Sunday School, October 4, 2020 18 Pentecost, A proper 22

 Sunday School, October 4, 2020    18 Pentecost, A proper 22

Theme:

Laws and Rules

Why do we have them?

What kind of rules do we have?

For the Highway?  For our family?  At school?  In our games?

There are many rules.

What is the most popular set of rules called?  They are found in the Bible?

The 10 Commandments.

Do you like “no” words or “yes” words?

We like “yes” words because they are words of permission.

How can we say the 10 Commandments using, “Yes we can, instead of no you can’t?

Respect God as the very best.

Treat everything that God has made as good but not as you treat God.

Respect, honor and be courteous and polite about the Name of God.

Show God that you respect God by giving God special time on a Day of Prayer and at other times too.

Honor and respect the family, moms and dads, husbands and wives, and spouses and their promises.

Respect the importance of each person’s life

Enjoy what you have and respect the property of other people.

Honor and tell the truth; Be honest.

Be content with what you have as you honor and respect what other people have.

These are all “yes” rules.  They show what we can do if we honor God as most important in our lives.  When we honor God, we can find God’s power in us to give ability to do good things for all people in our lives.

Sermon:

The most famous list of rules in the Bible.  What is it called?  The 10 Commandments.  These are rules that start by saying that we need to make God the one whom we worship.  How do we do that?  We don’t let God have any competitors.  We give God special respect and  time of worship.  We don’t misuse God’s name.  If we make God most important in our lives, then this is what helps us live together well.  The 10 Commandments have rules that help us live together well.  How?  We respect parents and husband and wives. We respect families.   We respect the value of life.  We respect property of each other.  We tell the truth and are honest.  We learn to be content in our lives and not want the things of other.

Jesus told a parable about people who lived and used someone else’s property but they pretended that the property belonged to them.  They would not pay rent and they disrespected everyone who came to collect rent even the owner’s son.

Jesus told this story to show us what can happen to us when we don’t honor God as the owner of life.  We live selfishly toward God and each other when we don’t admit that everything in the world belongs to God.

Jesus was trying to tell people that God is generous and God’s shares everything with us.  Jesus was trying to say we can enjoy what we have and treat each other the best when we worship God as the owner of all life. 

Let us remember to respect God by learning the best rules.  This will help us be people who  treat each other well and who find real pleasure and enjoyment for the things that God has given to us.

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

October 4, 2020: Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Give Thanks, Lord of all Hopefulness, Glorify the Lord, Pass It On

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

People:            And Blessed be God’s kingdom, now and forever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

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

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

2          Ask, and it shall be given unto you, seek, and ye shall find, knock and the door shall be opened unto you; Allelu, alleluia!  Refrain

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

Liturgist:  A reading from the Book of Exodus

Then God spoke all these words: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.  You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.  Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work.  Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 19

The law of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul; * the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent.

8 The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart; * the commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to the eyes.

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 Matthew

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus said, "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, `They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, `This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.' So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People:            And also with you.

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

Offertory Music Thy Word, (Renew! #94)

Refrain: Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path

1          -When I feel afraid, think I’ve lost my way, still you’re right beside me.  And nothing will I fear as long as you are near.  Please be near me to the end.  Refrain.

2          -I will not forget your love for me, and yet my heart forever is wandering.  Jesus, be my guide and hold me to your side; and I will love you to the end.  Refrain

Doxology

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

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

Prologue to the Eucharist

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

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

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

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

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

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

 this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

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

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

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

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

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

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

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

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Hymn:  I Am the Bread of Life,   (blue hymnal  # 335)

I am the bread of life, they who come to me shall not hunger; they who believe in me shall not thirst.  No one can come to  me unless the Father draw them.  And I will raise them up, and I will raise them up, and I will raise them up on the last day.

I am the resurrection, I am the life, they who believe in me, even if they die, they shall live forever.  And I will raise them up, and I will raise them up, and I will raise them up on the last day.

Yes Lord we believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who has come into the world. And I will raise them up, and I will raise them up, and I will raise them up on the last day

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: I Want to Walk As a Child of the Light, (Renew # 152)

I want to walk as a child of the light; I want to follow Jesus.  God set the stars to bring light to the world; the star of my life is Jesus.  Refrain: In Him there is no darkness at all, the night and the day are both alike.  The Lamb is the light of the city of God: Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.

I want to see the brightness of God; I want to look at Jesus.  Clear Sun of righteousness, shine on my path, and show me the way to the Father.     Refrain

Dismissal:   

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

People:      Thanks be to God! 

Aphorism of the Day, September 2020

Aphorism of the Day, September 30, 2020

Revelation is the procession of "insights," "aha" moments when something is discovered a true or pragmatically meaningful within a moment.  Such insights committed to the memory for future people to revisit still have the possibility fo create new "aha" moments but the new occasion makes the revelations and the "aha" a completely different insights.  Language is the reservoir that contains the dormancy of all insights waiting to arise.

Aphorism of the Day, September 29, 2020

The "revealing" of the Ten Commandments, probably are the results of many, trial and error found in human experience and the counsel of the wise codify what works best in human relationship and when those "best practices" are written down, how does one legitimize them?  One adds the first four commandments regarding God the the legitimizer, because no human being or tribe can properly represent the Plenitude of All.  And so we are always referring who we are, what we know and what we do to the More than we are and the More than we know.

Aphorism of the Day, September 28, 2020

The biblical message in basic terms is that humans are supposed to be stewards on behalf of and accountable to God as our owner and creator.  Humans have not seen God the owner and so God is treated like an absentee landlord.  Human being have acted in the mode of apparent possession is nine tenths of the law.  And we don't like to be reminded that it really isn't ours because we are not enduring enough and big enough to really maintain such plenitude.

Aphorism of the Day, September 27, 2020

The religious leaders, as presented in argument with Jesus, were shown to be concerned about his "authority."  They did not believe that he had "certified" authority, but neither did John the Baptist.  John and Jesus had "populism" authority or charismatic authority?  Why?  Because they were actually interested in the lives of the people they ministered to.  They were less concerned about position, institution and ritual adherence and more interested to know that people had good news, healing and assurance of the forgiveness of their sins.  Populism gives authority when it involve genuine good news for the common good.

Aphorism of the Day, September 26, 2020

The Christological hymn in Philippians indicates that Jesus is God-emptied into a human person.  Orthodox theology states that God is not known in the divine Essence but in the divine energies or emanations which in fact have a Oneness with the Essence.  A more post-modern way of saying this is that a Signified is only implied because of signifiers, because in fact "Signified" is a signifier.  Thus the Signified is always emptied into signifiers and the Signified is always hidden and cryptic and implied by the proof of omni-signification.  A person's life is revealed by the hierarchy of signifiers which "stand-in" for what one consciously or unconsciously regards to be the hidden Signified.

Aphorism of the Day, September 25, 2020

If you know that you can never get into the country club, why bother to try.  This was and is the situation for many religious groups.  Jesus was going to people who never believed that they could get into the "religious country club."  And then the religious leaders wondered why he was becoming popular.  They wondered about the authority of his "populism" appeal.  Jesus was giving "full scholarships" to God's country club and some were worried about Jesus admitting too many people.

Aphorism of the Day, September 24, 2020

Many people have the authority of certified office or position of sanctioning bodies, and such bodies are necessary for regulating "quality" control.  The authority of of Jesus was put in question.  What gave him sanction to heal, teach and preach.  And he did not have a degree from Shammai or Hillel rabbinical schools.  He did have the authority of charisma which was authoritative enough to encourage people to make better choices in their lives.  Telling authority is verified by outcomes of love, kindness and justice.

Aphorism of the Day, September 23, 2020

Said that I'd do it but didn't.  Said I wouldn't do it but did.  When we can't get the word of our promise backed up by actual congruent behavior, we have the phenomenon of hypocrisy.  A goal of life is to have one's word contracts kept.

Aphorism of the Day, September 22, 2020

In the Pauline Christological hymn in Philippians, the metaphor is that of emptying  of the divinity found in the life of Jesus.  How empty did the divine become? Dead.  Divinity took complete identity with human experience by being emptied to death.  This instantiates that all things, even death, "lives" and have being within the Divine.  That each occasion has full identity with an Expanding Whole from which the occasion is inseparable bespeaks a panentheism.

Aphorism of the Day, September 21, 2020

In Christological hymns, one might put side by side, "the Word was made flesh," and "emptied himself taking the form of a slave" from the Pauline tradition.  One finds in these hymns the admission that God is not known in the divine Essence but through divine Energies or Emanations, which for the revealing of God must necessarily be "equal and co-extensive" Energies and Emanations.  According to John's Gospel, God as Word is a pre-existent Emanation Potential able to become the Word products, i.e., the created order itself which has co-extensive word-signifers to reveal the purported signified which only is related through the continuous generation of more signifiers.

Aphorism of the Day, September 20, 2020

The "last shall be first and the first shall be last," should be seen as the kindness and courtesy adjustments that are made within the human family so that everyone can feel affirmed in their unique roles within the family but also in their own self-understanding of God's favor towards them.  Drop the term socialism, since it is loaded with historical baggage.  Adopt the term "family-ism" as the rule of kindness and courtesy of the first in strength, wealth and knowledge, who voluntarily become last and use their resources to lift the weaker, the poorer, and naive into the first place of dignity.  This is the grace of God working in the community for the common good.  Resentment of the neglected builds revolutions; kindness builds family esteem.

Aphorism of the Day, September 19, 2020
The "last shall be first" thinking of Jesus does not involve a secular "socialism" as we might think today, it is rather a divine "family-ism." In a family the last and least are made first by the supplemental leniency in standards and in extra care given to those who cannot compete on the same terms as the older adults. Think of a four generation Middle Eastern household where the wisdom of family-ism makes a place for everyone at every age and the strength of the strong is used to make the weaker equal in dignity. This kind of family-ism should be the distributive leveling which we try to apply in the society at large so that all might have equal dignity.

Aphorism of the Day, September 18, 2020
The "last shall be first" riddle of Jesus is poignantly about equality in difference. In American individualism, we have this myth of the meritocracy of individual advancement by sheer individual ability and effort. The "last shall be first" riddle is about reparations and equal opportunity effort to level the field of human dignity among people. Whoever misses this in the Gospel, misses the Gospel.

Aphorism of the Day, September 17, 2020
How can the first be last and the last be first? In a very practical way, those who live and interpret things from a later perspective have the last word which places their perspective first. St. Paul understood his Christo-centric Judaism to be an innovation in interpretation such that he saw all of the Hebrew Scriptures as pointing to Jesus. So, he made the last, first in his perspective on Gentile Christianity.

Aphorism of the Day, September 16, 2020
It is hard not to read Jonah as a satirical presentation of people who do not think that God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is not for anyone outside of Israel. A belief in God would assume a potential winsomeness of God among all people. To pretend to limit God to one group or people would unwittingly be saying that one's God is not winsome and not really worshipful enough to be shared. The message is that we cannot "domesticate" God to contain divine relevance to our own boundaries, when in fact God as our owner is trying to domesticate us to be willing to share love and kindness with all.

Aphorism of the Day, September 15, 2020
The book of Jonah is a satire on people who think God is exclusively for them in special and favored way. They suddenly become shocked that the message of God love and care is winsome to other people outside of Israel. If we become so "possessive" of "our" God we become worried and angry that other people believe that God is winsome in their lives too.

Aphorism of the Day, September 14, 2020
One of hardest things to learn and practice is equality in difference. We are used to equality for people who are enough like us, but when others are significantly different and we have to stretch our imaginations to walk in their shoes, we a lazily inclined to not treat them as our equals. The parable of Jesus about those hired at different times of the day and all receiving the same pay, scandalizes those who worked the longest. Sometimes we use our logic to say that we deserve a different status than others. Our country needs to promote actual economic effort to bring up to equality those who have been long diminished because they had the difference of being poor, and being born as heirs of slaves. We have never implemented restorative justice which would be a true expression of equality in difference.

Aphorism of the Day, September 13, 2020
One might chuckle at some of St. Paul's dietary reflections, as in, "while the weak only eat vegetables." If we regard the words of the Bible as being universally valid in assuming God through Paul is saying to all vegetarians, "you're weak," then we have a very strange view of Scripture. Scriptures contain the quotidian personal opinions of people in the contexts of their situations and it is silly to generalize most of the words of Scriptures as rising to the level of a categorical imperative. It is true to say that Scriptures contain the human quotidian, but the content of the quotidian should just be regarded as quotidian. It's okay to see the mundane as inspired in the sense that it is a revealing of someone's honest opinion; one doesn't have to accept the validity of the mundane content to affirm the honest speaking of one's opinion. This means that everyone censors the Holy Scriptures in coming to individual hierarchies of what and how words are particularly meaningful to one at a particular time. And one can admit one's own hierarchies of "relevant" meanings without taking the scissors to the Gospels as Thomas Jefferson did because he could not accept meaning that expressed events which could not be empirically verified in compliance with natural laws. If he could have accepted that meaningful truths often are artful spiritual words to poetically touch the soul, he could have saved himself some editing. But people in every age have been defending biblical words in the wrong genre to the scorn of the verificationists, like Jefferson.

Aphorism of the Day, September 12, 2020
In a certain way, no sin is "forgivable" in the sense that God, "it's really okay that you did bad since in forgiveness I will give up my high standard to forgive you." Forgiveness is for the person, not for okaying the sin; forgiveness is not giving up on relationship when people have failed each other. Forgiveness is about continuing in relationship. The causal effects of sin linger which means that the sins themselves are not "forgivable, only the repentant person who did the sin." The people of the world have experience lots of forgiveness even while the effects of sin linger with often devastating collateral damage.

Aphorism of the Day, September 11, 2020
The Psalmist states the Lord is full of compassion and mercy. If that is God's nature, then we too are to be full of compassion and mercy. Mercy is best known in the practice of forgiveness. The great human sin is not our perpetual imperfections, it is the failure to practice mercy. The human community survives best when people practice mercy. This isn't a carte blanche for sin because we have the abounding grace of God known through mercy. It is the tough mercy of forgiveness actually being activated by willingness to amend our lives toward being better today than yesterday.

Aphorism of the Day, September 10, 2020
Apparently, the policy of Jesus on forgiveness is a reciprocal dynamic. "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." This is supported in the unforgiving servant who experienced forgiveness and then would not forgive someone who owed him. People who want to be "cut some slack" in their own foibles who in turn lower the boom upon others are those hypocrites who act out of self service rather than building relationships within community.

Aphorism of the Day, September 9, 2020
The parable of financial indebted is used by Jesus to illustrate sin and forgiveness. The great metaphor is about human stewardship; we are God's share croppers commissioned to take care of the world and each other and acknowledge the true owner of all through worship and thanksgiving. We often fail in this contractual stewardship relationship and our relationship with God, others and creation can suffer until it is righted. Wrong relationship behaviors define sin; sin, according to justice cannot be forgiven in the sense that the entire justice system cannot suddenly define a bad behavior as good. The sinner can be forgiven because God is mainly about us being in right relationship with the Divine and with each other. We forgive because we know we are forgiven. A person who does not believe in the need for forgiveness is the the one who lives in a distorted stewardship role with God and others, as a rule unto himself. Such a one lives in impiety and sociopathically.

Aphorism of the Day, September 8, 2020
How many times do I have to forgive my brother? Seventy-seven times. If one is in a family and a community continuously for an extended time, one certainly may have to easily be forgiven and forgive seventy-seven times. When comes to sin, there are sins against the religious laws, against piety, against civil laws, family rules but there is also the laws of sensitivities and taste that are uniquely individual. Each of us have our own "conscious or unconscious" rules which might make us believe that people sin against us. Individual taste and sensitivities often conflict and so we can often sin against each other and be in need of confession. The greater issue is the maintenance of relationship which involves knowing each others sensitivities so that people learn not to offend by knowing how and where to step. The purpose of forgiveness is to believe in relationship to continue to get to know each other better and learn how to tango without stepping on the other person's toes.

Aphorism of the Day, September 7, 2020
The issue of sin and forgiveness recurs in the Gospels with sayings of Jesus. This is indicative of the "all too human nature of the church and her members," even while they strive for an unreachable standard of the perfection of God in heaven. We can never give up the high standards even while we can never attain them and living this way should make us humble in being "recovering hypocrites." We "recovering" since we maintain the high standard without reaching it and as a result we forgive other who recovering hypocrisy incidences are just a bit different than one's own.

Aphorism of the Day, September 6, 2020
The phrase, "if a member of the church sins against you....." opens up a can of worms. If two members share a common moral system and there is an interaction which causes one offense, the problem arises when the "offender" does not seem to recognize the offense and so it is a "one-sided" interpretation. Obviously, if the offense is very blatant then it a different matter. Police often find mediating a domestic dispute to be the most troubling experiences, since there can seem to be "no-win" immediate outcomes. The domestic disputes within a church family reveal that the church whose standard of love is so high that when members are "all too human," mediation methods are needed. The promise of Jesus was that he as the Risen Christ would be present in the messy mediation of the "in-house, and domestic" problems of the church. The historical truth is that "in-house" disputes lead to the formation of competing congregations on the blocks down the street. Today parishes are divided in unspoken ways by political loyalties outside of the parish which is a great challenge to realizing "Christ being with the two or three gathered."

Aphorism of the Day, September 5, 2020
Love fulfills the Law, writes Paul. Paul can seem almost antinomian in his letter to the Romans. Are laws the forced behaviors of a society that we embrace to avoid punishment, and as a result we actually behave better and thus deserve the kingdom of God? Because we are good citizens who follow the law, does that make us better than those who don't? Maybe just better citizens and more law-abiding. Paul's trouble with the "law" seems to be with how the community of his upbringing used their "exclusive" access to the Law/Torah as a means of making them exclusive recipients of God's favor, also known as salvation. Love and justice have more to do with inner Spirit of lawful behaviors and the motives for why we do anything. I think Paul's conclusion is that we need grace to act "lawfully" with good behaviors from the motives of love and justice. Accessing the grace of love is to know the favored status with God, not having the accident of being born into a community that was privileged to teach and promulgate Torah behaviors for all of its members.

Aphorism of the Day, September 4, 2020
"Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst." This expresses the transference of the physical presence of Jesus into the spiritual and mystical presence of the Risen Christ within the gathering creating the church as the "alter Christus."

Aphorism of the Day, September 3, 2020
Why does Jesus say "if a member of the church sins against you" when in his time there was no church? This is an indication of the Matthean Gospel writer or editors translating perhaps a saying into the language use in the time when the church actually was a social reality. Speaking in the name of Jesus means that the early preachers believed their identity with the Risen Christ was so profound, that they could be the oracle of Christ in a new time and place and such words from the preacher as oracle of Christ, were then included in Gospel writings in seeming to be "actual" words of Jesus in his own time, even though he spoke Aramaic and the church did not yet exist. We can hold to the inspiration of the Gospel without misrepresenting them with dishonest scholarship.

Aphorism of the Day, September 2, 2020
How was "my word against your word" to be solved in the Jesus Movement? The person with disagree are asked to air them within a community which shares a "persuasion" about the importance of Christ. They ask for the wisdom to "solve" the disagreement, not to change the minds of those who disagree but to forge the best way to remain in peaceful future relationship as a community. It may mean that every event submitted to the Christian jury requires "degrees of checking one's ego at the door." Sometimes one party has to check one's ego more signified by the acceptance of the decision of the Christian "jury."

Aphorism of the Day, September 1, 2020
The Christ-saying for "democracy" as expression of group wisdom is noted in the logia, "where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them." The assumption in the saying is that persons taking the "name of Christ," actually have disagreements which need to be dealt with in the community. The Christ in different people comes to the Christ of agreed upon action between different people is the group wisdom of "Christian democracy." What has/ is called "conciliar" Christianity is another expression of this "Christian democracy" made functional through collegial decisions on community matters of faith and practice. The Enlightenment and Modern Period might be expressed this way: "where two or three people are a gathered being possessed by the gift of Reason, a group wisdom, a democratic wisdom will be made known on matters of community practice. In democracy today, Christ-ophiles assume that Christ is center to one's life and Reason has a subordinate function role to Spirit. The problem is that modern reason contradicts many of the Scripture events because they don't conform to methods of empirical verification. And so it would seem that the Reason of Science is regarded to be superior to the reason of Holy Scriptures. Postmodern Christliness as Word is God, means that one must sort out "in discursive" analysis the seeming barriers which have arisen in democratic outcomes expressing the "objective truth" of the "voting community." As romantic as it may seem and a gushy devotional it may seem to quote the saying, "where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them," it really should be noted that it is an admission that the presence of Christ can be known within a "messy" family dispute. And this "presence" is true to "differences."

Quiz of the Day, September, 2020

Quiz of the Day, September 30, 2020

Which scholar was responsible for the Bible translation known as the Vulgate?

a. Thomas Aquinas

b. Albert Magnus

c. Jerome

d. Anselm

Quiz of the Day, September 29. 2020

Which angels are found in the canonical biblical writings?

a. Raphael, Gabriel and Michael

b. Azrael, Uriel, Michael and Gabriel

c. Michael and Gabriel

d. Jacob, Gabriel and Michal

Quiz of the Day, September 28, 2020

"Jesus said, it is more blessed to give than to receive."  Where is this found in the Bible?

a. Mark

b. Matthew

c. Luke

d. John

e. Acts of the Apostles

Quiz of the the Day, September 27, 2020

The metaphor of the prophet Hosea is built around his relationship with whom?

a. Gomer

b. his wife

c. a prostitute

d. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, September 26, 2020

What is the worst thing that happen during a sermon of Paul?

a. he got bit by a snake

b. a young man fell asleep and fell out of an open window

c. people called him Hermes

d. he was asked to leave town

Quiz of the Day, September 25, 2020

The ancient city of Susa is located in what modern day country?

a. Iraq

b. Turkey

c. Syria

d. Iran

Quiz of the Day, September 24, 2020

What does purim refer to?

a. lots cast by Haman to determine day to begin genocie

b. stones for a Persian game

c. stones used by diviners to tell the future

d. the pearls that Esther wore

Quiz of the Day, September 23, 2020

Why was Mordecai honored by the king?

a. he was Esther's uncle

b. he revealed a plot to kill the king

c. he wrote a poem praise to the king

d. he rallied the Jews to support the king

Quiz of the Day, September 22, 2020

Haman might be associated best with which of the following:

a. accusation

b. genocide

c. politics

d. military power

Quiz of the Day, September 21, 2020

Levi, a tax collector may have also been whom?

a. Nathaniel

b. Matthew

c. Zacchaeus

d. Thaddeus 

Quiz of the Day, September 20, 2020

Which Jewish feast derives from the story of Esther?

a. Yom Kippur

b. Passover

c. Sukkot

d. Purim

Quiz of the Day, September 19, 2020

How many times is God named in the book of Esther? 

a. 0

b. 1

c. 2

d. 3

e. 4

Quiz of the Day, September 18, 2020

What prophet was imprisoned in a cistern and may have written Psalm 69 which states, "save me from the mire; do not let me sink?"

a. Isaiah

b. Jeremiah

c. Joel

d. Hosea

Quiz of the Day, September 17, 2020

Which of the following is not true of Hildegard of Bingen?

a. she was a mystic

b. she is a Doctor of the Church

c. she has been canonized as a saint

d. she composed and wrote music

e. she was a Dominican nun

Quiz of the Day, September 16, 2020

What is the most off-putting aspect of the Job story?

a. Job's suffering involve a wager between God and Satan

b. Job's friends give easy answers to Job's ills

c. Job's loss of everything

d. hard to choose from a, b, or c

Quiz of the Day, September 15, 2020

Which book of the Bible seems to have a accurate description of a hippopotomus?

a. Genesis

b. Psalms

c. Job

d. Proverbs

Quiz of the Day, September 14, 2020

What person is most responsible for the origin of the Feast of the Holy Cross?

a. St. Paul

b. St. Jerome

c. Pope Leo the Great

d. Helena, mother of Constantine

Quiz of the Day, September 13, 2020

What city did John the Divine see as fallen in his vision?

a. Rome

b. Jerusalem

c. Babylon

d. Laodicea

Quiz of the Day, September 12, 2020

How did God speak to Job?

a. from a burning bush

b. through an angel

c. in a still small voice

d. out of a whirlwind

Quiz of the Day, September 11, 2020

Where is it written that Jesus wept?

a. in his death on the cross

b. in the Garden of Gethsemane

c. at the tomb of Lazarus

d. in mourning the conditions of Jerusalem

Quiz of the Day, September 10, 2020

Who said, "If you had been here my brother would not have died?"

a. Mary

b. Martha

c. unnamed Centurion

d. a and b

Quiz of the Day, September 9,2020

The Martyrs of Memphis were made such by what?

a. a plague in Egypt

b. tending for those with Yellow Fever

c. the Bubonic plague

d. by being abolitionists

Quiz of the Day, September 8, 2020

What Greek god was St. Paul once called by a crowd?

a. Zeus

b. Apollo

c. Hermes

d. Poseidon

Quiz of the Day, September 7, 2020

What does the Book of Common Prayer provide for the observance of Labor Day?

a. a liturgy for the "ordaining" of lay vocation

b. Commissioning liturgies for all labor in the Book of Occasional Service.

c. A Collect in Rite I language only

d. A Collect in Rite II language only

e. A Collect in both Rite I and II language

Quiz of the Day, September 6, 2020

Which of the following is not in the Gospel of John?

a. signs

b. "I am" sayings

c. exorcisms

d. allegories

Quiz of the Day, September 5, 2020

Which of the following does not follow an "I am" saying of Jesus in the Gospel of John?

a. light

b. love

c. resurrection

d. light

e. good shepherd

f.  gate

g. truth

Quiz of the Day, September 4, 2020

"I know that my redeemer lives," is found where in the Bible?

a. Revelations

b. Isaiah

c. Ezekiel

d. Job

Quiz of the Day, September 3, 2020

Which of the following is not true about Phoebe?

a. she was a deacon

b. she was a patron of the church

c. she delivered messages to Rome for Paul

d. she was healed by Paul

Quiz of the Day, September 2, 2020

Who was struck dead when a crowd of people yelled about him, "the voice of a god!"

a. Simon Magus

b. Ananias

c. Sapphira

d. Herod

Quiz of the Day, September 1, 2020

Jesus is cited as saying there is a "father of lies."  Who is it?

a. his religious opponents
b. Judas Iscariot
c. the devil
d. Lucifer

The Authority of Charismatic Kindness

17 Pentecost, a p 21, September 27, 2020

Exodus 17:1-7 Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16
Philippians 2:1-13 Matthew 21:23-32

Lectionary Link

Do you know what can often make us jealous, if we are insecure?  The charisma of someone else, especially if they are in our own field of "expertise."  We might have the degrees and the positions of authority, but then someone comes along who just is so charismatic that they get through to people and get such a response, that it makes us a bit jealous.  A real sign of emotional and spiritual maturity is when one can rejoice in the gifts and charisma of other people, especially if it is being used to help people and made them better.

Today, appointed Gospel is an argument motivated by jealousy.  Religious leaders were jealous of the appeal and the effectiveness of the ministry of Jesus.  They were jealous because they saw the response of people to his ministry of teaching and healing, and his ministry inclusion which included the declaration of sins forgiven.

"Jesus, where do you get the authority to practice your ministry, your teaching, your healing?  Show us your Seminary Diploma.  Did you graduate from the Shammai or Hillel rabbinical tradition?  We know that you didn't, so what gives you permission to teach without being licensed by us?"

Now the answer in John's Gospel to this was: "I do the work that my Father gave me to do."  But in this Matthew account, he did not want to play their game.  He only exposed their jealousy.  

"You want to know about my authority?  Well, what about John the Baptist?  In his authority, he required everyone to get baptized, even you observant Jews.  Was his authority to require baptism from God or was it just his own charismatic whim?"

Jesus stumped them because they only thought politically.  "If we say John's baptism is not from God, we have to worry about his popularity among the people.  And if we say John's baptism is from God, then we would have to accept the charismatic authority of Jesus to teach, preach, heal and declare the forgiveness of sins."

Then Jesus told a parable to contrast the end results of religious authority.  One type of religious authority resulted in hypocrisy.  The other type of authority resulted in a person repenting and changing his life.

Jesus was implying that some religious authority was a public proclamation of doing God's will, but in the practice of love and justice, God's will was not obeyed.  So, one could be religiously and ritually observant seeming to be say, "yes" to God, but then in one's actual behaviors one could be a complete hypocrite.

The charismatic authority of Jesus was appealing to the people who were publicly saying "no" to God, but in their actions they were converted to repentance and doing the right thing.

What is the conclusion?  Do we have the grace of charismatic authority to appeal to people's lives to change their lives?  Changed from being avowed deniers of God into being repentant people engaged in do acts of obedience to the Good News of God in Christ?

Jesus was saying, "authority is the charisma to help people change their no words, into yes actions."    And that is the kind of charismatic authority which we seek.  Charismatic means grace filled; we are charismatic when we can live the love and kindness of God before others in such a way that they want to become better people.

How does this happen?  The Christological hymn of St. Paul about Jesus gives us some insights.  Jesus is God emptied in human life; God reduced for humans to perceive and understand that God wants us to live up to the divine image on our lives.  God, in Jesus, is the invitation to find our Good News and change our negative words and experience the power of doing positive deeds.

You and I need to find through identity with Christ this emptying method; it is when we can empty our egos by making them fluid and encompassing in a way to let other people in so that they can be won by kindness, acceptance and love.

God has won us in Jesus by emptying the divine life into human form.  We too, are called to empty ourselves so that we can live our lives with winsome appeals to others so that they can know that they want to be better.

Today, you and I are invited to find the authority of the charisma of love and kindness in our lives.  It is an authority that cannot show up on a diploma or certificate.  It is the authority of winsome kindness, which cannot be faked.  Let us empty ourselves today so that the authority of charismatic kindness can be winsome in the lives of others today.  Amen.