tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37134410922123905122024-03-14T07:14:45.070-04:00THE BAREFOOT ORGANISTRandom, Whimsical, Touching, and occasionally interesting musings of Music Director and Seminarian Lisa Helmel ThomasThe Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-40590641740688494132020-10-26T15:05:00.000-04:002020-10-26T15:05:43.032-04:00Faith & Responsibility: What we can do TODAY<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU_qwv3BM5u4TBcNReq9G4gyjCh-LG-eTaSR4-RJTtDNJ7kyxsCbayODKEQpJOkUc9YBvdKhdKTMlF4646LZ7OKknAXWcGzI5UW61hYq4WqsD7PbuG2jiErt-F5U6GNw9vEZICP8uLBANn/s1242/E9C2287E-1CC1-4967-898F-A16352E7BA80.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1094" data-original-width="1242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU_qwv3BM5u4TBcNReq9G4gyjCh-LG-eTaSR4-RJTtDNJ7kyxsCbayODKEQpJOkUc9YBvdKhdKTMlF4646LZ7OKknAXWcGzI5UW61hYq4WqsD7PbuG2jiErt-F5U6GNw9vEZICP8uLBANn/s320/E9C2287E-1CC1-4967-898F-A16352E7BA80.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px;">Expectations. We all have them. From the way we want to live our lives to the way we set up our homes and living spaces to the loyalty we expect from our family and friends. We expect certain behaviors from others and others expect them in return, and when people or things fall short of our expectations, we become frustrated at best, and at our worst, destructive, even to the point of self-destruction. I’d like to talk about how expectations, if we cling to them white-knuckled,</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px;">can affect our mental health.</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px;">I’d also like to talk about justice and most of all, what God expects of us </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px;">at this time in our history.</span></div>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>At this point in time, we have certain expectations of those currently vying for the highest office in our land: the roles of President and Vice President of the United States. We expect the candidates to deliver — in the areas of economy, health care, foreign policy, immigration, climate change, human rights, and our police force, to name a few. Finally, we look for a leader who will finally end the war on COVID-19, death , and violence on the streets of our cities and towns. High expectations. A tall order for anyone.</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Right behind its ravaging effects on human life, the collateral damage of COVID-19 has become mental health. The pandemic and its resulting economic recession have negatively affected many peoples’ mental health and created new barriers for people already suffering from mental health and substance use disorders. </p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In a tracking poll conducted in mid-July, 53% of adults in the US reported that their mental health has been negatively impacted due to worry and stress over the coronavirus. This is significantly higher than the 32% reports in March, the first time this was included in the poll. </p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Many adults are also reporting specific negative impacts on their mental health and well being, such as difficulty sleeping (36%) or eating (32%), increase in alcohol consumption or substance abuse (12%) due to stress and worry over the coronavirus. As the pandemic wears on, aging and necessary public health measures expose many people to experiencing situations linked to poor mental health outcomes, such as isolation — and job loss.</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A broad body of research links social isolation and loneliness to poor mental health, and data from late March shows that significantly higher shares of people who were sheltering in place (47%) reported negative mental health effects resulting from worry or stress related to the coronavirus than among those not sheltering in place (37%). </p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Research shows that job loss is associated with higher depression, anxiety, distress, and low self-esteem and may lead to higher rates of substance abuse and suicide. Isolation is a risk factor for suicide. Over half of people who lost income or employment reported negative mental health impacts from worry or stress over coronavirus; and lower included people reported higher rats of major negative mental health impacts compared to higher income people.</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Poor mental health due to burnout among front-line workers and increased anxiety or mental illness among those with poor physical heath are also concerns. Those with pre-existing mental illness and substance use disorders, and those newly affected, will likely require mental health and substance use services.</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As we get older, we lose our ability to complete once routine daily tasks, and depression can set in. Physical ailments might end a senior’s ability to drive, read, engage in conversation or other activities that allow a person to stay independent or <span style="font-style: italic;">find meaning.</span> “Growing older in America can be very hard…People don’t talk to you.”</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If you or someone you know seems to be getting more distant or difficult to get a hold of, seems crankier OR more jubilant/ joyful than usual, changes in sleep habits or sharing statements of hopelessness or is withdrawing socially, then it is time for YOU to reach out them. together we can provide support systems for those we know and love , those we care a about.</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">What does God say about this?</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">What if we notice despair and depression within <span style="font-style: italic;">ourselves</span>? What can we do?</p>
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<li style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">“Be of good courage, for I have overcome the world” John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble! But take heart! I have overcome the world.”</li>
<li style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">We cannot care for others or ourselves without love. 1 Cor. 13: “If I spoke with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love…I am like a sounding gong and a clanging cymbal.” </li>
<li style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Cols. 3:1- “Fathers and Mothers, do not provoke your children to anger lest they become discouraged.” </li>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Do not provoke … to anger. Both passages contain the same exhortation: Do not provoke, though Ephesians adds to anger. Provoke is the kind of word you might use when you kindle a fire into flame—you begin with something small and provoke it into a roaring fire. Or from another angle, it is the kind of word you might use when you are getting your children all excited, chasing them around and tickling them until you provoke them to being all wound up. Here, of course, Paul is using it in a negative sense of stirring, exasperating, or irritating them toward anger or bitterness. Parents must not provoke their children to anger.</p>
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<li style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">This can also apply to us as God’s children. We have a responsibility not only to our own chidren and the elderly, but ourselves. You know what they say when you get on a plane with your child. Take care of your own oxygen mask before your child’s, so that you are fully equipped to provide help for that child. </li>
<li style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The Shema (Hear, O Israel) states: “Thou shalt love your neighbor as yourself.” This is a commandment, something we are called to do. </li>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Don’t give in to the pandemic of Anger. Anger in any form is a red flag, or a wakeup call. It usually masks a deep-seated fear that may have originated in childhood. if and when you see this within yourself or another person, it is time to get help and get on your knees.” Remember, too, the PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR. </p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Do not beat down, but raise up. Do not provoke with impatience and injustice, but instead shepherd with nurture and tenderness, and do this through discipline and instruction.</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">WHAT DOES GOD REQUIRE OF US?</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Micah 6:8 - </p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Do justice</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">LOVE mercy</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">WALK humby with your God.</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In order to do justice for others, we need first be able to do justice to ourselves, simply by being ourselves, starting with behavior that befits God’s beloved children. </p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The Golden Rule — </p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">What it ? Do until others as you would have others do unto you</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">AND…Do unto yourself as you would have others do unto you.. </p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Toolbox</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">So I just gave you a toolbox for how to cope with the side effects of what we are going through as a nation and as global citizens. If we think these tools are going to solve all of our problems, we will be disappointed. Why? Because having a toolbox increases our expectations even more. After all, we grew up with Band-Aids, so we think we can just slap one on and our problems will be fixed and gone.</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Well, I’d like you to meet someone who didn’t grow up with that kind of luxury. In fact, I think many of you know him. His name is James McJunkin, and he is our Executive Minister at the PBA. On September 17, he wrote a Pastoral Letter to all 165 churches in the PBA and in it, he shared his personal story. Here it is:</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">My Story:</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I will never forget what it was like when the police car came speeding around the corner as officers with guns drawn pointed spotlights in my face. They jumped out of the car and started yelling for me to lay on the ground, face down, and to spread out my legs and arms. I was forced to the ground, and my friend was forced to step away at gunpoint as one of them searched the bushes behind me for a gun.</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The Taco restaurant just up the block had been robbed at gunpoint by a Black man in a white jacket. I was standing on the sidewalk waiting for a bus while wearing a white jacket. I ended up being cuffed, forced into the car, and driven up the street to the restaurant. The officers asked the woman working the cash register to come out and see if I was the man who held her up. She came out to the car and they pointed a flashlight in my face. I thank God she could tell that I was not the person who robbed the store. She said--in what I understood to be outrage--"No, that’s not him. I said he had on a nylon jacket; that’s not a white nylon jacket!”</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">After my “I told you so,” the officers gruffly handed me a business card with a number on it that people were to call if they felt that the police had done anything wrong. Can you guess what would have happened if I were not completely compliant? I am glad that my father taught us how to respond to the police. I experienced the disregard for my humanity that is reserved for the poor and people of color in this nation. </p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Of similar ilk was the I time spent in jury duty in Media PA when at the end of the day the clerk happily announced the number of trails conducted and the success of the nearly 100% conviction rate to the remaining jury pool members. The group broke into spontaneous applause and cheers, much to my surprise, curiosity, and dismay.</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">In Conclusion</span>:</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The full picture is that indeed we are changing as a nation—over the years real progress has taken place in racial justice and we celebrate the same. Life itself has a way of humbling everyone and surely victimization is not limited to certain racial ethnic groups or economic class. Policing in America is not limited to citizens being killed. Law enforcement also saves lives! Even so, we are at a critical juncture, together.</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">This is an all-consuming and all of America dilemma. Each of us must search our conscious to determine our own responses. It will take all of us in an intentional effort to change course. We pray that the church helps to make a difference in the days ahead. </p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The justice movement in our midst will be around for a while and history will record our participation. Scripture speaks to Christ’s church in America today in the story of the unjust Judge.</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Luke 18:1-9 (NRSV)</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">[Jesus] 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 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.”</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I will remind you of the ancient context. Jesus and his disciples were people living in poverty under the domination of the Roman government. Rome utilized crucifixion as a policing practice, a public demonstration of what happens to people who protest and challenge their rule. This unjust judge was one of the paid magistrates appointed either by Herod or by Rome. Unless a plaintiff had influence and money to bribe her way to a verdict, she had no hope of ever getting the case settled. These judges were said to have perverted justice for a dish of meat. The widow in the lesson represents those that we would term, the most vulnerable, the powerless living in deep level poverty. </p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Please consider these questions as they relate to the current issues of racism, inequality and police brutality.</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">• Will we ignore the plight and the plea for justice from the most vulnerable in our society or will we help to bind the wounds?</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">• In what ways are we able to identify and confront unjust leaders among us who are self-centered and demonstrate a lack compassion and empathy for the people?</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">• Why do we respond to people who are aggrieved only after feeling threatened by the free-floating anger unleashed by oppression and hate speech?</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">• In what ways are we complicit by allowing brutal policing practices that crush the powerless whose repeated calls for justice are ignored?</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">• Will there remain a remnant of the faithful among us who will seek justice for all people, even today?</p>
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<li style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Do we trust that God is at the side of the oppressed?</li>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">We can rely on God. Though we have our own expectations, we can never be sure that any human being, including ourselves, can fill those expectations. But we can count on God.</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> and lean not on your own understanding;</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">6 </p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">in all your ways acknowledge him,</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> and he will make your paths straight.[a]</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">And remember what God’s Word tells us today -</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">DO, LOVE, WALK. It’s what God requires of us.</p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> AMEN.</p>The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-8627689909528732052020-07-14T10:30:00.002-04:002020-07-14T10:30:30.125-04:00Sermon SJBC July 12, 2020 - “Good Soil” - Mt. 13:1-23Lisa sermon 071220 SJBC - “Good Soil” - Matthew 13:1-23<br /><br /><a href="http://youtu.be/_wkAinMRio0"></a><br />
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-1656426487260780752020-05-04T11:53:00.001-04:002020-05-04T11:53:12.979-04:00St. Johns Baptist Church Sermon 05.03<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PdHRDQcZv6w" width="480"></iframe>The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-59902607107717253042020-05-03T14:11:00.001-04:002020-05-03T14:11:31.693-04:00“Jesus is the Gate”- St. John’s Baptist Church, May 3, 2020<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-43404488418059262262019-12-10T23:39:00.000-05:002019-12-10T23:40:19.218-05:00Advent: God is Waiting, Too<div class="Body" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Sermon – Church of St. Luke and the Epiphany<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ADVENT 2A – Mt. 3:1-11: “Advent: God is Waiting,Too”<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lisa Helmel Thomas, M.Div.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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Blessed be the holy Trinity, one God, the Parent who rouses us from slumber, the Shepherd who gathers us on the holy mountain, the Deliverer who sets us free. Amen.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Advent. Probably my favorite season of the church year. As I get older, Lent rivals a close second, as my appreciation for the parallels between these two seasons increases. The waiting. The attempts at suspending time just a little, within the finite bounds of our human framework. What sets Advent apart from Lent a bit is this sense of HOPE. “Open our eyes,”we pray. Hope-filled dreams have a way of shaping what we are able to see. They are like lenses that train us to interpret and to act in the present....<o:p></o:p></div>
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“In those days,” the lesson says, and so begins a dream not just about what is, but about what might be if God’s reign might indeed be drawing near. Such dreaming has already been there earlier in the story when Joseph, our first character in Matthew’s narrative, is called to imagine what righteousness will look like in the light of God’s promise (Mt. 1:18-25 — Advent 3):<o:p></o:p></div>
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“<span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang="AR-SA" style="font-family: "arial unicode ms" , serif;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span>“</span>Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit......She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the LORD through the prophet: 23 <span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang="AR-SA" style="font-family: "arial unicode ms" , serif;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span>“</span>Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,”<o:p></o:p></div>
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To know that promises will be kept is a way that hope is shaped. In John the Baptist we see the beginnings of that hope.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And isnt it interesting that LAST week, Advent began with the END of Matthew’s Gospel, not Chapter one. Today, Advent 2, we are in Matthew 3, and Joseph’s promised hope you just heard won’t be read until next week. God’s time. <i>Kairos</i> time. It isn’t necessarily linear.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ve always been fascinated by KAIROS TIME and LIMINAL SPACE. “Kairos” in Greek means “the right, critical, and opportune kind of moment,” while the opposite of kairos is “chronos “ - linear, chronological, measured time. Kairos is the opportune moment, the right time for action.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So we always have this sort of tension between kairos and chronos. Then there is liminal space, where we find ourselves in Advent. <b>Liminal space</b> is the time between the 'what was' and the 'next. ' It is a place of transition, a season of waiting, and not knowing. <b>Liminal space</b> is where all transformation takes place, if we learn to wait and let it form us. It is into this kind of time-warp, if you will, that John the Baptist steps in.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here is this guy, dressed like a Bedouin — a coat of camel’s hair with a belt tied around his waist — looking not unlike the prophet Elijah, eating locusts and wild honey, crying from the margins, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven has come near. This is it!” The peripheral prophet, who today might be categorized as some sort of liberal evangelical.<o:p></o:p></div>
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WHAT is it? Who IS this guy?<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the meantime, the world is centered in the big city.,it is the time of Herod Antipas, a client of the oppressive Roman Empire. The power of the current regime was concentrated in places like temples,buildings, bureaucracies, and tax collectors.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In stark contrast, John the Baptist stood at the margins. The MARGINS can come to the center, but the center could not go out to the margins. When we read “Then the ppl of Jerusalem and ALL Judea were going out to John, and ALL the region of Jordan, and they were baptized...confessing their sins.” “ALL” is actually hyperbole, but its effect is to emphasize John’s influence. Here was this man from the wilderness having an impact on the city. He is not only paving the way, but leading Israel through another time of transition. No less than MOSES or Samuel, John the Baptist is a bridge between eras in Israel’s history.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Then there is this matter of repentance. The kingdom is near, yet repentance has something to do with preparing the way for Gods entry into our lives. The CALL for repentance signals that there is something wrong and a need for change. Gods power is present but not unrelated to what we do. Ultimately, it directs our vision not so much to sorrow for the past, but to look to the promise of a new beginning.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But wait. Doesn’t this call to “Repent!” reek of judgment? EVEN NOW, John says, “the ax is lying at the root of the trees, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Yikes. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Judgement. It brings to mind texts we wrestle with. What about the divorced spouse? The queer teen who is looking for an appropriate church or youth group? That person in Bible Study who was taught about the inerrancy of scripture and is now trying to reconcile it with their current situation? How can they <i>not</i> feel judged? Are they unrepentant? The wheat. the threshing floor, and again, the fire. And John does say he is baptizing with water now (human), but the One who is more powerful that comes after him will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Powerful words here. Words that clearly tell us that there is more to Advent than just sitting around waiting. Matthew makes it clear that the Kingdom of God brings about a fundamental break from the past. Our preparation here is not primarily self-purification, but rather, that purification and redemption takes place by way of a RADICAL TRUST. A trust that Christ Himself is working to purify us and the world around us to become ‘a dwelling place fit for the Lord.’<o:p></o:p></div>
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As the Church, our rediscovery of Advent will come in small steps - as we learn the difference between Advent hymns and Christmas carols, recover ancient practices such as praying the daily lectionary, things like music, holiday lights, presents, that prepare us for Christmas joy and feasting when they finally arrive. All these things are marked by a steady confidence that God’s Kingdom is indeed at hand.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So Gods judgement is essentially related to Gods promise— the old is passing away, in Christ the new has come. That FIRE represents both judgment AND hope.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>If God loves us enough to welcome us into Christ’s family, then God loves us enough to expect something of US this Advent. — repentance in the form of radical trust.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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This Advent tension remains — between <i>kairos</i> and <i>chronos</i>, repentance and judgement, the margins and power, and finally, nostalgia and memory.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Nostalgia says that Advent is all about looking back and feeling good and what used to be., but Advent tells us it is all about looking ahead. We pray/preach/teach “waiting expectantly for what is to come.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Nostalgia is memory filtered through disproportionate emotion. When memory is filtered through gratitude, faith begins, which leads to hope. The ghosts who made Scrooge look back before he could look ahead had a point. Yes, we look forward only by looking back, but we do it with renewed gratitude.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Perhaps for Advent we can give up on nostalgia, but we cannot give up on memory after all, for it is in looking back with thankful hearts that our vision clears up enough to see what lies ahead.<o:p></o:p></div>
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One December afternoon … a group of parents stood in the lobby of a nursery school waiting to claim their children after the last pre-Christmas class session. As the youngsters ran from their lockers, each one carried in his hands the <span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang="AR-SA" style="font-family: "arial unicode ms" , serif;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span>“</span><span lang="FR">surprise,</span>” the brightly wrapped package on which he had been working diligently for weeks. One small boy, trying to run, put on his coat, and wave to his parents, all at the same time, slipped and fell. The <span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang="AR-SA" style="font-family: "arial unicode ms" , serif;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span>“</span><span lang="FR">surprise</span>” flew from his grasp, landed on the floor and broke with an obvious ceramic crash. The child … began to cry inconsolably. His father, trying to minimize the incident and comfort the boy, patted his head and murmured, <span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang="AR-SA" style="font-family: "arial unicode ms" , serif;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span>“</span>Now, that<span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang="AR-SA" style="font-family: "arial unicode ms" , serif;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span>’</span>s all right son. It doesn<span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang="AR-SA" style="font-family: "arial unicode ms" , serif;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span>’</span>t matter. It really doesn<span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang="AR-SA" style="font-family: "arial unicode ms" , serif;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span>’</span>t matter at all.” But the child<span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang="AR-SA" style="font-family: "arial unicode ms" , serif;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span>’</span>s mother, somewhat wiser in this situation, swept the boy into her arms and said, <span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang="AR-SA" style="font-family: "arial unicode ms" , serif;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span>“</span>Oh, but it <i>does</i> matter. It matters a great deal.” And she wept with her son.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It <i>does</i> matter. Our Advent worship, Advent hymns, Advent expectations, and Advent comforts require the reminder that John the Baptist makes so clear. It <i>does</i> matter. We <i>do</i> matter. Perhaps the church can give up on judgment, but we cannot give up on responsibility. <o:p></o:p></div>
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David L. Bartlett - “It is an exercise in false piety to come to the manger without remembering the cross.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lion-lamb, past-future, judgement-Redemption, death-rebirth, water-fire, Kairos-chronos....There is a LOT going on here. It looks about as busy and conflicted as the material world all around us these days. But if you burn it all away, the takeaways are trust and gratitude — our tools for repentance. Repentance that leads to hope. Hope that will bring forth the Kingdom. As our “stuff” decreases, God and his Kingdom will increase.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As we wait, let us remember that God is also waiting. How shall we meet him? Amen.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-69818462051844290482019-04-15T07:13:00.002-04:002020-03-28T23:09:09.214-04:00A FEAT OF LOVE<a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/stpaulspodcasts/Sermons/2019/2019-04-07-Sermon-2nd+LT.mp3">“A Feat of Love” - Sermon from March 24, 2019 - St. Paul’s Glenside</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ggYFeGJ65jbBgF_UXViYODUbgdLDfuVHicWFqiCdtkNwyXddagu512otpUFESr1GLmCVSJcH2ULBxRQP-KKP6D2MCiavw2slWetgIx2xSESw1-mwEt31yfNYw701ZQkRcpIX7mk5fgUK/s1600/7974D1B4-4B63-4074-BC25-93238B13C949.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1263" data-original-width="841" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ggYFeGJ65jbBgF_UXViYODUbgdLDfuVHicWFqiCdtkNwyXddagu512otpUFESr1GLmCVSJcH2ULBxRQP-KKP6D2MCiavw2slWetgIx2xSESw1-mwEt31yfNYw701ZQkRcpIX7mk5fgUK/s320/7974D1B4-4B63-4074-BC25-93238B13C949.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-76461234817461661042019-01-15T13:42:00.002-05:002020-01-05T14:44:04.884-05:00"BY ANOTHER ROAD"<h2 style="text-align: center;">
"By Another Road"</h2>
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First Sunday of Epiphany, January 6, 2019</h3>
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<a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/stpaulspodcasts/Sermons/2019/20190106-Sermon-LT-TBN.mp3">LISTEN</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxI6aQfB70oTcb_JFc-jY4UoqJsYM3EkNFvTZvyVaVUahphexbLNzDAV5HxCVkRPNqADWWRD22T9iljg6zGGJlsBrh8AzbJUBUcNjW_a9Nmwiu6FwhqxZBUWGXf8JHDAeHLEzjoLylxG-b/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-01-15+at+1.39.15+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="449" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxI6aQfB70oTcb_JFc-jY4UoqJsYM3EkNFvTZvyVaVUahphexbLNzDAV5HxCVkRPNqADWWRD22T9iljg6zGGJlsBrh8AzbJUBUcNjW_a9Nmwiu6FwhqxZBUWGXf8JHDAeHLEzjoLylxG-b/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-01-15+at+1.39.15+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I love to travel, even though I have a horrible sense of direction. I have always been fascinated by maps, and now, GPS. One of the things that amazes me is that we can sometimes get to the same destination using a number of different paths. Few places fit this description more aptly than this very town of Glenside. Without knowing exactly how, I have discovered that there are at least a half dozen different ways to get to St. Paul’s from our home in Northeast Philadelphia. I learned this one night in October, just before Halloween. Some of you may have your own stories about that night.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It was late afternoon on a Thursday, Kids’ Choir night. My son Noah and I headed down Glenside Avenue toward the church cutting it close and as usual, not leaving ourselves adequate time for our commute. Just as we approached Easton Road, we encountered walls of people and the street turned into a parking lot. Traffic was at a standstill. Unbeknownst to me, the Food Truck Festival, originally scheduled for October 11, was rained out, so it took place a week later. Long story short, it took us another 40 minutes to go up and around on one of the side streets, all the way over to Limekiln and Mt. Carmel, circling back to St. Paul’s the long way. We finally arrived about 15 minutes late for Noah’s rehearsal. I met another mom in the hallway and no words were needed to comprehend the frustration on our faces. She broke the tension, saying, “What on earth is up with that traffic? I uttered some very UN-Christian words on the road just now!” Didn’t we all!</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Since there was no other way, we took the long way home, too, by turning right instead of left onto Mt. Carmel. But we still got there - eventually. And we learned a thing or two. Things we wouldn’t have learned if it hadn’t been for that Food Truck Festival. Who knew? It was an “Aha! moment.” The light turned on.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Revelation. That’s what the word “Epiphany” literally means. “Revelation,” God with us, revealed to us. It is the twelfth day of Christmas, traditionally the day three sages followed the star to Bethlehem to visit the Christ Child and present him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This is also the day that many get their homes blessed. You see it a little more in Germany or around Europe — Doorways of homes are marked in chalk: C+M+B 2019. Those are the names of the t<br />
Magi — Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar — and the year 2019, with which a priest would enter the home, say a prayer to bless it, and write the initials of the kings along with the numerals of the current new year.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Epiphany happened to me as I was reading the Gospel lesson this week. I read about those Magi, and as usual, was taken in by their grandeur. I pictured jewel-toned robes, camels, precious stones, gold, and incense. Great stuff. But what more could I say about them? I have more questions than answers. Were those their real names? They don’t have names in the Bible. So where did the names come from? Who were they, exactly? Astrologers? Magi? Did they really exist? Were they really kings, or just sages? <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Bible refers to them as “wise men from the East.” There is no proof that they were actually kings, as it is not stated in the scriptures as such. It’s another reason why “We Three Kings” no longer appears in our latest hymnal. It may not be biblical history, but is certainly filled with legend.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In Matthew’s account, we do know that Herod summoned these three sages (I will call them sages or Magi or wise men) and asked them to find this King of the Jews that, according to prophecy and the stars, was to have been born recently.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Herod knew that Bethlehem would be the place where this king would be born because ot was written in the Hebrew scriptures by the prophet Micah, which we read a few weeks back. It turns out that when you search the Bible for the word “Bethlehem,” up pop almost countless references, most in the Old Testament. Based on this knowledge, and motivated by fear, Herod sends for these three Magi and learns of the exact time when the star had appeared. You see, these wise men had been observing this star since its rising. Isaiah actually ties together our two other readings by saying, “And the Gentiles will come to your light, and Kings to the brightness of your rising.” Having traveled through the prophecies of the Advent season, we have learned that things don’t always turn out according to HUMAN plan. That is also the “Mystery of Christ” that the Apostle Paul talks about in his letter to the Ephesians — that Christ will come to ALL people and nations. This is something nobody expected would happen.</div>
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“And having been warned in a dream no to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.”<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“By another road.” HERE is the verse that I would typically zone out on for most of my life. That is, until I read it again and again — so much so, that this jumped out at me this time. I had my own Ephiphany-revelation as I pondered “by another road.”</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh27htfBqtGCcakZw_WFSYJszdylmt-hz-2NtAls81BjmbcAPuTisoQ9nQpEy4HlJD-_D6VgmTPs68-7bKWnuwgW8YhfgwQlCknQLxY2CtlcXrRjnXKjr__1dCECH3-yeH-lPU77YKT10tu/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-01-15+at+1.41.25+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="503" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh27htfBqtGCcakZw_WFSYJszdylmt-hz-2NtAls81BjmbcAPuTisoQ9nQpEy4HlJD-_D6VgmTPs68-7bKWnuwgW8YhfgwQlCknQLxY2CtlcXrRjnXKjr__1dCECH3-yeH-lPU77YKT10tu/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-01-15+at+1.41.25+PM.png" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The three wise men did not go home the same way they came. They were transformed by seeing the Christ Child. It says earlier in the reading that when they saw that the star had stopped, they were filled with JOY. And they would never be the same again. They knew they couldn’t go back to Herod. King Herod sent the Magi out, motivated by fear and anger. Filled with Joy upon seeing the Christ Child, they were transformed. If they went back the same way, there would be trouble with Herod, and at the very least they would hit the same roadblocks again. So they took another road. They were called back to their own country and never turned back to Herod.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We, too, face unexpected roadblocks in life.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What are some of the ways we can face them? By trusting Jesus, who leads us through them. By praying to be open to the ways of the Spirit, by following a new kind of light. Yet they only seem like roadblocks until we look and listen to God’s revealing power, the “God WITH US” power demonstrated in the Epiphany. </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Throughout Advent and Christmas, we lit candles in the darkness. It is always amazing to me how a single candle can completely change a darkened room, offering a special kind of light that reminds us of the sacred and gives us focus. It is enclosed, protected. When we have more than one candle, we generate light as a community and suddenly there is literally more warmth in the room, which those of you who were here at Christmas can attest to as we sang together “Silent Night.” It was a very special moment.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Now that Christmas is winding down and the Light has come into the world, it shines even brighter. Instead of a candle, though, it’s now an “Aha!’ moment, when the light bulb suddenly turns on and we see a whole lot more than we thought there was. <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Revelation can be a challenge. At times we see more than we want or expect - a medical problem, a challenging relationship, a job loss.… the list goes on. What do we do when forces beyond our control divert us from the path we thought we were meant to be on?</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We may be called to take another direction, even at a moment’s notice. It requires faith to go down another road, but God gives it to us in abundance. Taking that first step, that first turn in faith is often all we need. In this imperfect world, we don’t need to wait for the stars to be perfectly aligned for this transformation. Only a simple kernel of faith.</div>
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Listen to the words of a Christmas poem by Madeleine L’ Engle, entitled “First Coming -“</div>
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He did not wait till the world was ready, till men and nations were at peace.</div>
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He came when the Heavens were unsteady, and prisoners cried out for release.</div>
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He did not wait for the perfect time. </div>
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He came when the need was deep and great.</div>
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He dined with sinners in all their grime, turned water into wine.</div>
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He did not wait till hearts were pure. </div>
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In joy he came to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.</div>
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To a world like ours, of anguished shame he came, and his Light would not go out.</div>
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He came to a world which did not mesh, to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.</div>
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In the mystery of the Word made Flesh, the Maker of the stars was born.</div>
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We cannot wait till the world is sane to raise our songs with joyful voice,</div>
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for to share our grief, to touch our pain, </div>
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He came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What comfort, what assurance there is in knowing that Jesus is our guiding Star on that road. He is our hope. We are never alone, even though we may often feel that way. Look up. God is here. Follow that Star! For THIS particular Star is different. Unlike a typical star that generates its own light, this Star <i>reflects</i> the light of the Son — the Son of God. He is here for us, for you and for me. AMEN.</div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-90728652828985566112019-01-15T13:02:00.001-05:002019-01-15T14:26:36.281-05:00THE BETHLEHEM CONNECTION<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>"The Bethlehem Connection"</b></div>
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<b>Advent 4, December 23, 2018</b><br />
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<b><a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/stpaulspodcasts/Sermons/2018/2018-12-23-Sermon-LT-ATimeToBreatheInTheNew.mp3">LISTEN</a></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-weight: bold; white-space: pre;"> </span>I would like for all of us to just take a moment to stop. And breathe. Not so much because of the obvious stress surrounding this season, or the fact that it’s Christmas Eve tomorrow, but just to first take a breath, think about where that breath is coming from and Whose it ultimately is in the first place. Breathe in the space around you, take in what is new - those things you did not see, hear or feel last week. Take it all in. Then breathe out, breathe out your concerns, your prayers, your anxiety. Breathe out joy as well.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When we breathe, it’s not just the air that changes. We are not only renewed and refreshed, but by the grace of God, we sustain our very lives. We remember the Source of this breath. Our very breaths right here, right now, are directly connected to the first breath — the RUACH - that God breathed into Adam.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Tomorrow night, we celebrate Jesus’ first breath on this earth. We celebrate something very glorious — the Incarnation — God coming down TO US, FOR US - in the form of a living, breathing, human being. At his first cry, Jesus begins to breathe WITH US. He begins to live among us.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Jesus’ first cry was the first embodied song of hope on this planet. There were prophets before him who diligently did the work to prepare us for this moment, yet we never knew exactly how it would be until his arrival. Jesus’ first cry was the first incarnate song of hope — and this morning I’d like to share several other songs that lead up to that holy moment.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Mary had recently had the encounter with the angel Gabriel, who had told her that the Spirit of God would come upon her and she would give birth to a baby boy and he will be called the Son of God. I think what really helped convince Mary was Gabriel’s first words, “Do not be afraid, Mary.” I will always hear those words read by a certain woman in our congregation who would intone them just right… she said, “Don’ be afraid, Mary” with such a beautiful lilt in her voice that I’ll never forget it. I imagine that Mary must have been comforted in a similar way as this angel reassured her, ‘you have found favor with God.” But what really clicked for her must have been the story of Elizabeth herself — and this is what made her run to the hills of Judea to go and find her sister. Gabriel told her, “See? Your relative Elizabeth has conceived a son in her old age, and she’s in her 6th month already…and she was said to have been barren. For NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD.”<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Mary was probably feeling isolated in her own way. The gossip, the scoffing, the wagging tongues and pointing fingers. Perhaps her sense of isolation is best expressed in a song that came out fairly recently, Amy Grant’s “Breath of Heaven:” I imagine her singing this as she travels to Elizabeth’s house in the Judean hills, talking to herself and God, reflecting on what the angel just said to her -<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibBUQTUiQQ7h4g91UI4nd7a0PRsgQyZ_FNQ-lkjfZGC2-qZ1JJGtuHZUAggpyv3MsLLY27HC6lV8iCcKDmVbMpYJbD598PmzN10svnxDvYtIm_Tn67b0sNjVkFampcyyj8bgqtWk7RDsxq/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-01-15+at+12.55.47+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="671" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibBUQTUiQQ7h4g91UI4nd7a0PRsgQyZ_FNQ-lkjfZGC2-qZ1JJGtuHZUAggpyv3MsLLY27HC6lV8iCcKDmVbMpYJbD598PmzN10svnxDvYtIm_Tn67b0sNjVkFampcyyj8bgqtWk7RDsxq/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-01-15+at+12.55.47+PM.png" width="320" /></a>I have traveled many moonless nights<br />
Cold and weary with a babe inside<br />
And I wonder what I've done<br />
Holy father you have come<br />
And chosen me now to carry your son<br />
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I am waiting in a silent prayer<br />
I am frightened by the load I bear<br />
In a world as cold as stone<br />
Must I walk this path alone?<br />
Be with me now<br />
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Do you wonder as you watch my face<br />
If a wiser one should have had my place<br />
But I offer all I am<br />
For the mercy of your plan<br />
Help me be strong<br />
Help me be<br />
Help me<br />
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Breath of heaven<br />
Hold me together<br />
Be forever near me<br />
Breath of heaven<br />
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Breath of heaven<br />
Lighten my darkness<br />
Pour over me your holiness<br />
For you are holy<br />
Breath of heaven<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>(knock-knock-knock). Mary is finally here, at Elizabeth’s house. “Hello?!” she calls. Elizabeth is thrilled to see her. “Come on in!” she cries — and HER song becomes “Ave Maria” — “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Elizabeth was thrilled to hear Mary’s voice, greeting her as she entered her house.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Suddenly Mary felt connected to someone else again. And she spent some time with her sister, who, at 6 months shared a “kick story.” There are, perhaps, fewer things more thrilling as a pregnancy progresses than being able to feel a baby move. And this particular baby, John the Baptist, Elizabeth tells us, leapt in her womb as his mother greeted Mary. Suddenly not only the two mothers intersected, but the cousins did as well. Yes, there were still a few months left to go for Elizabeth, and of course 9 months for Mary. They still had to keep waiting, expecting. But now they were connected.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This season at St. Paul’s, at least since I’ve been here, we have all shared concerns and celebrations. Some of us have gone off to college for the first time, some of us have had to cope with unexpected diagnoses, some more of us are recovering from surgery, and several have lost loved ones. We have had ups and downs in our studies, our work situations, our relationships. We may have been injured physically or emotionally.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> Advent can be a profound time of growth and waiting. But we can sometimes feel isolated. Over the next few days, we will potentially encounter a huge amount of people coming through these doors. Some of them we may not have seen in years, some come in once or twice a year, but there they are. For a very short space in time. How can they touch our lives. and how can we touch theirs, just by sitting side by side in the pews?<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Well, as we speak of connections just within our four walls, we can start with last Sunday. Three of our own St. Paul's Youth — Catherine, Caelin, and Carson — along with my husband, sang a beautiful concert with the Commonwealth Youthchoirs at the Church of the Holy Trinity on Rittenhouse Square. Now, if you recall this church at all, you know that it’s been around for a long time - at least a couple hundred years. Our performers will tell you this is true because there are very few bathrooms there.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This church itself, however, is notable for something else. The Church of the Holy Trinity on Rittenhouse Square was a site that made music history 150 years ago — not quite as old as “Silent Night,” but it seems appropriate to note that we have our own “Silent Night” story right here in Philadelphia.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In 1863, Phillips Brooks, an Episcopal priest, then rector of Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, was inspired by visiting the village of Bethlehem in Jerusalem. Three years later, he wrote the poem for his church, and his organist Lewis Redner (1831-1908) added the music. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJERK0myDto0_uPsTcCBEb-PYtEG7_Y65Xa_E94PQvKuGTAD4vUtskbwIdDWGv5K7B3jokT3d2ykn_f4ddbm4GeHeduh6tTFtiO0RdoshN0egK44cX3HCAqpAoNmBYYIcM2NZWo-mkH8f/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-01-15+at+12.59.28+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="608" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJERK0myDto0_uPsTcCBEb-PYtEG7_Y65Xa_E94PQvKuGTAD4vUtskbwIdDWGv5K7B3jokT3d2ykn_f4ddbm4GeHeduh6tTFtiO0RdoshN0egK44cX3HCAqpAoNmBYYIcM2NZWo-mkH8f/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-01-15+at+12.59.28+PM.png" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Lewis Redner describes it this way “As Christmas of 1868 approached, Mr. Brooks told me that he had written a simple little carol for the Christmas Sunday-school service, and he asked me to write the tune to it. The simple music was written in great haste and under great pressure. We were to practice it on the following Sunday. Mr. Brooks came to me on Friday, and said, ‘Redner, have you ground out that music yet to "O Little Town of Bethlehem"? I replied, 'No,' but that he should have it by Sunday. On the Saturday night previous my brain was all confused about the tune. I thought more about my Sunday-school lesson than I did about the music. But I was roused from sleep late in the night hearing an angel-strain whispering in my ear, and seizing a piece of music paper I jotted down the treble of the tune as we now have it, and on Sunday morning before going to church I filled in the harmony. Neither Mr. Brooks nor I ever thought the carol or the music to it would live beyond that Christmas of 1868. Rev. Brooks, a formidable man standing at 6 feet 4 inches tall and went on to become one of the great preachers of the 19th century. Please join me in singing the first verse of O Little Town of Bethlehem (found in ELW 279):<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>O little town of Bethlehem, how STILL we see thee lie,<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Yet, in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“But you, Bethlehem Ephrata…” says the prophet Micah, speaking of that little town of which we just sang. “one of the little clans of Judah.” Bethlehem - or “bet-lechem” means “house of bread” in Hebrew. Just a coincidence? I don’t think so. The Bread of life, the Word made Flesh. The Son of God now come to earth, the living bread we share each week through the very body and blood of Jesus Christ our Savior. That little town with such great promise.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Upon accepting her mission with the words, “Let it be according to your word,” Mary joined ranks of many prophetesses before her, all with distinct songs to sing — Miriam, Moses’ sister, who danced and sang in triumph in the book of Exodus after the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea,; Hannah, singing as she learns she is expecting a the child Samuel, for whom she had proved so fervently, and finally Zechariah, when he was given his voice back — all speaking of justice for the oppressed, raising up the poor from the dust, the Lord opens up the eyes of the blind, those who are bowed down, the orphan, the widow, God makes them to sit in the place of honor.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Yes, Miriam, Hannah, Elizabeth, Zechariah, and Mary and Zechariah, were able to speak this way because they were filled with a certain hope. Despite the things going on around them, despite the odds of their contexts, their level of hope and trust in the future was high. <br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Like the prophet Micah today, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, in his speech, “Where do we go from Here?” says that “the arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” That is hope.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As we look toward the coming of Christ once again this season, and daily in our own lives - we become filled with hope. That hope heard round the world awaiting Jesus’ first breath, the Breath of Heaven - that first cry giving voice to an everlasting radical love for you and for me — a love that widens our circle, connecting and making room enough for everyone. AMEN<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-65290696657496060482018-12-12T15:26:00.002-05:002018-12-12T15:33:54.344-05:00"Already, But Not Yet"<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-size: 12px; white-space: pre;"> </span>“Prepare the way!” How often have we heard these words over the past two weeks, if not earlier?. When we think of preparing for Christmas, we conjure up images of that corner in the attic, lots of totes and boxes, praying for weather that is at least warm enough for you to hang the lights outside before we get any busier. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I don’t know about you, but I am literally trying to “make straight in the desert a highway,” as the scripture says, though in my case it is more like a jungle that desperately needs a machete to clear as much as a path in order to <i>get </i>those boxes and totes downstairs in the first place. Whatever we need to do before Christmas, we are, in a sense, preparing by coming out of a wilderness. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We might think of wilderness in various ways. Here are two. First as rough, barren land unsuitable for farming. Second as an area outside of the control of the nearest city, where we can ponder in quiet and solitude.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What a contrast to the 21st century, where we have such a cacophony that it becomes difficult to hear the word of God. A 24/7 city has perhaps too much to offer, too many distractions that the word becomes one thing among many. We might even think of Sunday morning worship as the wilderness, a time to shut off the noise of the world and listen to the word of God, A time to turn off cell phones, place to one side the little issues that nag at us, and give our concentration to things eternal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Our wilderness doesn’t need to be a deserted, wild or desolate place. The point is simply that it is a different place from where we came, or where we are trying to go. It can either be retreating to a quieter place, or even plunging into greater cacophony as a way to distract ourselves the cares or mundane things in life. This is quite easy to do as Christmastime seemingly approaches - which is now practically before Halloween. But there is a voice that calls us out of our respective wildernesses, a voice that alerts us, wakes us, challenges us — that voice that indeed is crying , “Prepare the way of the Lord!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What sort of wilderness are you coming from today? What brings you here this morning? If you could put it into words, what do you have to proclaim in your life today?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj11VVNvpWJplJago8er2WQCnUqEG0H1ys0mPrRB9uk24IUs_hFNNbHgGijRMbQNquFLo6qS4c8C0t7lnkO_hAsb90hzsnujcg-jfSeb8oIKXPY_aBruzH4yt2yUiq6nE3cWUW__Rmm0TDa/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-12-12+at+3.17.35+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="147" data-original-width="272" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj11VVNvpWJplJago8er2WQCnUqEG0H1ys0mPrRB9uk24IUs_hFNNbHgGijRMbQNquFLo6qS4c8C0t7lnkO_hAsb90hzsnujcg-jfSeb8oIKXPY_aBruzH4yt2yUiq6nE3cWUW__Rmm0TDa/s400/Screen+Shot+2018-12-12+at+3.17.35+PM.png" width="400" /></a><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Today marks the second Sunday in Advent. By the end of the week, we’ll be more than halfway through to Christmas. Our second candle on the Advent wreath is the Bethlehem candle that stands for faith. In our Psalm reading today, we hear from the old prophet Zechariah - his song in Luke 1 - as well as the Gospel, taken from the third chapter. Last week, we started Year C at the end of Luke at the end, when we heard of the fulfillment of God’s promise of redemption. Ad somehow, now, we find ourselves in the wilderness. This Advent seems to be calling on our powers of time travel as we learn increasingly more about God’s time. God, being the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end….more like a circle than a linear time line. And through it all echo the words we heard last week, “Heaven and earth may pass away, but My words are here to stay.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We can cling to the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. In fact, today we hear from his cousin, John the Baptist. The voice in the wilderness that we hear in the third chapter of Luke is actually the full-grown John, just 6 months older than Jesus, crying out prophetic words that themselves fulfill Isaiah’s earlier prophecy, “The voice of him crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Talk about time travel! This is very close to the time that Jesus Himself is baptized by John. I think we just missed the Christmas story. Or did we?</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This is just one example of the way our Advent readings are structured this year. It’s like a set of bookends that talk about God’s breaking into the world in weeks 1 and 4. Sandwiched in between are weeks 2 and 3, which focus on the hearts and wills of the people - sort of an A-B=B=A structure, if you will. Also a circle. God in Christ is at work in us this season — not only in our past and future, but in the here and now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>And into this ordered scheme of time, God breaks in — in a very unexpected way. Advent, like it or not, is a season of high expectations. Some years we think we succeed more than others. Here in this place, we are getting off to a very festive start. Witness the beautiful events we’ve already hosted thus far as well as those to come — the Pages and Pirouettes ballet last week, followed by the beautiful contemplative Advent music that Tom Keesecker shared with us last week. This afternoon promises to kick off the holiday season in earnest. Here Comes Christmas!</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for it and then some. I generally strive to begin the season with brand-new Advent candles in my wreath, the Elf on the Shelf, and a fresh new Advent calendar chock full of chocolates. Inevitably, though, the kids miss opening a few windows on the calendar and end up playing catch-up, arguing about whose turn it was to open it next. I fall behind on my daily devotions. Some years I even did a craft every day, only to have that plan fizzle out in a little over a week or so.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>But there was one year I almost had it all together. I was even getting a little excited and smug about it. And within that sliver of perfection, the phone rang one night. It was my sister calling, tearfully explaining that my mother had suffered a stroke. Life had changed in an instant, and once again those little things fell by the wayside. <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>We cannot move on to new things without experiencing rough, bumpy places on the journey. </b>The holidays are not always packed with glee for everyone. We find ourselves ill or hospitalized at this time of year, still more are financially strapped, lose loved ones, or just woefully overstressed, or depressed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It is then that the third verse of a beloved Christmas carol comes to mind — “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear.” -</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">O ye beneath life's crushing load,</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Whose forms are bending low,</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Who toil along the climbing way</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">With painful steps and slow;</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Look now, for glad and golden hours</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Come swiftly on the wing;</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Oh rest beside the weary road</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">And hear the angels sing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Just listen. Listen to the voice of the Spirit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Comfort ye, my people, says your God.” The crooked, rough, the unexpected may happen at any time. Here is where I love today’s words from St. Paul - he is, here in Phillippians,”speaking comforting words to Jerusalem, even as he says, “I thank God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of m prayers for all of you….I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” Though we celebrate Christ’s coming year after year, and we anticipate by waiting, our waiting is not to be passive, but proactive. We have lots to do in that waiting time. We can, as John did, proclaim the coming of the Lord. We can speak words of comfort to one another, thanking each other each time we remember them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This is probably the principle behind sending Christmas cards and greetings. You can do it so many ways these days — emails, video chats, phone calls, you name it. But those greetings, those connections mean a lot, and they keep us connected within the Kingdom of God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Today, as ever, there is as sharp a distinction between this Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of this world as there was in the days of the Roman emperor Tiberias. Two thousand years ago, Judea’s political landscape had changed. As a result, there was a whole set of new rulers aligned against the word of God. So John had to go to the wilderness to hear the word and then becomes the word of God through his preaching.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(230, 0, 14); color: #e6000e;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">It’s a very sharp contrast to the names of those holding power on this ea</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">rth. But God lifts up the lowly, and through folks like John, Mary, Jesus, and Zechariah, power beco</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(16, 6, 8); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #100608;">mes reoriented towards God’s kingdom.. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Tiberius, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip, Lysanias, Annas, and Caiaphas are powers in time only and not forever. Their time will not last. Their reign is only temporary. We hear hope in this promise, that those who have claimed power now, will not be in power indefinitely. Their names are temporary placeholders in history. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>John the Baptist’s ministry reminds us, however, this does not mean we can just sit around and wait it out. A “this too shall pass” mentality is not the mindset of the Kingdom of God. We recognize the temporality of today’s authorities and yet actively prepare so as to bring God’s time to bear. “Let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing.”</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(230, 0, 14); color: #e6000e;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;">So it is into this landscape that we hear the voice crying the wilderness - John the Baptist, the bearded man who clearly stands out in society, the man who “ate locusts and wild honey.” He is the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, that couple, in many ways not unlike Abram and Sarah. By typical standards, they were old and apparently Elizabeth was also barren. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">And so we hit rewind once more before I close — to our “Psalm” for today, which is actually a reading from Luke</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> 1 - Zecharaiah’s naming ceremony for the infant</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">John the Baptist. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Quick recap - the Angel Gabriel comes to Zechariah the old priest and tells him his son will be filled with the Holy Spirit and essentially pave the way for the Messiah.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The old priest, of course, does not believe this.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">“How can I have a son?/“</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Because Zechariah said this, Gabriel renders him unable to speak until his son is born.. The old priest has been unable to speak for months and as he finally fulfills the angel’s demands from earlier in the chapter, he bursts like a dam. The words of prophecy pour out. Perhaps in the months when Zechariah couldn’t speak, he did a lot more thinking and listening than usual.. Clearly it was a time in which his faith grew. Zechariah’s prophetic song, typically called the Benedictus, is an ironic moment in Luke’s telling</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>All that silence - that “wilderness time” - also gave Zechariah time to create something to honor the occasion of something holy. When the spirit comes upon Zechariah, his tongue is loosened, and he is given voice to debut his new song for John. But it is a rather strange moment. At his own son’s naming ceremony, Zechariah begins his song by singing about his wife’s cousin’s kid.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Suddenly the subject of the song switches from John to Jesus. The song assumes that the savior has already been “raised up” when Jesus hasn’t been born. Zechariah’s song ends with a conclusion before the question has been asked. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Already but not yet.” It’s another paradox. The Quaker sociologist and author Parker J. Palmer describes this as the “tragic gap ” between what is and what will be. — if we want to hang in for the long haul with birthing a better world:</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“On one side of that gap are the harsh and discouraging realities around us. On the other side is the better world we know to be possible — not merely because we wish it were so, but because we have seen it with our own eyes. We’re surrounded by greed, but we’ve seen great acts of generosity. We’re surrounded by violence, but we’ve seen people make peace.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This tragic gap will never close once and for all, a fact that can lead us into despair and resignation. But we know the end of the story. if we recall the ample evidence that “the better angels of our nature” are still with us, we are more likely to keep working at making the world a better place.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Already, but not yet.” “Time is the fire from which we burn,” says Captian Pickard in one of the Star Trek movies. “but time is more like a companion on our journey.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Year after year, we count the days toward Christ’s coming at the end of time, yet right now He comes down to us in love each and every day. It’s not just one neat little box after another in a series of 24 windows. It is round, more like our wreaths. God finds us. Christ comes down to us. That is the promise - </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">For lo! the days are hastening on,</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">By prophets seen of old,</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">When with the ever-circling years</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Shall come the time foretold,</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">When the new heaven and earth shall own</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The Prince of Peace, their King,</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">And the whole world send back the song</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Which now the angels sing.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Already, but not yet. AMEN.</span></div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-59578239115171859902018-11-15T09:23:00.002-05:002018-11-15T09:40:50.352-05:00"Running on Empty: Giving from a Place of Need"<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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We’ve all been there. Driving down the highway, or through busy city streets. Let’s say it’s been a hectic couple of days, so it’s probably the last thing on your mind. Suddenly you glance down at the dashboard, and the <b>gas gauge light </b>turns on. I’m curious — what do you usually do? Are you one of those people who:<br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">A)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Pulls over to the nearest gas station right away to fill up the tank;</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">B)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Keep on driving, “I have a big tank — I think” tempting fate</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">C)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Keep on driving but try not to use the accelerator too much - after all, you can make the next 20 miles home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Now I’d like for you to imagine how it feels to have a full tank of gas. Do you lean on the accelerator just a bit more? Does having that full tank give you just a bit more “edge,” “control,” or security as you travel to your destination? It’s interesting, isn’t it? Like it or not, there seems to be a big gap between “full” and “empty,” and it does influence how we go about life on a daily basis. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In our<b> Gospel lesson </b>this morning, I picture Jesus in the temple, hiding behind one of the pillars and whispering to his disciples. He is watching and listening to the poor widow, about to put her last two coins in the offering box. Can’t you just see him sneaking behind the pillar, telling them, “Here she comes….wait for it — Ker PLUNK ker PLUNK,” That was the sound of the Saducees’ coins in their long robes. Then came the widow with her two small coins (lepta), both adding up to about a penny. In her case, it was probably “clink - clink.” <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Jesus’ point? Long story short, he says to his followers, “<b>The Saducees gave from a place of abundance while the widow gave from a place of need.” </b>To Jesus, the difference between the two of them was not <i>how much </i>they gave, but what motivated their giving. There is a difference.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What about our <b>OT widow</b> today? We heard about her in our first reading. Elijah goes to Zarephath, already on a mission. The Lord already told him, “I have commanded a widow to feed you.” Apparently this is his God-ordained rest stop, so he meets her by the gate of the city as she is gathering sticks, and asks her first for a little cup of water. So she goes to get the water, and Elijah calls out to her, “Bring me a little piece of bread.” It appears he’s trying not to presume she has a whole lot, he’s just asking for a tiny pice, but she answers, “As the Lord God lives,” - which is a strong statement, meaning perhaps, “I swear to you (with undertones of “give me a break, who do you think I am?”) all I have is a handful of meal and a little oil in a jug — I was just about to bring these sticks home, make a little cake for myself and my son — and die.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The story could have ended there. Elijah could have excused himself, saying, “Ok, I get it, sorry to bother you, I’ll be on my way, you’ll be in my thoughts and prayers.” But — he had a mandate from God. And whenever someone is sent by God in the Bible, it seems that they utter three amazing words ‘’ “Do not be afraid.” Remember Mary again? And the angel? “Do not be afraid, Mary..” That is the ultimate example. <b>“Be not afraid”</b> are PIVOTAL words — words that indicate a turning point in every story. They signal that something great is about to happen. (Moses on the mountain? — cite other examples)</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“For thus says the Lord God of Israel,” he says. The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not rail until the day that the Lord send rain on the earth.” Next step: SHE WENT AND DID as Elijah said, so that she as wells he and her household ate for many days. (I guess he stayed there for a while). The jar of meal was not empited, neither did the jug of il fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.” Hello? Feeding of the 5000? Manna from heaven? The list goes on and on…</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>And if that weren’t enough, we have <b>the Psalmist </b>chiming in today He, too, mentions the widow and the orphaned - “the least of these,” the ones the Hebrew Scriptures as well as Jesus command us to make our priority. But here, also, we see how God acts in the world. First of all, he praises God and very quickly becomes quite specific: “Put not your trust in rulers, in mortals in whom there is no help.” A very timely reminder especially after a particularly loaded midterm election, a reminder that only GOD is in ultimate control. We have our rulers, who pledge to do their best, but the distinction here is that “in them there is no help.” An earlier Psalm says, “I lift up mine eyes to the hills, from whence cometh my HELP?” My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth. And listen to what God DOES —</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Many, many verbs here - read with me:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>gives</b> justice to those who are oppressed, </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>food to those who hunger,</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>sets</b> the captive<b> free,</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>opens </b>the eyes of the blind</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>lifts up</b> those who are bowed down</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>loves </b>the righteous</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>cares for </b>the stranger</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>sustains the orphan and widow</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>And furthermore, he frustrates the way of the wicked. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>With such a mighty God, we still tend to forget the immensity of God’s strength, the immediacy of God’s help, the blessed assurance that God knows what we need. He acts in this world through the Holy Spirit, who in turn, sets people into action.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>in just a few minutes, we will hear from two members of the Deborah Circle, who have inspired me greatly as I have watched just these few moments as they talk about their work at St. Paul’s community and how it impacts the world at large. They do lots of work with the <b>Welcome Church</b>, and hearing about this community again took me back to my first days in seminary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I was taking the Intro to Liturgy class, and our professor, Dr. Claudio Carvalhaes, was a very hands-on instructor. It was coming up to <b>Ash Wednesday 2013</b> and one of our first assignments was that the class would meet outside the Free Library at 19th and the Parkway with the intent to break up into groups and distribute ashes to people walking by - whoever wanted them. The results were surprising and heartwarming. Nearly every person, regardless of their faith tradition, seemed genuinely appreciative and so thankful that we approached them. In one case, I met a Muslim couple. They did not outright refuse the ashes, but of course pointed out that they were Muslim and not sure they could do that. My partner and I asked, “Well, how about a blessing?” They nodded, “Sure.” I gently laid my hand on their head, one at a time, saying, ‘Child of God, remember that you are loved by God and be blessed.” The next person I met was a woman named Lisa, This resonated with me for obvious reasons, but it made me see that in blessing others, we also bless ourselves — a reminder that we all are much more connected that we usually realize. Finally, we regrouped again and met Pastor Violet Little in front of the Library, where she set up a card table with Dixie cups, grape juice, and a paper plate of Ritz crackers for Communion. Other people began to arrive and chat with us. Many if not all were homeless. They were gracious, warm, and hospitable - living up to their community’s name - The Welcome Church. One of the men had written a song and sang it for us. He taught us the refrain. Another woman testified about how good God had been to her that week. Yet it appeared she didn’t have much at all and was carrying what little belongings she had along with her in one of those granny carts. We shared the Eucharist. It was truly amazing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>God is at work in this world, my friends! Let’s watch….</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>(or try clicking here --->) <a href="http://finaldeborahcirclenew.mp4/">DEBORAH CIRCLE VIDEO</a> </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It certainly is inspiring to see our sisters jump into action right here, right now, and reaching out to those in need. YOUR help makes groups like the Deborah Circle possible, groups that have touched lives for decades right out of St. Paul’s. Thank you to Nancy and Linda and all who worked hard to produce this video. </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="white-space: pre;">In a Stewardship report after service, </span>Cathy Keim read a lot of statistics last week. We heard about all the tiers of giving we have here at St. Paul’s. What you may not have heard is that our giving reflects faithful obedience to a great degree - we, as in life, don’t generally see the whole picture. When we get to the bottom line, our church, like most churches, still has a ways to go. The cost of building maintenance and the cost of living constantly goes up, so our giving needs to go up as well. Remember those important three words I mentioned earlier? The ones that come up in the Bible many times just before God shows up? — “Be not afraid”</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I am told that if all of us — those presently giving as well as those units who have not — gave <b>$10 more per week</b> (that’s roughly the cost of a sandwich and drink at Wawa) — St. Paul’s would be closer to reaching the bottom line. “Are you a ’10?’”</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It’s not up to me, or the pastor, or anyone on the stewardship committee to convince you to give. Only Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can transform and convince your heart about those details.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> It’s not about what <i>you</i> have, but what <i>we </i>have been entrusted with. It’s about<b> grace</b>. It’s about power made perfect in the very weakness and emptiness we feel. I<b>n what ways are you widowed and orphaned today?</b> We don’t all lose our spouses or parents, but we all suffer loss and emptiness. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Our <b>Veterans</b>, whose sacrifices we remember this weekend, are valiant examples of the kind of selfless giving that cost them their very lives. Of our Veterans that do survive, many have an extremely difficult time resettling into civilian life - finding jobs, homes, and the health care they desperately need to help them with conditions developed or exacerbated by their deployment. Pray for our veterans. Also, remember that this year we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of <b>Armistice Day,</b> remembering World War I and those veterans which gave their lives - many of our grandparents, great grandparents, brothers, sisters, husbands and wives. As Rudyard Kipling writes in <i>The Old Issue, </i>"When you go home, tell them of us and say, for their tomorrow we gave our today."</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This Armistice Day, realizing the great costs of the Great War, we say no to war and yes to peace. Despite Satan’s continued efforts to thwart us, we say no to evil and yes to God. That’s what <b>Baptism</b> is all about, and that’s yet another reason to celebrate this day. Stewardship, too, is connected to this commitment of our lives to God in baptism, when we empty ourselves by dying to sin and rising to new life in Christ.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When Jesus came down to earth in human skin, <b>He emptied himself, too. </b>He gave up his heavenly power to come down and become one of us, “once for all,” as it says in the Paul’s letter to the Hebrews. It was this power of the Spirit that allowed <b>the Widow’s “mite” - 2 small coins become the widow’s ‘Might” </b>— her strength made perfect in weakness. <b> Giving — from a place of abundance —</b> the abundance that God gives us each and every day, through his infinite love for each one of us. </span><br />
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-70210611848509727782018-10-21T23:37:00.002-04:002018-10-22T16:31:20.417-04:00"Gladly, the Cross-Eyed Bear" aka “The Three ‘Bears’l<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizq8TozadHT2It2FhtJhESkC86XeCdtgegbKy42nPdqcMh2sC4wmpE86RjRTQJo3FKpzjITgW6igstMsLEQSIx8ieCznLlPJ1_DkTxco0XnVpZ_1qAkESf0OhmvIfSggpcPVblyJqJHGYs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_1f76.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="1158" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizq8TozadHT2It2FhtJhESkC86XeCdtgegbKy42nPdqcMh2sC4wmpE86RjRTQJo3FKpzjITgW6igstMsLEQSIx8ieCznLlPJ1_DkTxco0XnVpZ_1qAkESf0OhmvIfSggpcPVblyJqJHGYs/s320/fullsizeoutput_1f76.jpeg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "helvetica"; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Organists are rare birds. As our own Phyllis Linn or Rae Ann Anderson can tell you, good organists are not only few and far between, but they also share wonderful jokes amongst themselves.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Sometimes, when we hear hymn and song texts, our ears can deceive us. Many church musicians like to share corny jokes in the form of alternate or misheard hymn titles. So I decided to ask the FB Organists Association, who were happy to send me some of their favorite hymn bloopers:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">-“Come for Tea, My People” (Comfort Ye, My People)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">-“We believe in being honest, true, chased by elephants." (The Thirteenth Article of Faith)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">-What is Andy doing there in the garden, anyway? “Andy walks with me, Andy talks with me”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">-“Lead On, O Kinky Turtle”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">-“The cattle are blowing the baby away.” (Away in A Manger)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">-and for Christmas, the line in “The Angel Gabriel” = “most highly flavored gravy”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">-“While shepherds washed their socks by night “</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">…and my personal favorite — “Gladly, the Cross-Eyed Bear.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Gladly” can sit here as a reminder that Words can play tricks on us. We hear the same word side by side and it may have slightly or entirely different meanings. Language is important, but not always perceived in the same way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">This morning I would like to talk about three different ways we can bear the cross. (Four, if you count Gladly here).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>But first, let’s unpack the Gospel lesson we just heard. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">There they are, James and John walking together with Jesus. It’s a weird proposition — “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” Kind of presumptuous, don’t you think? And if it weren’t addressed to Jesus I would almost suspect it was a trick question. What’s Jesus supposed to say? If it were up to me, I’d say “Suuure, I’ll do anything you ask.” But that’s just me, and I’m not as smart as Jesus. Instead, he answers them with a question. “What is it you want me to do for you?” “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in Your glory.” First lesson learned: Never say yes to such a question</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Jesus knew that James and John had absolutely no clue what they were asking, and tells them so. When He asks them, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I was baptized with?” Not knowing what they were really getting into, they’re like, “Yeah, yeah, sure.. We are able.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>So we, too, must be careful. For instance , when we baptize — we are asked questions like, “PoG, do you promise to support these sisters and brothers and pray for them in their life in Christ?” and we answer, “We do, and we ask God to help and guide us.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">In passages like this, we learn that we need to KNOW, to the best of our limited knowledge, what it is we are asking of as well as promising to God. Although we act in faith — and there are a lot of unknowns —we are still responsible for what we DO know. If we have the daunting task of taking up the cross before us, we’d better have some idea of what we’re getting into.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>So Jesus continues, saying, “Okay. You will drink the cup that I will drink, and be baptized with the baptism of which I am baptized, BUT…to sit at my RH or at my left is not for me to decide. God has already taken care of this,” says Jesus. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>At this point all the disciples get a bit angry with James and John. Jesus smashes the prevailing hierarchy to bits. “You know that the great rulers around here are tyrants and keep those below them under their thumb. But that’s not what we’re about here. Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Drinking the cup, sharing His baptism, we are also invited to share in Jesus’ suffering, to carry the cross. In effect, Jesus is asking, “Are you willing to walk in my shoes?” asking us to leave ourselves behind and concern ourselves with those around us. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>People will often say things like, “Well, that is my cross to BEAR (same spelling).” But that sounds passive, that sounds like, “Well, I’ll just have to deal with it, this is the pain that I am stuck with.” But Jesus tells us, “TAKE up your cross DAILY” — it is an active challenge to us all. In order to TAKE up something, we need to make a decision. Now, this is not the same as making a decision for Christ. Christ already made a decision FOR US. Therefore, we are already IN Christ. But, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer points out in “The Cost Of Discipleship,” this is not cheap, but costly grace. We are still faced with a choice every day — whether or not to dare to go outside of ourselves and our own comfort zone and TAKE up the cross of Christ. Every day.. Each day brings new challenges.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Second form... I think of the verb “to BEAR,” which means “to give birth.” And I think of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was given her own cross even before her son arrived on this earth — and that was to actually CARRY him in her womb. When we hear her Magnificat we hear of her willingness to BEAR the very cross of Christ — “My Soul does magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For He who is mighty has done great things, and holy is his Name.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We, too bear, or birth the Cross every day, as, what Martin Luther calls, “little Christs” in this world. We bear the cross in the world by proclaiming the Good News. As we walk the talk, people can’t help but see that we are followers of Christ. Just as one couldn’t help but see Mary’s pregnant belly as she was with child, we too, can be so full of the Holy Spirit and the good news of the Gospel as we bring it forth — birth it — to others. (New moms example)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Yet we, as residents of this world, sometimes find ourselves in situations where we are truly in the midst of our own suffering, or perhaps we see a lot of turmoil around us. While it’s so easy to get drawn into darkness, we remember and re-member and BARE (homonym) - reveal, show - B-A-R-E the Cross even as we bare our souls to others. We take that risk and become vulnerable, in spite of our brokenness.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is where the rubber hits the road. This is where we find ourselves this day. World Hunger Sunday. We take risks when we forget ourselves and put others first. When we see someone at the intersection carrying a cardboard sign - (“Will work for food” “Homeless and hungry” “Help me get my wife back”) — those signs are symbols of have THEIR “crosses.” When we see these signs, sometimes our minds race. We come up with all kinds of excuses. The light’s gonna change. Oh man, this guy’s gonna get run over if he doesn’t get out of the road.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> Well, who is it that really needs to get out of the road? Maybe WE need to get out of our OWN road. Maybe WE need to put ourselves last, and not second-guess the Holy Spirit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Many times, I try to rationalize things. The skinny young woman outside the Wawa, asking very politely for a handout. “Ok, maybe when I come back I’ll have some change, ” I say. “I don’t have any cash right now.” Silently I hope that maybe she’ll move on while we’re in there getting our coffee. “Oh, maybe I could buy her a sandwich, but who knows if that’s what she really wants anyway. Probably not. She probably wants money. And she’ll buy more meth with that. Or other drugs. Or alcohol. Aww, forget about it.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Well. People of God, guess what? What she will do with that money has already been decided — by the same God who already arranged where James and John will be sitting on that day of glory. And it’s not about sitting on thrones. That entire exchange is about the Ultimate Exchange — through Christ’s redemptive sacrifice on the cross, crucified between two THIEVES on either side of Him. the Suffering Servant we hear about in Isaiah, the hymn we so often sing in Lent: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“All my pride.” When confronted by someone in need, we can’t presume to do the work of the Holy Spirit. We can’t translate the message of the Spirit into our own version of God’s will. It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to tug at your heart. It’s the Spirit’s job to make you feel uncomfortable, and to stir you enough to reach out to someone else. To put ourselves last. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our job is to act in response to the Spirit, not to second-guess — Go with the first thing you hear, don’t make it up on your own terms. If God says feed the hungry - go feed the hungry. Clothe the naked, go to the thirsty, give them drink. Make disciples. Baptize them in Jesus name. We show up and do whatever it takes because we are God’s hands in this world, acting on behalf of the One who gave Himself for all of us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Finally, What’s the name of our bear again? “GLADLY — the cross-eyed bear, We are to bear our cross gladly because we love the One who loved us first, without ever thinking of himself. “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How about you? What can we do? Be vulnerable. Take that risk. Throwing aside all weight, let’s put ourselves last and follow in Jesus’ footsteps, sharing His Baptism, sharing His cup - gladly. AMEN </span></div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-22684479687512268952018-10-07T17:53:00.000-04:002018-10-07T18:20:05.443-04:00Of Dryers and Divorce (preached at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, October 7, 2018)<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: bold;">“Of Dryers and Divorce”</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtEEgZ7TVkN0_FP3t0n_YN5ZO_Qr7V2IUWlhqSVboBW_g3VGi0JjHR6kbOeel_RrNwqgjB-sMI1ZBjAZ4abW3e-AB6tDTnHKWOy7k5depAx9klN_sEEMtec_UDXMcvuTcG5Y4mferpYfCz/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-10-07+at+6.07.37+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtEEgZ7TVkN0_FP3t0n_YN5ZO_Qr7V2IUWlhqSVboBW_g3VGi0JjHR6kbOeel_RrNwqgjB-sMI1ZBjAZ4abW3e-AB6tDTnHKWOy7k5depAx9klN_sEEMtec_UDXMcvuTcG5Y4mferpYfCz/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-10-07+at+6.07.37+PM.png" /></a><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"> What a week this has been! You could hear the noise for months — from a low rumble to a dull roar. But anyway, it had been noisy for months. I had grown to almost be comforted by that rumbling noise. To me, it meant things were at least working. Then, out of nowhere.,,</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Our dryer had finally given up the ghost. My only warning was that ever-so-slightly high-pitched squeak that made me sure the belt had broken but it all went out the window when I saw the repairman’s face…. The question is, would it be better to replace the dryer or keep it and get it fixed? </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>That’s what happens when we practice deferred maintenance - not attending to those subtle or not-so-subtle signals that warn us something is about to go. That’s what happens when we don’t attend to things right away. Brokenness. While I considered this topic, I soon came to realize that the dryer wasn’t the only thing that had broken. In our house, malfunctions seem to come in groups. The toaster-convection oven that promised to cook and air fry everything under the sun suddenly wouldn’t turn on. The week before we had a broken toilet, my SmartWatch stopped charging itself, and of course the car’s maintenance light had to turn on in the meantime. First world problems. </span><br />
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"> It’s always something. And usually it’s easily remedied by getting it fixed. Once something is fixed, we feel energized, ready to face the world again, unfettered and unencumbered by that weight of uncertainty.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Other things are not as easy to fix. At least not by ourselves. It’s hard at times to even acknowledge something is wrong, let alone call for help, until we get close to rock bottom, when all we are left with is the sound of our own voice, shouting as blind Bartimaeus did, “Jesus, Son of God, have pity on me!”</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I think I yelled that phrase myself a lot this week, for a number of reasons. my gadgets and appliances notwithstanding. I wrestled with this Gospel passage “with fear and trembling,” as Paul says. You may not believe this, but I took over 20 pages of notes. If I had to be brutally honest, I’d say that this is probably at the top of my “List of Things I Wish Jesus Had Never Said.” Like it or not, your minds have been on the “D-word” since I read it to you a few moments ago. Once we hear the word “divorce,” everyone has their own story or movie in their head. Here’s one of my own.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It was the summer of 1999 and our children were young. We had just moved back to Philadelphia after four years of living in Germany and both my husband I were heading back to work. He found a job teaching German at Immanuel Lutheran School on Cottman Avenue, and I resumed my work with Opera Philadelphia and was hired as Music Director at a Baptist church nearby. At that church, we met Joan, an older woman in the choir and soon became fast friends. In no time at all she offered to watch the kids for us while I had evening opera rehearsals and Todd was traveling. We had come up with some sort of arrangement but she never wanted to get paid. This was perplexing and a bit frustrating. We wanted to pay her for her services, but she continually refused. She would say, “You have all become my family now. I don’t have anyone anymore. I lost my parents. I have been praying to find a family for a long long time. I’ve been living alone.”</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Joan wasn’t always alone, however. It turns out she was a retired dance teacher who had her own teaching studio for years, right near where the Office Max is today on Cottman, across from the Four Seasons Diner. She would tell story after story about her then “boyfriend” Joe, who had proposed to her, and the fun they had together going ballroom dancing all over the city. She would tell these joyful stories while the children were around.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>But at night, after the kids had gone to bed and I gave her a ride home, Joan would pour out her heart to me. She confessed to feeling very lonely, and there was a tinge of bitterness in her voice. She told me that Joe had proposed to her, and they were even engaged to be married, but one day she discovered the truth — a truth that had her devastated. Joe had previously been married. And the church Joan was raised in did not allow anyone to marry someone who was divorced. There wasn’t any wavering or debate. She told him no, they could not marry, and immediately broke their engagement. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This was all based on the Gospel passage we read today. This piece of the Law is so unlike anything Jesus affirms, says or does in the rest of Mark, let alone any of the other Gospels. This text has been used, time and time again, in hurtful, damaging ways by the Church.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Somehow, I cannot picture Jesus shaking his head at Joan - or anyone - saying, “Sorry, you’re doomed to live your life alone because Joe was previously married.” Yet still today, many are turned away from receiving the Lord’s body and blood at the Eucharist because of their marital status. It is heartbreaking. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>But listen closely to what is actually happening here. The Pharisees ask Jesus - to test him — “is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” Jesus, somewhat suspicious of the way they ask the question (“is it lawful for A MAN” - for who? That’s like those FB posts that say “asking for a friend”), turns it around and answers them, “What did Moses command YOU?” He applies it to their personal situation (since he knows they are likely asking the question on their own behalf). They answer “correctly,” “Moses allowed A MAN to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” But Jesus said to them, “Because of YOUR hardness of heart he wrote this commandment FOR YOU.”</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>For you. As Martin Luther says, we are to read the Bible not by letting Scripture interpret us, but by interpreting Scripture through our lens, applying the Word to our situation, taking the words that are intended — FOR US.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is intended FOR US concerning divorce is God’s ideal. What Jesus is saying here is “IF it were up to God, there would be NO divorce.”</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>But life in the first century was hard, let alone life since time began, and divorce became a man-made institution which in most cases marginalized women and children even further. In those days, divorce was as good as a death sentence for a woman. She couldn’t just land on her feet and get a job of her own. Often such women were sold into slavery or prostitution. Others who stayed in the marriage continued to be abused, and sadly, not much has changed today in many cases. It is highly likely that Jesus reiterated this law in order to protect women from abuse in his time.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Indeed, it is not good for a person to be alone. If we, regardless of our history, find ourselves alone and were to meet a companion who brings us joy, I don’t think Jesus would begrudge us, but would rejoice with us as Adam did when God introduced his helper, Eve, to him. Adam said, “This at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh:”</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> Helper. This particular Hebrew word (etzer) is not meant to sound subservient. There is no such word in English exactly. This word for helper is the same word used for God throughout the Bible, primarily the Psalms. The only time it is applied to another person is here, in Genesis 2. God takes our helpers, our companions, and our spouses seriously and we should too. We are to care for each other and all our creation.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When we look at creation, we are compelled to cry out as the Psalmist did — “Oh Lord, our Lord how majestic is Your Name in All the Earth!!” We respond to God’s creation with that sense of wonder. The very fact that we are created means that we are essential to God.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>God, who created order out of chaos, who created us in God’s image. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;">Do we know what God looks like? Since the text doesn’t specifically tell us, it’s counterproductive to try and conjure up an image. We have to feel the </span><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanps-bolditalicmt"; font-size: 14.00pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">force</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"> of being told that we are formed in the image of God, who loves us, cares for us, knows, and gives us everything we need. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>So after a few days, I made up my mind about that dryer. For a German girl, I’m not too thrifty, but there must be a vestigial thrifty bone in my body somewhere, because I opted to apply the service consultation fee toward the repair and get the broken dryer fixed rather than buy a new one.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>That’s just how I am. I don’t throw things away. Ask my husband, who might call me a hoarder. But before I go on, I just want to speak again to the act of caring for our creation. We live in a throwaway society. It’s often much easier and more convenient to dispose of things we don’t need rather than to fix, reuse, and repurpose them. But there is a lot to be said about caring for creation as well as tending our relationships.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This is not meant to sound boastful, but my husband and I have been together for 29.5 years and we can both tell you that in our marriage, many repairs have taken place over that time. Too many to be counter — more like an old car than that dryer. Thank God for duct tape! Don’t think our minds haven’t gone to that dreaded D-word. Divorce touches all of us in one way or another. It represents the pain of two people being one flesh, then torn asunder. It is excruciating pain.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>But God knows that pain. God, too, was torn from Godself the moment His Son died on the cross. Because of that mighty act, there is freedom in that pain. It started at creation. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>That freedom is our forgiveness. We need to remember and accept that forgiveness — not in order to get it, but in order to partake of the comfort and consolation it provides for us so that we can move on in life as we remain in close relationship with our God.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Just as I thought “that dryer belt MUST be the problem,” sometimes the things we think are important are not the real issues. Sometimes we are sure we know what the problem is, only to be surprised that it’s something else entirely. It may cause us to do things differently or unexpectedly. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>After the confrontation with the Pharisees, Jesus was angry with the disciples, who, acting as power brokers, wanted to turn away the people who were bringing the children to him.. Without skipping a beat, he reaches out and touches them, takes them up in his arms, and blesses them, as if to say, “That’s enough of that, THIS (children) is the REAL thing. This — is the Kingdom of God!”</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Can’t you just feel the joy, the laughter at the end of this passage? That’s hope. Hope that binds up brokenness. We know that hope is always working because God is still in the creation business today as part of God’s promise to us.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Be blessed. Be good to yourselves, and good to each other. Tend your relationship with God and with one another. Remember - You are God’s beloved children. AMEN.</span></div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-42445445821788791262018-09-24T15:07:00.001-04:002018-09-24T15:13:23.849-04:00"Last, But Not Least" (preached at St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Glenside, September 23, 2018)<div style="background-color: white; color: #514c46; font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>"Last, But Not Least" </b></span></div>
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<i>St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Glenside</i></div>
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<b>September 23, 2018</b></div>
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<b>Lectionary 25B/Pentecost 18</b></div>
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<b>Mark 9:30-27</b></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I was that kid. Once upon a time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I was probably about four years old, and the first child born in the US to German parents, who had emigrated to the U.S. about ten years earlier. They were eager to give me a good start in this new world, so the time had come for me to attend Nursery School. Although I had no idea what to expect, I could tell my mother was pretty excited about it. As the school year began, it certainly was a wonderful thing to be with other kids my age (especially since I at that point was an only child). I loved the painting, coloring, singing, listening to stories…I can still taste those graham crackers and the Hi-C juice and smell that white paste like it was just yesterday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Overall, things seemed to go pretty smoothly until one day, when it was circle time. “Okay, cool,” I thought, quite elated at the idea of sitting in a circle with my classmates. I don’t think I had ever done that before. The next thing I knew, we had to go around the circle and describe our bedtime routines. “What do we wear to bed? Do you have a favorite stuffed animal?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Not feeling the slightest bit anxious, I quickly tried to formulate the answer in my head: “My mom bought me a ‘blanket sleeper’ (that’s what she called it, you know, those Dr. Denton jammies) and I have a stuffed cat named Minka.” There, that sounds good, I thought.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When it came time for me to open my mouth, the words that came out did not sound the same as what the other kids had been saying. I struggled to make them sound the same but did not know how. It was weird gibberish and the teacher politely dismissed what I tried to say and went on to the next child. I was startled because I felt — different. Suddenly I wasn’t like all the others. <i>I felt as though I didn’t belong.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>T</i></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">hings were a bit different back in the day. I was sent home from nursery school for the rest of the year, so that my (German-speaking, mind you) mother to speak more English with me in the hopes that I would be able to communicate more clearly. It wasn’t until Kindergarten that my English speaking skills finally caught up with me. But the feeling of being “different” has never left me since.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>— PRAYER — </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Let’s travel with Jesus. Today’s reading begins “Jesus went on from Caesarea Philippi. This is the location of one of the largest springs feeding the Jordan River. There is no record of Jesus actually entering that city, but we know that the Great Commission and the Transfiguration both occurred in the vicinity of the city (Matt 16:13), so they went on from what was then known as Caesarea Philippi. and Jesus “didn’t want anyone to know it.” Part of the reason for Jesus’ reluctance to reveal his true identity was that Jesus saw his task as bringing the good news about God and his Kingdom, and that is also why he warned healed people not to tell of their healing. He tended to escape from crowds when there was a danger of his mission becoming nothing more than a ‘healing campaign.’ Besides, he didn’t want crowds for this “teaching moment.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>He tells the disciples - again - that he would be betrayed, sentenced to die, and rise again in three days. Yes, he had told them this just a chapter earlier. In fact, there are three instances in Mark 8-10 when Jesus makes these predictions, and the one in today’s Gospel is the second time. The first time around, he got little response. This time around, the disciples are just plain uncomfortable and don’t know what to say.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">\<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Now, I don’t know about you, but when was the last time a trusted teacher, mentor, boss, or friend of yours took you aside for a heart-to-heart talk, explaining that he or she would be given over to the authorities and betrayed by those loyal to them? Not only that, but that in 3 days they’d come back to life. You might think to yourself, “Well, what on earth did this person do? How did they get in trouble with the law?” Because the relationship between you and this person was close, but also one of deep respect, it might be hard to ask such difficult questions. It certainly was for the disciples.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How do WE respond to Jesus’ predictions? What are we afraid to ask? In spite of over 2000 years between us, I’m sure there’s just as much we’re afraid of asking Jesus as the disciples were. So there’s not much point in going down the road that says, “Ohhh those poor confused, disciples. They were really clueless” - because the more things change, the more they stay the same. We, too, remain clueless. We too, keep seeking. Even though we have the distinct advantage of knowing the end of the story, The secret became plain at the cross. Still, we, too, continue to have questions. So the story goes on. It continues. </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b><i>Continue</i></b> — now there’s a word. When we read this passage in the original Greek, we find Jesus <i>teaching (edidasken) - </i>that is, in the ACTIVE indicative form of the verb - what we often call the </span><span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;">continuous</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> tense. It’s not like he taught them, and that was it. He KEEPS on doing it. What else? Jesus was continually <i>saying </i>“the Son of Man is to be betrayed” BUT, as the Greek says, they were continuously <i>ignorant</i> (egno-oun) and did not understand his words. </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This passage also remind us that God calls </span><span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;">from the future,</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> that time is not linear for God, but more like a continuous circle. The fact that he brings up this prediction not one, not two, but three times is also reminiscent of some of other Jesus questions: “Peter, do you love me?” he asks three times. And later Peter denies him three times. And just last week, Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answers, “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.” How WE answer this questions says a lot about our own identity as Christians as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What happens next kind of reminds me of a family road trip. The parents are sitting in the front seat, and the kids are in the back making increasingly more disruptive but unintelligible noises which eventually escalate to a deafening crescendo. “Are we there yet?” they ask. “No!” say the parents. </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This time, Jesus is in the front seat and the disciples are in the back of the van, traveling somewhere between Caesarea Philippi and the house in Capernaum, where Jesus made his home during the years of his ministry. [Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen living in the village. Matthew the tax collector also dwelt here]. Another fun fact is that Capernaum is one of the three cities cursed by Jesus for its lack of faith.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The disciples start mumbling and bickering amongst themselves. Jesus asks them, “Hey, what are you talking about?” It turns out they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest. So they cut right to the end game. They didn’t even pass go, they went right to Plan B. They were already trying to establish a hierarchy of leadership in Jesus’ absence. They were not living in the present.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Jesus sat down, motioned to the twelve to have a seat, “WHOEVER wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he grabbed one of the little children, took it in his arms saying “Whoever welcomes a little child IN MY NAME welcomes me.” You see, this time HE takes one of the children. He doesn’t even wait for them to come to him. He goes to them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> Jesus’ illustration is not only a radical act for his time, but cause for conviction and repentance for our time as well. Author Anne Edison-Albright writes:</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">“It’s jarring to compare that iconic image of Jesus welcoming and blessing the children with the harsh realities that children face every day.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In the year 2017, children made up 52 percent of the refugee population. There were 173,800 unaccompanied and separated child refugees in 2017. According to U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Gary Seidman - </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">"Whenever children are traveling alone they are vulnerable, far more vulnerable than adults. They are at greater risk of being exploited, or being hurt, of falling into the hands of traffickers," Seidman said. "Children traveling alone are at a much higher risk for violence and abuse." </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">He added that children especially do not have the needed emotional capacity to deal with these situations. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Regardless of our political convictions, we look to Jesus, who takes it to the next level. We need not ask “What would Jesus do?” but rather, “What DID Jesus do?”</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>There are three key words here. Jesus could have just said, “Whoever welcomes a little child welcomes me, but he went a step further. BUT he goes right to the heart of it by stating “IN MY NAME.” This supersedes any national or political ties. Jesus knew that the radical act of welcoming children would be transformational. It says so all over Scripture - “Every Valley shall be exalted, and the mountains and hills made low.” “My grace is sufficient for you , for My power is made perfect in weakness.” St. Paul writes, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” <b>It all changes at the cross.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It’s not about our opinions, or where we stand. It’s this direct line that leads to God. Now, I’m not a math wizard either, but I remember the Transitive property - if A=B then A=C. If you welcome the child, you welcome me. Matthew 10:40 says, <b> </b>“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” So there you have it. And it refers to WHOEVER. Whoever WELCOMES. Whoever does it. Not a specific class of people, just the doers. A few weeks ago we heard, “Be ye DOERS of the Word, and not hearers only.” Just. Do. It.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As we live in response to Christ’s example and welcome all children around us — the weak, the vulnerable, the disenfranchised, those that have no voice — we also need to learn to welcome the child within us. There is something inside each one of us that cries out to be loved, embraced, and accepted by a force, a community larger than ourselves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>That cry is answered by Jesus. When we hear God’s voice through the presence of the Holy Spirit, we answer in faIth. We remember our baptism. We remember that we are loved, and Whose we are. </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Then we meet others who share our fatih. We become community, the family of God. We begin to find ways to make God’s Kingdom a reality, right here, right now. We celebrate being the Body of Christ in the Lord’s Supper.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>One of my favorite songs by the band Casting Crowns is called “If We Are the Body,” and the lyrics talk about what it means to be the body of Christ, what it means to welcome the vulnerable and the less than. It goes like this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">It's crowded in worship today</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">As she slips in trying to fade into the faces</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The girls teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">A traveler is far away from home</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">He sheds his coat and quietly sinks into the back </span><span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;">row</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The weight of their judgmental glances</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Tells him that his chances are better out on the road</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">But if we are the body</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Why aren't His arms reaching?</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Why aren't His hands healing?</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Why aren't His words teaching?</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">And if we are the body</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Why aren't His feet going?</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Why is His love not showing them there is a way?</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Jesus paid much too high a price</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">For us to pick and choose who should come</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">And we are the body of Christ</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Think on those words. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Last, but certainly not least, <b>It all begins with a little child. Welcome that child. </b> Tell him or her they are loved. It begins with you and with me. AMEN.</span></div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-31817078635312927032018-05-11T09:33:00.001-04:002018-05-11T10:13:14.089-04:00"Beam Me Up, Scotty!" - Ascension Day, May 10, 2018<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>“Beam me up, Scotty”</b> from the <i>Star Trek</i> series is a catchphrase that has made it into popular culture. it comes from the command Captain Kirk gives his chief engineer, Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, when he needs to be transported back to the starship <i>Enterprise.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Fun fact, though — even though “Beam Me Up, Scotty” has been associated with <i>Star Trek</i> for decades, it has never actually been spoken in any of its TV episodes or films. It’s been used in many different kinds of slang expressions meaning a variety of things, among them to express the desire to be elsewhere - ‘Beam me up, Scotty, there’s no intelligent life down here.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Does anyone know what day we’re celebrating in the life of the church TODAY, this very day?? <b>Ascension Day (Himmelfahrt).</b> It’s an interesting time of year, when the school year starts to wind down, high school students go to the Proms, and we have graduations and “moving up” ceremonies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Moving up. What happens on Ascension Day? (Jesus ascends into Heaven.) Who is with Jesus? (The disciples) Let’s briefly look at Luke 24 again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">In the passage we just heard, Jesus says: “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you…”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">But wait a minute! <i>Isn’t he still with them?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Jesus words must have seemed very confusing. Then it says He opened up the Scriptures and interpreted the meaning of all that had taken place. Same thing he did with the two men on the Road to Emmaus. Now he promises even more than the scriptures, saying, “See, I am sending upon what my Father promised, so STAY in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">What did he mean by “power from on high?” Here, in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus doesn’t say “Holy Spirit,” but in Lukes’ second volume, the Book of Acts (1:8) , he does: Listen - </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">This is the same Spirit that rested on Jesus at his baptism, the same Spirit that anointed Jesus to preach good news to the poor and freedom for the oppressed. This same “power from on high” would now be given to the disciples, and by extension, to us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">But how can we speak of something we have not seen? Could the Spirit be anything we imagine? In John’s gospel Jesus compared the Spirit to the wind = you hear the sound of it, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it goes. Though we can’t see the Spirit, we can see where the Spirit has been. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">There is a wonderful <b>woodcut of Jesus’ ascension by the medieval artist Albrecht Dürer (ca. 1510)</b>, who also drew and sculpted the famous “Praying Hands.” If you look closely at the picture — not up in the air, but on the ground — you can see footprints on the earth. Dürer carefully outlined Jesus’ footprints down on the level where the disciples are standing with their mouths open. Perhaps this artist is asking us, “Why do you stand looking up into heaven?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The mystery of God closer to us than we are to ourselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">“Stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” From now on, Jesus says, “I will be with you. Though I am leaving, you will not be left alone.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Verse 50 - “Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they were continually in the temple, blessing God.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">One last question — WHAT was </span><span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>the very first thing</b></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> the disciples did after Jesus was taken away to heaven? (They <b>worshipped </b>him)</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">They worshipped him - and something very new and exciting happened. Something that began to lead us toward the Trinity. <b>It was no longer possible to talk about God without talking about Jesus. </b>Whenever we think about God, we always need to include a crucified, risen, and LIVING Christ.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The Spirit that annointed Jesus anoints <b>us</b>, still breathes with us and surprises us. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">THIS — is staying power. This is a kind of energy we cannot find here on earth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">“All this energy issues from Christ. God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule.And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>The church, you see, is not peripheral to this world, but the world is peripheral to the church. </b>(Let me say that again…)</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The church is Christ’s body, in which Jesus speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence(2) — ALL IN ALL.. Amen.</span></div>
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Lundblad, Barbara. "Commentary on Luke 24:44-53, " May 5, 2016. https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2850</div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px;">Peterson, Eugene. </span><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><i>THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language. </i>Colorado Springs: Tyndale House, 2002.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><i>Peterson, Eugene H.. The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Kindle Locations 7-8). NavPress. Kindle Edition. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Mark Tranvik. "Commentary on Luke 24:44-53," May 12, 2013. </span>https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1635</div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-64811043295895804952017-12-22T14:37:00.000-05:002017-12-22T14:37:06.509-05:00Friday, December 22, 2017 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song<br />
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<b style="color: #1a222a; font-family: Philosopher; text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: large;">SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID:</span></u></b></div>
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<b style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: large;">Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Friday, December 22, 2017</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8LquyVgw4b8kraynuWtMAf5V5RYxOevfCmoooVpxq6tWTVF2MX34r5LoSqEte6x8nRCgzTcUExXyfYPqzY7RaXY-QtUPOpade3gl4a8466iXgQTsAnty9vMdMH6ACEmycZ4gpAsUqy87/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-12-22+at+2.34.06+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="286" data-original-width="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8LquyVgw4b8kraynuWtMAf5V5RYxOevfCmoooVpxq6tWTVF2MX34r5LoSqEte6x8nRCgzTcUExXyfYPqzY7RaXY-QtUPOpade3gl4a8466iXgQTsAnty9vMdMH6ACEmycZ4gpAsUqy87/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-12-22+at+2.34.06+PM.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Luke 1:39-45</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14.850000381469727px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">ELW #257 - "O Come, Thou King of Nations, Come" - VERSE 7</span></div>
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<br /><a href="https://youtu.be/XF8jtLC4UPo">https://youtu.be/XF8jtLC4UPo</a></div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-76134405750496272572017-12-21T11:12:00.002-05:002017-12-21T11:12:48.067-05:00Thursday, December 21, 2017 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song<div>
<b style="color: #1a222a; font-family: Philosopher; text-align: center;"><u><br /></u></b></div>
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<b style="color: #1a222a; font-family: Philosopher; text-align: center;"><u>SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: </u></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b><u>Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Thursday, December 21, 2017</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIe-2fik9LoLgKHq0JNUnRm-I35kd0FxqKRSO_Y4zC9KQqyuW6DzqQ68K8V0TYPZlA-5APtk4KrMzlyhI4xqNlGrUJe8_iB3lNCHb0CB2ZizhtCLuod1uieG9B3EQ3YWlFim5ggZ78wStx/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-12-21+at+11.09.06+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="337" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIe-2fik9LoLgKHq0JNUnRm-I35kd0FxqKRSO_Y4zC9KQqyuW6DzqQ68K8V0TYPZlA-5APtk4KrMzlyhI4xqNlGrUJe8_iB3lNCHb0CB2ZizhtCLuod1uieG9B3EQ3YWlFim5ggZ78wStx/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-12-21+at+11.09.06+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Luke 1:26-38</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">ELW #257 - "O Come, Thou Dayspring" - VERSE6</span></div>
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<a href="https://youtu.be/zshzkkD-NYA">https://youtu.be/zshzkkD-NYA</a></div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-29192787934327303462017-12-20T17:20:00.000-05:002017-12-20T17:20:28.337-05:00Wednesday, December 20, 2017 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: </u></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song</u></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Wednesday, December 20, 2017</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnOzqmozoaNqLthBhCH__v9GSZ0bw2qJQJPT-orTrfy3Udsa1cV4DbP1bW3YssPmXyXJ88xf9UQyuWkMpf8qlDH-SJxhtEiECCVwYr1OTVUKGf2PlPvDrNl_NFm5Q-sRn5jH6NntaxPj3p/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-12-20+at+5.16.12+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="217" data-original-width="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnOzqmozoaNqLthBhCH__v9GSZ0bw2qJQJPT-orTrfy3Udsa1cV4DbP1bW3YssPmXyXJ88xf9UQyuWkMpf8qlDH-SJxhtEiECCVwYr1OTVUKGf2PlPvDrNl_NFm5Q-sRn5jH6NntaxPj3p/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-12-20+at+5.16.12+PM.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">ELW #257 - "O Come, Thou Key of David" - VERSE 5</span></div>
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<a href="https://youtu.be/3t9j2of0s9k">https://youtu.be/3t9j2of0s9k</a></div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-16718784978232146042017-12-19T09:11:00.002-05:002017-12-20T17:13:39.191-05:00Tuesday, December 19, 2017 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: </u></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song</u></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Tuesday, December 19, 2017</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkKneWqSv4bZP9QvrZtYAp3bXuoBJEeYUtEE38ipEpx7rgPRxaa8Mot_BML8_3GJ0Ku5wVJ9sVbs8dEpGxd8aToK5Ikjok8nbZjCyeC_HdqBZOwxHAFwDtoac7JeSLt3koHf7L8Ao8SNM0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-12-19+at+9.08.06+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="291" data-original-width="431" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkKneWqSv4bZP9QvrZtYAp3bXuoBJEeYUtEE38ipEpx7rgPRxaa8Mot_BML8_3GJ0Ku5wVJ9sVbs8dEpGxd8aToK5Ikjok8nbZjCyeC_HdqBZOwxHAFwDtoac7JeSLt3koHf7L8Ao8SNM0/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-12-19+at+9.08.06+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">1 Thessalonians 5:16-24</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">ELW #257 - "O Come, Thou Branch of Jesse" - VERSE 4</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://youtu.be/HHbIsOVqMkE">https://youtu.be/HHbIsOVqMkE</a></span></div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-22056578757078291322017-12-18T11:51:00.000-05:002017-12-18T11:51:11.715-05:00Monday, December 18, 2017 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID;</span></u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song</span></u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtM4tlIJYqyAhh1AsHfjG3G4uFTLvQ0Jv712EH3OQne8KHR1hLYv41Sob0HmLfeioQ3oH8q2MWBl79FFqlrjqHrNt5zbRC0ZLl2EF4UhkjaRPuhbqZGl8vOLzyXDZO9vAgB90NQnl85Sv1/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-12-18+at+11.50.31+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="590" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtM4tlIJYqyAhh1AsHfjG3G4uFTLvQ0Jv712EH3OQne8KHR1hLYv41Sob0HmLfeioQ3oH8q2MWBl79FFqlrjqHrNt5zbRC0ZLl2EF4UhkjaRPuhbqZGl8vOLzyXDZO9vAgB90NQnl85Sv1/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-12-18+at+11.50.31+AM.png" width="317" /></a></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Monday, December 18, 2017</span></u></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Psalm 126</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">ELW #257 - "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">VERSE 3 - "...O Lord of Might"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://youtu.be/DPHh3nMMu-I">https://youtu.be/DPHh3nMMu-I</a></span></div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-55078469271785012592017-12-17T10:40:00.001-05:002017-12-18T11:26:18.031-05:00Sunday, December 17, 2017 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID; Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID; </u></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song</u></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u><br /></u></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sunday, December 17, 2017</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Isaiah 16:1-4, 8-11</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">ELW #257 - "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>VERSE 2: "...O Wisdom"</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://youtu.be/Ruk82iKatfU">https://youtu.be/Ruk82iKatfU</a></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>NOTE: The "O Antiphons" begin today!! </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>We use a different verse of this Advent hymn each day </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>until next week (Advent 4/Christmas Eve)</i></span></div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-64103738589527247972017-12-16T12:56:00.001-05:002017-12-16T12:56:10.903-05:00Saturday, December 16 - John 1:6-8, 19-28 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song<div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: </u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Saturday, December 16, 2017</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">John 1:6-8, 19-28</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">ELW #253 - "He Came Down"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://youtu.be/SpjCB5V6Juk">https://youtu.be/SpjCB5V6Juk</a></span></div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-41151680365059492632017-12-15T11:25:00.001-05:002017-12-15T11:25:53.488-05:00Friday, December 15 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: </u></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Friday, December 15, 2017</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Philippians 3:12-16</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">#ELW 245 "Creator of the Stars of Night"</span>I</div>
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<a href="https://youtu.be/Cv0k2tdy6bI">https://youtu.be/Cv0k2tdy6bI</a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-76755513639548587192017-12-14T17:40:00.001-05:002017-12-14T17:40:40.818-05:00Thursday, December 14, 2017 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID; Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID;</u></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song</u></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Thursday, December 14, 2017</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Habakkuk 2:1-4</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">ELW #261 - "As the Dark Awaits the Dawn"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://youtu.be/5N7n93aCabU">https://youtu.be/5N7n93aCabU</a></span></div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-38248752171898508342017-12-13T10:41:00.002-05:002017-12-13T10:41:55.987-05:00Wednesday, December 13, 2018 - SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and So<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><u>SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID:</u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><u>Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song</u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><u>Wednesday, December 13, 2018</u></b></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Luke 1:5-17</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
ELW #265 - The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://youtu.be/GF2BzUDeTkY">https://youtu.be/GF2BzUDeTkY</a></div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713441092212390512.post-7755012696314876492017-12-12T09:33:00.001-05:002017-12-12T09:35:16.440-05:00Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 11 & 12 - SNGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID: Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>SONGS IN THE KEY OF DAVID;</u></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Journey through Advent in Scripture and Song</u></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Monday, December 11, 2017</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Isaiah 40:1-11</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">ELW #266 "All Earth is Hopeful"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://youtu.be/1BSXyFD1YlY">https://youtu.be/1BSXyFD1YlY</a></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Tuesday, December 12, 2017</b></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Psalm 27</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">ELW #264 - "Prepare the Royal Highway"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://youtu.be/4SGs_aui884">https://youtu.be/4SGs_aui884</a></span></div>
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The Barefoot Organisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04950113101525536043noreply@blogger.com0