Serve God or Wealth Or Serve God with Wealth

18 Pentecost, C p 20, September 18, 2016 

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1  Psalm  79:1-9

1 Timothy 2:1-7   Luke 16:1-13

Lectionary Link

   One of my goals in preaching has been to show the connections between biblical writings.  How were biblical writers influenced by other biblical writings and how did these influences affect their own writing?  Obviously, New Testament writers borrowed whole-scale and reinterpreted in applied ways, the entirety of the Hebrew Scriptures and other intertestamental writings, such as the books called the Apocrypha.
  One of my main interest has been to show how the Gospel writings mirror the concerns of the early churches, particularly the Pauline churches.  All of the Pauline writings were not written by St. Paul but they did originate in communities where his followers regarded him to be a primary influence for their lives.
  The chronological irony of St. Paul is that he wrote before the Gospels were written down.  This confuses our chronological minds.  Jesus came before St. Paul, but the presentations of Jesus in the Gospels came after the early writings of St. Paul and Paul's writing relate to us the habits and practices of the early churches.   The early church had enough experience of socio-economic diversity to come to this reflection in the letter to Timothy about wealth.  It is written there:  The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.  So in the Pauline churches there is proof that members had the ability to be people of means.  One can note a diversity in the Pauline churches. In the writings to the  churches it is stated that in Christ, there was to be no Jews, no Gentiles, no male, no female, no slave, no free and by extension, no rich, no poor, but a new creation.  St. Paul believed that a person who was aware of the presence of the Risen Christ in their lives were free to remove ethnicity and socio-economic status to a secondary identity in their lives.
  St. Paul's had an interesting personal economic philosophy.  He wrote, I have learned how to be content in every circumstance.  I know how to deal with times of adversity and want; I know how to deal with times of abundance.
  What does this means?  It means that being in Christ, should give us the ability to be rightly related to our current situation of wealth.  Isn't that a worthy goal of our faith?  To learn how to be content with whatever the material circumstances that comes to us in our situation.
  If for the Pauline churches, it was proclaimed that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, how was that expressed in the churches to which the messages in the Gospel of Luke were first preached?  In today's Gospel, we have read a parable of Jesus within the parable about the presentation of an oracle of Christ:  You cannot serve God and wealth.
  Is this a new economic philosophy of austerity?  Does this mean that the only valid Christians are those like St. Francis of Assisi and Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta?  You cannot serve God and wealth.  So get thee to the monastery and the convent if you truly want to honor these words of Jesus in a literal way.
  You cannot serve God and wealth.  This saying is another way of applying the Ten Commandments in a new era.  The teaching of the Ten Commandment instruct us to love God alone and not to make graven images.  We are not to steal and we are not to covet.  In the time of the early church, there was less concern about the worship of images of gods and goddesses, they were more concerned about the worship of wealth.  The worship of wealth means that God is the one from whom we steal.  Coveting expresses our desire, our worship energy, being projected on the wrong things for the wrong reason.  Coveting is energy which could be used for worshipping God but instead it gets used to serve the material things that we desire wrongly.
  You cannot serve God and wealth.  This is quite a difficult saying since our wealth in life can be so demanding of our time and devotion.  If we own a home, how much time do we have to spend taking care of it?  If we own a car, how much do we have to spend in time and money for it?  If we own clothes, we have to pay for them and then we have to spend time taking care of them, washing and ironing them.  Everything that we own or possess as our wealth requires our time and further money to take care of.  The question can easily arise: Do we own our wealth or does our wealth own us?  Does our wealth command the further time, talent and treasure to serve the wealth that we possess?
  How do we solve this dilemma of serving God or wealth?
  I would suggest the following expansion of this saying of Jesus:  You cannot serve God and wealth, but you can make your wealth serve God.
  With this expansion of the phrase, we promote the right relationship and attitude to God and our wealth.  If we acknowledge that God who is wealthy in being the owner of all that is, and if we understand ourselves to be God's children who share in the wealth of our heavenly parent, then we will join with God's program to use the wealth of the world to take good care of all of God's family on earth. 
  An incredibly important part of being rightly related to God and the wealth in this world is the gift of true enjoyment.  It is the enjoyment akin to a child's response to seeing gifts under the Christmas tree.  Wow! Are these for me?  But the excitement is the awareness that all of God's wealth is for us, collective humanity.  And we serve God with our wealth by using the portion of the wealth over which we have direct responsibility by helping to promote the family values of mutual care which is God's official economic program.  From enjoyment of God's wealth shared with us, we can be inspired to the experience of gratitude and generosity. 
  So how can we make our wealth serve God?  Enjoyment, gratitude and generosity liberate our wealth to become creative for God's purposes in our world.
  It is common in American politics for people to give their money to the candidates who support their own particular view of the world.  And some people give quite a bit of money.  How do you and I give our time, talent and treasure to express our particular Christian values?  One of the ways in which we promote our Christian values with our wealth is to give to the mission of the church.  Fall season is the time to think about stewardship within our parish and when we give for the mission of Gospel here, it is a witness to an attitude switch as we acknowledge that God is the owner of all things and we are called to be stewards.
   You cannot serve God and wealth; hopefully you and I are trying to learn how to use the wealth of our lives with enjoyment, gratitude and generosity to serve God as we support the spread of the good news of Jesus Christ in the words and deeds of our lives.  Amen.
    

Sunday School, September 18, 2016 18 Pentecost C proper 20

Sunday School, September 18, 2016    18 Pentecost C proper 20

Theme

You cannot serve God and wealth

What if you are hungry and you make yourself a sandwich to eat, but while you go to get some milk, someone takes your sandwich and eats it, how would you feel?

You might be upset.  Why?  Because you were the maker and the owner of that sandwich and someone took it without your permission and they ate it instead of you.

God made the world and so the world belongs to God.  What if people just take all of the things in this world without asking God, without thanking God and what if people just pretend that everything belongs to them and they ignore, forget or just plain steal from the owner.

You cannot serve God and wealth.  What is the solution to this problem?

You shall serve God with your wealth.  If we come to know that we are God’s sons and daughters and that we have inherited everything from God, then we will use all of our wealth for God’s family business.  What is God’s family business?  It is to make sure that everyone in God’s family is taken care of and so we use our wealth to take care of everyone in God’s family, including our God.

You cannot serve God and wealth.  We can think that this is hard and difficult choice or we can accept God as our Father and the creator and owner of the universe and if we believe this then we can happily use our wealth to serve God.

Think about how you and can use what God has given to us to serve God.

Sermon

What if you let me play with your Legos.  And while I was playing with your Legos, I decided that I would give some of them away to some of my friends.  And when you came to me to get your Legos back, I hand you a few Legos.  And you would ask me where are the rest of my Legos?  And I would say to you: Oh, I gave them to some of my friends.  What would you say, “Why did you do that?  They belonged to me.  You cannot give away something that does not belong to you.”  You would be upset wouldn’t you?

  What if one of you girls let your sisters play with five of your dolls.  And what if your sister decided to give a Barbie doll and a Snow White Doll away to her friends.  So when you came to get your dolls, there was only three dolls left?  How would you feel about your sister giving away two of your dolls?  Not very good.  You would say to your sister, “Why did you give my dolls away.  You had no right to do so.

  So you understand ownership?  When something belongs to you then you are the owner.  And what does it mean to be an owner?  It means that you have control over the things that you own.  It means that if you want to give your things away, you can but since you are the owner, you alone can choose.

  In our Gospel lesson, Jesus reminded his friends that God is the owner of everything.  Everything belongs to God because God made the world.  But God is a good maker.  God shared everything that was made with us. But when God shares everything with us he asks us to remember two things: First, remember that even though I share everything with you, I still am the owner of everything.  Second, since I share everything with you, then you need to share so that everyone has enough.

  That is why Jesus gave us two rules: Love God with all of our hearts.  That is how we recognize God as the owner of everything.  And love our neighbor as ourselves.  That is the rule of sharing.

  So how does God if some people have nothing to eat in this world and other people have so much to eat that they throw away good food?  How does God feel if some people have no home to live in and other people have five homes to live in?  How does God feel if some people have no clothes to wear and other people have a hundred dresses and shirts to wear?

  God the owner of life, who has shared everything with us, must feel very sad when some people have too much and other people have almost nothing.

  How can we correct this problem?  Love God and love our neighbor.  When we do this we remember that God is the owner of all things and we learn to use the good things that God gives us in the right way by learning to share and care for people who do not have enough.

  So today, let us remember that God is the owner of life.  And we need God’s help to know what to do with all of the good things that God shares with us.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

September 18, 2018: The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Jesus in the Morning, If You’re Happy, Seek Ye First,  Let There Be Peace

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

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

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

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

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

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: Jesus in the Morning   (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 134)

1. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus in the morning, Jesus at the noon time.  Jesus, Jesus, Jesus when the sun goes down.

2. Love Him  3. Serve Him   4. Praise Him

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

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

Litany of Praise: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

A reading from the First Letter to Timothy

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 113

Hallelujah! Give praise, you servants of the LORD; * praise the Name of the LORD.

Let the Name of the LORD be blessed, * from this time forth for evermore.

From the rising of the sun to its going down * let the Name of the LORD be praised.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God!

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 to the disciples, "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People:                        And also with you.

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

Offertory Song: If You’re Happy  (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 124)

1-If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.  If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.  If you’re happy and you know it, then your face should surely show it, if you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.

2-Make a high five 3-Make a low five  4-Shout Amen!

Children’s Choral Anthem:

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 God.”

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.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments) 

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

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

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia.

Words of Administration

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

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness.  And all these things will be added unto you, allelu, alleluia.  Refrain: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, allelu, alleluia.

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

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: Let There Be Peace On Earth (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 251)

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.  Let there be peace on earth the peace that was meant to be.  With God as our Father, brothers all are we.  Let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony.  Let peace begin with me let this be the moment now.  With every step I take, let this be my solemn vow to take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally.  Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

  

Eucharist As Eating with the Lost and Sinners

17 Pentecost, Cp19, September 11, 2016

Exodus 32:7-14   Psalm 51:1-11

1 Timothy 1:12-17  Luke 15:1-10

Lectionary Link

   The Gospels are the literature of the early Christian communities and so they primarily reflect the habits, the teachings, the  liturgies, the spirituality and the historical outcomes in the experience of the Risen Christ in the church.

  What were the outcomes which were practiced in the early churches?  First, the people who were formerly known as sinners ate the Lord's table.  Second, the people who formerly had been lost from the blessing of Judaism were found in the blessing of the Risen Christ.
  These outcomes and practices of the early church were illustrated in the parables about Jesus.  The irony of the Gospels is that they are "parables" about Jesus who also tells parables.  In the parable about Jesus in the Gospel that we have read today, what was said about Jesus?
  The religious opponents of Jesus criticized Jesus by saying, "He eats with sinners."  This may seem like a strange criticism in our day of quite open public eating.  When one eats at any public restaurant one is never quite sure whom one is eating with and we don't really care.
  Eating with someone in the Judaic context was important during the time of Jesus and afterwards because of the ritual purity practices in Judaism.  If Jesus was the right kind of observant Jews of his time he should have been careful about his public behaviors.  First, of all, a sinner in the time of Jesus was a code word for people who were ritually impure.  If you would eat with someone who was not observing Jewish ritual practices, then you could not be sure that the food had been prepared according to the ritual practices of Judaism.  An observant Jew would be very careful about the people with whom he ate.
  What is the main composition of the members of the Christian Communities in the cities throughout the Roman Empire?  It was Gentiles Christians, formerly known as sinners.
  These Gentiles Christians were eating together in the Holy Eucharist.  This Holy Eucharist was a gathering of people who believed that Risen Christ was present with them because of the presence of God's Holy Spirit.  And in this renewal feast the Holy Spirit was invoked, asked to bless the bread and the wine and to convey through this invocation a renewal in time of another presence of Christ.
  The Holy Eucharist was the evidence of the church that Jesus ate with the Gentiles, the ones who had formerly been declared to be sinners and ritually impure.  Gentiles were mostly, ignorant of the ritual purity requirements of Judaism.
  What is another message which the early church was preaching using this Gospel parable of Jesus?  The message was that God cared for and loved more people than those who could be ritually observant Jews.
  Many people in the world were "lost" and unimportant to those who were ritually observant Jews.  According to those who were observant Jews, most of the population of the world was "lost" from the blessing of what had been received and practiced by observant Jews.  Gentile Christianity was trying to promote the view that God could not be locked up within the limitations of ritually pure Judaism.
  Gentile Christianity was about recovering what had been lost in strict ritual Judaic practices.  The members of the Christian communities looked to the Hebrew Scriptures to find how the lost Gentiles had become could be "found" within the teachings of Judaism.
  St. Paul went back to the Pre-Hebrew figure of Abraham to find him to be the father of faith for both Jews and Gentiles.  The prophet Jonah was ordered by God to preach to the foreign people of Nineveh.  This was a way of indicating that God's love stretched beyond the people of Israel in the witness of the  Hebrew Scriptures.  The Temple in Jerusalem was at its best to be a House of Prayer for all people.  In the Torah, the Jews were instructed to treat foreigners equally under the law.  In the Psalms, God is declared to the God of all people.
  It was clear that in the time of Jesus that ritual purity practices of observant Jews meant that many believed that God was not able to bless anyone who could not be observant in their ritual purity practices.
  Within the early Christian communities were people who believed that God in Christ had found a way to find all of the people who had been lost to ritually pure Judaism.
  In the Christian communities, there was a new way to become regarded as clean, pure and holy before God; it was not through ritual purity, it was through the presence of God's Holy Spirit in one's life.
  The ancient Psalmist cried, "Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within."   The early Christians believe that purity and holiness was not determined by the practice of ritual purity; purity and holiness was determined by the presence of God's Holy Spirit in one's life.  God's Holy Spirit could be the clean heart and right spirit within anyone.
  So the Christian communities believed that Jesus came as proof that God saved sinners.  Jesus came to prove that God could make holy, people who did not practice the ritual purity of Judaism.  Jesus came to say that God had found all of those Gentiles who had formerly been treated as lost to the benefit and the blessings found within Judaism.
  The practice of early churches presented the Gospel to show how many people had come to be found by God.  The Eucharistic practice of church was a witness that Jesus was present within the fellowship meal of all people.  Jesus ate with the people formerly regarded to be sinners and ritually impure and defiled.
  The Eucharist today is still a Gospel witness to fact that Jesus came to save sinners.  Jesus came to find the lost.  Jesus came to show that God truly belongs to everyone.  Jesus came to show that God's Holy Spirit within anyone is what makes us acceptable to God.
  As people who practice Eucharist, we are still sinners eating together.  We can like Jesus say, "All of my best friends are sinners and I eat with them."  As people who gather for the Holy Eucharist again, we know that what is holy, pure and best about our lives is the very presence of God's Holy Spirit.
  So let us become today a part of God's search and rescue team.  Let us find people who have been made to believe that they are lost from God's love, care and grace.  Let us go forth to let people know that they can be made to feel holy and accepted by knowing the presence of God's Holy Spirit within their lives.  Amen.

Sunday School, September 11, 2016 17 Pentecost C proper 19

Sunday School, September 11, 2016   17 Pentecost C proper 19

Sunday School Theme

The value of being lost

We do not look for things which are not important to us.  When something or someone is missing from our lives.  Our hearts want to find them and get them back into our lives.

What are things that you don’t like to lose?  Favorite toys.  People don’t like to lose their keys or their watches or their rings and other jewelry. 

What do we do when we lose something?  We try to find it because it is important to us.  We use it and it is valuable to us.

What about losing people?  The most painful loss of a person is when they die.  And then we cannot have them return to our lives.

Jesus said that God noticed that there were lots of lost people.  Who were these people lost to?  They were lost to the religious gatherings.  Many religious people did not even want to find lost people.  Jesus told his friends that there were many lost people who were important to God but they were not important to the people who would not invite them into their lives.

Jesus was criticized for eating with sinners.  But Jesus was trying to teach that the people called sinners were the lost people who needed to be found and brought into the family of God’s love.

Let us be careful about people we exclude from our lives.  We need to remember that God loves everyone, particularly those who do not know that they are loved and cared for by God.

Can we learn to be God’s detectives and God’s finder of the people who are lost because they are neglected by others.

Let us become a part of God’s army of finders who are doing search and rescue of the people who seem to be lost in this world because no one cares for them.

Sermon:

  Do you know one of the most frightening experiences in a family?  When a child is lost.  Sometimes a young child wanders away from the shopping cart and a child can get lost in a big store.  And mom and dad can get very worried.  They look and look until they find their lost child.

  There is one thing that is good about being lost.  Do you know what that is?  If someone or something is lost, it tells us that it is valuable.

  If you lose your watch or keys or toys, why do you look for them?  Because you want them, they are valuable to you.

  Jesus told stories about being lost.  And he did this to teach people that God values all people.  And if God values all people, then we too should value people who seem to be lost from finding enough food, health care or freedom in life.

  We are having a baptism today because baptism is a way of celebrating how valuable each person is to God and to our community.  Lily is very valuable to us, to her parents and family and this is what we are celebrating today.

  Baptism is a way of celebrating in this big, big world that God has found us because we are valuable to God.

  So we practice baptism as a way of sharing God’s love for everyone.  We do not want anyone to feel lost in this world.  We want everyone to feel valued by God and by special people in their family and in their community.

  Let us be thankful today that we don’t have to feel lost today.  God values us and God has found us.  And the way in which we celebrate our value to God and to each other as children of God and brothers and sisters in Christ is through Holy Baptism.

  We baptized today because we celebrate that God’s love has found us.  And so we do not ever have to feel lost in life because we belong to the family of Christ.

  Repeat: Thank you God for finding us and making us members of the family of Christ.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

September 11, 2016: The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Peace Before Us, I Am the Bread of Life, Dona Nobis Pacem, When the Saints

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

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

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

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

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

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: Peace Before Us   (Wonder, Love and Praise, #  791)

1. Peace before us, peace behind us, peace under our feet.  Peace within us, peace over us, let all around us be peace.

2. Love   3. Joy   4. Light   5. Christ

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, because without you we are not able to please you mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany of Praise: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

A reading from the First Letter to Timothy

But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-- of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 51

Make me hear of joy and gladness, * that the body you have broken may rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins * and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, * and renew a right spirit within me.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God!

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.

All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."  So he told them this parable: "Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, `Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. "Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, `Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People:                        And also with you.

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

Offertory Song: I Am The Bread of Life (Blue Hymnal, # 335)

I am the bread of life; they who come to me shall not hunger; and they who believe in me shall not thirst.  No one can come to me unless the Father draw them.

Refrain:  And I will raise them up, and I will raise them up, and I will raise them up on the last day.

The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world, and they who eat of this bread they shall live for ever, they shall live forever.  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 God.”

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.  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: Dona Nobis Pacem  (Renew!, # 240)

Dona nobis pacem, pacem, dona nobis pacem.

Dona nobis pacem, dona nobis pacem.

Dona nobis pacem , dona nobis pacem.

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: When the Saints God Marching In (Christian Children’s Songbook, #248)

O when the saints, go marching in, O when the saints go marching in.  Lord I want to be in that number.  When the saints go marching in.

O when boys go marching in….

O when the girls go marching in…

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

Challengings Koans of Jesus

16 Pentecost, Cp18, September 8, 2013

Deuteronomy 30:15-20   Psalm 1

Philemon 1-20 Luke 14:25-33

Lectionary Link
  

What if I had the following requirements for joining St. John's parish?  Hate your father, hate your mother, hate your wife, hate your children, hate your brother, hate your sister, hate your life, actively seek death on a cross and sell all your possessions.

  You might say, "No thanks, that's an impossible and undesirable standard for me.  I think that I'll try St. Swithin's down the road instead. I think they have different family values there."

  These words are troublesome for us to understand.  People who are very literal about biblical meanings twist their interpretations into pretzels to make sense of these sayings and atheists too like to remind us how we Christians have these "crazy" words of Jesus.

  You pay me the big bucks to tell you exactly what these words of Jesus mean but I'm going to punt.  I must confess that I do not know exactly what these words mean.  What I can do is present a range of meanings for these words. On the surface these words seem harsh and inconsistent with valuing one's life, honoring one's parents and family as prescribed in the Ten Commandments.  They are also contradictory with other words of Jesus elsewhere, like how is it we're supposed to love our enemies and those who hate us but we're supposed to hate our family and our own lives?  Surely something is lost in the translation.

  How about if I were to present you with a range of possible meanings and in doing so we cannot treat this Gospel writing like a scientific logical syllogism but we might understand the mood that this literary saying is trying to invoke for our spiritual lives.

  In Zen Buddhism, a disciple learns spiritual enlightenment by having the logical mind baffled so that hidden meanings can be understood.  A roshi or master will give the disciple a riddle to ponder.  These riddles are called koans.  Probably the most often quoted koan is this: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"  We might learn to read the Gospel sayings of Jesus as words which baffle the logical mind in order for us to pierce another level of enlightenment.

  In trying to achieve a range of meanings, a first meaning might be an ironic reading of these harsh words.  "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple?  Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple?"  By reading these words of Jesus with different intonation, the exact opposite meaning is implied.  It could be that when oral tradition was written down, the intonation patterns of the preachers were lost.  If we use an ironic reading of these words, the meaning becomes clear:   "If you think that being my disciple is bad for your family and your life, then you really misunderstand me."  This ironic reading has some merit in the context because it comes after excuses that people were giving for not following Christ.  Some of the excuses had to do with family obligations, so the ironic reading of these words have a fairly crisp meaning.  Don't make your family an excuse for not following Jesus.

  The meaning of the words of Jesus are qualified by the conditions and the spirituality within the early Christian communities.  To bear one's cross and to die to oneself was a spiritual method found in the writings of St. Paul.  St. Paul wrote that "he had been crucified with Christ but he continued to live so there was an old self which died and a new self that had been born."  The word for life in the Gospel reading is "pseuche" or soul life.  Dying to one's soul life is not physical death but it means dying to one's former versions of self, family and possessions.  Pauline spirituality was based upon the continual process of dying to oneself and taking on new life.  Words like dying and hate are extreme words which are used, not to imply physical violence or the social shunning of one's family; they are extreme words to denote the profound attitude shifts which was taking place in the process of spiritual transformation.

  These words were probably very sensitive to the quite eclectic membership of the early churches.  Following Jesus and joining the Christian family meant significant change and possible opposition especially if the other members of one's family of birth were still loyal to the cult of the Emperor and the gods of the Roman Empire, or if they were still members of synagogues which had excommunicated the followers of Christ or even if they were members of the continuing community of John the Baptist.  It is important to remember that the Gospels were written in a time when the members of the church came from families that were often in religious conflict and so persons who wanted to follow Christ did have some very serious loyalty issues, a loyalty dilemma that one does not want to face.  It seems like a very unfair decision: follow Christ and lose my family.  Such undesirable dilemmas do occur in the history of faith communities and such dilemmas were the formation conditions of the early Christian communities.

  Another condition within the early churches was one of chief beliefs of various members.  Many of the leaders of the early Christian church like St. Paul came from the apocalyptic fatalism of certain strains of Judaism of the time.  Many Jews believed that the long suffering of their people and the occupation of their country required from their understanding of Hebrew Scriptures and other writings, a coming of a Messiah who would intervene and bring justice to the earth.  Jesus of Nazareth in his first coming was not a military king; so many persons within the Christian community believed that Jesus would come back quite soon after his resurrection and he would return as a Davidic Messiah.  If you believed that Jesus was coming back tomorrow, why get married, why raise a family, why get involved in the family business, why own property and possessions?  Such believers tended to be world hating and world denying since they believed that the world as they knew it would soon end.  St. Paul himself believed this; he even suggested that it was better for people to be unmarried as he was so that they could be in Spartan condition for dealing with the end times by getting the Gospel to as many people as possible.

  The early church also had a very radical sociology.  The early church had a radical notion of Christian family.  In the community of St. Paul, they believed that in Christ there was no Jew, no Greek, no Gentile, no male, no female, no slave, no free but a new creation.  Jewish society and Roman society had very strict definitions of family and social caste, so can we understand how radical that this new Christian equality was?  Everyone was equal in Christ even though they had different roles in society.  The letter to Philemon was a letter that St. Paul wrote to the slave owner of Onesimus.  Onesimus had run away from the home of Philemon; he had become of follower of Christ and a disciple of St. Paul.  So Paul wrote Philemon a letter to receive Onesimus back into his household without punishment.  He was to receive Onesimus back as a brother in Christ, even though he was a slave who was owned by Philemon.  So within the early church, the equality of Christian baptism made the spiritual family more important than one's flesh and blood birth.  The Gospel of John writer wrote:  To those who believed in Jesus, he gave power to be sons of God, not born of the will of man or the will of the flesh but of God.

  Can we appreciate the extreme poetry of this radical notion of Christian family?   If we understand the radical notion of Christian family, then the harshness of the words of the oracle of Christ within the early churches can be understood in the context in which they were first delivered.

  These words of the oracle of Christ have troubled literal readers at different times in the history of the church.  One could actually say that the monastic movement was born from these radical words of Jesus.  People who went to the monastery hated their personal ambitions, their family relations and personal possessions as they followed the counsels of perfection: poverty, chastity and obedience.  The reason that the church has a tradition of celibacy for clergy and religious is in part because of these harsh words of Jesus.  The monastic life is founded on the communalism that is found in the record of the early church of people having all things in common.

  So what about us today?  We hope and pray that our family relationships don't conflict with our devotion to Christ.  We accept today that the end of the world did not happen during the time of St. Paul and so we do not live in the same way in which some of the early Christians did.  We don't feel like we have to be communal in our lifestyle.

  Just as the early Christians had to find a way to be obedient to Christ within their own circumstances, you and I need to find the very best way to be loyal to Christ given the specific circumstances of our own lives.  We cannot use the situations of the time of the early churches as prohibitions to suggest that our life situations should be the same as it was then.  Faith in Christ means that we need to find meaningful and engaging ways to follow Christ today with good and true hearts in the unique situations of our own lives.

  Today, I wish you every good blessing as you seek to give Christ a special place in your life.   I hope your family supports you in your devotion to Christ.  And I hope that our devotion to Christ will be winsome toward the people whom we want to know God’s love. Amen.