Sunday September 14 is the First Sunday back!

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.

Exodus 14:19-31

The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. At the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, "Let us flee from the Israelites, for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt."

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers." So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the LORD tossed the Egyptians into the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great work that the LORD did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the LORD and believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

Psalm 114 Page 756, BCP

In exitu Israel

1

Hallelujah!
When Israel came out of Egypt, *
the house of Jacob from a people of strange speech,

2

Judah became God's sanctuary *
and Israel his dominion.

3

The sea beheld it and fled; *
Jordan turned and went back.

4

The mountains skipped like rams, *
and the little hills like young sheep.

5

What ailed you, O sea, that you fled? *
O Jordan, that you turned back?

6

You mountains, that you skipped like rams? *
you little hills like young sheep?

7

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, *
at the presence of the God of Jacob,

8

Who turned the hard rock into a pool of water *
and flint-stone into a flowing spring.

Romans 14:1-12

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written,

"As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,

and every tongue shall give praise to God."

So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

Matthew 18:21-35

Peter came and said to Jesus, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

"For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, `Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, `Pay what you owe.' Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, `Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, `You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?' And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."

Readings for Nov. 4, 2007

Collect
Almighty and merciful God, it is only by your gift that your faithful people offer you true and laudable service: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.

O LORD, how long shall I cry for help,

and you will not listen?

Or cry to you "Violence!"

and you will not save?

Why do you make me see wrong-doing

and look at trouble?

Destruction and violence are before me;

strife and contention arise.

So the law becomes slack

and justice never prevails.

The wicked surround the righteous--

therefore judgment comes forth perverted.

I will stand at my watchpost,

and station myself on the rampart;

I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,

and what he will answer concerning my complaint.

Then the LORD answered me and said:

Write the vision;

make it plain on tablets,

so that a runner may read it.

For there is still a vision for the appointed time;

it speaks of the end, and does not lie.

If it seems to tarry, wait for it;

it will surely come, it will not delay.

Look at the proud!

Their spirit is not right in them,

but the righteous live by their faith

Psalm 119:137-144

Justus es, Domine

137

You are righteous, O LORD, *
and upright are your judgments.

138

You have issued your decrees *
with justice and in perfect faithfulness.

139

My indignation has consumed me, *
because my enemies forget your words.

140

Your word has been tested to the uttermost, *
and your servant holds it dear.

141

I am small and of little account, *
yet I do not forget your commandments.

142

Your justice is an everlasting justice *
and your law is the truth.

143

Trouble and distress have come upon me, *
yet your commandments are my delight.

144

The righteousness of your decrees is everlasting; *
grant me understanding, that I may live.

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.

To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 19:1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."

Ben's Sermon from October 28th

I don’t know about you, but about this stage of the semester I am in need of a break. About now, I feel a bit like St Paul when he says: “I am already being poured out as a libation, and my time of departure has come. I have fought the good fight.” Although I haven’t quite finished the race, which is the next line in St Paul’s letter to Timothy, I don’t think there is anything wrong with having a pit stop half way through the race to recover. A week would do it, I reckon.

But compare getting away from it all for a week with getting away from it all for an entire lifetime. As we reach the mid point of this hectic semester, I want to share with you the words of a monk who lives in the Egyptian desert. See what you think; but I warn you, these words might seem totally bizarre to your ears. You might well ask yourselves, what do I have in common with such a monk? Listen to the wisdom he shows, though, telling us a truth that Jesus told in the Gospel: “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled; and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

“All you need” to live, the monk said, “is a piece of bread, and enough covering for the body. The less you have, the less you have to distract you from God. Do you understand?” There’s no way I can fully understand, but let’s listen on! The monk continued, “just look around this room. When I am here I think that the chair is in the wrong place, I must move it. Or maybe that the lamp is out of oil, I must fill it... But in the desert there is just sand. You don’t think of anything else; there is nothing to disturb you. It should be the same in a monk’s cell. The less there is the easier it is to talk to God.”

The less there is the easier it is to talk to God. This is a monk who worries about having one chair in his cell, because of the distractions it will cause. This is a monk who prefers the darkness and solitude of the desert to the dilemmas of whether or not to put oil in his lamp. He lives a life of utter simplicity, and still he is concerned that he might not be making enough room in his life for God. Wow!

We live in a world filled with stuff. From the moment I get up in the morning, I am thinking of the stuff I have to do, of which order to do it in, worrying whether I’ll get it all done. And that’s when I am not thinking about the stuff I have: wondering where the chairs in my office look best, and that’s chairs in the plural! In Evelyn Waugh’s novel, ‘A Handful of Dust,’ the main character spends the time when the minister is preaching thinking what color to paint his bathroom. I hope you aren’t doing the same right now!

Our lives are busy, but we can’t help making them busier. We think about things that don’t really matter. I doubt any of you feels good about being too busy. I doubt any of you would be like the Pharisee in Jesus’s story who was pleased with all he did, so that he prayed to God: “I thank you that I am not like other people.” But the message of the story is that, even as he prayed this, he wasn’t really thinking about God but about himself. He was filling his head with his good deeds and not with God. He has missed the point of being religious. It’s not about what you do, or what you have, it’s about who you are. And who you are without God is nothing.

“Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled; and he who humbles himself will be exalted,” says Jesus, speaking right to the heart of the problem that many of us face. Jesus is calling us to be aware that the stuff of our lives, our studies, our grades, our possessions, even being good, does not make us who we are; I am not constituted by what I do or buy; I am not what I eat.

Instead of our work or our possessions defining us, who I am as a person, who you are as a person, who we are together here in Church, is given to us by God. God gives us our life. Put negatively, the truth is without God we have nothing, we are nothing. Put positively, if we have God, we actually have everything we could ever want. Our Egyptian monk had learned this. You who are here today, worrying about midterms or you grades or how to fit that other activity in, might need to relearn it. Ask yourselves, “Who am I?” Am I closer to my true self when I am away from it all, or when I am in the busy-ness of life?

Today, I want you to be clear that I am not asking you to live simpler lives; after all, I shouldn’t preach what I can’t practice myself. So I am not asking you to give up what you do or what is important to you.

So that’s what I am not saying. What I am asking is that you remember who you most truly are – a child of God. Without God you are nothing. So be humble about yourself; be willing to fail; be willing to stand before God and your friends and say, “I am not quite as perfect as I seem.” Because, in being humble, you’ll find within you the God who’s given you everything you have. It is God who has given you the ability to be who you are, even if you are upset with God that you don’t have more. It is God who, when you are humble, will be exalted, because then God can truly work in you.

Readings for Oct. 28, 2007

The Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Joel 2:23-32

O children of Zion, be glad

and rejoice in the LORD your God;

for he has given the early rain for your vindication,

he has poured down for you abundant rain,

the early and the later rain, as before.

The threshing floors shall be full of grain,

the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

I will repay you for the years

that the swarming locust has eaten,

the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,

my great army, which I sent against you.

You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,

and praise the name of the LORD your God,

who has dealt wondrously with you.

And my people shall never again be put to shame.

You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,

and that I, the LORD, am your God and there is no other.

And my people shall never again

be put to shame.

Then afterward

I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

your old men shall dream dreams,

and your young men shall see visions.

Even on the male and female slaves,

in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes. Then everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.

Psalm 65 Page 672 or 673, BCP

Te decet hymnus

1

You are to be praised, O God, in Zion; *
to you shall vows be performed in Jerusalem.

2

To you that hear prayer shall all flesh come, *
because of their transgressions.

3

Our sins are stronger than we are, *
but you will blot them out.

4

Happy are they whom you choose
and draw to your courts to dwell there! *
they will be satisfied by the beauty of your house,
by the holiness of your temple.

5

Awesome things will you show us in your righteousness,
O God of our salvation, *
O Hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the seas that are far away.

6

You make fast the mountains by your power; *
they are girded about with might.

7

You still the roaring of the seas, *
the roaring of their waves,
and the clamor of the peoples.

8

Those who dwell at the ends of the earth will tremble at your marvelous signs; *
you make the dawn and the dusk to sing for joy.

9

You visit the earth and water it abundantly;
you make it very plenteous; *
the river of God is full of water.

10

You prepare the grain, *
for so you provide for the earth.

11

You drench the furrows and smooth out the ridges; *
with heavy rain you soften the ground and bless its increase.

12

You crown the year with your goodness, *
and your paths overflow with plenty.

13

May the fields of the wilderness be rich for grazing, *
and the hills be clothed with joy.

14

May the meadows cover themselves with flocks,
and the valleys cloak themselves with grain; *
let them shout for joy and sing.

2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18

I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Luke 18:9-14

Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, `God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, `God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."

Matt's Sermon from Oct. 21, 2007

The Bible holds a divisive place in Christian history. The understanding of its place in worship, in daily life, its authority and factual content, have changed constantly throughout the life of the church. Are we even sure of the position that the sacred writings are intended to hold? (pause)

Today’s reading from the second letter to Timothy helps us to understand what exactly we are to do with scripture. The author speaks of the “sacred writings” which Timothy has known since childhood. These sacred writings are the writings that make up the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, which is the only Bible available at this point.

These sacred writings of the Hebrew scripture are able to instruct us for salvation. Exactly how they are able to make us wise is given in the next sentence. They are useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. They are useful for teaching in the general sense of education, history, education, ethics, morality, but also for teaching about relationship with God. They are useful for reproof and corrections, terms which are specifically situated in the context of this letter, where the author firmly encourages Timothy to fight against those who are teaching unsound doctrine in the early church. And scripture is also useful for training in righteousness, that is, it is useful for learning about the right actions and deeds we can do in relation to others.

The key word in this text that establishes the authority of scripture (pause) is “useful.” This is the Greek word ophelimos, which means, among other things, useful, beneficial, serviceable, or profitable. It never possesses the connotation of necessary or required or essential, but rather takes the position as something that can be of good service to us. Scripture is useful.

This is certainly not the perspective on scripture that we are used to in this age. But it is important to remember the setting in which the author is writing. The authorship of this letter is debated, but it is written probably sometime in the first or second century. In this period, access to scripture is nowhere near what it is today. Local synagogues would have had some, rarely all, of the books of the Hebrew Bible. Only the richest of individuals would have a personal copy. And most credible estimates of literacy peak at about 15% of the population. The author is certainly aware of the scant availability of the texts, the general lack of literacy among people in this period, and the difficulty of accessing, reading, and interpreting these texts, even for those who are literate. For him to say that scripture is anything more than an aid to a life of faith, to say that the reading and internalizing of scripture is necessary for salvation, would be to condemn a majority of the church in his time.

But now, since the reformation, with the invention of the printing press and the advent of public schools in the western world, a majority of people are literate and have access to the text. And with this change has come a change in the authority of scripture and the understanding of its significance. Now, when seeking to verify the authority of scripture, scripture is cited, and it all focuses on a single phrase, the verse from our reading today: “All scripture is inspired by God.” It appears clear, but when we take a closer look at the text, some questions may arise.

First, the phrase translated as “inspired by God” is actually a single Greek word, theopneustos, which, literally translated means God-breathed. Unfortunately, the word is so rarely used in the corpus of Greek literature that saying what it definitively means is impossible. “Inspired by God” is, I suppose, one possible understanding, but it is limited because of our preconceived notions of what inspiration means.

I prefer the phrase God-breathed, as there is a precedent for understanding what it means to be breathed on or into by God.

In the second of the two creation stories, we have this passage, “Then the Lord God formed man from the dust, and breathed into his nostrils.” And in the Gospel of John, Jesus breathes on his disciples and says “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Look, (pause) we, too, are God breathed. We have the breath of God in our lungs, we have received the Holy Spirit from the breath of Christ. As the book of Ecclesiastes notes, “All have the same breath.” But notice (pause) that despite being God-breathed, we are not infallible or inerrant or even right most of the time. Notice that Adam, after being inspired, in the original sense, by God, after being God-breathed to life and thus to action and to activity, promptly does the wrong thing.

So what does this make Adam? Does the fact that Adam is inspired but imperfect render him useless? No, Adam is useful. Adam’s story is useful. Adam’s story is an allegory for humanity, explaining aspects of the human condition and our human responsibility to the world around us. Thus, the story of Adam is “useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work,” exactly what this letter tells us today. The Bible, just like the people who are in it and their stories, just like all people throughout history, just like us, has been given life through the breath of God. But just like us, it should not be worshiped; if we hold it too dearly, we are committing idolatry. We are pushing God to the side, to the background, and acting as if the Living God has already finished speaking. The Bible is not God, and it does not hold the authority that is God’s alone. So read the Bible, and use it to learn and to grow in relationship with God, but never hold the Bible so close that you drown out the active voice of God speaking to us through ourselves and all the people of the world.

Readings for Sunday Oct 21, 2007

Jeremiah 31:27-34

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD. In those days they shall no longer say:

"The parents have eaten sour grapes,

and the children's teeth are set on edge."

But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt-- a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Psalm 119:97-104

Quomodo dilexi!

97

Oh, how I love your law! *
all the day long it is in my mind.

98

Your commandment has made me wiser than my enemies, *
and it is always with me.

99

I have more understanding than all my teachers, *
for your decrees are my study.

100

I am wiser than the elders, *
because I observe your commandments.

101

I restrain my feet from every evil way, *
that I may keep your word.

102

I do not shrink from your judgments, *
because you yourself have taught me.

103

How sweet are your words to my taste! *
they are sweeter than honey to my mouth.

104

Through your commandments I gain understanding; *
therefore I hate every lying way.

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

As for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.

Luke 18:1-8

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, `Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, `Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"