Two or Three Plus Christ, Makes a Quorum

14 Pentecost, A p18, September 6, 2020
Ezekiel 33:7-11 Psalm 119:33-40
Romans 13:8-14 Matthew 18:15-20

Lectionary Link

Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them."  This saying of Jesus is often quoted.  It is used as a consolation statement when just a few people show up for Mass and the priest opines, "Oh well, at least Jesus is here, because he said where two or three are gather, I am there too."

There are also comic version of this like, "where two or three Episcopalians are gathered in my name, there you have two or three different opinions."

There is also the cynical version of this, "where two of three are gathered in my name, you can be sure there's politics involved."

I often have heard this quoted in a romanticized way to refer to proverbial campfire Christianity with everyone in love, singing Kum by Yah my Lord.

I have to admit that the cynical version of this is closer to the actual context of this saying.  The context is that members have sinned against each others and there is disagreement within the community.  The community is threatened by this matter of community discipline and so the community needs wisdom to know how to proceed.

So why is this saying significant?  For several reasons.

This saying represents the transfer of the identity of the physical presence of Jesus of Nazareth onto the spiritual presence of the Risen Christ within the lives of the gathered followers of Jesus.

This is in keeping with St. Paul's Body of Christ theology.  We are members of the body of Christ; Christ is our Head presiding over the different gifted members of the Body of Christ.

Members of the Body of Christ can come into competition and disagreement and so the overall health and effectiveness of that body can be threatened.

The same thing happens in my body.  My stomach can be upset and threaten my overall effectiveness.  I need to resort to my head, my reasoning mechanism, to resolve body disagreement to move forward.

When members of the Body of Christ disagree or hurt each other, they still need to gather in the name of Christ and let the presence of Christ as Head of the Body provide the group, communal and even democratic wisdom to resolve differences and go forward in the mission of the Gospel.

Can you see in this saying the basis for a Christ-democracy to achieve consensus, collaboration, collegiality and communion within the church?  This saying is the basis for what became known as Conciliar Christianity.

Why is this saying not easy and not always so obvious?

It is one thing to have a very small group of people, 12 disciples or a small Jesus Movement, but what about when the Jesus Movement burgeons to take over the Roman Empire?  A dispute can have significant political ramification.  The Emperor Constantine noticed the success of Christianity even while he noticed that there was great disagreement among them.  So he convened the council of Nicaea to require a Christ-democracy of bishops to agree on and standardize the teachings of the church to prevent open fighting among the members.  Thus the two or three gathering, grew to larger gatherings of bishops to realize the presence of Christ to resolve the challenge to live together in love, agreement and communion.

How can you and appropriate this Gospel saying of Jesus in our time?  In our time, we have hundreds of different Christian groups who believe and practice the Gospel in different ways.  We have some large Christian bodies with strong centralized structures and the leaders of these body issue statements of doctrine and practice for large number of members.  We also have some independent congregational gatherings that issue their own practices and teachings.

For you and I, in our parish, in our diocese, in our Communion, in our Ecumenical relationships with other Christians, and in our relationship with people of all faith who seek love and justice, we can still apply this saying of Jesus as relevant to us.

First we need to gather in the Name of Jesus.  What does this mean?  It means that we live as a family member of Christ.  It means that we have taken a mystical identity with the death and resurrection of Christ and come to check our ego so that Christ can be in and through us.  And when we gather and everyone is deferring to Christ in and through us, we can come to the wisdom of consensus, collaboration, communion, collegiality and together execute the mission of the Gospel for us in our time and place.

Each of us in our prayer is asking, "what would Jesus do here and now in our time?"  Jesus would do love,  justice, and mercy.

And if churches have so many rules and laws, how do we know what do do?  St. Paul said, "Love."  Love fulfills the Laws, it fulfills all rules. 

And if one is ever uncertain about what Jesus would do, then we should ask, "What does love mean in this situation?"  And that is how both individually and as a group of people we can know what Jesus would do.  Amen.

Sunday School, September 6, 2020 14 Pentecost, A proper 18

 Sunday School, September 6, 2020  14 Pentecost, A proper 18

Theme

How is someone present even when they are not seen?

People who love and care for us, who become very important for our lives in how we think, talk and act become so much a part of us that even when we are not with them, we feel like that are with us because they have taught us so well.

Jesus was a person who could not be forgotten.  He made such a deep impression on this friends that even when he was gone and no longer seen, he still seemed to be present.

This is what great people do to us.  They are so great that they never leave us even when we don’t see them anymore.

The friends of Jesus continued to gather after Jesus was gone and no longer seen.  Sometimes they had disagreements but they had a way to solve their disagreements.  What did they do?  They got together and they all thought about one thing: “What would Jesus do, think and say.”  And they believed that when they did this, they could know that Jesus was acting, thinking and saying things through them.  This is presence of Christ that we cannot see but it is the presence of Christ that we can be together.

We know that someone born in America is an American.  Whereever an American or Americans are, then the presence of America is known even though America is too big and mysterious to actually see.

St. Paul called the church, the “Body of Christ.”  When Christians are together, they are forming an expression of the “Body of Christ.”  As the body of Christ, Christians become the presence of Christ in this world even though Jesus left this earth a long time ago.

How can we know that we are a part of the body of Christ and that Christ is still present with us?  When we practice love.  St. Paul says that love is the best expression of keeping the law of God.  When we love, we are being a part of the body of Christ and we help to make the presence of Christ known to other people.

Let us learn to love.  Let us learn to be the body of Christ.  Let us be people who help others know that Christ is still present in this world through us.

Sermon:

  Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."

  After Jesus left this world, his disciples and friends worried about knowing what to do.  They worried about who would settle arguments when Jesus wasn’t there.

  But could Jesus still be with them when he couldn’t be seen?

  Can your parent still be with you when you can’t see them?

  When you go to school and are not with your parents, can they still be with you?

  Of course they can.  You can remember that they care for you and you can remember what they have taught you, and so even though you don’t see them, they still are with you.

  When do brothers and sisters usually get into arguments?  When mom and dad are out of the room, right?   When you can’t see mom and dad, sometimes you think that you can do something that you wouldn’t do if mom or dad were in the room.

  What about when the teacher leaves the classroom?  Sometimes students think that can get away with something when the teacher is not there.

  But when mom and dad are gone they are still there…..how many times does the brother or sister say, “I am going to tell mom.  I am going tell Dad.”  So even though mom or dad isn’t there they are still present.

  When the teacher is gone from the classroom.  If a student misbehaves, sometimes another student will say, “I’m going to tell the teacher.”  So even the teacher is gone, the teacher is still present.

   When Jesus left this world, he did not take his presence from his friends.  He told them that he would be with them when they gathered together.

  And Christ has remained with us for a long time.  And every Sunday we gather as brothers and sisters in Christ to remember that Christ is with us.  And we gather to remember how we are supposed to behave and live.  And we remember how we are supposed to care for one another.

  So today we gather and even though we don’t see Christ, we know that he is here.  Amen.

Inter generational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

September 6,  2020: The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Lord, I Lift Your Name on High, Jesus Stand Among Us, Sing a New Song,  

 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: Lord, I Lift Your Name on High (Renew!  # 4)

Lord, I lift your name on high; Lord, I love to sing your praises.  I’m so glad you’re in my life; I’m so glad you came to save us.  You came from heaven to earth to show the way, from the earth to the cross, my debt to pay.  From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky; Lord, I lift you name on high!

(Sing three times)

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet"; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 149

Hallelujah! Sing to the LORD a new song; * sing his praise in the congregation of the faithful.

Let Israel rejoice in his Maker; * let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.

Let them praise his Name in the dance; * let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

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

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

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

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

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

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

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

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

   Thanks be to God!

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

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus said, "If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People:            And also with you.

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

Offertory Music: Jesus Stand Among Us, (Renew # 237)

1          Jesus, stand among us in your risen power; let this time of worship be a hallowed hour.

2          Breathe the Holy Spirit into every heart; bid the fears and sorrow from each soul depart.

Doxology

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

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

Prologue to the Eucharist

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

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

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

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All  may gather around the altar)

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

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

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

 this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

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

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Hymn:  Jesus Stand Among Us, Renew! #17

Jesus stand among us, at the meeting of our lives, be our sweet agreement at the meeting of our eyes; O, Jesus, we love You, so we gather here, join our hearts in unity and take away our fear.

So to You we’re gathering out of each and every land.  Christ the love between us at the joining of our hand; O, Jesus, we love You, so we gather here, join our hearts in unity and take away our fear.

Jesus stand among us, the breaking of the bread, join us as one body as we worship Your, our Head.  O, Jesus, we love You, so we gather here, join our hearts in unity and take away our fear.

 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: Sing a New Song, (Renew!  #21)

Refrain: Sing a new song unto the Lord; let your song be sung from mountains high.  Sing a new song unto the Lord, singing, “Alleluia.”

Yahweh’s people dance for joy; O come before the Lord.  And play for him on glad tambourines, and let your trumpet sound.  Refrain

Rise, O children, from your sleep; your Savior now has come.  He has turned your sorrow to joy and fill your soul with song.  Refrain

Dismissal:   

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

People:      Thanks be to God! 

Aphorism of the Day, August 2020

Aphorism of the Day, August 31, 2020

The Gospel of Matthew channels the Risen Christ giving advice about church disputes with the affirmation of a corporate presence of Christ even when Jesus is physically absent.  Such is the "democratic" presence of Christ where members vote on actions and disciple.  Remember that the presence of Christ in each person does not guarantee that all member will agree on everything.  The presence of Christ in the gathering is an affirmation of conciliar and democratic practice and democratic practice tolerates loyal minorities.

Aphorism of the Day, August 30, 2020

One of the difficulty for American Christians to claim authentic identity with New Testament Christian, is due to the fact that we have lived in the aftermath of Empire Christianity.   Jesus and the Jesus Movement were on the losing side in terms of earthly power and privilege.  American Christianity has had a hard time of identifying with the various "losers" of power and privilege in the realm of Empire Christianity.  We need a good dose of liberation theology: A discourse and practice on behalf of the poor and marginalized.

Aphorism of the Day, August 29, 2020

Peter was not so sure that he wanted a suffering servant Messiah.  Most of the churches who were "beneficiaries" of the favored status of being the "Empire" religion prefer a Caesar Messiah who gives us "the majority" religious group special favors.  We have forgotten that the Jesus Movement derived from the suffering servant.  It makes the crucible which generated liberation theology even more authentic in being connected with our Suffering Servant Messiah.

Aphorism of the Day, August 28, 2020

The confession of Peter, followed by Jesus' explanation about being a suffering servant, followed by Peter's correction of the Messiah about the meaning of the Messiah, followed by the rebuke of Jesus about Peter being on the side of Satan, IS a continuing dynamic within the history of the church.  Some desire a Caesar Messiah, a Christendom where the church is wedded to the wealth and power of a society.  Not many really want a suffering servant Messiah of public suffering and having to settle for interior triumph of Holy Spirit enduring power to suffering and relieve the sufferings of others whenever one can.

Aphorism of the Day, August 27, 2020

Son of Man?  Used a lot in the words of Jesus in the Gospel.  The title has only slight precedent in "canonical" texts, namely, the Book of Daniel.  The more expansive precedent is in the non-canonical book of Enoch.  How can the title have such significance and not derive from a "canonical" book?  It certainly means one must consider the "apocalyptic" context which defines the crucible of Jesus and the forming Jesus Movement.

Aphorism of the Day, August 26, 2020

Losing one's life to save it was the method of Christian education also known as repentance, metanoia, the "after mind, the new mind," or as St. Paul called it the renewal of one's mind.  So one dies to one's former "soul-life" or pseuche in order to take on an new state of "soul-life" in the renewal outcome.  This is spiritual process of transformation that has common meaning in the words of Jesus about taking of one's cross and in the words of Paul about being "crucified and risen" with Christ.  

Aphorism of the Day,  August 25, 2020

One might assume that "take up one's cross" became a short hand phrase for the attending metaphors of identity with the death of Christ as a spiritual method of checking one's ego at the door and allowing God's Spirit to over come evil with good.

Aphorism of the Day, August 24, 2020

A disciple like Peter allowed himself to be presented or was presented as one who had been inspired to confess Jesus as the Messiah, but then was immediately rebuked as a voice of Satan when he would not let a suffering Jesus be the Messiah that he envisioned.  One has to appreciate the division over how the life of the Messiah would be instantiated to understand the breakdown of the Jesus Movement and the synagogue.  Matthew's Gospel presents the dialogue of Jesus and Peter to exemplify this roots of this division.  Even Peter, himself who confessed Jesus as the Messiah, did not understand how he would be the Messiah, viz., the route of the Suffering Servant.

Aphorism of the Day, August 23, 2020

Having Word, we come into understanding of the vast order of differences and some word discourses cannot tolerate contradictions due to difference, even while Word is the condition of tolerating everything that can come to language.

Aphorism of the Day, August 22, 2020

It is important to understand that the Gospels are translations of oral traditions to people who are separated in time, culture, and language from the Jesus situation.  How does one communicate a "Jesus sayings" into a situation outside of Jerusalem in a time when the Jesus Movement had spread and grown and the writing of Gospel was proof of the institutional success that saw the Jesus Movement morph into the "church,"  ekklesia, meaning called out of or in secular use referred to a geographical ward?  Such a concept is somewhat seen in the notion of a parish as the identity of a gathered people in a certain geographical location.  The time of Jesus had no ekklesia but the time of writer of the Gospel of Matthew had a developing institution that was being called, ekklesia, church.  When Jesus says to Peter, "I will build my church," one can see the obvious anachronism that occurs in the translation.  Why?  The Matthean audience understood "church," and they had become separated from the synagogue so Jesus could not be translated to have said, "I will build my synagogue," because that would have been tinged with counter meanings for the readers.

Aphorism of the Day, August 21, 2020

Why could St. Paul glory in the death of Christ?  Because he experienced in the wake of the death and resurrection of Jesus a seeming inadvertent intervention in his life.  The wake of life events of Jesus had a transhistorical energy of conversion and transformation and Paul incorporated the metaphors of the death and resurrection of Jesus tinged with energy into a spiritual program of transformation.  This mystical program was reified in the narrative presentations of the life of Jesus  in the communities which generated Matthew, Mark, Luyke and John, because the churches had so progressed in institutionalization process that their mystical catechesis was "hidden" in the Christ narratives as each "initiate" projected oneself upon the Gospel "disciples" in training, as the Risen Christ, through the Holy Spirit made groove in the soul-life of each initiate.

Aphorism of the Day, August 20, 2020

One sees in the Gospel the writers using existing language to present Jesus.  Son of Man was a figure presented in apocalyptic literature, both canonical and extra-canonical writings.  The Messiah was a figure who was selected by God and "anointed" for a specific mission, about which parties disagreed.  Some thought the Messiah would be kingly, military figure to intervene on behalf of the people who were looking for a Messiah.  Others thought that the Messiah, was anointed for special suffering, even death, from which he would triumph.  And Son of God was another title for Jesus, as found in a royal Psalm, "The Lord said to my Lord, you are my son, today I have begotten you."  We should not absolutize Christological titles; we should understand that language available for people under the spell of Jesus and the Risen Chris, was the obvious poetic way of people of time to speak of his excellent greatness.

Aphorism of the Day, August 19, 2020

The most "catholic" thing about humanity, about which no one can disagree, is that humanity has word and word has humanity.  Word is the "arche" or first principle of humanity.  Everything presumes Word, if it can be known or come to conscious.   Word is infinitely reflexive and circular, in that everything in the Worded universe is but the reciprocal interaction of word products, also know as signifiers.  Theologian often have devised cataphatic and apophatic theologies and forgotten that they are using words to do so.  Eastern monks can pretend to leave the worded universe in some profound silence all the while their very posture is thoroughly coded by having language.  Word is the big elephant in the room, always reminding us that we cannot forget the profound constitution of all life by Word, by language.

Aphorism of the Day, August 18, 2020

The traditional Anglican appeal to the sources of authority, Scripture, Tradition and Reason, are really only arbitrary cuts in the pie of Word or Language, in that they are all unified by being Language Products or Outcomes.  To deny that the word of Scriptures did not occur within the traditions of receiving agents who rendered them in text would be silly.   And to deny that Reason as language interpretation involved always and everywhere would be silly.  When Jesus is quoted as saying, "On this rock, I will build my church," one can appreciate the anachronistic oracular Risen Christ channeled by the preacher in the Matthean community interpreting a Christ-designated line of apostolic authority in the becoming institutionalized Jesus Movement to center upon Peter and his witness.  And much later the Risen Christ would be channeled through the "Selectors" of what would be regarded as "Scripture" for the churches.  So one cannot divide Scripture, Tradition or Reason except for teaching specificity.  Teaching specificity pretends to remove an element of synchronicity when in fact synchronicity cannot be violated.  If I try to remove Scripture as independent of Tradition or Reason, the removal for study sake still remains a function of reason in synchronicity with the other two.

Aphorism of the Day, August 17, 2020

Peter was shown to confess Jesus as the Messiah and then rebuked by the Messiah for not understanding what he actually confessed.  Life involves confessing lots of things that we don't fully understand, like confessing a belief in the "internet" and "atoms" yet lack precise and adequate knowledge about either.  Not understanding is the condition of the student or the disciple and it really is the perpetual state of anyone who wants to continually learn.  We confess that in America everyone "should have equal justice" even as we understand that not everyone does yet.

Aphorism of the Day, August 16, 2020

How could the Temple in Jerusalem be a House of Prayer for all people?  Only if it is a metaphor for everyone person being a living and moving temple dwelling place for the image of God on a person rising to be apparent divine presence.

Aphorism of the Day, August 15, 2020

Exceptionalism can be standing out uniquely in excellence in comparison with others.  Too many people want to be exceptional people of faith in comparison with other people when exceptional faith should be done in a harmonious faith choir where everyone is exceptional in harmony and each has opportunity for solos only to step back into the choir.   Being exceptional is the balance between solo and harmony, and we are called to both.  One should not over-value one's solo, since it exists to complement the harmony.

Aphorism of the Day, August 14, 2020

Holy books which are available to certain people can make them feel very chosen and exclusive and be used mainly to build an identity of separation of "us" from the "them."  And if one knows dogs to be the angry wild scavengers who come into the city by night, then the title "dog" can come to be a designation for the foreign "them."  The problem with the belief in exceptionalism, is that it can create the practice that many other people are thereby "unexceptional."  Exceptionalism and "chosenness" can really be used as a "divine right of arrogant" pride.  When we want to claim exceptionalism, let it be in the actual practice of justice, mercy and the offering of God's salvation to everyone.  Patriotism and nationalism can sometimes become the practice of the worst kind of exceptionalism which it does not manifest the practice of letting everyone know that they are exceptional too.

Aphorism of the Day, August 13, 2020

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "Salvation is from the Jews....."  The Jesus Movement theologian Paul wrote, "in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek...."   The Canaanite woman said, "even the dogs(the outsider) eat crumbs from the master's table."  The crumb she wanted was health for her daughter and she was willing to cross dividing boundaries to seek it. And Jesus said it was her faith that made it happen.  Faith is something that everyone who is made in the image of God can have and one must exercise it within the context of one's life where one is even if it means crossing artificial boundaries created by the habits of people not getting along with each other.  

Aphorism of the Day, August 12, 2020

Psalm 22: "Dogs are all around me, a company of evil doers encircle me."  Wild scavenger dogs helped to form the negative metaphorical use of "dog."  That a dog could even get close to the master's table for a crumb would indicate a semi-domesticated tolerated status for a dog.  The Canaanite woman who was willing to embrace "dog/outsider" status for but the "crumb" from Master Jesus' table was a faith marker.  She implied the greatness of Jesus was so great, that a mere crumb from his table could heal her daughter.  And as Jesus often said, "faith makes you well."  The Jesus Movement was about Gentiles receiving the crumbs from the table of those who had been given the law as a sort of prelude to be invited as full members of the feast with a seat at the table.  The history of the arc of justice has been the conversion of societies to remove the "dog/outsider" status from people and make them to be received as equal faith partners at the table of the faithful.

Aphorism of the Day, August 11, 2020

"It's not fair to take food from the children's table and throw it to the dogs."   In this wisdom dialogue of Jesus, the Canaanite woman was willing to take upon herself the dog identity as the outsider when she replies, "even dogs eat crumbs from the table."  This kind of understanding resides within Pauline thinking of the main calling was to Israel and in the failure of their stewardship with this calling, the crumbs fell from the table for the Canaanites and other Gentiles.  This is indicative of how "Judaeo-centric" God is regarded in the New Testament.  The New Testament writers were trying to understand and explain the genealogy of the grafting of the Gentiles into the accessibility to God. 

Aphorism of the Day, August 10, 2020

"It's not fair to take food from the children's table and throw it to the dogs."  Such a phrase is an invitation to a canine social theology.  We have used human language to deprecate both humans and animals.  When a certain animal like a dog was "ritually" impure and unclean because of its familiar role as a wild scavengers, then to use this "wild scavenger" metaphor to designate unfavorable people in human eyes and God's eyes, creates a canine social theology.  One feels compelled to rehabilitate a presentation of any persons as being "sub-human" as well as presenting a dog as somehow only being defined according to how a dog interacts with human society.  Because we use words, we use words in anthropocentric ways, human-centered ways; that is our prison.  One might note the higher regard animals attain in Hindu views where the creatures of "sentient" existence have the dignity of not being designated as unclean, but also the life dignity of being "uneaten" by humans.

Aphorism of the Day, August 9, 2020

How can things like "walking on water" be literally true?  When they come to language from persons of undifferentiated consciousness where inner dreamscape co-mingles with conscious life and creates the language of what seems to have occurred.  And it did occur in a certain way.  Modern science has riven the inner and outer consciousness and colonized both, segregating discourse as appropriate to each but not mixed except in the artistic presentation which involves attempts to evoke the sublime, because to initiate an experience of the sublime is seen to be another order of truth which can exist alongside of scientific truths.  If we read the Bible from the position of riven consciousness of scientific discourse, and force biblical discourse to follow the truth standards of science, then we will mock the Bible.  What many biblical skeptics are doing is mocking the wrong presentations of the Bible by many fundamentalists interpreters who are "blessed" to have sublime experiences which inspire them to behave better except in their interpretative thinking.  They end up painting the sublime with the wrong paint of presentation.  And so their sublime is mocked as being "crazy."  What it is, is a language disorder.

Aphorism of the Day, August 8, 2020

"You of little faith, why did you doubt?"  Faith is about being persuaded about someone after adequate experiences of never been failed by the one who asks you to have faith.  The Risen Christ can seem to be a "ghost" and the logic of what is happening in the moment may make one doubt the ability of such a "ghost" to be evidence for having faith, believing, or being persuaded about.  Certainly we may doubt that the chief values of love and justice will always be prevailing in time, even while we must continue to believe that those values co-exist with their non-success in certain moments of time.  Just as we can learn to believe in another kind of safety, ultimate safety, aka Salvation safety, even when we may seem to be in direct harm's way.  Why, because Salvation is Ultimate Normalcy.

Aphorism of the Day, August 7, 2020

What is walking on water about?  It is about knowing that nature and its competitive manifestation with human duration of life, must also surrender to the passing of time.  Time and freedom mean that good and evil are defined relative to the specific contextual effects and in saying of the same it proves that Word comprehends and outlives all which occurs within the field of freedom.  So, accept one's constitution by Word as being hitched to what will survive as long as there are language users, on the field of the Big Language User.

Aphorism of the Day, August 6, 2020

In the Christology of John's Gospel, Jesus says that before Abraham, "I am," which means that he is taking identity with the ancient tetragrammaton, the unpronounceable holy name of God.  This is consistent with the poetry of Christ being Word as God from the beginning, whose word is "Spirit," and so such words can move over the face of the deep and calm a chaotic storm on a big lake and who can make every appearance seem to the observer as actual physical encounter.  If CHRIST-WORD-GOD is, then everything that can come to language is "possible" and in unique time-based situations can be made to seem and thus be reported as "actual."  This discourse of seeming, actualized poetry is a different kind of discourse than what scientists use for empirical observation, reporting and codification of theories and laws.  What is actual for scientists is different that what is actual in the poetry of faith.  Let's not confuse the two.

Aphorism of the Day, August 5, 2020

Having faith involves not generalizing the current crisis in one's life as being definitive of everything else in one's life or in the lives of other people in the world.  A storm on the lake of life co-exists with the knowledge that that storm isn't happening everywhere and isn't continuous in one's life.   Faith in Christ involves living with hope in time as the way to endure duration.

Aphorism of the Day, August 4, 2020

What happens when mystical entertainment of holy books, which comprise faith communities becomes discounted by persons of science who still believe in mystery by virtue of not being able to know everything and who project their fantasy aspect of personality on cinematic productions?  Religious people have felt forced by scientists into defending all biblical stuff as scientifically true and scientific people are excommunicated from faith communities to honor mystery in the Negligible, which they can't quantify, and further know the sublime in the discourses of the aesthetic which discursively  are removed as qualifying as authentic faith experiences by the practitioners of orthodoxies.

Aphorism of the Day, August 3, 2020

When one considers miracles and the conditions of freedom, one always prefer the "prior" miracle.  What is the prior miracle?  The prior miracle would be always being exempt from anything bad happening to us.  Which is preferably, getting healed from sickness or never having been sick in the first place?  Unless one is willing to say that one does not have faith unless one can prevail on God to always have miraculous outcomes, one should not meddle with the actuarial probability which governs what may happen within the occasion of human experience.  To have a hero who can guarantee miraculous outcomes is the teaching of an illogical aspect in order to promote the utopian direction of faith in affirming the normalcy of goodness and health.  The rhetoric of the miracle has moved into the imagination of literature and the cinema in our modern era.  We don't decry it there and neither should we decry it in the art of biblical literature.  It functions quite nicely.

Aphorism of the Day, August 2, 2020

In the story of Israel, Jacob is the last Patriarch.  He becomes the corporate person when his name is changed to Israel.  How did he become a corporate person?  With his spouses, he had children (grandchildren of Joseph)  who became the titular heads of the tribes of Israel.  The name changing event becomes the story of the sociological origin of a federation of people.  As any nation looks to history to cite events of origin in attaining identity, Jacob as the wrestler with the angel getting his name changed to Israel is the divine legitimization of receiving a "name" from God for the identity of one's federation of tribes.  Telling the story of national "name" origin was part of the "patriotic" inculcation of federation identity.  The mysticism of group identity, "esprit de corps" occurs with the ideology of origin stories.

Aphorism of the Day, August 1, 2020

One might say that "permissive" evangelism accounts for the separation of the Jesus Movement from the synagogue.  What is one willing to sacrifice in practices of piety to invite outsiders into one's faith community?  What manifestations in the lives of outsiders would count as "valid" experiences of faith?  Paul and Peter were willing to drop the requirements of ritual purity as crucial to faith identity and see the presence of "Spirit manifestation" in the lives of Gentiles as valid faith deserving the fellowship of the communities of the Jesus Movements.  Proselyte baptism and embracing ritual purity was the standard way of incorporating non-Jews into the synagogue communities.  Members of the synagogue believed that dropping the ritual purity requirement would dispense with being "separate" from the world.  Ironically, the words of preacher Jesus relayed in the Gospel were to "be in the world and not of the world."  The marker for not being of the world changed in the Jesus Movement for their Gentile membership; they could be uncircumcised and not keep the dietary rules of Judaism and still not be regarded to be "of the world."

Quiz of the Day, August 2020

Quiz of the Day, August 31, 2020

In what city were followers of Jesus first called "Christians?"

a. Jerusalem

b. Capernaum

c. Antioch

d. Ephesus

Quiz of the Day, August 30, 2020

Salome is the young girl dancer who was coached by her mother to ask for the head of John the Baptist.  Where is Salome's name found?

a. Mark

b. Matthew

c. Luke

d. Josephus

Quiz of the Day, August 29, 2020

Which is a more recent commemoration day added to the Liturgical Calendar of the Episcopal Church?

a. Nativity of John the Baptist

b. The Baptism of John the Baptist

c. The Feast of John XXIII

d. The Feast of Frances Perkins

Quiz of the Day, August 28, 2020

Which of the following were not written by St. Augustine of Hippo?

a. The Confessions

b. The City of God

c.  The Imitation of Christ

d. Christian Doctrine

e. The Enchiridion

Quiz of the Day, August 27, 2020

Monica was the mother of whom?

a. Augustine of Canterbury

b. Augustine of Hippo

c. Constantine I

d. Gregory the Great

Quiz of the Day, August 26, 2020

Thomas Gallaudet is associated with ministry to persons with which disability?

a. blindness

b. deafness

c. amputees

d. paralysis

Quiz of the Day, August 25, 2020

Who was responsible for ministering the restoration of the health of Dorcas?

a. Tabitha

b. Paul

c. Silas

d. John Mark

e. Peter

Quiz of the Day, August 24, 2020

Who is the Apostle Bartholomew often equated with?

a. Levi

b. Nathaniel

c. Lazarus

d. the Beloved Disciple

Quiz of the Day, August 23, 2020

Where did the confession of Peter about Jesus the Messiah take place?

a. Jerusalem

b. Mount of Olives

c. Caesarea Philippi

e. On the Sea of Galilee

Quiz of the Day, August 22, 2020

Who said, "The Lord gave and the Lord takes away; blessed be the Name of the Lord?"

a. the writer of Ecclesiastes

b. the writer of the Proverbs

c. St. Paul

d. Job

Quiz of the Day, August 21, 2020

What modern day country was St. Paul from?

a. Syria

b. Greece

c. Lebanon

d. Turkey

e. Israel

Quiz of the Day, August 20, 2020                                                  

How does the book of Job present the cause of Job's suffering?

a. his sins

b. a contest between God and Satan

c. the sins of his family

d. the randomness of bad luck befalling people

Quiz of the Day, August 19, 2020 

What was found to be in the House of God at Shiloh?

a. the Ark of the Covenant

b. an idol

c. Aaron's budding rod

d. the fleece of Gideon

Quiz of the Day, August 18, 2020

Derived from the Bible, what is the sin of the selling of ecclesiastical positions called?

a. the Peter principle

b. the Magus principle

c. Simony

d. the Judas principle

Quiz of the Day, August 19, 2020 

What was the name of the young man at the stoning of Stephen?

a. Demas
b. Saul
c. Junius
d. Simon Magus

Quiz of the Day, August 16, 2020

Where did the Canaanite woman's request for crumbs under the table make it into the Anglican/ Episcopal liturgy?
a. The Great Litany
b. The Penitential Opening to Holy Eucharist
c. The Prayer of Humble Access
d. The Collect for Purity

Quiz of the Day, August 15, 2020

What is something not held to be true about the Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic Tradition?
a. Mary bore no children besides Jesus
b. she was immaculately conceived
c. she was sinless
d. she reappeared under various apparitions
e. her birthday is August 15th
g. she was assumed into heaven

Quiz of the Day, August 14, 2020

What weapon did Samson use to kill a thousand Philistines?
a.sword
b. spear
c. animal jawbone
d. wooden staff

Quiz of the Day, August 13, 2020

What did Samson eat from a lion he killed?
a. lion flesh
b. falling grapes
c. fallen figs
d. honey
e. quail's eggs 

Quiz of the Day, August 12, 2020

Of the following, who was not among the first deacons?
a. Stephens
b. Silas
c. Philip
d. Prochorus,
e. Nicanor 
f. Timon
g. Parmenas
h. Nicolaus

Quiz of the Day, August 11, 2020

An angel of the Lord did not say to the barren wife of Manoah?
a. you will have son
b. your child shall never cut his hair
c. your child will be under the vow of the nazirite
d. your child shall deliver Israel from the Philestines
e. you shall name your child Samuel

Quiz of the Day, August 10, 2020

What is the the significance of Shibboleth?
a. it was magic incantation word in Ephraim
b. it was a pronunciation test to identify the Gileadites
c. It was a territory in Gilead
d. it was to expose the inability of the Gileadites to prounounce the "th" sound

Quiz of the Day, August 9, 2020

Why was the vow of Jephthah to God devastating to him?
a. he was required to marry a prostitute
b. he had to sacrifice a daughter
c. he suffered defeat to the Ammonites
d. he lost his leadership role in Israel

Quiz of the Day, August 8, 2020

Why did Abimelech ask for someone to kill him with a sword?
a. he did not want to be known for having been killed by a woman
b. he did not want to be captured in battle
c. he did not want to be killed by Philistines
d. he did not want to commit the sin of suicide

Quiz of the Day, August 7, 2020

In the book of Judges what is the talking plants, an olive tree, a fig tree, a vine and a bramble about?
a. a hymn or verse about an impending ruler of Israel
b. an allegory about the people of Israel and Deborah
c. a vision of a prophet about his role
d. a vine dresser opining about the superiority of the vine

Quiz of the Day, August 6, 2020

The Transfiguration of Jesus is not found in the Gospel which has the most references to Christ being the Light of the world.  Which Gospel is it?
a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John

Quiz of the Day, August 5, 2020

Who used the phrase, "universal restoration?"
a. Jesus
b. John
c. Paul
d. Isaiah

Quiz of the Day, August 4, 2020

What skill did Gideon's army member had to have to be selected to fight?
a. good archer
b. good with the sword
c. good with a spear
d. lap water like a dog
e. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, August 3, 2020

Who is associated with Mount Horeb?
a. Moses
b. Elijah
c. Elisha
d. David
e. a and b
f.  c and d

Quiz of the Day, August 2, 2020

What biblical person is associated with the phrase used to get instruction for the divine direction of one's life: "putting out the fleece?"
a. Deborah
b. Samuel
c. Gideon
d. Samson

Quiz of the Day, August 1, 2020

What was the topic of a song by Deborah, judge of Israel?
a. Jael, a woman who pounded a tent peg into the head of Sisera
b. her duties as a judge of Israel
c. the greatness of the armies of Israel
d. the King of Israel