism of Jesus
d. the return of Christ

Quiz of the Day, January 14, 2019

Why would some early Christians have the view that Jesus was the "adopted" Son of God using the Gospel of Mark as their main source?

a. Mark was the earliest written Gospel and closest to what was really known about Jesus
b. Mark does not have the story of the birth of Jesus
c. Mark begins with the baptism of Jesus when a heavenly voice declares the identity of the heavenly Son
d. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, January 13, 2019

Which of the Gospels does not include an account of the baptism of Jesus?

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

Quiz of the Day, January 12, 2019

To which of the churches did the author of Revelation hear words "you are neither hot nor cold.  You are lukewarm.  I spit you out?"

a. Thyatira
b. Philadelphia
c. Smryna
d. Ephesus
e. Laodicea
f. Sardis
g. Pergamum

Quiz of the Day, January 11, 2019

Some biblical scholars believe that there is a gospel within a gospel, or there is a "Book of Signs" which was included and integrated into a later redacted Gospel.  Which Gospel includes this "Book of Signs?"

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

Quiz of the Day, January 10, 2019

Laudian refers to what?

a. a form of ecstatic utterance
b. in religious parlance it refers to that which is noteworthy to faith
c. refers to things derived from the influence of  Archbishop William Laud and his era
d. refers to anti-Puritan views of the monarchy

Quiz of the Day, January 9, 2019

Who is responsible for the small blue collection boxes of the United Thank Offering?

a. Frances Perkins
b. Mary Daly
c. Julia Chester Emery
d. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Quiz of the Day, January 8, 2019

Which is the transliteration of the New Testament Greek word used in the Gospel of John for the fantastic works of Jesus?

a. ergon
b. terata
c. semeion
d. dunamis

Quiz of the Day, January 7, 2019

What is Cana of Galilee most famous for?

a. place where Jesus healed a blind man
b. place where Jesus made a lame man walk
c. place where Jesus turned water into wine
d. place where the Assumption of Mary took place

Quiz of the Day, January 6, 2019

The understanding of the Magi as Kings, comes from a biblical phrase, "May all the kings of the earth fall before thee."  Where is this found?

a. Isaiah
b. Matthew
c. Revelation
d. Psalms

Quiz of the Day, January 5, 2019

Where is the phrase "cloud of witnesses" found?

a. Hebrews 11
b. Collect for All Saints'
c. Preface for All Saints'
d. a and b
e. a and c

Quiz of the January 4, 2019

The New Testament Greek word for faith (pistos) meant what in the classical Greek of Aristotle?

a. persuasion
b. propriety
c. piety
d. certitude

Quiz of the Day, January 3, 2019]

Hebrews chapter eleven might be called what?

a. the love chapter
b. the faith chapter
c. the fruit of the Spirit chapter
d. the armor of God chapter

Quiz of the Day, January 2, 2019

Of the following, who is responsible for the eventual Church of South India?

a. Sadhu Sindar Singh
b. Francis Xavier
c. Samuel Azariah
d. Roberto Nobilio


Quiz of the Day, January 1, 2019

Which of the following was not a part of the eighth day of the life of Jesus?

a. his circumcision
b. his naming 
c. blessing by Anna the prophetess
d. composing of the hymn by Simeon

Gospel as Propriety

3 Epiphany C          January 27, 2019  
Neh. 8:2-10           Ps. 19      
1 Cor. 12:12-27       Luke 4:14-21    

Lectionary Link

What does good news mean for you and me today?  Good news changes depending upon the needs of the situation for each person in their lives.  Good news thus needs to be adjustable to each human situation.

Gospel is the English word for the Greek word euangellion.  Gospel is the name for a certain type of biblical genre.  The Christian Bible has four Gospels.  These books are writings which basically are narrative presentations of the life of Jesus of Nazareth.  And since they were written later than some of the writings of St. Paul, they are narratives written with theological and teaching purposes within the various early church communities.

Today's Gospel reading indicates to us that the gospel meaning did not originate with Jesus or the New Testament.  In the Gospel reading for today, Jesus was at a synagogue for the Shabbat liturgy.  He read from the scroll of Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor...."  Good News in the Hebrew language is "basar," so long before the Gospel of the New Testament we should appreciate that the Gospel for Jesus derived from the prophet Isaiah.

I would like to present to you my belief that the Gospel is a very adjustable notion.  It is what the people of belles lettres literary movement called propriety.  The Gospel is the word, deed or fortuitous happening that is most appropriate for the situation.

What is the good news for the poor? Having enough for oneself and for the people that one is responsible for taking care of?  What is good news for the oppressed?  To be delivered from the oppressor who uses power to steal the dignity and freedom of people.  What is good news for the prisoner?  To be freed from the confines of wrong imprisonment.  What is good news for the blind?  To be able to see.

Some times we limit the good news simply to the people who have really bad situations in life happening to them.  But what does good news mean to the wealthy?  Good news for the wealthy would be that they have been blessed with the resources to share with the poor.

Oxfam, the organization that distributes aid throughout the world released a statistic this year.  They said that 26 of the wealthiest people in the world own the equivalent of 3.8 billion people or half of the world population own.  How can this bee good news?  It might be good news that 26 people have been able to be so wealthy because of the free market, but what about some more good news for them?  What if they truly believed that the free market gave them the freedom to make sure that the rest of the world had enough in food, clothing and shelter.  Wouldn't that really be free market good news?

The good news for the oppressors and the captors is that they can use their power to release and free those who are unjustly imprisoned and oppressed.  And those who have the blessing of sight have the freedom to help all who are blind and impaired to get equal opportunity for qualitative life.

The Gospel is good news for those where are sinners and for those who are sinned against.  The Gospel seeks what is appropriate for each situation.

In our lessons, from the Hebrew Scripture, the Gospel was the discovery of the importance of the Law.  The law is the revelation of recommended behaviors which best serve the common good.  When Nehemiah helped his people re-discover the law, it brought great joy.  The Psalmist rejoiced in the law of the God.  The goal of the law was perfection, truth, justice, clarity, purity, righteousness and enlightenment.  For Nehemiah and for the Psalmist the Law was good news.

What did the Good News or Gospel required for the Corinthian Church?  Apparently they had experienced some bad news.  What was their bad news?  It was disharmony.  Some roles and ministries of the contributions of some members were being regarded as inferior and unimportant for the success of the Corinthian church.  When people's worth is discounted it does not result in harmonious community life.

St. Paul wrote to his church about good news.  What was the Good News?  Each person has a worthy and worthwhile gift and value to the community.  It is incumbent on the community to find and to bring to expression the different gifts of everyone within the community.

When the community comes to the harmonious expression of all of the gifts of its members, then the good news of Christ is known.

What does the Gospel mean for you and me right now?  The Gospel is an adjustable propriety to what each of us needs right now.  If we are sinners then the Gospel is forgiveness and amendment of our lives.  If we are those who sinned against or those who suffer from the hardships of life, it is health, deliverance and recovery to a place of having all that we need.

Let us not limit the Gospel to writings in the Bible today.  Let us understand the Gospel as the needed and relevant message of God to each of us, right here, right now.

What do you and I need to restore our lives in the direction of what is perfect, true, right, just, clear, pure and enlightened?  That is the Gospel for us and it is available to us if we will arise to receive it.  Amen.