Sunday School, November 17, 2024 26 Pentecost, B proper 28

  Sunday School, November 17, 2024    26 Pentecost, B proper 28

Theme

How people are more than their important buildings

Think about this?

What if your home was destroyed or burned down?  Would you feel badly?  Yes, of course.  How would Americans feel if the White House of the Capitol were destroyed?  Really sad.  And if these important buildings were destroyed by an attack by people who hated us, we would feel not only sad but angry.

If our home is destroyed but all of the members of our family are safe, then we would be relieved because a house is just a building which can be rebuilt.  A home is a house which belongs to one’s family, if a family is still alive and together, a family can build another house and make the house into a new home.

The most important building in the time of Jesus was the Temple in Jerusalem.  In the year 70, the Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple.  The Temple was the religious Home for Jesus and the Jews and for the earliest followers of Jesus.

Did the Jewish people die out after the Temple was destroyed?  No.   Did the followers of Jesus quit after the Temple was destroyed?  No.  Why, because people are more important than buildings.  The gatherings of the peoples of God continues even after the Temple was destroyed.

For the Jews a synagogue can refer both to a building where they meet but it also refers to a gathering of people.

For Christians, a church can refer to both the building where they meet to pray but church also refers the gathering of Christians who come together to pray.

So the lesson is that People are greater than buildings since the gathering of people will continue even after churches and temples are built, destroyed, torn down, renovated and re-built.  People build buildings.   People build temples and churches.

The writers of the Gospel of Mark knew that their prayer communities would be changing after the Temple was destroyed.  First, it meant that people were going to be more important than a building.  Second, it meant that people were going to be the living bricks of a moving building, because the gathering of Christians spread throughout the world.  It meant that people would not limit God’s presence to being in just one special building; it meant that God’s Spirit could be present wherever God’s people were gathered to pray.

The letter to the Hebrews writes about Jesus being a heavenly priest and as a heavenly priest Jesus can make his church anywhere in the people who are gathered to pray.

Yes, we are sad about the destruction of the temple and the destructions of homes and churches, but we are also glad that the People of God are more important than the places that they gather to pray.

A Children’s sermon about warnings and emergencies

  What is a fire drill for?  Do you have fire drills at your schools?  Why do you have fire drills?

  Why do we have first aid kits?

  Why do we have police men and women?

  Why do we have firemen and women?

  Why do we have hospitals?

 We have fire drills, fire men and women, police men and women, and hospitals, because bad things can happen.  Emergencies can happen.

  Do we want fires to happen?  Do we want people to get sick?  Do we want to have accidents?

  No of course not.  But do fire happen?  Do people have accidents?  Do people get sick?

  Yes, they do.  And since these bad things can happen, we need to be prepared.

  How do we prepare?  First we prepare by knowing how bad things happen, and by knowing how bad things can happen, we work to prevent bad things from happen.  We practice care and safety.  We wear helmets when we bike and skate.  We look carefully when we cross the street.  We don’t play with matches or knives.

  We practice prevention and safety.

  Jesus Christ gave him followers a message about emergencies, about safety and prevention.

  Jesus said that if we don’t learn to live right now, we can have a very difficult time in the future.

  Would you rather have a healthy and happy future or a future with lots of emergencies?

  We want to have a healthy and happy future?

  Then you and I need to learn how to live now with safety and prevention.

  We can make our world and our lives safe by taking good care of each other and by being kind and helpful to all the people we meet.

  With kindness and love, we are living with safety, and we are making a better future and we will avoid emergencies in the future.

  Jesus warns us about future emergencies so that we might live now with safety and prevention.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

November 17, 2024: The Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Deep in My Heart; Butterfly Song; Father, I Adore You; Shalom, My Friend

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

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

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

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

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

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: Deep in My Heart (Christian Children’s Songbook # 46)

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, deep in my heart. (Where?)  Deep in my heart (Where?) Deep in my heart.  I’ve the joy, joy, joy, joy, deep in my heart.  (Where?) Deep in my heart to stay.

I’ve got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus, deep in my heart. (Where?)  Deep in my heart (Where?) Deep in my heart.  I’ve the love of Jesus, love of Jesus, deep in my heart.  (Where?) Deep in my heart to stay.

I’ve got the peace that passes understanding, deep in my heart. (Where?)  Deep in my heart (Where?) Deep in my heart.  I’ve the peace that passes understanding, deep in my heart.  (Where?) Deep in my heart to stay.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Litany Phrase: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

A reading from the Letter of Hebrews

Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 16

I will bless the LORD who gives me counsel; * my heart teaches me, night after night.

I have set the LORD always before me; * because he is at my right hand I shall not fall.

My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices; * my body also shall rest in hope.

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 Mark

People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!" Then Jesus asked him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down."  When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?" Then Jesus began to say to them, "Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, `I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:  Fr. Phil

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People:            And also with you.

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

Song: If I Were a Butterfly (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 9)

If I were a butterfly, I’d thank you Lord for giving me wings.  And if I were a robin in the tree, I’d thank you Lord that I could sing.  And if I were a fish in the sea, I 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 elephant, I’d thank you Lord by raising my trunk.  And if I were a kangaroo, you know I’d hop right up to you.  And if I were a 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.  And 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 birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

Children may gather around the altar

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

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

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

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words

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

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:  Father, I Adore You (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 56)

Father, I adore you, lay my life before you, how I love you.

Jesus….

Spirit…

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: Shalom, My Friends, Shalom, (Renew # 294)

Shalom, my friends, shalom, my friends, shalom, shalom.  Shalom, my friends, shalom, my friends, shalom, shalom.

Salaam, my friends, salaam, my friends, salaam, salaam.  Salaam, my friends, salaam my friends, salaam, salaam.

Share peace, dear friends, share peace, dear friends, God’s peace, God’s peace.  Share peace, dear friends, share peace, dear friend, God’s peace, God’s peace.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

Widows, Institutions, and Loss of Advocacy in the Empire

25 Pentecost 27 B November 10, 2024
Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17 Psalm 127
Hebrews 9:24-28 Mark 12:38-44

Lectionary Link

Today's lections present us with some significant losses and the various responses to these situations of loss.

We are presented the situations of two widows, Ruth and the unknown widow observed by Jesus and his disciples dropping her coins into the Temple treasury, and Jesus breaking the confidentiality of her giving by commenting about it to his disciples.  Surely, evidence of a teaching story.  How many of us tithers would like Jesus to observe what we were dropping into the offering plate and making remarks to others about the status of our giving?

Widows get their titles from having lost their husbands.  Ruth was a Moabite who married someone from Judah living in her country.  After her mother-in-law and sister also lost their husbands, they were left without the kind of family protection that was needed for widows.  Ruth decided to go with Naomi to her Judah home, as a foreigner, and she was a fortunate widow in embracing the poverty as a gleaner of the leftover grains in the field of Boaz.  Her scheme devised with Naomi attracted Boaz and he married Ruth and she became the mother of Obed, father of Jesse, father of David.  For Ruth, the family rescue and advocacy system worked, but family and tribal systems do not always work to care for widows and vulnerable persons.

Institutions with their laws, arise to require an extra-family solutions to situation of care which don't get accomplished within a family.  The laws and the institutional alms of the Temple addressed the situations of needs for orphans and widows in society.

Now fast-forward to the widow in the Temple giving her last two copper coins.  This story is replete with ironies.  One could highlight the character of the widow.  She may be the epitome of the mysterious truth that generous people are never poor, at least they never see themselves that way.  They always see themselves as having something to give.  Another irony is that the person who is supposed to be taken care of by the institution is proportionately outperforming rich fat cats in her maintenance of the Temple, perhaps even their alms fund to help other widows.

In the writing context of the Gospel of Mark, within the Jesus Movement community, the presentation of this story had other meanings and messages.  The writer of Mark knew that the Temple had been destroyed; the Temple institution was finished.  The answer for the demise of the Temple and the priesthood was the belief that the institutions were under judgment.  Sometimes we might over-simplify the notion of divine judgment treating such judgments as though God was in heaven micro-managing the sins and intervening with corresponding punishment.  The Greek word word for judgment is the word that we get the English word "crisis" from.  Judgment is crisis and crisis is judgment.  The Temple community, the synagogue communities, the community of John the Baptist, and the Jesus Movement were all under crisis because they did not have advocacy within the Roman Empire.  The status for "minority" religious and ethnic groups which were viewed as potential threats to the Emperor and his surrogates was always tenuous.  One could say that living in the Jesus Movement during the time of the Roman Empire in the late first century could be defined as crisis living.

Crisis living requires adjustments.

How did the Jesus Movement interpret the demise of the Temple?  What would the Jesus Movement do without a Temple and a Temple priesthood?  The writer in the letter to the Hebrews understood that the earthly Temple, in a platonic-like philosophy of forms; the Temple was understood to be but a copy of the true heavenly one.  And the eternal priesthood deriving from the mysterious Melchizedek, had a phase of being copied in the Levitical priesthood, but the Risen Christ assumes the fullness of the priesthood as the great heavenly High Priest.  And the new Temple became dispersed within the bodies of people who were now inhabited by the Risen Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.  As Paul declared, "your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  And the High Priestly Christ makes the members of the church priestly in their perpetual intercessory ministry within this world.

Crisis requires adjustments for us today too.  Our world empires and forms of political governance often make us live in and with crises.  In times of crisis, it often happens that the most vulnerable do not adequately get taken care of.  The institutions of governments do not always succeed at some basic care needs for many people who do not have advocacy, so the church as the new extended family needs to be present to help the vulnerable in the ways that the gathered church can help.  A gathering for a meal in house churches within the Roman Empire gave the church members opportunity to assess the situation of vulnerability of each person gathered and respond by giving the needed care.

Today, as ever, we need to assess the current crises which face us in our various locations and situations.  We need to accept our priestly intercessory roles in taking care the vulnerable in our midst.

May Christ our High Priest, given us wisdom in the crises which confront us today.  

Sunday School, November 10, 2024 25 Pentecost B proper 27

  Sunday School, November 10, 2024    25 Pentecost B proper 27

Themes

The widow who gave her last coins

Widows often had to live in poverty because their support came from their husbands.  If they did not have families to return to, they often were in need.

Old Testament law had laws to help provide for widows and orphans because as it is written in the Psalms: "The Lord cares for the widow and the orphans."

How does our modern world take care of people who are in need?  What about the current refugee problem in our world?  People have been driven out of their homes and lost family members because of war.  What is the responsibilities of Christians to help the widow and the orphans? 

The Old Testament lesson is about how a widow provided food and a room for God's prophet Elijah and Elijah promised her that God would always give her enough food.

Jesus was with his disciples in the temple.  He observed how a poor widow had put her last two coins into the temple offering.  Jesus said that she had given more than anyone because she had given her all.

How is it that a poor person is still generous to give to God through the work of the Temple?  Shouldn't the Temple through the offerings be helping this poor woman and her children?

This is an important lesson in generosity.  A generous person does not regard himself or herself to be poor because a generous person is able to see how much God has given us with the beauty of the world.

Generous people include their good health, the sunshine, the beauty of the earth as a part of their wealth and so they always feel like they have something to give.

We learn from the example of the widow that generosity does not depend upon how much we have; it depends on whether we have a heart willing to share a portion of what we have.

The lesson from the letter to the Hebrews presents Jesus as the Great High Priest.  As the Great High Priest Jesus was not worry about his own wealth of goodness and perfection; he wanted to share all of his goodness and perfection with us.  He was willing to offer his life so that we could learn to be forgiven so that we could grow in goodness.  Jesus was generous with his goodness.  He gave us his very best.  He still shares his very best because he has sent a very generous Holy Spirit to live within us.

Sermon on a riddle about generosity

  Let me give you a riddle.  When are you giving a lot even if it’s only a dime?  And when are you giving a little even when it’s a thousand dollars?

  Let try a little exercise with some pennies.  I need some volunteers.

  I am going to give to one two pennies.  And to another I am going to give many pennies.

  Then I am going to ask each of them to give a gift to the church.  The one with two pennies will give one penny.  The one who has many pennies will give five pennies.

  So who gave the most pennies?  Who has the most pennies left?

  Sometimes we thing that people who give the most are the most generous; but that is not always true.  Sometimes people, who give just a little, only have a little left over to live on. Sometimes people, who give a large amount of money, still have plenty to live on.

  That is the lesson that Jesus was trying to teach his friends. 

  Sometimes we think that everyone should give an equal amount.  And sometimes we think that we have to give more than others.

  As we grow older, we have more to give than when we are younger.  So when other people don’t seem to give as much as we do, we often get upset.

  For example, when your younger brother or sister doesn’t have to do the same amount of work or chores as you do, it seems unfair.  But remember:  Giving is determined by our ability.

  That is the lesson that Jesus wanted to teach to his followers.

  The older we are, the stronger we are, the more knowledge we have, the more money that we have, then the more we are required to take care of those in this life who cannot take care of themselves and who need our help.

  Remember this lesson about giving.  It is not amount that we give…. It is the ability to give that should determine what we give.  And also, how much do we have left over after we have given?  If we have lots left over after we have given, have we given enough?

  And God has given us much and God will continue to give us much.  And God is always asking us to learn how to be generous according to our ability to give.  Remember God never asks us to give something we that we do not have.

Let us learn the secret of being generous today.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

November 10, 2024: The Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Hallelu, Hallelujah, He’s Got the Whole World, I Come with Joy, Christ Beside Me

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

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

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

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

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

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: 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, Hallelujah. 

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, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Litany Phrase: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

A reading from the Letter of Hebrews

Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

 

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 146

Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help! * whose hope is in the LORD their God;

Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; * who keeps his promise for ever;

Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, * and food to those who hunger.

The LORD sets the prisoners free; the LORD opens the eyes of the blind; * the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;

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 Mark

People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Teaching in the temple, Jesus said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows' houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation." He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:  Fr. Phil

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People:            And also with you.

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

Song: He’s Got the Whole World (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 90)

He’s got the whole world; in his hands he’s got the whole wide world in his hands.  He’s got the whole world in his hands; he’s got the whole world in his hands.

Little tiny babies. 

Brother and the sisters  

Mothers and the fathers

 

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 so that we may love God and our neighbor.

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

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

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

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

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. Amen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

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

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song:  I Come With Joy   (Renew! # 195)

I come with joy a child of God, forgiven, loved, and free, the life of Jesus to recall, in love laid down for me.

I come with Christians, far and near to find, as all are fed, the new community of love in Christ’s communion bread.

As Christ breaks bread, and bids us share, each proud division ends.  The love that made us makes us one, and strangers now are friends.

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: Christ Beside Me   (Renew! # 164)

Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me—King of my heart;  Christ within me, Christ below me, Christ above me—never to part.

Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left hand, Christ all around me—shield in the strife:  Christ in my sleeping, Christ in my sitting, Christ in my rising—light of my life

Christ be in all hearts, thinking about me, Christ be on all tongues, telling of me; 

Christ be the vision, in eyes that see me, in ears that hear me, Christ ever be.

Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me—King of my heart; Christ within me, Christ below me, Christ above me—never to part.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

Rightly Representing What We Believe about God

 24 Pentecost 26B November 3, 2024
Ruth 1:1-18 Psalm 146
Hebrews 9:11-14 Mark 12:28-34

Lectionary Link

Jesus was not from the line of Levi so he was not in the priestly lineage.  But in the metaphorical titles that the early church gave to Jesus, he was a prophet, a priest, and a king.  The early church believed that he was the superlative case and the essence of what being prophet, priest, and king means.

The writer of the book of Hebrews confesses Jesus as the great heavenly High Priest, deriving from the pre-Levite figure of Melchizedek, the mysterious King/priest of Salem who received tithes from Abraham.

According to the writer of the book of Hebrews, the Risen Christ intercedes at the heavenly altar for humanity.  The essence of intercession is offering the service of one's life for others in words of prayer and in deeds of life.

In our appointed Gospel, Jesus replied to the scribe that loving God and one's neighbor was more important than the entire system of animal sacrifices the offerings of which were one of the main functions of the Temple priests.

The animal sacrificial system of Judaism was replaced by the followers of Jesus in asking disciples to be living sacrifices, offering the entirety of ones words and deeds as being on behalf of loving God and our neighbors.

And who is our neighbors?  As much as the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament seem to the text books for Judaism and Christianity, they both indicate that God regards everyone to be neighbors as people made in the image of God.

However, in human community, the human situation of everyone does not turn out to be equal in dignity and in favorable circumstances.   Holy Scriptures proclaims teachings to equalize the situation for those not so fortunate.  The Psalmist wrote that God cares for the stranger and sustains the widow and the orphan.  The great Law to love God and our neighbors as ourselves is divine law to equalize the blessing among all people and to alleviate the conditions of deprivation for the suffering.

And that brings us to the example of Ruth?  Who is Ruth?  She is a foreigner, a Moabite, and a widow.  She has a deep affection for her mother-in-law Naomi, and after her husband and father-in-law had died, she decides to go with Naomi in her return to her native Judah.  Ruth was a foreigner and a widow in Judah, but she met Boaz who manifested a care for her, a widow, and she faired well as a foreigner in Judah.  In fact, she as a foreigner is listed in the messianic lineage of Jesus.

The message for us today is that we are to represent the truth about God to our world.  What is the truth about God?  God cares for the vulnerable, and we are given the great commands to love God and our neighbor to practice a equalizing love and justice to represent in the very best way that God cares for the vulnerable.

Let us endeavor to rightly represent the God who cares for all our neighbors, especially those most vulnerable.  Amen.

All Saints' Triduum: Other Observances of Easter

 All Saints' Day B, November 1, 2024
Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9 Psalm 24
Revelation 21:1-6a John 11:32-44

Lectionary Link

All Hallowtide includes the Triduum of All Hallows' Eve, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day.

As Easter centers upon the resurrection of Christ as he was known in his various re-appearances after his death, the All Saints' Triduum centers upon what the resurrection means for famous followers of Christ, and for the lesser known souls who are the local saints in our own lives.

In this Triduum, we deal with the same issue that is engaged in the resurrection of Jesus: Can we believe in the perpetual continuity of identity in time of the human person?

The issue of personal identity in time, involves identity and difference.  How is it that I am the same person now than I was when I was an infant?  I am the same person but continually different with the accumulation of states of becoming.  My older self is a different self than my younger self yet I remain the same person.

When we ponder a post-death state, what can we know about us having older selves in our afterlives, and ones in continuity with the same persons that we are now?

Without have any exact empirical evidence of what the afterlife is like, we resort to the afterlife of the community which survives the deceased proving that in life and death we remain communal.

The known afterlife of Jesus is how Jesus has been retained within the lives of so many people for so many years.  It is uncanny how the memory of Jesus can be retained and passed onto so many people for so many years.  Our experience of the Risen Christ is known through his being so memorably borne in so many individual experiences.  It is quite amazing that the countless number of experiences of the Risen Christ are so radically diverse and different, one wonders how they can be categorically clarified as deriving from the Risen Christ.

It is an amazing social, cultural, and historical phenomenon that so many persons have claimed relationships with the Risen Christ in so many ways, times, and places.

The effects of these relationships with the Risen Christ have resulted in the creation of diverse communities of persons who have lived out what they referred to as their relationship with the Risen Christ.

Some of these in-Christed persons who arose in very local situations, became widely known because their manner of life gained attention.  Just as the original disciples deeply missed Jesus after he was gone and so they retained his memory, the saints of the church made impressions in their own times and in such profound ways that they created a corporate memory of their lives which became widespread.  In the history of the church, the memories of these saints have been retained in written record, stories, and legends.  There have been times in the history of the church when the church leaders have made Jesus so holy and unapproachable to lay persons, but available and accessible primarily to the clergy that the vast number of laity depended upon the mediation of the clergy for access to Christ, via the sacraments.

In this situation, the famous saints, and local saints were regarded to be more accessible to lay persons.  In the age of hagiographies, the writings about the saints and the piety of personal connection with them filled this need of people to have accessibility to holy people who were conduits to the Christ.  The devotion to and veneration to saints became a common practice.  St. Mary grew in prominence as a favorite and accessible mothering and intercessory saint for many Christians.  She retains that role for many Christians today.

The hagiographies were coupled with an entire system of establishing a "canonical" sainthood.  The official church practiced a process of "quality" control regarding whether a saint had the official sanction of the church.  One can appreciate that religious charlatans to deceive the masses regarding saints, their stories, and relics have always been an issue to deal with.

Anglicanism formed in the time of the Enlightenment and the Reformation.  Among Anglicans, some have followed the rather severe Calvinist tendency to dispense with the saints and their intercessory roles, because, after all, anyone can go directly to Jesus without the need of mediation by Blessed Mary, the saints, or the priests.  More broadly, Anglicans have accepted that the belief in the Communion of Saints, that we confess with the historic church in the Nicene Creed, is not an empty confession.  Rather, the Communion of Saints is the continual application of our belief in the resurrection of Christ, locally adapted in time and place in the lives of people who know themselves to be in Christ, and Christ in them.

The Triduum, the three days of All Hallows' Eve, All Saints', and All Souls, are anthropologically sound because they are real about the grief that we feel in missing the important people of our lives when they are no longer accessible to seeing, hearing, and touching.  It is not good grief resolution to pretend that the people we lost were not and are not continuing factors in our lives.

Why would we think it just fine to have hero hall of fames in every area of life, and then think it as detrimental to the life of the church, as if, the people who loved Christ the best would want their lives to be in competition with devotion of Christ?

In sports, it is common to have Halls of Fame, not just for the greatest athletes who were best known in professional sports in our country; but also for state, city, and town athletes who made their impressions with their athletic feats.

In a similar reasonable way, in the Church we have All Saints' Day and All Souls Day.  People do not live with great saints, but people do live with influential Christ-filled souls who impact our lives in significant ways.  Some of those souls may go on to be known widely and when such significant people died, it is faithfully consistent with our belief in the resurrection to assume that they live on in the continuing unseen family of faith.  If we talk to people whom we love when they live and ask them for help and favors, blessings, and good wishes, there is no reason to think that such communication should cease after they have gone.  And there is no reason to believe that any communication within the Communion of Christ, would be a diminution of the supreme place which Christ plays within our lives.

Let us today accept the anthropological soundness of the All Saints' Triduum.  Let us embrace it as "good grief" in response to beloved people whom we have lost to death, and let us offer thanksgiving and appreciation, for them being in the "apostolic" succession of bringing Christliness to our lives.

Let us embrace the good grief of the All Saints' Triduum today.  Amen.