Aphorism of the Day, June 2023

Aphorism of the Day, June 30, 2023

Deconstruction is like refreezing ice cubes in lake water.  One holds to the illusion of the solidity of the text even while the text is being dissolved while in the process of re--texting new "solidity" from the surrounding lake of words.

Aphorism of the Day, June 29, 2023

When writing about the "past" in the present, creeping anachronism of the present in text about the past is unavoidable.  One cannot avoid the place one is in time when one writes about "another" time. 

Aphorism of the Day, June 28, 2023

Plain reading or meaning of Scripture assumes continuous unbroken universal same language contexts through time avoiding the specifics which influence how meanings are constituted in a reading situation.

Aphorism of the Day, June 27, 2023

St. Paul's letter to the Romans includes a mystical practice to sublimate or rearrange one's desires to become an engine to do good things instead of bad things.  Finding the Holy Spirit, according to Paul, is the ability to experience agency toward what is good and better than we were before.

Aphorism of the Day, June 26, 2023

Mutual welcome, mutual hospitality expresses what an ideal state of human communion might be.  The intentional expression of belonging together should be the human symphony of unity in differences.

Aphorism of the Day, June 25, 2023

Texts like the Gospel can give the impression that writing as a technology of memory can fix the meanings of the words forever.  Texts as fixed meanings is the illusion of infallibility which some church leaders use to fix church administrative behaviors.  "This texts is saying what I need it to say for the authority of practice within my community."  Perhaps we should regard holy texts as open texts seeking to enlighten us toward what justice would mean in our new settings.

Aphorism of the Day, June 24, 2023

Religious identity is mostly a poetic ideology which provides a story identity for cohesive formation and maintenance of community.  What is empirically verified by poetry is not the text but the effects upon the readers/participants behaviors.

Aphorism of the Day, June 23, 2023

The word peace used by Jesus is contrastive; on one hand it can mean the lack of warfare and conflict, on the other, it can refer to a fruit of Spirit inner calmness which can be known within conflictive situations of life.

Aphorism of the Day, June 22, 2023

Peace cannot be a static condition which denies becoming and change.  Peace needs to understood as an adjustment to the continual conditions of change and that also means some conflictive difference between conditions of injustice and better future justice.

Aphorism of the Day, June 21, 2023

Dynamic peace needs to include the ability of adaptive change to new circumstances and new paradigm particularly when the issue is the application of justice in new situations.  Finding new application of justice does not always involve seeming peace.

Aphorism of the Day, June 20, 2023

The words of Jesus in the Gospels highlight family discord regarding faith paradigms.  Each person has their own constitution regarding their pacing through the faith paradigms relevant to their own perceived progress.  Hence there always seem to be people divided over having a God in common.

Aphorism of the Day, June 19, 2023

"I did not come to bring peace."  Peace as the status quo of conditions of injustice continually need to be disrupted with "good trouble."

Aphorism of the Day, June 18, 2023

"Wise as serpents and innocent as doves."  This describes the need to be fully disillusioned with humanity in its weakness, but completely gentle without cynicism for being all too human.

Aphorism of the Day, June 17, 2023

Something which belongs to all, especially when many are ignorant of their inheritance, needs executors of God's will to promulgate and inform the intended recipient.  Jesus was the executor of God's standing Will for all humanity and he found that many were not informed of their inheritance.

Aphorism of the Day, June 16, 2023

Being languaged-beings means that we are multi-discursive and this means we can be poets and scientists at the same time.  The confusion and conflict happens when poets treat their discourse as science and when scientists deny the meaningful truth values of entertaining poetry.  Some religionists are afraid to admit that religious discourse is part of their aesthetic entertainment just as some scientists might dismiss the meaningful truth value of artistic products which benefit and inspire the morals and ethics of our cultures.

Aphorism of the Day, June 15, 2023

The basic message of Jesus was about the always already Realm of God, the total field of Plenitude in which we live and move and have our being, and Jesus taught that we should not be isolated in our minds from knowing it.

Aphorism of the Day, June 14, 2023

Love requires strategies, tactics, action plans, and actions, as well as spontaneous love acts, to keep from being a good theory of Christian living.

Aphorism of the Day, June 13, 2023

Having faith is more accessible than saying "I am spiritual," because faith as persuasion is more easily known in what we are persuaded about.  With an inventory of one's values, one can find out rather easily one's persuasions.  Spiritual is a rather elusive term.

Aphorism of the Day, June 12, 2023

The use of the word faith should be returned to its Aristotelian roots in his Rhetoric, meaning "persuasion."  Faith is what one is persuaded about and everyone lives a persuaded lives.  Once we acknowledge living persuaded live, we can look at the sources, goals, and objects of our persuasions.

Aphorism of the Day, June 11, 2023

Sin and repentance involves accepting that we live in time and in sequence, we can be better than we have been before.  Time does not allow a static plateau of having been perfect, because perfection is always deferred to the future and know as simply being more complete.

Aphorism of the Day, June 10, 2023

Human systems seem to reach their level of incompetence when they have to negotiate within too much diversity of interests and needs of constituents.  While we proclaim that Love will find a way, we must work hard at strategies of justice.

Aphorism of the Day, June 9, 2023

The words of Jesus in the Gospels are mostly against people whose sense of entitled rightness did not allow others into their righteous club.

Aphorism of the Day, June 8, 2023

Jesus said he came to call sinners and not the righteous.  But isn't thinking that one is righteous, a chief sin and therefore worthy to be called to be dislodged from the sin of thinking one is righteous?  The words of Jesus can be deconstructed from being simplistic binaries.

Aphorism of the Day, June 7, 2023

Physician, heal thyself.  Sometimes one can be blindingly hypocritical in one's own profession, like doctors and nurses smoking outside hospital doors.  Learning to practice what we preach is a life long goal.

Aphorism of the Day, June 6, 2023

One can easily retreat to mystery as an excuse not to act or do something, waiting for more perfect and fuller information.  Mystery is not supposed to suppress the actions for love and justice needed now.

Aphorism of the Day, June 5, 2023

Is it an oxymoron to say a mystery is revealed, meaning that it is revealed that the Trinity is a mystery?   If something remains a mystery, has the content of the mystery been revealed?

Aphorism of the Day, June 4, 2023

The Trinity is an insight which has come to language as a paradigmatic way of to conceive of the divine as relational essence.

Aphorism of the Day, June 3, 2023

Trinity is a mode of relationship living which tries to unfold in sequential time something which can't be done with synchronicity, i.e., everything, everyone, everyone, all at one.

Aphorism of the Day, June 2, 2023

The Trinity is an insightful metaphor in using language to speak about how Plenitude becomes particularized in human experience, particularly in the insights about the Jesus traditions about God.  We cannot make idols out of metaphors even as we cannot ignore their genuine insights.

Aphorism of the Day, June 1, 2023

St. Paul wrote about the "communion" of the Holy Spirit.  Holy Spirit is the conducting essence between in the best mutual appreciative regard. 

Quiz of the Day, June 2023

Quiz of the Day, June 30, 2023

What animal would be most associated with Saul becoming the first king of Israel?

a. sheep

b. eagle

c. donkey

d. horse

Quiz of the Day, June 29, 2023

What saints share a feast day but also have individual days which mark specific events in their lives?

a. Cyril and Methodius

b. Philip and James

c. Priscilla and Aquila

d. Paul and Peter

Quiz of the Day, June 28, 2023

Of the following, who was the one who would most likely recommend the "plain reading or meaning" of the Gospel as the preferred reading?

a. Origen

b. Augustine of Hippo

c. Irenaeus

d. Clement of Alexandria

Quiz of the Day, June 27, 2023

What did the Philistines craft to end a plague in their territory?

a. golden mice

b. golden frogs

c. golden tumors

d. golden hail stones

e. golden flowers

f. all of the above

g. a and b

h. a and c

Quiz of the Day, June 26, 2023

What enemy of Israel once captured the sacred Ark of the Covenant?

a. Perizzites

b. Ammonites

c. Jebusites

d. Philistines

Quiz of the Day, June 25, 2023

What child was given a name indicating a judgment against Israel?

a. Samuel

b. Ichabod

c. Emmanuel

d. Solomon

Quiz of the Day, June 24, 2023

Which of the following groups would have been most likely to become followers of Jesus?

a. Sadducees

b. Pharisees

c. Zealots

d. John the Baptist's community

e. Essenes

Quiz of the Day, June 23, 2023

Who is the "Father of faith" for St. Paul?

a. Adam

b. Moses

c. David

d. Abraham

e. Jesus

f. Melchizedek

Quiz of the Day, June 22, 2023

Which of the following would be a Hebrew word for the afterlife?

a. ouranos

b. paradise

c. Sheol

d. Hades

e. Tartarus

Quiz of the Day, June 21, 2023

Who were Hophni and Phineas?

a. sons of Samuel

b. sons of Eli

c. sons of David

d. son of Moses

Quiz of the Day, June 20, 2023

Where was the "house of Lord" where Eli and Samuel served?

a. Jerusalem

b. Hebron

c. Bethel

d. Dan

e. Shiloh

Quiz of the Day, June 19, 2023

Of the following who was not accused of being inebriated or drunkenness?

a. Jesus

b. Disciples of Jesus

c. Hannah

d. John the Baptist

Quiz of the Day, June 18, 2023

What did the seven angels have in the vision of St. John the Divine?

a. candlesticks

b. spirits

c. plagues

d. churches

e. horses

Quiz of the Day, June 17, 2023

What woman saint lived as a monk and whose "gender" was not known until s/he died?

a. Macrina

b. Marina

c. Isidore

d. Barbara

Quiz of the Day, June 16, 2023

Who was the first High Priest of Israel?

a. Moses

b. Aaron

c. Melchizedek

d. Eli

Quiz of the Day, June 15, 2023

What Anglican might be credited with rescuing the word "mystic" from being "kooky?"

a. Charles William

b. C. S. Lewis

c. Evelyn Underhill

d. Willam Law

Quiz of the Day, June 14, 2023

How many times was St. Paul ship wrecked?

a. 1

b. 2

c. 3

d. 4

Quiz of the Day, June 13, 2023

Of the following, which is not associated with a tree?

a. Jesus

b. Nathaniel

c. Zacchaeus

d. Boaz

e. Absolam

Quiz of the Day, June 12, 2023

Which Gospel does not have list of 12 disciples?

a. Matthew

b. Mark

c. Luke

d. John

Quiz of the Day, June 11, 2023

What can a dragon be found in the Bible?

a. Ezekiel

b. Job

c. Psalms

d. Revelation

Quiz of the Day, June 10, 2023

In what order of ministry did Ephrem of Nisibis serve?

a. lay

b. diaconate

c. presbyterate

d. episcopate

Quiz of the Day, June 9, 2023

St. Columba was born where?

a. in Ireland

b. in Scotland

c. on Iona

d. in England

Quiz of the Day, June 8, 2023

Where was the location of the call of Christ to Matthew?

a. at the Sea Galilee

b. synagogue in Capernaum

c. at a tax booth

d. in the Temple complex in Jerusalem

Quiz of the Day, June 7, 2023

Which of the following is not found in the Bible?

a. polytheism

b. henotheism

c. Deism

d. monotheism

Quiz of the Day, June 6, 2023

To be cast into the sea with a milestone around one's neck is the punishment recommended by Jesus for what?

a. the sin of pride

b. causing a child to stumble

c. blaspheming the Holy Spirit

d. drunkenness

Quiz of the Day, June 5, 2023

In the parables of Jesus, a mustard seed is a metaphor for what?

a. sins

b. faith

c. good works

d. a miracle

Quiz of the Day, June 4, 2023

Where is it written that God is greater than all the divine works, and "He is All?"

a. Psalms

b. Proverb

c. Ecclesiastes

c. Ecclesiasticus

Quiz of the Day, June 3, 2023

Which of the following is not true about Lazarus in the New Testament?

a. there are two men named Lazarus

b. one Lazarus is a story figure of Jesus

c. one Lazarus was brought back to life

d. Lazarus died of leprosy

e. Lazarus had two sisters

f. Lazarus lived in Bethany

Quiz of the Day, June 2, 2023

In what two books of the Bible can the "10 Commandments" be found?

a.Genesis and Exodus

b.Exodus and Deuteronomy

c.Exodus and Proverbs

d.Exodus and the Psalms

Quiz of the Day, June 1, 2023

What biblical man wore a veil?

a. Cain
b. Joseph
c. Moses
d. Daniel
e. David

Sunday School, July 2, 2023, 5 Pentecost, A proper 8

 Sunday School, July 2, 2023,   5 Pentecost, A proper 8

Theme:  Passing on Identity

Life is about receiving identity and passing it on.

We are born into a family, and we have family identity.  We have birth certificates and we are raised by family member who teach us who we are and where we have come from.

We have a citizenship identity as Americans.  How do we know that we are Americans?  We were born here or we applied for and received our citizenship.  We learn about our heritage and our fathers and mothers pass on citizenship to us.  We may have citizenship but we still need to practice citizenship by obeying the laws of our country.

What about our Christian identity?  How did we receive it?  Someone shared with us the life of Jesus Christ.  And we have welcomed the message of Jesus Christ as our life identity.

Jesus told his disciples that “whoever welcomed them were also welcoming him.”  For two thousand years people have been sharing the life of Jesus Christ with others.  And when we welcome the people who bring us the message of Christ, we are welcoming Jesus Christ.  In this way, the church has stayed alive and grown for two years, because we believe the presence of Christ is passed on as we share it with people.

Remember when we share Jesus Christ with other people; Christ is present and is being welcomed into the future life of other people

Sermon:

  Jesus said to his friends, “Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me.”

  How many of you are alone?  Are you a son or a daughter?  Are you a brother or sister?  Are you a mom or dad?  Are you someone’s friend?

  Even though we each have a name and we are each different from one another, we also know ourselves from our relationships with one another.

  Something happened to me when I got married.  I used to be  Phil, but suddenly lots of people were calling me Karen’s husband.  Something else happened to me when I had children.  Lots of people started called me Tessa’s dad or Simon’s dad.  So I used to be just Phil, but then I became Karen’s husband, Tessa’s dad and Simon’s dad.  What happened to me?

  I became very close to other people; so close that I sometimes would lose my name in them.

  Let me tell you how close this feeling was.  Did you know that when someone did something nice to my children or to my wife, I actually thought that they were doing it to me too?  That how close I felt with them.

  So when Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me.”  That is how close Jesus felt with his friends.

  And that is how close Jesus wants to feel with us.  And that is how close Jesus wants us to feel with each other.

  When God sees us doing nice things for each other, God feels like we are doing these things for him.  Jesus called God is father.  And Jesus invited us to live as a part of God’s family and live so close that when we do things for each other, we are doing them for God and for Jesus.

   In the church, we celebrate the fact that we are part of God’s family.  And when we welcome each other, we are pleasing Jesus, because each time we welcome someone, each time we do a kind deed, each time we love one another, we are doing it to Christ.

  Now do you understand how close Jesus wanted to be with his friends?  Do you understand how we are live together as friends?  It means we share our lives with each other.  If you are sad, then all of feel your sadness.  And if you are joyful, then all of us feel you happiness.  Why?  Because God has put us together to be the family of Christ in this place.

  Just remember when someone does something nice to you, your parents feel so joyful; because they know that if someone is nice to you, they are also nice to them.

  And that kind of feeling together, is the feeling that Jesus gave to the church.  Let us learn how to feel together for one another as we were taught by Christ.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

July 2, 2023: The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Jesus Loves the Little Children, The Butterfly Song, There is a Redeemer, Soon and Very Soon

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: Jesus Loves the Little Children, (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 140)

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. 

Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in his sight. 

Jesus love the little children of the world.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; 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

A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans

Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.  No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness.  For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.  

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 13

But I put my trust in your mercy; * my heart is joyful because of your saving help.

I will sing to the LORD, for he has dealt with me richly; * I will praise the Name of the Lord Most High.

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, "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple-- truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People:            And also with you.

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

Offertory Song: Butterfly Song (Christian Children’s Songbook # 9)

If I were a butterfly, I’d thank you Lord for giving me wings.  If I were a robin in a tree, I’d thank you Lord that I could sing.  If I were a fish in the sea, I’d wiggle my tail and I’d giggle with glee but I just thank you father for making me, me.  Refrain: For you gave me a heart and you gave me a smile, you gave me Jesus and you made me your child.  And I just thank you father for making me me.

If I were an elephant, I’d thank you Lord by raising my trunk.  And I I were a kangaroo, you know I’d hop right up to you.  If I were an octopus, I’d thank you Lord for my fine looks, and I just thank you Father for making me, me. Refrain

If I were a wiggly worm, I’d thank you Lord that I could squirm.  If I were a billy goat, I’d thank you Lord for my strong throat.  And if I were a fuzzy wuzzy bear, I’d thank you Lord for my fuzzy wuzzy hair, and I just thank you Father for making me, me.  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,

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

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

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song: There is a Redeemer (Renew!  # 232)

There is a redeemer, Jesus, God’s own Son, precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One.  Refrain: Thank you, O my Father, for giving us your Son; and leaving your Spirit til the work on earth is done.

Jesus, my Redeemer, name above all names, precious Lamb or God, Messiah, hope for sinners slain.  Refrain

When I stand in glory I will see His face, there I’ll serve my King forever, in that holy place.  Refrain

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: Soon and Very Soon (Renew! # 276)

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

No more dying there, we are going to see the king; no more dying there, we are going to see the king.  No more dying there, we are going to see the king.  Hallelujah, hallelujah, we are going to see the king.

Dismissal:   

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

People:      Thanks be to God! 

  

Peaceful Transition?

4 Pentecost, A p 7, June 25, 2023
Gen. 21:8-21 Ps. 86:1-10, 16-17
Rom. 6:1b-11 Matt. 10:24-39

Lectionary Link

Until January 6th of 2021, the people of the United States touted our peaceful transition in the change of political administrations as proof of the strength of our form of democratic governance.

What the passage of time and what our Gospel reading today reveals is that peace can be a very ironic notion.

We can wax poetic like old hippies crying, "Peace out."  We can pass the peace in our liturgies even while the conditions in our temporal situations can betray the reality of peace.

Churches for hundreds of year passed the peace in their liturgies while retaining slaves, subjugating indigenous peoples and women, and making unjust war.  The irony of peace begs the question, peace for whom, and how is that peace actualized?

The Gospel words of Jesus indicate to us that the Jesus Movement was warned about the complacency, the irony, and ambiguity of preconceived notions of peace.

The Jesus Movement was a sect of Judaism which was often in conflict with the more established groups of Jews associated with the synagogues.

While the channelled words of the Risen Christ were saying to their community, "Peace be with you," it was obvious that many other people were saying, "Woe be unto you, and we wish you no success at all."  And some of those unconverted foes were in fact members of one's own family.

The big peace question for the Jesus Movement and for people in all ages and for us today, is this, "How is God's peace compatible with time and change?"

Our romantic notions of peace seem to present it as a perpetually sweet, calm sleeping baby, free of any conflict and totally protected by shielding parents.  But the passage of time and change does not allow peace to be constituted as a static state of sameness.

How is that we can conceive of a peace which is compatible with change in the passage of time?

I would submit that a more realistic notion of peace would be the continuing healing energy of justice seeking actual realization in life situations where justice has not yet been fully realized.

Such a notion of peace has to be understood as a process of peace when the world is seeking to be better healed by the practice of justice.

Peace is the hopeful not yet fully realized justice and includes our continual aspiration for a better justice for people.  Such peace can be very naive since there are many who seek no enlightened justice but only their own greedy control and comfort.  Some do not want the complacency of their current comfort upset by the vision of being much better human beings toward God and other human beings.

Wanting to be better upsets the settled satisfied comfortable souls whose comfort often resides upon the discomfort of those without means of wealth, knowledge, and power to provide for their own comfort.

While this dynamic notion of peace may seem to be a very challenging relationship to time and change; we should not forget to balance the outer apparent manifestations of peaceful and non-peaceful conditions with the interior notion of a deep, deep rest.

The interior notions of a deep, deep rest, a silence, can be the analgesic to tolerate the surface waves in the life ocean of time and change.

I believe the Gospel words which were channeled by the early Jesus Movement were words to get their members to be realistic about the rather profound changes which were happening within Judaism as the various communities resided within the world controlled by the Roman Empire.

The Gospel of peace for us is this:  God's peace is compatible with dynamic change as we as individuals and community try to surpass ourselves in justice in our future states.  The discomfort of the upsetting our our complacent underdeveloped states of justice, is complemented with the deep sense of Holy Spirit's interior rest which is our solid anchor amid so many surface conflicts.

May God help us to embrace peaceful transitions in our lives as we are always trying to surpass ourselves in the practice of love and justice.  Amen.