Aphorism of the Day, November 2024

Aphorism of the Day, November 30, 2024

No wild parties on Christian New Years Eve.  Just make sure the Advent Wreath and Candles are ready for tomorrow.  One does have so many calendars to observe.

Aphorism of the Day, November 29, 2024

Retailers want to go from red to black on Black Friday.  They rely upon an update to the Cartesian phrase: "I have therefore, I am."

Aphorism of the Day, November 28, 2024

Generous people don't see themselves as poor.  Their reality is enough, and it is enough always to have something to share.

Aphorism of the Day, November 27, 2024

Being thankful is the prelude to work to help other people be thankful as well.

Aphorism of the Day, November 26, 2024

Jesus in his time as he is known by speakers of Aramaic is perhaps unknowable.  Traces of his life going through representations by some of his associates were eventually presented in the koine Greek decades after he lived, so there are presentations of the life of Jesus catering to reading/listening persons living decades after Jesus who lived far away from the Galilee home of Jesus.

Aphorism of the Day, November 25, 2024

The biggest mistake of Bible readers is importing "our age thinking about what is true" back onto the biblical writers' notion of what was significantly meaningful for them and their community formation genres of explicating their most meaningful values.

Aphorism of the Day, November 24, 2024

When the notion of "king" has lost it meaningful relevance in modern life how does one view it as a model analogy for Christ as King?  Instead of coercive figures we prefer persuasive figures who inform us about what is best about human behaviors and how we can surpass ourselves in excellence in future states.  Christ as the omni-competent human ideal serves as the directional guide for us.

Aphorism of the Day, November 23, 2024

If faith is understood to be persuasion, then everyone has many objects of faith about which they are persuaded to motivate the values and actions of their lives.

Aphorism of the Day, November 22, 2024

If we want to be political about Christ the King today, let us politically care for the vulnerable and the needy and bring about justice in our society.   Let us not be tricked to be false Christian rubber stamps for manipulative greedy and powerful people who love to use Christian votes for very non-Christ-like outcomes.

Aphorism of the Day, November 21, 2024

While people have left biblical faiths because the loudest adherents of confessional faiths hold that everything within the Bible that is described as happening is regarded to have modern journalistic standards of reporting accuracy and could have been empirical verified by multiple observers.  People who have left have not left the fantasy aspect of their personalities; they let that artistic imagination feature gain projection in art and cinema as valid entertainment which replaces biblical mythical material regarded to be historical exact happenings.

Aphorism of the Day, November 20, 2024

The notion of Christ as King needs to be run through an interpretation re-appropriation language mill to keep it from being relegated to something like an imaginary Disney Kingdom figure.  Freud's designation of religion as illusion resulted because Christian with their ideas pretended we were still driving horse driven chariots in the age of automobiles.  The ancient principle of an idea can be retained even if given an new appearance.  What a kingly omni-competent person means can be given an update.

Aphorism of the Day, November 19, 2024

It would seem that most Christians prefer to be on the side of the power of society rather than be in the situations which generated the New Testament, i.e., being a minority group trying to flying under the radar of the Emperor and his surrogates.  Many Christians also want the government to enforce their particular interpretation of what they believe are final ethical values for everyone.  To make one's brand of Christian practice coercive is to violate the lure of the love of God in choosing to do what is right.

Aphorism of the Day, November 18, 2024

Once biblical interpreters asserted that the Bible is holy exact history with no "entertainment" function for people, the fantastic themes of Messiah and Apocalyptic began to appear "outside" of religion in popular culture.  Today the messiahs are part of the super hero pantheon, and sci-fi and action adventure are the apocalyptic on steroids.  Cinema makers have said to religionists, "literal messiah and apocalyptic are too fantastic to be believed, but their entertainment value is truly believable."

Aphorism of the Day, November 17, 2024

Birth pangs might be a metaphor for living with the live of change.  The pain of now is going to result in the future being born and the birth results will render the value our pangs.

Aphorism of the Day, November 16, 2024

Understanding faith as that about which we are persuaded about such that it governs our decisions, actions, and ideologies, is a uniting of the the New Testament word "pistos" for faith with the word "pistos" in Aristotle's Greek.  Whether in Aristotle's rhetoric or in Christian faith, persuasion is the key feature of both.

Aphorism of the Day, November 15, 2024

In postmodernism, there is skepticism about grand unifying themes of religion or philosophy.  One can appreciate that no human system could comprehend such vastness and attempts to pragmatically implement "unity" end up being more coercive than persuasive.  What I propose is that "totality" is an unavoidable feature of language, in the sense that using one word assumes the entire linguistic universe, even while admitting that one could never exhaustively know the entire linguistic universe.  To be a language user is to be a witness to the totality of Language.

Aphorism of the Day, November 14, 2024

Harsh reality can force the transformation of the physical actual into figures of language as memorial traces with an implied but not exact corresponding meaning.  The Temple became in Paul, the body of each Christian after the building was destroyed.  Losing the accessible actual body of Jesus, the body of Christ became the group of people called the church.  Things and people of the past which are not empirically available often become traces which return to the poetic rememberers.

Aphorism of the Day, November 13, 2024

Apocalyptic is a genre generated when any group of people feel anxious about it all ending in the way things are for us.   Such may be coping visualization for hard times.  Real threats sometimes makes us think selfishly, as in, "If disaster is happening to me, it also should be happening for the entire cosmos."  Apocalyptic genre reveals that a person and one's group reside at the center of their own perceptual universe.

Aphorism of the Day, November 12, 2024

The songs of the mothers Hannah and Mary are celebratory songs about the marvelous and miraculous births of sons.  They also include statements about the mighty and powerful being cast down, which in death happens to everyone but the oppressors by definition remain because when one is cast down another takes the short vacancy.

Aphorism of the Day, November 11, 2024

The Scriptures provided the model for the hero and catastrophic future genres.  Modern culture with the super hero genre have moved the messianic out of religion into general culture.  Science fiction and apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic genres have moved the biblical apocalyptic into general culture unmoored from the Bible.  One might say that these genre function mythically for our modern cultures today in similar ways that they did for the biblical people who generated texts of messianism and the apocalyptic.  Whether professing religion or not people are motivated by deep psychical energy which comes to stories within religion or in cultures which purport to having removed religion from their reasonable vocabulary.

Aphorism of the Day, November 10, 2024

When society's jesters prevail proclaiming humor and satire regarding human foibles, it can be covering a despairing misanthropism that can discourage corrective actions for the golden idol of a comic, a laughing audience.  Society can go to hell as long as there is a laughing audience.  A comic is happier to have a buffoon as perpetual subject matter than to have a functioning society.  Boring people who make the trains run on time are no fun for the comic.

Aphorism of the Day, November 9, 2024

Institutions develop in part when family and tribe structures no longer manifest the voluntary adequate care of the members of family or tribe.  Institutional failure to adequately care for all members of society is due mainly to people with wealth and power not giving adequate support for the institutions to care for those in need.

Aphorism of the Day, November 8, 2024

When the hope that was built around certain people and paths built within oneself a story fortress is shattered, the immediate task is to envision new paths of equal goodness which changes the people and the mission than what had been anticipated.

Aphorism of the Day, November 7, 2024

The history of evil becoming banal starts with everyone is doing it.

Aphorism of the Day, November 6, 2024

Irony: the deep collective grief of millions happens alongside the collective winning joys of millions.  Time will tell how the vulnerable will be sustained.

Aphorism of the Day, November 5, 2024 (Election Day in the USA)

In the USA, by law no form of religion can be the "established" religion of the government but we are always voting for the hard and tough love of justice which means we should be voting for the leaders who promote the freedom for the co-existence of people of all persuasions to be part of a pragmatic system for the common goals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all.

Aphorism of the Day, November 4, 2024

What does it say when the poor widow gives her last too coins to the Temple treasury?  It is a judgment on religious institutions who live off the giving of the very people who need to be helped.  It is a judgment on the greedy rich whose lack of generosity is exposed by the generous poor.

Aphorism of the Day, November 3, 2023

A chief task in life is not to misrepresent the way things are to oneself.  Not lying to oneself about the living in the universe of all that has happened and about what probably will happen is important.  Part of our lying is forgivable because we wear cultural and contextual lenses which only allow us to see things in certain ways, even untrue ways.  With internal language we need to continually cleanse the internal language lenses through which we read and interpret our world.

Aphorism of the Day, November 2, 2024 (All Souls' Day)

Christian missionaries often criticized other cultures for being involved in "ancestor worship."  The grief of lost loved ones is accompanied with a "deep missing" of the loved one; is not this feeling of missing, not a respectful veneration for that person? The liturgies of All Hallowtide deal with the veneration of deeply missing people and we regard such veneration as being evidence of the continuing community that we share with those whom we no longer see.

Aphorism of the Day, November 1, 2024. (All Saints' Day)

All Saints Day is a particular observance of Easter, months after Easter in the Easter effect of the continuity of life for people in their afterlives.  After the death of Jesus, he was known to have continuity with the life he lived before death, after he died, and this witness of the continuity of Jesus into the Risen Christ became the assurance to validate the faith that great heroes of faith (whose popularity is widely spread) and the local saints of our own lives have continuity in their afterlives.

Sunday School, December 1, 2024 1 Advent C

  Sunday School, December 1, 2024    1 Advent C

Learning to Read Signs

Discuss the signs which occur in natural because of anticipating regular cycles.  When one puts a seed into the ground one waits and looks for a little leaf to poke out of the ground.  When one see blossoms then one can expect to see fruit.  There are other sign which we read like when it is cloudy, and when the clouds are dark, it is more likely for rain to follow.  We know that when we see smoke we just assume that it comes from some kind of fire.

Jesus asked his friends to learn to read what was happening in their lives so that they could be prepared to make the right response. 

Some times we need to have special signs, signs given by our laws to keep us from hurting ourselves.  For example, a Stop sign is not a natural sign; it has been invented by people and we use Stop signs to keep people from running into each other in their cars.

The Bible is a book of signs.  It gives us lots of “Stop,”  lots of “Don’t do this”  signs, and lots of “Please do this” signs.  Why?  Because the Bible is a book to help prepare us to live our very best.  It is a book that gives us the signs of how we are to treat each other.  It is a book of warning about what can happen to us if we don’t follow the signs for living a good life.

When we go to school we often have to face Judges.  The Judges at school are the tests that we have to take.  The tests show us how much we learn or did not learn.

Jesus said that we will all have to face a Judge in our lives.  He called that Judge the Son of Man but his friends knew that Jesus was also the Son of Man.  If we have a good relationship with Jesus as our Judge and are always learning from him, then we will not have to fear Jesus because we know that he will be a loving Judge who will only want us to work at getting better.

Let us begin the season of Advent by learning to read the signs for how we can live better lives.  And let us know that we are always getting ourselves ready to meet the very best Judge of life, Jesus as the Son of Man who we know and love and who we are delighted to perform the deeds of our lives for.

A Sermon

  Jesus said, "Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near.” 

  Jesus told his friends that they needed to learn how to read signs.

  There are natural signs and there are signs that we make.

  What is the red sign that has 8 sides on the road?  What does that sign mean?

  There are natural signs too.  What do dark clouds and wind mean?  What does smoke rising in the air mean?  What does the changing of the color of leaves mean?  What does it mean when leaves have fallen off the tree?

  How do you learn to read signs?  You look and watch and when you see it happen over and over again, you learn.  You also learn from your teachers and parents how to read signs.

  There are also signs that we have to learn to read when we are with each other.  For example, what might happen if we say something that is not nice to someone?  It might hurt their feeling.  It might make them cry.  What happens if you push or hit someone?  It might hurt them.

What happens if you eat twenty candy bars all at once?  You will get a sick tummy.

  So we have to learn to read the signs of how to live good lives.  We have to learn the signs of living bad lives, so we can learn to live better.

  God gave us the 10 commandments as a sign of how to live a good life.  And if we don’t follow these signs, we can get into lots of trouble.

  We are in the season of Advent, the first season of the Christian year.  The season of Advent is season of preparation.  It a season of learning how to read the signs of God in our lives.

  Jesus Christ is the greatest sign of God to us.  He was given to us to show us how to live.  During the season of Advent, we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ and to look forward to future coming again. When we see love and kindness, we can be sure that we are reading the sign of the presence of Christ in this world.  Let us learn to read the signs of God’s presence in our world, so that we can avoid making some serious mistake.  If we learn to read the sign of God in our lives, we can avoid making some serious mistake.  Let us during the season of Advent learn to read the signs of God in our lives.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

December 1, 2024: The First Sunday of Advent

Gathering Songs: Light a Candle; Prepare the Way of the Lord; Eat this Bread, Wait for the Lord; Soon and Very Soon

Lighting of the Advent Candle: 

Song: Light a Candle

            Light a candle for hope today, Light a candle for hope today, light a candle for hope today.              Advent time is here.

            (Sing twice)

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: Prepare the Way of the Lord (Renew! # 92)

Prepare the way of the Lord.  Prepare the way of the Lord, and all people will see the salvation of our God. (sung as a canon)

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for 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 First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians

Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 25

Show me your ways, O LORD, * and teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, * for you are the God of my salvation;

in you have I trusted all the day long.

Remember, O LORD, your compassion and love, * for they are from everlasting.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke

People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus said, "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Then he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. "Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

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: Wait for the Lord, (Renew # 278)

Wait for the Lord, his day is near.  Wait for the Lord, be strong, take heart.

 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.

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.  Sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that might 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: Eat This Bread , (Renew # 228)

            Eat this bread, drink this cup.  Come to me and never be hungry.  Eat this bread, drink this cup,

            come to me and you will not thirst.

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’re going to see the king.

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

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

Jesus, "So, You Are a King?"

Christ the King Cycle B Proper 29 November 21, 20212 

Samuel 23:1-7 Psalm 132:1-13, (14-19)
Revelation 1:4b-8 John 18:33-37

Lectionary Link

As Americans, we are founded upon the principle that monarchies are not for us.  But we still have Kings and Queens and their cognates in our histories, in other countries of the world, and in our popular culture.

The most accessible kings for American children are in fairy tales and Disney royalty, mostly very romantic views so as not to scare children with the terror that accompanied the reigns of many earthly kings in history.

In Europe, the royalty continue as significant features of a country's identity and they function with all of their palatial trapping remains, as tourist bait to feed the economies.  And if the royal families can engage in real or contrived "scandalous" behaviors, they can feed the tabloid media industry.  What are the royals doing today?  Inquiring minds want to know,

In other countries of the world, king-like rulers and leaders function as serious kleptocrats, personally assuming for themselves and their families and their families and oligarchs the majority of the assets of their society.  Many of them rule with reigns of terror severely limiting the freedoms of their citizenry and subjects.

Even as America does not "believe" in the validity of a monarchical government, according to the Hebrew Scriptures, God did not believe in the monarchy either.  The last great Judge of Israel was Samuel and in his time the people of Israel pestered him about their needing king like their surrounding enemy nations.  Why?  They thought that they needed a central figure who could conscript armies for the general protection of their nation and provide some enforcement for their own social order.  Samuel warned them as indicating that "we have no king but God, the Holy One," and if you want an earthly king, such a one might be able to build an army, but such an earthly king will also be a "kleptocrat" taking your properties so that he could be the wealthiest person in the nation.  He also would conscript your sons into the armies and he would take your daughters as brides to attain unity among the tribes or marry the daughters of the kings of other nations to keep from going to war.

Samuel gave in to the people's request for a king, and he anointed both kings Saul and David.  Samuel's warning from God about kingly misbehavior proved mainly true and the history of the kings of Israel and Judah recount many of their misdeeds, even though they did have their high points as well.  The history of the kings of Israel and Judah indicate that none of them was omni-competent.  First king Saul lost the kingly lineage because of his misdeeds.  David, the most famous king, arranged for the death of the husband of a woman he lusted after.  He was a troubled family man whose own son Absalom rebelled against him.  David's son Solomon, born from the mother Bathsheba who David had stolen from Uriah the Hittite, was famously wise, wealthy, and the builder of the Temple, but because he was drawn to please so many wives and concubines, he catered to many of wives' penchant for deities other than the One Holy One of Israel.

So, how could earthly kings be a model for a heavenly one?  

History has a way of forgetting faults of some.   After being dislodged from their lands in exile, the nostalgia for a king like David grew.  Would that there would be the coming of an anointed one like David and in his lineage who could restore Israel's sovereignty. 

When things are bad, heroes are needed and the myths of heroes can flourish for people who need to have some hope that they will be liberated.

The New Testament writing were generated in the era of the myth of the Messiah for an oppressed people whose lands were occupied and it did not seem obvious that the Romans were going to be defeated anytime soon.  In fact, they were brutal in putting down revolts even to the complete destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.

The New Testament writers had to write in complete fantasy about how Jesus of Nazareth could be the Messiah, the anointed King for the world.

And the complete disconnect between world reality and Christian reality is poignantly seen in the skepticism of Pontus Pilate who is interrogating Jesus before his crucifixion.  "So, you are a king?" the skeptic Pilate, perhaps sneers with playful mocking, noting the fact that most people who are real kings do not get tried and sent to death on a cross.

The New Testament writers are writing about their spiritual reality, a reality that does not have visual substantiation for most of the world who live in the actual visible reality the of obvious king of the world, the Caesar of Rome.

The New Testament writers, pushed everything upstairs, into another realm.  Jerusalem is a heavenly one, the Temple is a heavenly Temple with a heavenly High Priest.  The church is a new Israel, a new spiritual nation.  Jesus, in the view of Pilate and most of the world was seen as weak and failed prophet who was not strong enough or intelligent enough to avoid getting himself killed.

His messiahship, his heavenly reign was only known by those who accessed the realm of his reappearings in the innumerable ways in which he did to those who called themselves his followers.

Pilate and others, could sneeringly say to all Christians, "So, you are followers of a King other than the Caesar?  Isn't that precious.  Show me your king!" 

Christ the King, or Christ the Messiah as presented by the writers of the New Testament was an apologetic for the kind of inward, "spiritual" experience which was happening in such a widespread and infectious way that required them to generate a language to explain it to themselves and to those who would experience the new kind of inwardness professed by those of the Jesus Movement.

In making the case for Jesus as the Messiah, they had to bifurcate in time, two aspects of how the messiah had been presented in the various writings which existed for them to read in Hebrew Scriptures, the Apocryphal writings, and the apocalyptic writings which are extra-canonical for the historic church.

Jesus had to be explicated as the suffering servant figure of the prophet Isaiah to make sense of the incredible humiliation which on the surface seems totally inconsistent with a figure who is supposed to be kingly like David and liberate the nation of Israel.  One might cite divergence on the particulars of the Messiah as a major difference between the synagogue and Jesus Movement going through a separation process.  For Jesus to be a more Davidic military interventionistic Messiah, the Jesus Movement using their exposure to the apocalyptic writings had to delay this aspect of Jesus the Christ to a future.

The future intervention by a Heavenly Kingly force has the function of being a needed analgesic in visualizing hope for people who have, are, and will be intermittently experiencing suffering on both personal and societal levels.

In this regard, we live in the age of the continually delayed intervention of a powerful coercive Heavenly Messiah, but the truth of visualizing actual end to pain and suffering for people is a valid truth.  One can note that much of modern society look for such temporary analgesics in the movie genres of action adventure, the utopian/dystopian, and the apocalyptic.  We should never diminish the function of the hauntings of hope with the visualizations of what can and should be ideal in what justice and love can mean for us.  We need not be apologetic for our apocalyptic vision; if not Christian, such visions still exist in the world at large even while some would mock our quaint out-dated biblical apocalyptic visions.

How might we continue to justify confessing Jesus as kingly, or as the most omni-competent model person for us?

Well, it is quite impressive for a person who has not been walking on this earth for a couple of thousand years to be a confessed pervasive presence in the lives of so many.  One might say the massive collective effects of what has been called experiences of the Risen Christ in so many people in so many different ways, would qualify as being worthy of the Kingly designation indeed.  It is a hidden kingliness within the in-Christed person.

What remains for us to validate is how Christ the Risen King becomes behaviors in our lives that are worthy of the example of Jesus of Nazareth.  Are we willing to minister to the kingly presence of Christ in the poor, the needy, and the vulnerable?  Or do we want to over-identity with political Christs in Christendoms or Christian Nationalisms?

If we want to be political about Christ the King today, let us politically care for the vulnerable and the needy and bring about justice in our society.   Let us not be tricked to be false Christian rubber stamps for manipulative greedy and powerful people who love to use Christian votes for very non-Christ-like outcomes.

Let us accept the hiddenness of Christ the King in us today, but let that hiddenness be evident in our words and deeds of love and justice today.  Amen.

Sunday School, November 24, 2024 Last Sunday after Pentecost, Christ the King, B proper 29

  Sunday School, November 24, 2024    Last Sunday after Pentecost, Christ the King,  B proper 29

Theme: Christ as a King

A time for discussing how Jesus is and was a king.
Does our country have a king?
Did we used to have a king?  Yes, when we were an English colony but we did not want to be ruled by a king.  Americans formed a government without a king because of our belief in democracy.
So if we don't believe in having a king, how can we use the notion of a king as a title for Jesus Christ?

King was an important person in the biblical times.  The most famous king of Israel was David.  The very best kings were so good and right for their times that people believed them to be chosen by God to rule their people.  Samuel anointed or poured oil over the head of David to make him king.  This act of pouring oil, meaning that God's Spirit is electing a person to be king, is where the word Messiah comes from.

Jesus Christ or Jesus the Messiah, means that we confess Jesus to be a Special Chosen person of God to rule our lives.  This does not mean that Jesus has to have a throne and an army and be a ruler of a government.  It means that Jesus has become a model of the very best of person who has persuaded us to be the very best that we can be.  Jesus is a king because he has given us a perfect model on how we are to live our lives.  Jesus is a king because God made him stronger than death in his resurrection.

In the discussion at the trial of Jesus, Pontius Pilate mocks the meaning of Jesus being King of the Jews.  This is how the Gospel writer of John's Gospel were trying to show us that Jesus was not a King like the Caesar or like King Herod.  These kings rules by using fear to force people to obey them.  Jesus is a perfect king because Jesus as a king works through God's Spirit to persuade us to be better people.

So what kind of king do you like?  One with great armies and one that forces you to obey?  Or one who shows you how to be the best person you can be and persuades you and encourages you to be the best person you can be?

You and I can choose to make Jesus the King of our lives even though Jesus will not force us to do so.  This is the very best kind of king.


  Today is the end of the longest church season.  What is the longest church season?  Pentecost.  If this week is the end of the Christian year, then that makes next Sunday, New Year’s Day.  And what do we call the first day in the Christian New Year?  The first Sunday of Advent.  So what Christian season comes after the season of Pentecost?  Advent.
  We have a special name for this Sunday, the last Sunday in the season of Pentecost.  It is called the Feast of Christ the King.
  And so today we want to think about how Christ is our King.
  We heard the reading from the Gospel today and we wonder how Christ can be our king.  The reading that we have listened to tells us about how Jesus died.  In fact, he died when the soldiers of the great Roman king, the Caesar put him on a cross.  And they put a sign on the top of the cross that was making fun of Jesus.  The sign said: Jesus, King of the Jews.  How can a person who dies this way be a king?
  Let me show you another cross.  This cross is called the cross of Christ the King.  Do you see that Jesus has on wonderful robes and he is wearing a crown?  This cross is different from the other cross.
  How did Jesus become Christ the King?  He became Christ the King, because he did the strongest thing that could ever be done; he came back to life and he promised that God could give us life after our deaths too.  That is a great thing.  And that is why Christ is our king.
  And since we know that Christ is our king and since we know that God is bigger and stronger than death, do you know what that means?  It means that we can live our lives without fear.  We can live our lives with joy, love and faith, because we know that Christ is our King who has been stronger than death.
  So today, let’s celebrate because Christ is our King.  Christ is stronger than death.  And we can live with joy and faith because Christ is our King.  Amen.



Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist
November 24, 2024: The Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King

Gathering Songs: Hosanna, Hosanna, Majesty, Spirit of the Living God, The King of Glory Comes

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: Hosanna, Hosanna in the Highest! (Renew! # 71)
Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest!  Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest!  Lord we lift up your name with hearts full of praise; Be exalted, oh Lord my God! Hosanna in the highest!

Glory, Glory, glory to the King of kings! Glory, Glory, glory to the King of kings! Lord we lift up your name with hearts full of praise; Be exalted oh Lord my God! Glory to the King of kings!

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for 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 Revelation of St. John the Divine

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.  Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen.  "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 132

For the LORD has chosen Zion; * he has desired her for his habitation: "This shall be my resting-place for ever; * here will I dwell, for I delight in her.
I will surely bless her provisions, * and satisfy her poor with bread.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:
For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!
For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!
For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!
For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!
For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!
For work and for play. Thanks be to God!
For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!
For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!
For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.
Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John
People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

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: Majesty, (Renew # 63)
Majesty, worship His majesty.  Unto Jesus be all glory, honor, and praise. 
Majesty, kingdom authority flow from His throne unto His own;
His anthem raise. 
So, exalt, lift up on high the name of Jesus. 
Magnify, come glorify Christ Jesus the King. 
Majesty, worship His Majesty; Jesus who died,  now glorified, King of all kings.

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.

The Prayer continues with these words

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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: Spirit of the Living God, (Renew # 90)

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.  Spirit of the living God fall afresh on me. Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me.  Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

Spirit of the living God, move among us all; Spirit of the living God, make us one in love: humble, caring, selfless, sharing— Spirit of the living God, fill our lives with love.

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;
We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.
And His Presence has been known to us.
We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers
    and sisters in Christ.
Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the
     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,
As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: The King of Glory, (Renew # 267)

Refrain: The King of glory comes, the nation rejoices. 
            Open the gates before him, lift up your voices.

Who is the king of glory; how shall we call him?  He is Emmanuel, the promised of ages. Refrain

In all of Galilee, in city or village, he goes among his people curing their illness. Refrain

Sing then of David’s son, our Savior and brother; in all of Galilee was never another. Refrain

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 
People: Thanks be to God! 

To Live in a World of Change is to Have Birth Pangs

26 Pentecost B 28 November 17, 2024
1 Samuel 1:4-20 1 Samuel 2:1-10
Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25 Mark 13:1-8

Lectionary Link

In our appointed readings from the Hebrew Scriptures, we have an account of the marvelous birth of Samuel to Hannah.  In place of the Psalm, we have the famous Song of Hannah.  Apparently childless women in her time were treated as those who had been cursed by God so as not to fulfill their societal and family expectations.  A married woman was expected to have children and not to be able left her open to hidden and not so hidden scorn and derision of her society.  Hannah made a bargain with God, "Give me a child and I will give that child back to you."  Hannah bore the boy Samuel and gave him to the service of God at the shrine in Shiloh with Eli.

The song of Hannah is about her rescue from her social shame of being childless and it includes rebukes for those who disparaged her former condition.  It is a song of judgment against the proud.

It certainly can be seen as a model for the Song of Mary, another woman who had a miraculous conception and birth.  Mary's song is also a song of judgment against the proud and powerful.

The Song of Hannah and the Song of Mary accompany the arrival into the world of two history changing people, Samuel and Jesus.  The songs appear in literature of communities which are assessing significant changes which have taken place in their past and they attribute the changes to the arrival of these two figures, Samuel and Jesus.

Samuel arose as a prominent Judge of Israel, who combined the roles of prophet, judge, and priest in his roles.  He lived before Kings Saul, David, and Solomon and before the Temple was built.  He interrupted the priest lineage of Eli, because the sons of Eli had corrupted the practice of the priestly leadership of Israel.  Samuel was one to reestablish creditability to leadership in Israel and he is the crucial prelude for the age of a divinely established monarchy in Israel.

The writers of Book of Hebrews and the Gospel of Mark reflect upon the meaning of the changes which had happened within the people who were followers of Rabbi Jesus and who had become dispersed throughout the cities of the Roman Empire.

The were assessing what they had lost and learning how to cope with the loss and also find new meanings for living forward into the future as vulnerable communities within the Roman Empire.

What had the writers of the New Testament lost?  They had lost their sacred homeland, sacred city, and sacred Temple.  Jerusalem and the Temple had been razed in the year seventy.  The holy city and environs were uninhabitable.  All the communities associated with Judaism, including the Jesus Movement had become dispersed and forced to re-define their lives in new places.

For the writer of the Gospel of Mark, the Risen Christ was presented in story form as an oracle to the disciples.  The Risen Christ as an oracle in Mark gave words of assurance.  "Yes, the Temple and Jerusalem are destroyed and because of this crisis there will be lots of people giving proud and certain answers for why things have happened and they will want your loyalty for their claims of being God's chosen leaders.  Don't listen to them; what has happened is only another example of what has always being happening in the changes of natures and the changes in human societies.  To live with change is to always be living with birth pangs."

Birth pangs is a metaphor for living in the world of change.  It is the combination of joyful hope and the pain of the not yet.

Without a holy city and a holy Temple, the writer of the Book of Hebrews wrote about the spiritualization of the Temple and the priesthood.  The Temple had always been in the invisible heaven, the priest had always been the heavenly Advocate Christ.  The heavenly Temple as a worship center and the heavenly priestly advocate Christ, had to have earthly history for the meaning to unfold within human experience.  When earthly models of Temple and priest get altered by events of human war, the center of worship and the priestly is still eternally retained only to find new and other expressions within the visible world.

In the new Christly era of the Jesus Movement, the body of each person is a Temple of the Holy Spirit.  The collective body of believers is a nomadic, movable, and portable temple of people who are called to be priestly in the various locations throughout the world.

The birth pangs of changes have given birth to new meanings of temple and the priestly and they were painful because it included the destruction of the Temple and the holy city of Jerusalem, and the loss of the priesthood.

As those early members of the Jesus Movement endured their birth pangs of changes forced upon them by outside forces, and gave birth to new ways of making worship completely portable and of expressing priestly vocations, let us do the same with the current birth pangs forced upon us by the changes in our lives.

Let us endeavor to find ourselves as the temples of the Holy Spirit, and let us find ways to be the priestly intercessory persons to which we are called in the places where we find ourselves.   Amen.