Proper Prayers for Pentecost 8 (4 August 2019)

Propers for RCL Proper 18C

Semi-continuous reading & psalm:  Hosea 11.1-11; Psalm 107.1-9, 43 (NRSV)

Complementary reading & psalm:  Ecclesiastes 1.2, 12-14; 2.18-23; Psalm 49.1-12 (NRSV)

Colossians 3.1-11; Luke 12.13-21

Collect of the Day

Almighty God, your Son Jesus Christ fed the hungry with the bread of his life and the word of his kingdom/your coming reign of abundant life.  Renew your people with your heavenly grace, and in all our weakness sustain us by your true and living bread, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.  [1]

or

Benevolent God, you are the source, the guide, and the goal of our lives.  Teach us to love what is worth loving, to reject what is offensive to you, and to treasure what is precious in your sight, through Jesus Christ, our Saviourand Lord.  Amen.  [2]

or

Living God, you have placed in our hands  the wealth we call our own:  give us wisdom, so that our possessions may not be a curse, but a means of blessing in our lives and the lives of others.  Grant this through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

Lord of abundance, you demand our life entire and whole:  lead us out from prisons of greed to a place of riches uncontained and always new; through Jesus Christ, our wealth.  Amen.  [3]

or

O God, the giver of every gift that endures, only by your grace can we rightly understand the wonder of life and why it is given.  By the word of your Son challenge our foolishness, confront our greed, and shape our lives to the wisdom of the gospel.  We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.  Amen.  [4]

or

Generous God, in abundance you give us things both spiritual and physical.  Help us to hold lightly the fading things of this earth and grasp tightly the lasting things of your kingdom/your reign, so that what we are and do and say may be our gifts to your through Christ, who beckons all to seek the things above, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  [6]

or

Generous Giver, you pour forth your extravagant bounty without measure upon your whole creation.  Teach us such generosity, that/so that the fruits of our spirits and the works of our hands may be used for the building of your commonwealth of blessing; through Christ and in the Spirit, God for ever and ever.  Amen. [6]

Prayer over the Gifts

God our sustainer, accept all we offer you this day, and feed us continually with that bread which satisfies all hunger, your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ.  Amen.  [1]

or

Holy God, gracious and merciful, you bring forth food from the earth and nourish your whole creation.  Turn our hearts toward those who hunger in any way, so that all may know your care; and prepare us now to feast on the bread of life, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

God of all creation, all you have made is good, and your love endures forever.  You bring forth bread from the earth and fruit from the vine.  Nourish us with these gifts, so that we might for the world signs of your gracious presence in Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things.  Through your goodness  you have blessed us with these gifts:  our selves, our time and our possessions.  Use us, and what we have gathered, in feeding the world with your love, through the one who gave himself for us, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen. [3]

or

God of mercy and grace, the eyes of all wait upon you, and you open your hand in blessing.  Fill us with good things at your table, so that we may come to the help of all in need, through Jesus Christ, our redeemer and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

Merciful God, as grains of wheat scattered upon the hills were gathered together to become one bread, so let your church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom, for yours is the glory through Jesus Christ, now and for ever.  Amen.  [3]

Proper Preface

Blessed are you, gracious God, creator of heaven and earth; you are the source of light and life for all your creation, you made us in your own image, and call us to new life in Jesus Christ our Saviour.  Therefore we praise you, joining our voices to proclaim the glory of your name.  [1]

or

Blessed are you, gracious God, creator of heaven and earth; we give you thanks and praise through Jesus Christ our Lord, who on this first day of the week overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life.  In our unending joy we echo on earth the song of the angels in heaven as we raise our voices to proclaim the glory of your name.  [1]

or

Blessed are you, gracious God, creator of heaven and earth; by water and the Holy Spirit you have made us a holy people in Jesus Christ our Lord; you renew that mystery in bread and wine and nourish us, to show forth your glory in all the world. Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the holy people who have served you in every age, we raise our voices to proclaim the glory of your name.  [1]

or

It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God, through our Saviour Jesus Christ; who on this day overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life.  And so, with all the choirs of angels, with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:  [2]

Prayer after Communion

God of grace, we have shared in the mystery of the body and blood of Christ.  May we who have tasted the bread of life live with you for ever.  We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  [1]

or

We give you thanks, almighty God, that you have refreshed us through the healing power of this gift of life.  In your mercy, strengthen us through this gift, in faith toward you and in fervent love toward one another; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. [3]

or

O God, we give you thanks that you have set before us this feast, the body and blood of your Son.  By your Spirit strengthen us to serve all in need and to give ourselves away as bread for the hungry, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

or

God of abundance, with this bread of life and cup of salvation you have united us with Christ, making us one with all your people.  Now send us forth in the power of your Spirit, so that we may proclaim your redeeming love to the world and continue forever in the risen life of Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

Gracious God, in this meal you have drawn us to your heart, and nourished us at your table with food and drink, the body and blood of Christ.  Now send us forth to be your people in the world, and to proclaim your truth this day and evermore, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

O God, our life, our strength, our food, we give you thanks for sustaining us with the body and blood of your Son.  By your Holy Spirit, enliven us to be his body in the world, so that more and more we will giveyou praise and serve your earth and its many peoples, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

Sources

[1]       The Book of Alternative Services 1985

[2]       Evangelical Lutheran Worship 2006

[2a]     Evangelical Lutheran Worship:  Leaders Desk Edition 2006

[3]       Trial Use Collects for Years A, B & C and Seasonal Prayers over the Gifts and after Communion 2016

[4]       Opening Prayers:  Collects in Contemporary Language 1997, 1999, 2001

[5]       Prayers for an Inclusive Church 2009

[6]       Revised Common Lectionary Prayers 2002

[7]       The Book of Occasional Services2018

N.B.  When a word or phrase appears is italicized in a liturgical text, it is an alteration made by the Ven. Richard Geoffrey Leggett to the original text.

Teach Us to Pray: Reflections on Luke 11.1-13 (RCL Proper 17C, 28 July 2019)

Teach Us to Pray

Reflections on Luke 11.1-13

RCL Proper 17C

28 July 2019

Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral

New Westminster BC

Luke 11.1-3

                  ^11.1[Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

                  ²He said to them, “When you pray, say:  Father, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come.  ³Give us each day our daily bread.  ⁴And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.  And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

                  ⁵And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’  ⁷And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’  ⁸I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

                  ⁹“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.  ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.  ¹¹Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish?  ¹²Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion?  ¹³If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Teach us to pray.

            When I was twelve years old, I joined the rest of my cadre at Saint Michael’s Parish in confirmation preparation.  Father Palmer, our Rector, was a firm man who had a knack for working with young people.  We all looked up to him and he became on of my mentors on the road to ordination some sixteen years later.

            He had to help us organize our thinking and to look at life and the challenges of faith as a gift of God that is often misunderstood.  I remember one of my friends asking Father Palmer why we fall into sin.  ‘More often than not,’ he said, ‘sin is the misuse of one of God’s gifts when we are motivated by fear of losing it.  Good stewardship of God’s gifts can become greed, enjoyment of the gift of food can become gluttony.’  There was no question we could not ask because he taught us that asking a question was a step towards wisdom.

            One of the little lessons that he gave us that has remained with me all these years is the acronym ‘ACTIP’ as a way of remembering what prayer should include. Prayer, Father Palmer taught us, should begin with adoration of God, then confession of our sins of commission and omission, then thanksgiving for God’s goodness to us and to all of creation, then intercession for others in their needs and troubles, then close with our petitions for our own needs and concerns.  For fifty-four years ACTIP has been embedded in my soul and has served me well in times of uncertainty about how to pray.

            ‘Teach us to pray,’ an unnamed disciple asks Jesus in today’s gospel from Luke.  Beneath those words I hear the desire to have the same rich spiritual life that Jesus has with God, that same sense of connectedness that enables Jesus to radiate God’s life into the hustle and bustle of the disciples’ everyday lives, that ability to meet the reality of human confident in God’s purposes to bring us all into life-giving, life-sustaining relationships.

            What Jesus gives them is the core of the prayer that we’ve been praying for almost two thousand years.  It’s the prayer that an early Christian writer in the second century thought every Christian should pray three times a day, slowly and thoughtfully, in order to find the spiritual grist for the mill of the soul to grind into Christian maturity. It’s a prayer that challenges us to ask ourselves some key questions about our own spiritual lives.

To whom are we praying?

            Father, hallowed be your name.  In the time of Jesus, to call God ‘Father’ was to evoke the image of the most powerful figure in any human family in Palestine and throughout the Greco-Roman world.  Fathers had the power of life and death.  But Jesus reveals God as a father who welcomes home a wayward son, a shepherd who seeks for one lost sheep, a despised Samaritan who cares for a man who falls into the hands of bandits.

            Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer we are given an opportunity to ponder our own understanding of who is the God whose name we are holding sacred.  The Scriptures as well as our own experiences are full of images of God.  Our ‘desert island’ Scriptures, those portions of the Bible that we find particularly meaningful, tell us a great deal about how we understand God.

For what are we praying?

            Your kingdom come.  Give us each day our daily bread.  And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.  We’ve all probably prayed for a parking spot when we’re frantically trying to finish some errands.  If it were possible to set up a prayer indicator near any BC Lottery dealer, the readings would probably go off the dial.

            But our prayers are actually simple.  We are praying that the world becomes what God want it to become, a place where all God’s children can be free, a place where all God’s creatures have what they need for a full life, a place where we are each valued and loved.

            We are praying that our needs and those of others are filled.  Those who are ill in body and soul are made whole. Those who are lonely find companionship. Those who are held captive by addiction and poverty are liberated.  Those who mourn receive comfort.  Those who are hopeless discover hope.

            We are praying that we become more Christ-like in our relationships.  If we are clinging on to old hurts, we pray for release.  If we are holding others emotionally hostage, we pray for release.  If we are seeking power and control at the expense of others, we pray for release.

In what times are we praying?

            And do not bring us to the time of trial. Our times are no less fraught with danger than when Jesus and his disciples travelled throughout ancient Palestine. We face political and social conflicts. We live in the midst of what many of us consider to be a climate emergency.  We witness the growth of political movements that deny the full humanity of millions of people.  We know that wealth and power are not equitably distributed, whether in the so-called ‘developed’ world or the so-called ‘developing’ world.

            Times such as these have the potential to generate considerable fear. Human beings are not at our best when we are faced with the choice of fight or flight.  And so we pray that God will empower our ‘better angels’ in order that we might be beacons of hope rather than torches of anger, that our communities might be open to and embracing of all rather than closed to and suspicious of whomever we might call ‘the other’.

Pray without ceasing.

            Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.  For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened . . . . If you . . . know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

            For two thousand years the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, in many forms and many languages, has been a quiet centre around which we can remember to whom we are praying, for what we are praying and in what times we are praying. It is a prayer that is prayed unceasingly throughout the inhabited world.  Just as a single prayer wheel spins its invocations in one location, so this prayer has transformed our whole planet into a prayer wheel, invoking God’s name, praying for the coming of the kingdom and asking for strength to meet the times.

            Let us pray  it, slowly and thoughtfully, when we rise in the morning.  Let us pray  it, slowly and thoughtfully, when we pause in the middle of the day.  Let us pray it, slowly and thoughtfully, when we bring our day to close.  Pray it, slowly and thoughtfully, when we are uncertain about how to pray or what to pray. Pray it and be prepared for the Holy Spirit to move in us and through us to more than we can ask or imagine.

Proper Prayers for the 7th Sunday after Pentecost (RCL Proper 17C)

Propers for RCL Proper 17C

Semi-continuous reading & psalm:  Hosea 12-10; Psalm 85

Complementary reading & psalm:  Genesis 18.20-32; Psalm 138

Colossians 2.6-15, [16-19]; Luke 11.1-13

Collect of the Day

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy, increase and multiply upon your mercy, that/so that with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.  [1]

or

Almighty and ever-living God, you are always more ready to hear than we are to pray, and you gladly give more than we either desire or deserve.  Pour upon us your abundant mercy.  Forgive us those things that weigh on our conscience, and give us those good things that come only through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [2]

or

Lord of heaven and earth, as Jesus taught the disciples to be persistent in prayer, give us patience and courage never to lose hope, but always to bring our prayers before you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

Lord of gifts, share with us a hunger  for the bread of your kingdom and give to us a yearning impatience with injustice; through Jesus Christ, our Jubilee.  Amen.  [3]

or

Provident God, with the prayer your Son taught us always on our lips, help us so to seek that we may truly find, so to ask that we may joyfully receive, and so to knock that the door of mercy may be opened for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  [3]

or

Provident Father, with the prayer your Son taught us always on our lips, we ask, we seek, we knock at your door.  In our every need, grant us the first and best of all your gifts, the Spirit who makes us your children.  We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.  Amen.  [4]

or

Living God, you raise us to fullness of being in sharing the Christ-life together. Teach us to pray and grant us hopeful persistence in seeking your will and your way, that/so thatby the power of the Spirit, love and faithfulness may meet to disarm the powers of the world.  Amen.  [6]

or

Father in heaven/Creator of all, in your goodness you pour out on your people all that they need, and satisfy those who persist in prayer. Make us bold in asking, thankful in receiving, tireless in seeking, and joyful in finding, that/so that we may always proclaim your coming kingdom/reign of justice and do you will on earth as in heaven.  Amen.  [6]

Prayer over the Gifts

God of grace, accept all we offer you this day, as we look toward the glory you have promised.  This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. [1]

or

Holy God, gracious and merciful, you bring forth food from the earth and nourish your whole creation.  Turn our hearts toward those who hunger in any way, so that all may know your care; and prepare us now to feast on the bread of life, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord. Amen.  [3]

or

God of all creation, all you have made is good, and your love endures forever.  You bring forth bread from the earth and fruit from the vine.  Nourish us with these gifts, so that we might for the world signs of your gracious presence in Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things.  Through your goodness  you have blessed us with these gifts:  our selves, our time and our possessions.  Use us, and what we have gathered, in feeding the world with your love, through the one who gave himself for us, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen. [3]

or

God of mercy and grace, the eyes of all wait upon you, and you open your hand in blessing.  Fill us with good things at your table, so that we may come to the help of all in need, through Jesus Christ, our redeemer and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

Merciful God, as grains of wheat scattered upon the hills were gathered together to become one bread, so let your church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom, for yours is the glory through Jesus Christ, now and for ever.  Amen.  [3]

Proper Preface

Blessed are you, gracious God, creator of heaven and earth; you are the source of light and life for all your creation, you made us in your own image, and call us to new life in Jesus Christ our Saviour.  Therefore we praise you, joining our voices to proclaim the glory of your name.  [1]

or

Blessed are you, gracious God, creator of heaven and earth; we give you thanks and praise through Jesus Christ our Lord, who on this first day of the week overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life.  In our unending joy we echo on earth the song of the angels in heaven as we raise our voices to proclaim the glory of your name.  [1]

or

Blessed are you, gracious God, creator of heaven and earth; by water and the Holy Spirit you have made us a holy people in Jesus Christ our Lord; you renew that mystery in bread and wine and nourish us, to show forth your glory in all the world. Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the holy people who have served you in every age, we raise our voices to proclaim the glory of your name.  [1]

or

It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God, through our SaviourJesus Christ; who on this day overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life.  And so, with all the choirs of angels, with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:  [2]

Prayer after Communion

God of grace, we have received the memorial of the death and resurrection of your Son.  May your love, poured into us, bring us to your promises. We ask this in the name of our Redeemer Jesus Christ.  Amen.  [1]

or

We give you thanks, almighty God, that you have refreshed us through the healing power of this gift of life.  In your mercy, strengthen us through this gift, in faith toward you and in fervent love toward one another; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. [3]

or

O God, we give you thanks that you have set before us this feast, the body and blood of your Son.  By your Spirit strengthen us to serve all in need and to give ourselves away as bread for the hungry, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

or

God of abundance, with this bread of life and cup of salvation you have united us with Christ, making us one with all your people.  Now send us forth in the power of your Spirit, so that we may proclaim your redeeming love to the world and continue forever in the risen life of Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

Gracious God, in this meal you have drawn us to your heart, and nourished us at your table with food and drink, the body and blood of Christ.  Now send us forth to be your people in the world, and to proclaim your truth this day and evermore, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

O God, our life, our strength, our food, we give you thanks for sustaining us with the body and blood of your Son.  By your Holy Spirit, enliven us to be his body in the world, so that more and more we will giveyou praise and serve your earth and its many peoples, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

Sources

[1]       The Book of Alternative Services 1985

[2]       Evangelical Lutheran Worship 2006

[2a]     Evangelical Lutheran Worship:  Leaders Desk Edition 2006

[3]       Trial Use Collects for Years A, B & C and Seasonal Prayers over the Gifts and after Communion 2016

[4]       Opening Prayers:  Collects in Contemporary Language 1997, 1999, 2001

[5]       Prayers for an Inclusive Church 2009

[6]       Revised Common Lectionary Prayers 2002

[7]       The Book of Occasional Services2018

N.B.  When a word or phrase appears is italicized in a liturgical text, it is an alteration made by the Ven. Richard Geoffrey Leggett to the original text.

Walking the Way of the Cross: Reflections on Colossians 1.15-28 (RCL Proper 16C, 21 July 2019)

Walking the Way of the Cross

Reflections on Colossians 1.15-28

RCL Proper 16C

21 July 2019

Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral

New Westminster BC

Click here to listen to the Sermon as preached at the 10.00 Eucharist on the 21st.

Colossians 1.15-28

                  ^1.15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; ¹⁶for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers — all things have been created through him and for him.  ¹⁷He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  ¹⁸He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.  ¹⁹For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

                  ²¹And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, ²²he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him — ²³provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven.  I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

                  ²⁴I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.  ²⁵I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, ²⁶the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.  ²⁷To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  ²⁸It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

            When I was in seminary, I used to babysit for Jim Dunkley, who was the Librarian and my Faculty Advisor, when he and his wife drove into Milwaukee for their weekly choir practice.  As a couple they had an eclectic library and I loved to spend the hours, after the children had gone to bed, just browsing through the titles.  One of the books attracted my eye and Jim let me borrow it.

            The book is entitled Caught in the Web of Words:  James A. H. Murray and the Oxford English Dictionary.  It tells the story of James Murray, a self-educated Scot, who eventually convinced Oxford University to allow him to create the first Oxford English Dictionary, still one of the ‘go to’ reference works in our own time.  If you think that the subject might be a bit dull, you’ll be surprised, especially when you learn that one of Murray’s best researchers was a criminally-insane murderer who spend his life seeking the first literary use of words and then would send the information along to Murray.

            I was ensnared by the title of the book itself:  Caught in the Web of Words. When I consider our life of worship, I think that we too are caught in the web of words that is the liturgy of the church.  Worship weaves webs of words through the prayers, the hymns, the readings from the Scriptures and the sermons that fill the time we gather together in this place. Some of the webs are easy for us to brush off, just as we brush off old spider webs when we accidentally walk into them.  But other webs are no so easily brushed aside.  They achieve their purpose by sticking to us and forcing us to pay attention.

            One such web is our reading from the Letter to the Colossians.  Who wrote it?  I grew up thinking that it was written by the apostle Paul, but my later studies introduced me to the view of many, if not most, scholars that the apostle Paul didn’t write it.  I could go on with the traditional questions we were taught to use to guide our explorations --- What?  Where? When?  Why?  I’m not going to do so, because I want us, in the week following General Synod, to spend some time on one sentence:  “I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” (Colossians 1.24).

            We’ve been taught that Christ died and was raised from the dead, ‘a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world.” (The Book of Common Prayer1962, 82)  There’s nothing that’s lacking in ‘Christ’s afflictions’.  Everything that needed to be done has been done.

            Whoever wrote this letter to the Christian community in Colossae knew this as well.  He knew that the whole gospel rests on our faith that in Jesus God has reconciled the world to God’s very self and that there is a new creation.  But he also knew that what God had accomplished in Jesus of Nazareth is continued in what God has asked the Christian people to do.

            We have been called by God from the pursuits of our daily lives to belong to a beloved community that has a purpose.  We are gathered to undertake voluntarily a public work for the common good of the whole creation.  That public work is not limited to what happens in worship; it extends into our service and our pastoral care of our neighbours as well as our Christian friends.

            The public work we are engaged in doing is called marturia.  You may recognize it as the root of the word for ‘martyr’, but its original meaning is ‘witness’.  We are called to be witnesses to what God has accomplished in Jesus of Nazareth and what God is continuing to accomplish through the Holy Spirit.  We often think of martyrs as witnessing to God by their deaths, but they actually witnessed to God and to the good news of God in Jesus by their lives.

            Being a witness to the good news is not without cost.  It often means opening oneself up to the criticisms of others, to ridicule by so-called ‘reasonable people’, to charges of being unfaithful to the ‘tradition’, to the struggle to make a go of this rag-tag bunch of folk we call Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral.  It means suffering, not suffering in place of Christ, but suffering with Christ for on-going work of reconciliation and renewal begun so long ago.

            This General Synod has publicly suffered with Christ for the on-going work of reconciliation and renewal.  It has set the Anglican Church of Canada on a path towards the creation of an autonomous indigenous ‘church within the Church’.  This General Synod has set the Anglican Church of Canada on a path towards the marriage of same-sex couples in those dioceses of the country who wish to move past old debates.  This General Synod has set the Anglican Church of Canada on a path of self-examination about how we govern ourselves and whether the time has come for a radical re-visioning of time-worn structures.

            Already voices have been raised to question all three of these decisions. Perhaps our most difficult act of witness will be in the compassion we extend to each other and our willingness to walk with one another even when we are uncertain about the direction the path is taking.  Perhaps, in a world where people who disagree with one another loudly threaten to leave, our witness to compassion is to proclaim lovingly that we plan to stay in order that the reconciling and renewing love of God in Christ bursts into full view.

            

Faithfulness Not Clinginess: Reflections on General Synod Sunday (14 July 2019)

Faithfulness Not Clinginess

Reflections on General Synod Sunday

John 20.1-18

14 July 2019

Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral

New Westminster BC

            For the past few years Holy Trinity has had a small paid staff of a full-time priest in charge, a part-time administrator, a very part-time verger and a paid musician.  Finding office space was relatively easy, an office for the administrator, an office for the priest in charge and music space.  But this past Monday our comfortable arrangements were disrupted by the arrival of our new Assistant Curate, Tasha Carrothers.  Where were we going to put Tasha?

            We finally settled on the Archives and began to carve out space where Tasha can work and meet with folks.  But carving out space was not and is not easy.  We’ve found a number of things, some of them remarkable --- for various reasons --- and a fair number of things that we’ve been clinging to for years with no clear idea why.  I’ve gone through some of the old books in the hopes that they are harbouring $100 bills or stocks or other negotiable securities.  No luck.  I’ve looked through the books thinking that there might some spectacular historic letter or other document that might solve a mystery, but most of the books are simply old books to which one or more people were attached.

            It is a natural human emotion to want to cling to things that remind us of people and events in our lives.  In some cases these objects have a story to tell to other people.  In most cases, however, the stories these objects may played a role in telling is no longer known to those of us who follow.  Because these things have meant something to people we have known and love, we put them on bookshelves or in cabinets as an act of respect.  We know, even as we do this, that they will never play a role in our lives nor in the lives of those who come after us.

            So we need to de-clutter.  We sort through things and make the hard but necessary choice to send them on to their final resting-place --- so long as it is not here.

            Part of the problem is that we confuse clinginess with faithfulness. Clinginess is an attitude that is oriented to an imaginary past and is often accompanied by fear.  Clinginess is not about building on the values and strengths of our past in order to have a firm foundation to move forward into God’s future. It’s more about holding tightly to institutions, ideas and ways of behaving because we are uncertain about the future.  Clinginess can generate feelings of enmity, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissension and partisanship, because we feel threatened.

            Faithfulness to genuine tradition is an entirely different attitude.  When we are faithful to people, to institutions and to values and ideas, we have confidence to ask ourselves hard questions.  How does this relationship challenge me to grow into the full stature of Christ?  How does this institution provide a structure for the proclamation of the good news of God in Christ rather than simply serve itself?  How do the values and ideas that our forerunners in the faith have passed on to me become the energy that fuels my commitment to God’s mission and the ministries God has entrusted me to exercise?  Where clinginess generates fear, faithfulness generates hope

            John captures this tension in today’s gospel.  Mary came to the garden in despair and fear.  Her hope had been nailed to the cross with Jesus.  Now she sees him, not entirely the man she knew before, transfigured, radiant with new life.  Is it any surprise that her initial reaction is to reach out to hold on to him, hoping that this new life so evident in him will somehow fill her own body and soul, strength and mind?

            But Jesus stops her.  I’ve always wondered why and I think that I’m close to understanding.  Jesus recognizes that she is reaching out for the past and for the restoration of the relationship they had before the events of that last week in Jerusalem.  She doesn’t yet understand that God in and through Jesus has brought a beloved community into being and is transforming it in and through the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ work is finished.  The Spirit’s work has begun.  God has revealed and is revealing that eternal life, genuine life, heart-racing, mind-bracing, hope-restoring life has come into the world.  What God began in creation; what God renewed in the life and ministry of Jesus; what God is shaping through the Spirit calls for faithful de-cluttering rather than clinging to the past.

            More than a hundred and fifty years ago, when the American Episcopal Church was contemplating what was necessary to re-unite Christians, they courageously chose values and beliefs that could be put in our carry-on luggage rather than a checked bag in which you could stuff three people.  They looked at the rich heritage of the Anglican way of discipleship and decided what embodied faithfulness rather than clinginess.

            (1) Christians are a community that gathers around the sacred stories, poetry, letters and mystical writings of the Jewish people and the earliest generations of Jesus’ disciples.  In these writings we discern God’s voice and call to us.  In these writings we learn what it means to be fully alive and we need little to nothing more.

            (2) Christians know that there is a great difference between what these writings say and what they mean.  What we need to know is that God created all that is, seen and unseen, out of love, that God seeks life-giving and life-enriching relationships with and between human beings and with the whole creation itself, that God freely gives wisdom to all who seek it.  

            (3) Christians are a people who gather around the font to ‘draw the circle wide’ not to ‘build walls that divide’. Christians gather around the table to share in the bread and the wine of new life, not as the meal of a closed society but as a foretaste of the banquet to which God invites all human beings by going out into the highways and the byways, the alleys and boulevards, the concrete jungles and the wooded suburbs.

            (4) Christians require leaders who are committed to apostolic mission rather than institutional preservation, who gather us into life-giving and life-sustaining communities rather than like-minded gatherings of well-intentioned people, who animate our self-sacrificial service of our neighbours and our courageous advocacy for the needs and wants of the many rather than warm feelings of charity and benevolence.

            We are called to be faithful to the God who comes to us in Jesus and who breathes the Spirit into us.  And faithfulness frightens me.  Faithfulness means letting go of unquestioned assumptions about who is and who is not held within the circle of faith.  Faithfulness means a lifetime commitment to de-cluttering my heart, mind and soul of the trappings of the status quoand imagining what new thing God is doing in and through us as a community of disciples and in and through me as one washed in water and anointed by the Spirit in baptism.

            Sometimes when I’m out and about, I see children holding the hands of adults. I remember what it felt like to hold the hands of my children as we bravely walked out into the unknown, perhaps to school, perhaps shopping, perhaps simply on a walk around the neighbourhood.  It was a magical feeling.  And I also remember the times of clinging when it felt as if my child were trying to fuse herself or himself into my body.  Not so magical.

            Friends, de-cluttering the household of faith is not easy work and we all hesitate sometimes and cling to practices and traditions which no longer serve, if they ever did.  We hesitate and we take two steps forward and one step backwards.  But this General Synod meeting in Vancouver has many faithful people holding each other’s hands and walking bravely into ‘ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown’ because we recognize the Hand that is holding all of ours, coaxing us along. [1]  So let us keep calm.  Let us remember what we really need for our journey.  And let’s not be afraid, when our faithfulness seems overshadowed by clinginess, to de-clutter like mad.

            

---

[1]Evangelical Lutheran Worship 2006, 317.

Proper Prayers for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (RCL Proper 15C)

If you are not using the liturgical resources for 'General Synod Sunday 2019', then here are proper prayers for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (RCL Proper 15C).

Propers for RCL Proper 15

Semi-continuous reading & psalm:  Amos 7.7-17; Psalm 82

Complementary reading & psalm:  Deuteronomy 30.9-14; Psalm 25.1-10 (BAS 25.1-9)

Colossians 1.1-14; Luke 10.25-37

Collect of the Day

Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you. May we find peace in your service, and in the world to come, see you face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.  [1]

or

O Lord our God, your mercy delights us, and the world longs for your loving care.  Hear the cries of everyone is need, and turn our hearts to love our neighbours with the love of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [2]

or

Compassionate God, whose love demands our all:  reveal to us our wounds and give us grace to know our neighbour who tends us with foreign hands; through Jesus Christ, the merciful one.  Amen. [3]

or

Divine Judge, you framed the earth with love and mercy.  Keep us faithful in prayer, so that we may be filled with the knowledge of your will, and not ignore or pass by another’s need, but plumb the depths of love in showing mercy.  Amen.  [3]

or

God of mercy and compassion, in Christ you draw near to us, lifting us out of death, binding up our wounds and nursing our spirits back to health.  Let such a tenderness as yours compel us to go and do likewise.  Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.  Amen.  [4 alt.]

Prayer over the Gifts

Father/Creator of all, your word creates in us a yearning for yourkingdom/reign of justice and peace. Receive all we offer you this day, and keep us in your peace; for the sake of Jesus Christ the Lord.  Amen. [1]

or

Holy God, gracious and merciful, you bring forth food from the earth and nourish your whole creation.  Turn our hearts toward those who hunger in any way, so that all may know your care; and prepare us now to feast on the bread of life, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

God of all creation, all you have made is good, and your love endures forever.  You bring forth bread from the earth and fruit from the vine.  Nourish us with these gifts, so that we might for the world signs of your gracious presence in Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things.  Through your goodness  you have blessed us with these gifts:  our selves, our time and our possessions.  Use us, and what we have gathered, in feeding the world with your love, through the one who gave himself for us, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen. [3]

or

God of mercy and grace, the eyes of all wait upon you, and you open your hand in blessing.  Fill us with good things at your table, so that we may come to the help of all in need, through Jesus Christ, our redeemer and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

Merciful God, as grains of wheat scattered upon the hills were gathered together to become one bread, so let your church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom, for yours is the glory through Jesus Christ, now and for ever.  Amen.  [3]

Proper Preface

Blessed are you, gracious God, creator of heaven and earth; you are the source of light and life for all your creation, you made us in your own image, and call us to new life in Jesus Christ our Saviour.  Therefore we praise you, joining our voices to proclaim the glory of your name.  [1]

or

Blessed are you, gracious God, creator of heaven and earth; we give you thanks and praise through Jesus Christ our Lord, who on this first day of the week overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life.  In our unending joy we echo on earth the song of the angels in heaven as we raise our voices to proclaim the glory of your name.  [1]

or

Blessed are you, gracious God, creator of heaven and earth; by water and the Holy Spirit you have made us a holy people in Jesus Christ our Lord; you renew that mystery in bread and wine and nourish us, to show forth your glory in all the world. Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the holy people who have served you in every age, we raise our voices to proclaim the glory of your name.  [1]

or

It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God, through our SaviourJesus Christ; who on this day overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life.  And so, with all the choirs of angels, with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:  [2]

Prayer after Communion

Living God, in this sacrament we have shared in your eternal kingdom/your promised reign of justice and peace.  May we who taste this mystery forever serve you in faith, hope and love.  We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord.  Amen. [1]

or

We give you thanks, almighty God, that you have refreshed us through the healing power of this gift of life.  In your mercy, strengthen us through this gift, in faith toward you and in fervent love toward one another; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. [3]

or

O God, we give you thanks that you have set before us this feast, the body and blood of your Son.  By your Spirit strengthen us to serve all in need and to give ourselves away as bread for the hungry, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

or

God of abundance, with this bread of life and cup of salvation you have united us with Christ, making us one with all your people.  Now send us forth in the power of your Spirit, so that we may proclaim your redeeming love to the world and continue forever in the risen life of Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

Gracious God, in this meal you have drawn us to your heart, and nourished us at your table with food and drink, the body and blood of Christ.  Now send us forth to be your people in the world, and to proclaim your truth this day and evermore, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

or

O God, our life, our strength, our food, we give you thanks for sustaining us with the body and blood of your Son.  By your Holy Spirit, enliven us to be his body in the world, so that more and more we will giveyou praise and serve your earth and its many peoples, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.  [3]

Sources

[1]       The Book of Alternative Services 1985

[2]       Evangelical Lutheran Worship 2006

[2a]     Evangelical Lutheran Worship:  Leaders Desk Edition 2006

[3]       Trial Use Collects for Years A, B & C and Seasonal Prayers over the Gifts and after Communion 2016

[4]       Opening Prayers:  Collects in Contemporary Language 1997, 1999, 2001

[5]       Prayers for an Inclusive Church 2009

[6]       Revised Common Lectionary Prayers 2002

[7]       The Book of Occasional Services2018

N.B.  When a word or phrase appears is italicized in a liturgical text, it is an alteration made by the Ven. Richard Geoffrey Leggett to the original text.