Sunday School, June 2, 2019 7 Easter C Ascension Sunday

Sunday School, June 2, 2019     7 Easter C  Ascension Sunday

Themes of the Day

The Ascension of Christ

Question:

What happened to Jesus after he rose from the dead and appeared to his friends, but then left this world?

The early Christian believed that Jesus left this world to be with his Father.

What does Christ do now that we can no longer see him?

One of the things that Jesus does is to pray and he asks him friends to pray.  When you’re mom and dad are not with you, they have feelings of hope and love for you and they say prayers for you.  And even though they do see you all of the time they feel connected with you.

And your parents want you to feel connected with them even when you are not with them and don’t see them.  And they want you to pray for them.

Today we read a prayer that Jesus made with his Father.  And in his prayer he was asking that his friends could know the same Father that he knew.  He was wanting his friends to know that they were sons and daughters of God.

And he wanted his friends to know that they could be connected to God when they talked to God and when they prayed.  Our prayers with our thoughts and our spoken words come from an place within us and they connect us to God the Father and with Jesus even when we do not see them.

Jesus left with his friends the gift of prayer.  It is a way to talk to God and to know God even when we don’t see him.  And if we practice prayer enough, we will teach ourselves to know how close God is to us.  If we avoid God, then we will not know how close God is to us.  Jesus said that if we wanted to have a relationship with God as our Father, then we need to talk to God.

When Jesus ascended and was no longer seen, we believe that he has God to be with God the Father and he continues to pray for us.

Children’s Sermon

What do we call talking to God?  We call it prayer don’t we?

  And when do we pray?  Do we pray when we come to church on Sunday?  Yes, we pray when we gather together.

  Do we pray before we eat?  We say table grace.  Do you have favorite table grace?  Why do we say table grace?  Because we are very thankful for our food.  We know that there are many people who don’t have enough to eat.

  Do you pray when you go to bed at night?  Yes, because we want to sleep well.  We don’t want to be frightened by our dreams.  And we don’t want to be frightened by imaginary things that can come into our mind.  So we pray and ask God to keep us safe.  And we pray for our family and friends too.

  Why do we pray?    Why do you talk to someone?  You want to get to know them don’t you?  Or you talk to someone because you need something, so you ask them to help you get what you need.

  Who are the people that you talk to the most?  You’re your mom and your dad and your grandparents, your aunts and uncles, your brothers and sisters and your friend.  Why do you talk to them?  Because you like them and also you need them sometimes to help you with important things in your life.

  Today, we heard a prayer that Jesus said to his father.  Jesus believed that God was so close to him that he could talk to him just as he would his father.

  And when Jesus prayed to his father, he asked for some things.  He asked that his friends would do well.  And you know what else he asked?  He asked that his friends might know God to be their father too.  He wanted his friends to know that God was close to them and that they could pray to God as their father in heaven.  And they could talk to God, just like they talked to their own fathers or their mothers or their own best friends.

  And so that is what Jesus wants us to do.  He wants us to practice our prayer and to talk to God as the father of the entire world.  Jesus wants us to know God as a great but very friendly father, who cares about our lives.

  You are never too young to learn how to practice to pray.  And if you learn to pray as a young child, it will carry all through your life.

  How you pray?  Well, you pray by talking to God.  But you don’t even have to talk.  You can think prayers as well, because God is so close to us, God can read our minds.  That’s a good reason for always thinking good thoughts.

  Prayers can be short or they can be long.  My most-used prayer is very short.  I just say, “Help!”

  Remember when you pray, you are believing in God and believing that God is close to you.  And remember you don’t have to always be asking for things from God.  You don’t always want your friends to be asking to play with your toys.  You like them to say other things as well.  So, you can say other things to God like, “How are you doing today, God and what can I do for you to make you happy?” 

  I believe all of your prayers will make God happy.  Remember Jesus prayed to God whom he believed to be his father.  And he taught us to pray too.  Can you remember to pray?

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

June 2, 2019: The Seventh Sunday of Easter

Gathering Songs: Hallelu, Hallelujah; Seek Ye First; Come My Way; Sing a New Song

Liturgist: Alleluia, Christ is Risen.

People: The Lord is Risen Indeed.  Alleluia.

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: Hallelu, Hallelujah, (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 84)

Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord. 

Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord. 

Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah.  Praise ye the Lord Hallujah. 

Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Chant: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

A reading from the Revelation to John

And let everyone who hears say, "Come."  And let everyone who is thirsty come.  Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift. The one who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon."  Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 97

The LORD is King; let the earth rejoice; * let the multitude of the isles be glad.

The heavens declare his righteousness, * and all the peoples see his glory.

Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, * and give thanks to his holy Name.

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 prayed for his disciples, and then he said. "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.  "Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."

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 Song: Seek Ye First, (Blue Hymnal, # 711)

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its 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 will 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.  Sanctify us by your Holy Spirit 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:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Come, My Way (Blue Hymnal, # 487)

Come my way, my truth, my life: such a way as gives us breath; such a truth as ends all strife; such a life as killeth death.

Come, my light, my feast, my strength: such a light as shows a feat; such a feast as mends in length; such a strength as makes his guest.

Come, my joy, my love, my heart: such a joy as none can move; such a love as none can part; such a heart as joys in love.

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: Sing A New Song (Renew!  # 21)

Refrain: Sing a new song unto the Lord; let your son be sung from mountains high.  Sing a new song unto the Lord, singing Alleluia.

1-Yahweh’s people dance for joy; O come before the Lord.  And play for him on glad tambourines, and let your trumpet sound.  Refrain

2-Rise, O children, from your sleep; your Savior now has come.  He has turned your sorrow to joy, and filled your soul with song.  Refrain

3-Glad my soul for I have seen the glory of the Lord.  The trumpet sounds; the dead shall be raised.  I know my Savior lives.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Aphorism of the Day, May 2019

Aphorism of the Day, May 31, 2019

What does one do with the Ascension when the cosmological view of the world is no longer the netherworld below a flat earth which has a domed sky with a "trap door" in the top that can be threaded at the lift off of Jesus?  Using physicality as metaphor for substantiality, the ascension illustrates the truth of the disappearance of Christ from the physical and sensual realm but indicates his promotion to an interior and invisible realm.  This is continuum of the word being made flesh being made word.....bespeaking the human occupation of dancing in the dynamic of interior words in signifying play with the physical and inner psychical worlds.

Aphorism of the Day, May 30, 2019

Overwhelmed by the threat of the truth of science the church has felt pressured to make a reading of the ascension into a physical lift off and thus diminished the truth of mystical and poetic being raised with Christ to be seated in heavenly places as the experience of one’s most profound Interiority.

Aphorism of the Day, May 29, 2019

Chariot to heaven, Jacob's ladder to heaven, Jesus as the ladder on whom the angels ascend and descend, and the Ascension.  This is all about mystical travel between the realm of seen and unseen.  Angels and the appearance of a vertical ascent use the physical as a metaphor for the mystical.  Remember when the physical is used as a metaphor, it means that the writer is stressing something is "really real," i.e., it is as meaningful true as the kitchen table that you see.

Aphorism of the Day, May 28, 2019

The mysticism of Paul and others had to do with experiencing an identity with Christ, such that one walks with, sleeps with, eats with, dies with, rises with, lives with Christ in heavenly places.  How do these metaphors of identity get taught within the church?  Encoding them within a narrative of Jesus of Nazareth such that the appearance of an historical narrative is interwoven with the mystical states of identity.  The mystics understand being in the world but not of the world; the fundamentalist import scientific historicism onto the Gospel text and insist they have to be meaningfully true if and only if they could have been events which could have been empirically verified.  They became the literalists which are mocked by the words of Jesus in the Gospel of of John throughout.

Aphorism of the Day, May 27, 2019

In the Gospel of John there is the understanding that the physical is presented as metaphor for the spiritual.  In John's Gospel, Jesus does not tell parables, he speaks in long discourses.  In John as the last Gospel, the program of the Gospel writing becomes evident; the Gospels present the narrative of the life of Jesus as a cover metaphor for the early Christian mysticism of those who used the poetry of being crucified with Christ, of having been raised with him, and having ascended with him to be seated in heavenly places.  All this seems totally absurd if we try to impose strict empirical verification criteria on all of the events in the narrative of the life of Jesus.  But if we understand the Gospel narrative as encoding the early mystical transformation of lives, then we crack the interpretive code of the Gospels and salute the discursive practice of the Gospels as not being incompatible with the discourse of science.

 Aphorism of the Day, May 26, 2019

God sets up house.  Jesus said about the Trinity in the Royal "We:"  "We will come and and make our home with them."  The metaphor of God using our bodies as a home where the divine lives set up home is indicative of moving the notion of presence from a sacred temple to the interior within each person.  Such decentralization of sacred space should not make us think any less of holy place of worship where prayers have been valid; it should only inform us that no place can exhaust God's presence.  God's presence in experienced on a continuum of general and particular based upon the apparent experience of the same in the experience of a person.

Aphorism of the Day, May 25, 2019

The Gospel of John is in part about how to live in the world but not be "of" the world.  World was cosmos and that is quite an embracing term.  What world was there to live in during Gospel of John time?  The most embracing "world" of the time would be the "Roman Empire World" which would include the Christians communities and the synagogues.  What kind of peace did the Roman World offer?  It was the Pax Romana, a peace which was built upon the force of armies defeating any opposition to the Roman order as it came to be expressed in the laws and customs distilled throughout the provinces of the Empire.  The followers of Jesus lived something like "Amish" in the Roman World, perhaps even a bit more appearance of integration with the societal order but not participating in the public cult.  The peace of Christ was the experience of an interior world, a different kind of "cosmos", realm or kingdom.  Nascent Christianity was generated as a spirituality without prominent public institutions and only began to become to "be" the Roman world following the Emperor Constantine.  When Christian spirituality became the "world," one can discover that spirituality began to get compromised.

Aphorism of the Day, May 24, 2019

Words and Jesus in the Gospel of John.  Jesus is the Word as God from the beginning through whom all things come into being.  Jesus said is words were spirit and Jesus promise the Holy Spirit to be the continuation of his words given to him by the Father.  John's Gospel indicates every thing playing out upon the default position of being human, i.e., having words.  Words have been the origin, the beginning, the arche or human life as it can be known.  Words will be the continuation of human life as it can be known, particularly as we admit that we know words through words.  So if Word is all embracing, why do we need Jesus?  Word made flesh is exemplary word in a human person to give us the model for how word should be articulated best in the human life forms of speaking, writing and body language deeds.

Aphorism of the Day, May 23, 2019

On Kepler and Copernicus day it might be good to remember the threat of scientific empirical observation which challenged the former theological explanations for how things were perceived.  Science has been such a threat to religion that religionists have had to contort themselves to contrive unhealthy reconciliations of science and religion.  We should rejoice that in the human use of language to assert and codify human experience, we arrived at the best tool for practical wisdom, i.e., science.  With the scientific method we have been able to achieve the very best and latest of "probability" thinking because as we are able to determine more precise predicatability, we have the ability to take preventative actions within the system of freedom within which we live.  But the system of freedom has room for discourses of faith, love and beauty, resembling the aesthetic meanings and truth that are as inspiring as scientific discourse.  Science has made religionists think that our discourse is a bastard step-child and we are too often defensive because we are not willing to accept the specific difference of aesthetic discourse, which are meaningful, for one, in entertaining ways.  Have you noticed that all of the entertaining speculation discourse has moved out of religion into the entertainment fields of science fiction and cinema and other virtual imaginative offerings.  We don't give ourselves or biblical writers permission to find their imaginations as entertainingly meaningful because Big Brother Science now tells us that all of that stuff has to have been empirically verified to be "true."  We allowed ourselves to be in a conflict that didn't need to be there in the first place.

Aphorism of the Day, May 22, 2019

John in his vision of the New Jerusalem saw that the new city had no Temple because God was the Temple.  We all know that everything that is, is in fact the great Cathedral that we always already live and have our being in.

Aphorism of the Day, May 21, 2019

The Gospels were written and edited by preachers and writers of the early Christian communities whose contemporary reality was the effervescence of group spiritual experience that had derived because of Jesus of Nazareth.  The writers were trying to explain the dynamic of how the earthly Jesus of Nazareth morphed into the Risen Christ becoming spontaneously known in the lives of those who never saw Jesus.  The Gospels are a narrative theology of Providence by those who were profoundly impacted by Post-Death-of-Jesus encounters with his Divine Traces in their lives.

 Aphorism of the Day, May 20, 2019

Significant portions of the Gospel of John might be called farewell discourse.  The author is trying to impart insights about the transition from Jesus of Nazareth to the Risen Christ of the church of the Holy Spirit.  One of the major feature of this liminal phase of Jesus leaving and returning as the Risen Christ, is the assurance of the validity of another kind of divine presence known as the Advocate of Jesus, the Holy Spirit.

Aphorism of the Day, May 19, 2019

In the age of the Risen Christ and the experience of the Holy Spirit, how did the early Christians write about the actual age of Jesus of Nazareth?  They wrote his life in an anticipatory way of what he had become as the Risen Christ in both Jewish and Gentile followers.

Aphorism of the Day, May 18, 2019

"The home of God is among mortals..."  Home is the permanent dwelling place of someone and if the home of God is among mortals, such is an expression of the accessibility of God to humanity.  In practical terms it means that the anthropomorphic impulses validly acknowledge a greater than human milieu in which we live which is our home, and metaphorically God is the Home within whom we live and move and have our being.

Aphorism of the Day, May 17, 2019

The separation of the followers of Jesus from the synagogue involved a "food fight."  The rules in the Torah regarding diet was inaccessible to the Gentiles who were following the teachings of Christ.  Peter had a vision which was authoritative for him to dispense with the dietary rules of Judaism for Gentile followers of Jesus.  Holiness as being ritually observant Jews in being distinguished from others in this world was something that could not be compromised by those who remained in the synagogue.  The followers of Jesus "spiritualized" holiness, by proclaiming that the inward evidence of the Holy Spirit was what made one separate from the world and not the outward physical evidence of how one ate or marked the body through circumcision.

Aphorism of the Day, May 16, 2019

"Where I am going, you cannot come."  The Gospel of John writer understands Jesus to be preparing the disciples for the new presence of Christ within them even while he will be visually absent.


Aphorism of the Day, May 15, 2019

John the Divine had a vision of "Death will be no more."  What would that mean?  Time will be no more?  Change will be no more?  Aging will be no more?  Becoming has become a static Being?  But would  the state formerly known as death be dead?  Does a timeless state mean a static roboticity?  John's vision is a surrealistic vision and normal reality gets melted like a Dali painting.

Aphorism of the Day, May 14, 2019

The Psalmist implores all orders of existence to "praise the Lord."  What kind of assumptions are involved in this poetry?  A star has the ability to speak?  A poet projects languaged existence upon everything.  Does the poet assume "Word" is embedded in some way in all things or is Word embedded in humans who project a worded existence upon everything such that everything can "praise" God.  Or is it a poetic way of saying everything and everyone are at their best in the state of testifying to the greatness of creator who made them? But all of this happens in the worded existence of the Psalmist.

Aphorism of the Day, May 13, 2019

The Last Supper as presented by John's Gospel showed some of the dysfunction of the disciples of Jesus.  Peter too proud to receive a foot-washing.  Judas plotting to betray Jesus.  James and John worried about their good seats in the kingdom of God.  How was the dysfunctional group to be made "re-functional?"  They will know that you are unified around Christ by your love for one another.  It is the love within community which announces the value of unity and draws others.  Many congregations have become the intermittent gathering of independent agents, each who fear one's own community involvement would result in inconvenience and dysfunction because of the differences one has with others.  The lack of love does not allow for people to know discipleship.

 Aphorism of the Day, May 12, 2019

The five senses in biblical poetry are often elevated as metaphors for accessing another realm, the spiritual realm, the kingdom of God.  In John's Gospel, the healing of the physical realm is the initiation into the spiritual realm.  The sign of God is that one sees beyond seeing, hears beyond hearing, tastes beyond tasting, and touching and feeling beyond touching and feeling.  Physical existence in the Gospel of John becomes poetic metaphor for existence on a parallel plane.

Aphorism of the Day, Aphorism of the Day, May 11, 2019

Aristotle is associated with the Peripatetic School of Philosophy, given that name derived from teaching by walking with students in the colonnades or portico that were in the Lyceum campus.  The Lyceum was a temple dedicated to Apollos.  Jesus was presented as a peripatetic rabbi teaching, while walking in the portico of the Temple at the feast of the Dedication.  Jesus was a "walking" teacher; he did not confine students to a classroom.  He taught in the way and the Spirit of the Risen Christ continues to teach as we are walking throughout the situations which may arise.  We cannot control the world or our environment by being locked into the limited exposure of being "inside" a classroom.  Rabbi Jesus introduces the "walking" learning program.

Aphorism of the Day, May 10, 2019

Ironic Gospel reading for Mother's Day 2010.  Jesus said, "The Father and I are one."  Jesus was literally one with Mary as the gestational Jesus.  Jesus could have said," My mom and I were one for at least 9 months."

Aphorism of the Day, May 9, 2019

The Gospel of John presents that post-resurrection Christ as an oracle in their congregations in a narrative of his life.  The Johannine Community regarded the success of the Jesus Movement as manifestation of Risen Christ to be the greater work that had occurred because Jesus had returned to his Father in his physical earthly disappearance.

Aphorism of the Day, May 8, 2019

"The Father and I are one."  Can children say this in a spatio-temporal way?   A father precedes a child?  How can a child be spatio-temporally one with one's father?  Can't be done.  A a child one or united in any way with one's father?  One is genetics relationship, one is family membership, and one in purpose for life.  Could it be that "the Father and I are one," means that he did not ever separate himself from the Plenitude and so he was not an independent agent in Plenitude?  Could it be that being one with "the Father" in contrast with Joseph as his father, meant that he understood that he had a relationship beyond psychological determination in the way in which Freud understood the "mommie, daddy, me" dynamic?

Aphorism of the Day, May 7, 2019

"My sheep hear may voice."  The flock of Jesus could be a metaphor for the paradgim or hermeneutical circle within which the early followers of Jesus lived.  They had been converted to this paradigm; others who had not the conversion experience could not "hear" /understand the teaching of Jesus.  That people inhabit different paradigms which don't seem to be compatible is a statement of fact.  There is lots of anger in the world because people live in different and incommnensurable paradigms of faith, politics and social experience in life, and it seems almost impossible to translate between paradigms to live in peaceful co-existence.  It happens that those who inhabit the paradigm which permits and succeeds at suppressing others seems to be the most "popular," even though it does not comport with a paradigm which valorizes love and justice.

Aphorism of the Day, May 6, 2019

For those who tout the superiority of "plain reading" of biblical texts one must ponder such phrases as "the Lamb will be the shepherd."  This is so contradictory on many levels and yet it evokes meaning for those who have appropriated the symbolism of the tradition of lamb and shepherd in the Judaeo-Christian tradition.  Modern science has made many people of faith embarrassed by "poetic" meanings as though these are inferior truths.  Many people of faith want to pretend they can play checkers while using the rules of chess and such attempts only look silly.  One can play chess and checkers at the same time on different boards.  One can be different discursive performers in different games at the same time.

Aphorism of the Day, May 5, 2019 

Self disillusionment, "I thought that I was better than that," can be the event for rehabilitation in one's high values or it can be the temptation to give up.  I'll never be perfect so why should I try.  Life is always about being rehabilitated in the right direction for moral perfection, not ever presuming to have arrived.

Aphorism of the Day, May 4, 2019

If the love of God will winsomely persuade and reconcile everyone and everything, does it do so coercively or as a creative lure which attends endless trial and error until everyone finally is able to respond freely having eventually learned from one's errors?

Aphorism of the Day, May 3, 2019

The Book of Revelation envisions every living creature singing a song of praise to the Lamb. This vision is a presentation of hope that eventually sacrificial love will persuade everyone, everywhere and at all times that it is the chief value of life which was exemplified in Jesus.

Aphorism of the Day, May 2, 2019

A metaphor for a profound change in one's life is, "Damascus Road experience."  It refers to the event which changed Saul, the persecutor of followers of Jesus to Paul, the follower and apostle of Jesus.  Saul was involved in the killing of other people for religious differences.  The history of religion indicates that this has often been the outcome of the practice of religion.  Religion has been used to make people different that oneself in their beliefs, "the other," who can be eliminated as a threat.  Most religions have had times needed to have "Damascus Road" conversions.

Aphorism of the Day, May 1, 2019

The rehabilitation of Peter by Jesus was to get Peter to reaffirm the general character of his life, namely that he had followed, walked and talked with Jesus during his ministry.  In a moment of fear, he denied Jesus, even vehemently three times, during the arrest and trial of Jesus.  Jesus rehabilitated Peter by getting him to return to his proven character shown by the fact that he had been with Jesus as a friend.  "Come on Peter, admit that you both love and like me."  "You're right Jesus, I disappointed myself when my fear overcame my pride."  Love and friendship are what heals our lives of fear and pride.

Quiz of the Day, May 2019

Quiz of the Day, May 31, 2019

What does the Feast of the Visitation commemorate?

a. the visitation of the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary
b. the visitation of Elizabeth to the Virgin Mary
c. the visitation of the Virgin Mary to Elizabeth
d. the conception event for the Virgin Mary

Quiz of the Day, May 30,2019

Which of the following has the most extensive account of The ascension of Jesus?

a. Matthew 
b. Mark 
c. Luke
d. John 

Quiz of the Day, May 29, 2019

Calvinism is

a. a denomination
b. a theology derived from John Calvin
c. a method of Christian practice
d. limited to the Presbyterian church

Quiz of the Day, May 28, 2019

In what city did John Calvin attempt to establish a theocracy?

a. Strasbourg
b. Basel
c. Geneva
d. Zurich


Quiz of the Day, May 27, 2019

Who was the monarch who converted to Christianity after Augustine arrived in the British Isles?

a. Bertha
b. Edmund
c. Alfred
d. Aethelbert

Quiz of the Day, May 26, 2019

Which Gospel does not include the parable of the mustard seed?

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

Quiz of the Day, May 25, 2019

Who wrote "The Ecclesiastical History of the English People?"

a. Chaucer
b. Lancelote Andrewes
c. The Venerable Bede
d. Roger Bacon
e. Robert Grossteste

Quiz of the Day, May 24, 2019

Who said, "for I perceived that power has gone out from me?"

a. Paul
b. David
c. Peter
d. Jesus

Quiz of the Day, May 23, 2019

Who was Legion in the New Testament?

a. a companion of Paul
b. a Roman army size designation
c. collective name for the demons in the man from Gerasenes
d. the twin brother of Cohort, mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles

Quiz of the Day, May 22, 2019

In which book of the Bible are the following women written about: Damaris, Lydia, Dorcas, Rhoda and Priscilla?

a. Luke
b. Acts of the Apostle
c. Romans
d. 1 Corinthians

Quiz of the Day, May 21, 2019

Who was the missionary to the Algonquin?

a. Dorothy Parker
b. John Eliot
c. Edward Sapir
d. Benjamin Whorf

Quiz of the Day, May 20, 2019

After the fall of the Roman Empire, who did Charlemagne charge to bring education to the Frankish people?

a. Venerable Bede
b. Cadaemon
c. Alcuin
d. Remigius of Lyon

Quiz of the Day, May 19, 2019

In what book of the Bible is it recorded that God gave people right to eat reptiles?

a. 1 Corinthians
b. Acts of the Apostle
c. Revelations
d. Romans

Quiz of the Day, May 18, 2019

Who of the following is not an African American saint on the Episcopal Calendar of saints?

a. Martin Luther King, Jr.
b. Absalom Jones
c. Janani Luwam
d. Richard Allen
e. Thurgood Marshall Quiz of the Day, May 17, 2019
f. Frederick Douglass


The vision of a "new Jerusalem" in the Revelation of John the Divine has a precedent in what book of Hebrew Scripture?

a. Psalms
b. Isaiah
c. Zechariah
d. Ezekiel

Quiz of the Day, May 16, 2019

Where can the "you can't take it with you to the grave" teaching be found in the Bible?

a. Psalms
b. Ecclesiastes
c. 1 Timothy
d. Job
e. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, May 15, 2019

What became problematic regarding Junia, apostle and companion of Paul?

a. whether she was actually a woman apostle
b. whether her name was added later to the Epistle to the Romans
c. whether she was married to Andronicus
d. whether Paul would accept a "woman" apostle

 Quiz of the Day, May 14, 2019

Which apostles received a dream/vision from God permitting/requiring him to open his heart to those who ate meat from restricted animals of the dietary rules of Judaism?

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

Quiz of the Day, May 13, 2019

Frances Perkins, a saint of the Episcopal Church,  is associated with which of the following:

a. Medicare
b. OSHA
c. Social Security
d. Labor Union Leader


Quiz of the Day, May 12, 2019

Which of the following is not about shepherding?

a. Psalm 23
b. John, chapter 10
c. Psalm 95
d. 1 Corinthian, chapter 13

Quiz of the Day, May 11, 2019

Matthew, for whom the Gospel is named, is often thought to be whom?

a. Thaddeaus
b. Bartholomew
c. Levi
d. Nathaniel
e. the disciple whom Jesus loved


Quiz of the Day, May 10, 2019

In the story about the life of Daniel, which monarch threw Daniel into the den of lions?

a. Nebuchadnezzar
b. Belshazzar
c. Cyrus
d. Darius


Quiz of the Day, May 9, 2019

Of the Gregorys, who would be called Cappadocian "Father?"

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

Quiz of the Day, May 8, 2019

Who is the most famous saint of Norwich?

a. Thomas Traherne
b. Margery Kemp
c. Julian
d. Walter Hilton

Quiz of the Day, May 7, 2019

What was the Greek name for Tabitha?

a. Lydia
b. Junia
c. Dorcas
d. Phoebe

Quiz of the Day, May 6, 2019

Which Gospel makes reference without specific identity to the disciple "whom Jesus loved?"

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

Quiz of the Day, May 5, 2019

What biblical king went "mad" for a season and then recovered?

a .David
b. Ahab
c. Cyrus
d. Nebuchadnezzar 

Quiz of the Day, May 4, 2019

What do Saints Mary, Elizabeth, Helena, and Monnica have in common?

a. marvelous birth stories
b. miraculous birth stories
c. famous sons
d. particular association with the cross of Jesus

Quiz of the Day, May 3, 2019

The "Song of the Three Young Men" and the "Prayer of Azariah" are included in some versions of what biblical book?

a. Psalms
b. Ezra
c. Nehemiah
d. Daniel

Quiz of the Day, May 2, 2019

Whose view of the Trinity prevailed at the Council of Nicaea?

a. Arius'
b. Constantine's
c. Athanasius'
d. Origen's

Quiz of the Day, May 1, 2019

Who said, "I know that my Redeemer lives?"

a. Isaiah
b. David
c. Job
d. Paul
e. Handel

Mi Casa Es Su Casa

6 Easter   C       May 26, 2019            

Acts 14:8-18      Ps. 67

Rev. 21:22-22:5      John 14:23-29

Lectionary Link

Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."

The Gospel of John could include a study of the word, "world," or cosmos" in Greek.  God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.  Cosmos in earlier times referred to the physical world and the universe as we know it, but in the writings of John it is used primarily to refer to the lives of humanity with attitudes and values which stand in opposition to God.

The writer of John believed that Jesus came to teach us how to live in the world but not be "of" the world.  How indeed can we live in our American world and not be "of" our American world?  The Amish are in America but they don't really see themselves as being "of" America.

The Christians of the community of John's Gospel lived in the Roman world and since the power and the authority of the Emperor was so pervasive, it was impossible for Christians not to live in the Roman world.  Christians actually  enjoyed some of the privileges of the Roman World, the Pax Romana, the Roman Peace, the peace that came because the Caesar's armies defeated all opposition so that Roman law and order could be promulgated throughout the world.  The practice of external law and order is a kind of peace and a very valuable peace.  Such peace allows for everyday commerce to transpire without conflict.

Jesus was not a Messiah like a Caesar; he did not bring his angels to control the nations of the world and establish a theocracy with Christian laws for the entire world.

Jesus brought a different kind of law and order, a law of the interior world, a law and practice of the Spirit.  How did this spiritual realm of Jesus come to be?  He came and he taught words and life actions; he preached and he healed.  He modeled what love and justice and peace would look like in human behaviors.  And doing such in a profound way, he attracted followers.  His words became interior to the lives of his followers.  His words were spirit and life for his followers.  They were like interior motivating engines of actions and behaviors of love and justice.  They were dynamic; so much so that they were able to be replicated and passed on to new followers who passed this spirit of living, this way of love and peace on to others.

When the Gospel of John was written, it was written partly because the writers were amazed at the success of what Jesus had started and instituted in this world.  Why are we still alive and well as a gathering community?  Why are we writing a Gospel about Jesus of Nazareth?  How are the words and deeds and practices of our community related to the life of Jesus?  We must write the connection of our community experience with the life of Jesus as we remember him, as the memories of Jesus was shared by those who knew him.

How are the words and acts of the apostles and early Christians connected with the life of Jesus of Nazareth?  This question is the question which is answered and explained by the writings of the New Testament.

And today, we ask, "How are the words and the acts of the people of St. John the Divine connected with the words and acts of Jesus of Nazareth?"  How has the life of Jesus Christ been kept alive for you and me?

Well what have we done today?  We've gathered.  We've read Scriptures.  We are listening to the feeble attempt of a preacher to explain to why Jesus is relevant to us.  We are convening again the Christian meals as commanded by Jesus and as practiced continuously in our tradition.  We've come to confess our sins; and hear the declaration of forgiveness.  We've come to pass the peace to each other.  We've come to worship in the silence of contemplation, in the singing of hymns with poetic words of inspiration.  We've chanted the Psalms.  And if we do not think that we are connected with Christ, it is because Christ in not out there, Christ is in here, Christ is through us doing Christly things through us.

I think we may often be childish and uninterested in church because we're still looking for Jesus as an idol out "there" to entertain us.  We are supposed to be Christ doing the gathered church together.  Christ is here because Christ is in us being and doing Christ through us.  Jesus said that God would make the divine home within us.

Jesus said, "I am going away and I am coming to you."  Each of your bodies is going to be a home dwelling for the abiding of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Friends, we come to church not to find Christ, but to be Christ.  That is to let Christ by the Spirit pass through our lives as living conductors of the energy of the Risen Christ.

Let us accept the peace of Christ as a peace that is not out there; it comes when we cease to look for Christ as a sacred object of worship and when we become Christ being and doing the church when we gather together and when we disperse to take Christ in us to all of the places and people of our lives.

Please don't doubt that Christ is in and through you.  If we as the people of St. John's will continue to gather, accepting that Christ is in and through us, then we will perpetuate the words and deeds of Christ to this community, for many years to come.  Today we are gathered because we've said to God, "Mi casa es su casa," My house is your house.  O God in your fullness abide in us always.  Amen.