SPEAKER_02: Bless the Lord who forgives all our sin.
SPEAKER_02: Let us give thanks to God for all the gifts freely bestowed upon us.
SPEAKER_02: For the beauty and wonder of your creation and earth and sky and sea.
SPEAKER_06: We thank you, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: For all that is gracious in the lives of women and men, revealing the image of Christ.
SPEAKER_06: We thank you, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: For our daily food and drink, our homes and families and our friends.
SPEAKER_06: We thank you, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: For minds to think, and hearts to love and hands to serve.
SPEAKER_06: We thank you, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: For health and strength to work and leisure to rest and play.
SPEAKER_06: We thank you, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: For the brave and courageous who are patient in suffering and faithful in adversity.
SPEAKER_06: We thank you, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice.
SPEAKER_06: We thank you, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: For the communion of saints in all times and places.
SPEAKER_06: We thank you, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Above all, we give you thanks for the great mercies and promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
SPEAKER_02: To you be praise and glory.
SPEAKER_02: With you, O Father, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_02: Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hidden.
SPEAKER_02: Cleanse the thoughts in our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name through Christ our Lord.
unknown: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ saith: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
SPEAKER_02: This is the first and greatest commitment.
SPEAKER_02: And the second is like unto it.
SPEAKER_02: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
SPEAKER_02: On these two commitments hang all of the Torah and the prophets.
SPEAKER_02: Let us pray.
SPEAKER_02: Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan.
SPEAKER_02: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations.
SPEAKER_02: And as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: As you're being seated, our children are invited to children's chapel with Mr.
SPEAKER_02: Alex and the back.
SPEAKER_03: A reading from Genesis.
SPEAKER_03: The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till and to keep it.
SPEAKER_03: And the Lord God commanded the man, You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall die.
SPEAKER_03: Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made.
SPEAKER_03: He said to the woman, Did God say, You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?
SPEAKER_03: The woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden.
SPEAKER_03: But God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.
SPEAKER_03: But the serpent said to the woman, You will not die, for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
SPEAKER_03: So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.
SPEAKER_03: And she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
SPEAKER_03: Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made winecloths for themselves.
SPEAKER_03: Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people.
SPEAKER_03: We will read responsively by the half verse.
SPEAKER_03: Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sin is put away.
SPEAKER_03: Happy are they to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, and in whose spirit there is no God.
SPEAKER_03: While I held my tongue, my bones withered away because of my groaning all day long.
SPEAKER_03: For your hand was heavy upon me day and night, and my moisture was dried up as in the heat of summer.
SPEAKER_03: Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not conceal my guilt.
SPEAKER_03: I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and then you gave me the guilt of my sin.
SPEAKER_03: Therefore, all the faithful will make their prayers to you in time of trouble.
SPEAKER_03: When the great waters overflow, they shall not reach them.
SPEAKER_03: You are my hiding place, you preserve me from trouble.
SPEAKER_03: You surround me with shouts and deliverances.
SPEAKER_03: I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go.
SPEAKER_03: I will guide you with my eye.
SPEAKER_03: Do not be like horse or mule, which have no understanding.
SPEAKER_03: You must be fitted with bit and bridle, or else they will not stay near you.
SPEAKER_03: Great are the tribulations of the wicked.
SPEAKER_03: By the mercy and grace of those who trust in the Lord.
SPEAKER_03: Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And so death spread to all because all have sinned.
SPEAKER_00: Sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law.
SPEAKER_00: Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.
SPEAKER_00: But the free gift is not like the trespass.
SPEAKER_00: For if the many died through the one man's trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many.
SPEAKER_00: And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man's sin, for the judgment followed one trespass brought condemnation.
SPEAKER_00: But the free gift following many trespasses brings justification.
SPEAKER_00: If because of the one man's trespass death exercise dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, just as the one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.
SPEAKER_00: For just as by the one man's disobedience to many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience to many will be made righteous.
SPEAKER_00: Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people.
SPEAKER_02: After Jesus was baptized, he was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
SPEAKER_02: He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.
SPEAKER_02: The tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.
SPEAKER_02: But Jesus answered, It is written, one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
SPEAKER_02: Then the slanderer took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, He will command his angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus said to him, Again it is written, Do not put the Lord your God to the test.
SPEAKER_02: Again the slanderer took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
SPEAKER_02: And he said to Jesus, All these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus said to him, Away with you, accuser, for it is written, Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.
SPEAKER_02: And then the slanderer left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel of the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Please be seated.
SPEAKER_02: It is characteristic that we start each Lent, the first Sunday in Lent, with what we call the temptation of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: And I want to start by suggesting to you that there is a temptation to deal with these readings in a particular way that absolves us of any responsibility.
SPEAKER_02: And I want to give you the temptation first.
SPEAKER_02: The temptation is to say, Jesus did this stuff, it's really neat, he's all done with it.
SPEAKER_02: Yay.
SPEAKER_02: Another temptation is to say, hey, uh, look how good, uh look what Paul says.
SPEAKER_02: Everybody messed it up, and Jesus fixed it.
SPEAKER_02: All done.
SPEAKER_02: Yay.
SPEAKER_02: And of course, probably the greatest temptation is to read this story in Genesis 3 in a broken way that says, there is no good in us.
SPEAKER_02: We are full of original sin because of the saying in the garden.
SPEAKER_02: Look, if that takes, if any of those take you to larger life, ignore what I'm getting ready to say.
SPEAKER_02: But I want to suggest to you that hearing those stories in those ways, very tempting, takes us nowhere.
SPEAKER_02: So what are the alternatives?
SPEAKER_02: We could spend 30 minutes on Genesis chapter 3 and still not be satisfied.
SPEAKER_02: But I do want to tell you, uh, it's very tempting to read Augustine's understanding of the story and not read the Bible's understanding of the story.
SPEAKER_02: So let me tell you how Augustine read this story.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you've heard this myth.
SPEAKER_02: Once upon a time, everything was pure and perfect and spiritual.
SPEAKER_02: And then along came this evil spirit called the demi-urge.
SPEAKER_02: And it took all that was spiritual and wonderful and put it in a body.
SPEAKER_02: It made material matter, which as we know is corruptible and terrible.
SPEAKER_02: And that is what we call the fall.
SPEAKER_02: Have you heard that myth before?
SPEAKER_02: It's called Neoplatonism.
SPEAKER_02: Have you heard the word the fall before?
SPEAKER_02: Fall from grace?
SPEAKER_02: Not in the Bible.
SPEAKER_02: No Jewish person believes it.
SPEAKER_02: And I want to tell you, as your priest, you shouldn't believe it either, because it's wrong.
SPEAKER_02: According to the scriptures, only God can create.
SPEAKER_02: Only God, no human being can create.
SPEAKER_02: And according to the story, God created us in God's image and likeness, which means no matter how you feel, you can't undo it.
SPEAKER_02: You are not powerful enough to take God's image and likeness out of your body, no matter how hard you try.
SPEAKER_02: Thinking that there is no good in us is the fall.
SPEAKER_02: Get up from it.
SPEAKER_02: You don't have to stay down.
SPEAKER_02: These temptations of Jesus, look, they don't even make any sense.
SPEAKER_02: Is it wrong to turn stones into bread when you're hungry?
SPEAKER_02: I should think not.
SPEAKER_02: Is it wrong to jump off a building?
SPEAKER_02: I mean, when I was in middle school, that'd have been real cool.
SPEAKER_02: Now I actually have like no interest in it at all.
SPEAKER_02: Right?
SPEAKER_02: I mean, and look, if Jesus is the Son of God and uh, you know, the accuser shows up and says, worship me.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, would really Jesus be tempted to Satanism?
SPEAKER_02: That's just crazy, isn't it?
SPEAKER_02: How can God be tempted to Satanism?
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that just doesn't make any sense.
SPEAKER_02: So I want to tell you what most scholars do with those temptations.
SPEAKER_02: Most scholars say, hey, uh, this is Jesus being tempted to be the Messiah of popular expectation instead of who God is actually authentically calling him to be.
SPEAKER_02: So the Messiah of popular expectation solves all our problems.
SPEAKER_02: Hunger's a problem.
SPEAKER_02: And I don't know if you've been to the desert.
SPEAKER_02: You need to think desert like San Diego, not like Sahara.
SPEAKER_02: In San Diego, as in Israel, there's rocks everywhere.
SPEAKER_02: It's decomposed granite.
SPEAKER_02: If you could turn rocks into bread, you'd feed the world.
SPEAKER_02: And so, most scholars will tell you, look, this is Jesus being tempted to be the Messiah of popular expectation, to feed the hunger problem.
SPEAKER_02: What about the temple thing?
SPEAKER_02: Well, the messiah of popular expectation was supposed to show up dramatically in the temple, and the temple being something like 80 feet tall, if you jump off of that and float down, that's pretty dramatic.
SPEAKER_02: You gotta hope you're there.
SPEAKER_02: There was no YouTube.
SPEAKER_02: So if you miss You missed it, you missed it.
SPEAKER_02: And most scholars read this bit if you bow down to me.
SPEAKER_02: If you'll do it my way, you'll be in charge.
SPEAKER_02: Would Jesus being in charge of the political kingdoms of the world be a bad thing?
SPEAKER_02: It'd probably be pretty good.
SPEAKER_02: But that isn't his call.
SPEAKER_02: His call is not to rule over.
SPEAKER_02: His goal is to bring us alongside.
SPEAKER_02: After all, a benevolent dictator is still a dictator.
SPEAKER_02: I don't even like that one.
SPEAKER_02: I don't like that one either.
SPEAKER_02: I invite you to consider the frame.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus has gone to be baptized by John the Baptist, and he hadn't done squat.
SPEAKER_02: He didn't work a miracle.
SPEAKER_02: He didn't preach a sermon.
SPEAKER_02: He didn't write a book.
SPEAKER_02: He didn't even write one of those terrible blogs you get every morning.
SPEAKER_02: Nope.
SPEAKER_02: He did nothing.
SPEAKER_02: And he comes out of the water and he hears this voice say, Having done nothing, you are my beloved.
SPEAKER_02: With you I'm well pleased.
SPEAKER_02: And I put to you, he does what all of us do when we're confronted with love and whether or not we'll trust it, he's tempted to doubt that God loves him just like he is.
SPEAKER_02: I'm tempted to do that all the time.
SPEAKER_02: And so he goes out.
SPEAKER_02: And hear what the accuser does every time.
SPEAKER_02: If God loves you, tell God to do this thing.
SPEAKER_02: That's how you'll know.
SPEAKER_02: If God loves you, have God work a miracle.
SPEAKER_02: I pray like that sometimes, don't you?
SPEAKER_02: God, if you love me, you'll show up right now.
SPEAKER_02: My kid's having a hard day.
SPEAKER_02: God, if you love me, I'll get that promotion.
SPEAKER_02: God, if you love me, we'll get a pipe organ.
SPEAKER_02: Whatever it is, right?
SPEAKER_02: This is a way that we pray.
SPEAKER_02: And I want to tell you, it's tempting to pray like that, and it's wrong.
SPEAKER_02: It's wrong.
SPEAKER_02: Because look, I'm not a great mathematician, although I have a math degree, but you get this, right?
SPEAKER_02: How many congruences do you need to uphold the law?
SPEAKER_02: Well, infinite, don't you?
SPEAKER_02: And how many counterexamples disprove the law?
SPEAKER_02: One.
SPEAKER_02: So, what happens if God does what Jesus wants?
SPEAKER_02: Is that ultimately going to turn his trust card around?
SPEAKER_02: Or is he going to need God to do something again to prove God's love five minutes later?
SPEAKER_02: If Jesus is like me, he's going to need it in five minutes.
SPEAKER_02: And I want to suggest to you, love is not a matter of proof, it's a matter of trust.
SPEAKER_02: It's a matter of trust.
SPEAKER_02: I want you to hear another temptation.
SPEAKER_02: God, there's a lot of bad stuff in the world, you fix it.
SPEAKER_02: Now, I've got to tell you, sometimes I think if I won the lottery, all of the great things I would do at St.
SPEAKER_02: Thomas with the money.
SPEAKER_02: Because it'd be really great to have a new parking lot, and it'd be really great to have solar panels, right?
SPEAKER_02: These are like great things.
SPEAKER_02: Of course, you know, the problem is when one person does all the work, it's not sustainable.
SPEAKER_02: And we haven't changed at all.
SPEAKER_02: So I'm tempted for God to solve my problems, but you know, I think God is pretty tempted for me to help solve the problems of the world.
SPEAKER_02: So if God fed everybody, that'd be great.
SPEAKER_02: And then we'd probably practice inequity again, if we're really honest.
SPEAKER_02: If God fixed it for us, we'd probably mess it up again.
SPEAKER_02: Just to be honest.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you've seen that little cartoon.
SPEAKER_02: The one which has this guy next to Jesus on a bench.
SPEAKER_02: And he says, Jesus, how do you let children starve to death every week?
SPEAKER_02: And Jesus says, Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing.
SPEAKER_02: It's tempting to say, God fix it.
SPEAKER_02: I gotta tell you, uh how snap has turned this around.
SPEAKER_02: How snap only comes to me with what he considers a problem if he's also willing to say, here's what I'll do to help you solve it.
SPEAKER_02: That seems like the holiness of Lent.
SPEAKER_02: I've seen something, and here's how I want to help.
SPEAKER_02: I'd really just rather blame people.
SPEAKER_02: That's why we have Lent, by the way, and that's why we'll have it again next year.
SPEAKER_02: Because we're probably going to need it again.
SPEAKER_02: You know, it's really tempting to hear this thing we heard in the epistle today.
SPEAKER_02: Sin came into the world through one person, and another person can do a lot to fix it.
SPEAKER_02: And if we relegate that to history, I just don't think that there's a lot of congruence in my life.
SPEAKER_02: But if I'm honest with you, I have had people in my life hurt me, and thanks be to God, I've had other people show up and cover that over.
SPEAKER_02: I don't mean it never happened.
SPEAKER_02: No, I mean there is people who lead and share life in such a way, well, that there's hope and that there's trust again.
SPEAKER_02: And I think when we hear that passage, we could say Jesus took care of it, or we could hear the passage saying, you are invited to pattern your life like that.
SPEAKER_02: Because the truth is, I don't think you'd be in the building if somebody hadn't shown up for you once.
SPEAKER_02: Doesn't fix the problems, but it sure does heal them.
SPEAKER_02: The temptation is to put it all on God.
SPEAKER_02: The opportunity is to be those people.
SPEAKER_02: Really tempting to read Genesis 3 in just a real flat way.
SPEAKER_02: And like I said, I wish I had more time to talk about it.
SPEAKER_02: But I do want to give you a couple of thoughts that hopefully are interesting for you.
SPEAKER_02: You know, most often we read this just like it's written, and we say, oh, okay, this is people being tempted by the knowledge of good and evil.
SPEAKER_02: But our Hebrew brothers and sisters don't read it that way.
SPEAKER_02: There's the tree of life and there's the tree of knowledge.
SPEAKER_02: And the way they read it is knowledge does both good and evil.
SPEAKER_02: Consider.
SPEAKER_02: Atomic energy is real interesting, and it can have horrific consequences.
SPEAKER_02: Knowledge.
SPEAKER_02: Good and evil.
SPEAKER_02: This story, most of the rabbis, when they read the story, they don't see it, they don't hear the fall.
SPEAKER_02: What they hear is something that is really inherently human and can be really beautiful and can also cast a really dark shadow.
SPEAKER_02: Most often, when I have a choice before me between knowledge and life, I'll pick the knowledge.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if that's bad, that's just descriptive.
SPEAKER_02: You may be saying, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_02: Well, please consider, because this happens to us.
SPEAKER_02: You're at a table and somebody says, You won't believe what Lila did yesterday.
SPEAKER_02: You know what?
SPEAKER_02: I shouldn't tell you that story.
SPEAKER_02: My response, you have to tell.
SPEAKER_02: You can't start that and stop.
SPEAKER_02: I'm curious.
SPEAKER_02: No, no, look, I'm telling you, it's better you not hear that story.
SPEAKER_02: You have to tell.
SPEAKER_02: We would rather have knowledge than life.
SPEAKER_02: More often than not.
SPEAKER_02: The two are not diametrically opposed, but I hope next time somebody says I shouldn't tell you that story, you'll say, I trust your judgment, thank you.
SPEAKER_02: Right?
SPEAKER_02: I mean that.
SPEAKER_02: I trust your judgment, thank you.
SPEAKER_02: If you know how the story plays out, the people get knowledge, and look what the first thing they learn.
SPEAKER_02: They learn that they're naked, and then here's the real issue they become ashamed of themselves.
SPEAKER_02: We talked about renewal of vows last week, so I don't know if I missed the opportunity, but I do want to share with you the rabbis, when they talk about marriage, they say what happens in marriage is that two people come together naked and unashamed.
SPEAKER_02: And that's the sacrament of marriage in the Jewish tradition.
SPEAKER_02: Naked and unashamed, and I don't just mean physically, I mean they bear their vulnerabilities with one another, and instead of their partner poking those vulnerabilities, those are cradled and they're held and there is no shame.
SPEAKER_02: Now, I'm glad we're all wearing clothes, but I do want to suggest to you our opportunity in land is to think about how it is that we're naked with one another and unashamed as a community of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: How it is that we can bear our vulnerabilities and cradle one another's vulnerabilities instead of exploiting them.
SPEAKER_02: This, I think, is the call of the church.
SPEAKER_02: This is the call of Lent.
SPEAKER_02: You heard me do a couple of different readings.
SPEAKER_02: I made some word choices, uh, word changes intentionally, because a lot of times we don't realize that in the first century they didn't believe in the devil, and they didn't believe in Satan either.
SPEAKER_02: Nope.
SPEAKER_02: That has come to us through the ages, and especially through John Milton.
SPEAKER_02: Those are actually not proper names in the text, those are attributes.
SPEAKER_02: If you've read the book of Job, Satan shows up.
SPEAKER_02: And it's not with a capital S, it's a lowercase, and you heard me read it.
SPEAKER_02: Satan in Hebrew means accuser.
SPEAKER_02: That's what happens in Job.
SPEAKER_02: The Satan accuses Job.
SPEAKER_02: And what do you know?
SPEAKER_02: It's about love too.
SPEAKER_02: God, how do you know Job loves you?
SPEAKER_02: You give him everything he wants.
SPEAKER_02: Take it away, see if he still loves you.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes we read the book of Job and we read it's about theodicy.
SPEAKER_02: Why do bad things happen to good people?
SPEAKER_02: Could be about that, but I think it also asks this question: how do you know somebody loves you?
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna put to you, you don't know.
SPEAKER_02: You never will know.
SPEAKER_02: It's a choice you make.
SPEAKER_02: Do I know my spouse loves me?
SPEAKER_02: I could find a counterexample if I wanted to.
SPEAKER_02: I could.
SPEAKER_02: I've been married more than two years.
SPEAKER_02: Ultimately, I choose to trust because there will never be enough data to prove it.
SPEAKER_02: Right?
SPEAKER_02: This is part of the story of Job.
SPEAKER_02: So the accuser shows up.
SPEAKER_02: And hey, look, accuser's really valuable socially.
SPEAKER_02: We call the accuser the district attorney.
SPEAKER_02: And in the book of Job, the accuser works for God.
SPEAKER_02: Devil is another one, and that's just a Greek word, and it means literally slanderer, which is why I read it that way.
SPEAKER_02: They didn't believe in the devil.
SPEAKER_02: The slanderer shows up and says, you're not good enough.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus, who do you think you are to change the world?
SPEAKER_02: God doesn't really love you.
SPEAKER_02: If God loved you, you'd have magic powers.
SPEAKER_02: If God loved you, you'd never get a speeding ticket again.
SPEAKER_02: If God loved you, your children would make straight A's.
SPEAKER_02: That's slander.
SPEAKER_02: You hear it?
SPEAKER_02: No, if you want to believe in the red guy and that takes you to a larger life, go for it.
SPEAKER_02: But I don't struggle with the red guy.
SPEAKER_02: I struggle with slander.
SPEAKER_02: And I struggle with accusation, and I'm gonna tell you I don't need a red guy to do it.
SPEAKER_02: I do it to myself.
SPEAKER_02: And notice what Jesus says.
SPEAKER_02: No.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna test God's love.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna choose to trust it.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you've ever worked for somebody who has behaviors that we call self-sabotage.
SPEAKER_02: Do you know what that is?
SPEAKER_02: That's where things start to go well, and then they try to blow it up because they're sure you're gonna reject them when you figure out who they are, so they're gonna front load that so you can get it over with.
SPEAKER_02: This is very un-Episcopalian of me.
SPEAKER_02: Does anybody know somebody who self-sabotages?
SPEAKER_02: Could be yourself.
SPEAKER_02: Right?
SPEAKER_02: It's tempting to sabotage ourselves.
SPEAKER_02: And part of our length and discipline is to say, I'm not gonna do that.
SPEAKER_02: I am not gonna sabotage myself.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna choose to trust in God's love.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna choose to trust in my spouse's, and I'm gonna go ahead and roll the dice and trust in yours.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if that would give you a sinless life.
SPEAKER_02: I just think it'd give you a more joyful one.
SPEAKER_02: Isn't that what all this is about?
SPEAKER_02: No, you ever been tempted to do something good?
SPEAKER_02: That sounds like a paradox, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_02: You're only tempted to do bad stuff, right?
SPEAKER_02: That's how we use the word.
SPEAKER_02: And I want you to hear that our Jewish brothers and sisters don't hear this as the temptation between doing evil and good.
SPEAKER_02: Actually, they say the accuser is really great because when the accuser shows up and says, hey, you can't do blank, you have this opportunity to say, I hear that.
SPEAKER_02: That might be partially true, and I'm gonna resist that and go on.
SPEAKER_02: Accusation helps us be the people God wants us to be.
SPEAKER_02: And I wonder if we couldn't do some justice here in the St.
SPEAKER_02: Thomas community by tempting one another to do what's right.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if I can tempt you to stare at your image in the mirror until you see the light of God coming out of your face, but I'd like to.
SPEAKER_02: I'd like to tempt you to do that.
SPEAKER_02: You may need a seat.
SPEAKER_02: It may take some time if you're like me.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if I can tempt you to do this little exercise out here that Tod Parker led us through to think about what is your most valuable and essential and sentimental and rare and unusual item that you have.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if I could tempt you to do that.
SPEAKER_02: I'd like to.
SPEAKER_02: Because when you contemplate those things, you realize where your treasure is and there is your heart to be found also.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if I can tempt you to consider what your real values are and how you might hand those over to God.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes you might need to.
SPEAKER_02: And I don't even know what the slanderer or accuser is saying to you.
SPEAKER_02: But I'm suspicious slander and accusation show up in your life and in your spiritual life.
SPEAKER_02: And I would love to tempt you to say, anytime that shows up, that might be partially correct.
SPEAKER_02: And by the grace of God, no.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know anybody that likes falling.
SPEAKER_02: Partially because falling means you're out of control.
SPEAKER_02: And I will tell you, as a runner, I every time I do a trail race, I fall.
SPEAKER_02: And so I don't want to do trail races anymore.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, because I usually bleed when that happens and uh and I have injuries, and look, I get it's all beautiful, but it just isn't really worth it for me because falling is really painful increasingly as I age.
SPEAKER_02: And uh one of my uh one of my uh colleagues in the diocese, he came here a couple of years ago, John Newton, and he wrote this book about how grace really is a fall because you don't have control over grace.
SPEAKER_02: That's what I hate about it.
SPEAKER_02: I like being in control.
SPEAKER_02: I like having hand rails, I like having a rope attached to me.
SPEAKER_02: No, grace doesn't have those things.
SPEAKER_02: But what John Newton says, the difference between grace and our experience of it is, is in the grace perspective, I am falling.
SPEAKER_02: But God is going to catch me and catch me gently.
SPEAKER_02: Now, when you fall off a building, the ground will catch you.
SPEAKER_02: Just not in the way you would most prefer, right?
SPEAKER_02: So the question is, as we fall into God's grace, are we terrified of it or could we actually enjoy it because we know God will catch us?
SPEAKER_02: Jesus is getting ready to take a series of spills.
SPEAKER_02: You've read the story, right?
SPEAKER_02: There's gonna be three years of spills.
SPEAKER_02: And here, I think he's tempted to say, how can I control them?
SPEAKER_02: Or can I trust that God's going to catch me?
SPEAKER_02: The next 44 days, that might be your temptation.
SPEAKER_02: Do you have to be in control of the grace in your life?
SPEAKER_02: Or can you let God do the control and you enjoy the ride?
SPEAKER_02: I'm just preaching what I need to hear.
SPEAKER_02: Because I'm terrified of the fall in grace.
SPEAKER_02: Terrified.
SPEAKER_02: So much so, I'd rather cling to the precipice of doubt and misery than actually let go.
SPEAKER_02: I would rather get in the waters of life and thrash to keep my head up instead of doing what we teach our kids to do.
SPEAKER_02: Lay back and float.
SPEAKER_02: What I know is that even though we all face different accusation and different slander, some habits, perhaps, of self-sabotage, wanting love to be proven, I think if we'd walk this road together, of listening temptation and rising above it, and tempting one another to pursue not some sort of rule of life, but life itself, if we would do that, well, probably feeding the world would take care of itself.
SPEAKER_02: Probably we wouldn't have to wait in expectation for the Messiah to come.
SPEAKER_02: Could we see Jesus fully every time we walk by a mirror, or drive by our neighbor, or look at somebody who used to have five possessions to their name in the hallway?
SPEAKER_02: We'd see him there.
SPEAKER_02: I think if we spent the rest of the lengths in our life getting there, it'd be worth it.
SPEAKER_02: Please join me as we pray our faith in the words of the 19th Creed.
SPEAKER_02: We believe in one God.
SPEAKER_06: The Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is eternity.
SPEAKER_06: We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternal God and the Father, God of God, life of life, true God, true God, the God made, all being with the Father, free of all things are made, for our faith, the name of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, be the name of God to pray, and what makes them for our death of the earth.
SPEAKER_06: On the third day, the day of heaven, and spirit of the Father.
SPEAKER_06: He will come again for me and the death, and we'll have no heaven.
SPEAKER_06: We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord with our life, for the beast of the Father and the Son.
SPEAKER_06: With the Father and the Son be to worship and glorified, because the prophets.
unknown: We believe in one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
unknown: We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
unknown: We will for the resurrection of the death and the life of the world to come.
unknown: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Prayers of the people.
SPEAKER_01: Let us pray for the church and for the world.
SPEAKER_01: Grant Almighty God that all who confess your name may be united in your truth, live together in your love, and reveal your glory in the world.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, in your compassion, we pray for all who govern and hold authority in every nation, for the members of the armed forces throughout the world, and for all who struggle for peace and justice, that they may act with prudence and vision to plant the seeds of your kingdom everywhere.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, in your compassion, give us all a reverence for the earth as your own creation.
SPEAKER_01: We may use his resources rightly in the service of others in your honor and glory of the Lord and your compassion.
SPEAKER_01: Bless all whose lives are closely linked with ours.
SPEAKER_01: Grant that we may serve Christ in them and love one another.
SPEAKER_01: We pray.
SPEAKER_01: That those who teach and those who learn may rejoice in the knowledge of our truth.
SPEAKER_01: That we may teach our students to love whatever is just and true and good, and that we may be bearers of your grace to all who come through our doors.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, in your compassion, comfort and heal all those who suffer in body, in mind, or spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Give them courage and hope in their troubles and bring them the joy of your salvation.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, in your compassion, we commend to your mercy all who have died, especially Luann and Janice, that your will for them may be fulfilled.
SPEAKER_01: That we pray that we may share with all your saints in your eternal kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, in your compassion, compassionate God, make our healing and peaceful presence known to the world.
SPEAKER_01: Comfort those who mourn, strengthen those who are weary, encourage those in despair, and lead us all to fullness of life.
unknown: Lord, hear our ear.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Let us confess our sin against God and our neighbor.
SPEAKER_02: Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep.
SPEAKER_02: We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.
SPEAKER_02: We have offended against thy holy laws.
SPEAKER_02: We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.
SPEAKER_02: But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
SPEAKER_02: Spare thou those who confess their faults.
SPEAKER_02: Restore thou those who are penitent according to thy promises declared unto humankind in Christ Jesus our Lord.
SPEAKER_02: And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life to the glory of thy holy name.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: God forgives you.
SPEAKER_02: Forgive others.
SPEAKER_02: Forgive yourself.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: I will no longer wound myself with thoughts and questions that have surrounded me like thorns.
SPEAKER_02: That is a penance you do not ask of me.
SPEAKER_02: You have made my soul for your peace and your silence.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Good morning, peace, and thank you for worshiping with us at St.
SPEAKER_02: Thomas.
SPEAKER_02: If you're new to us or haven't done this before, in the room right behind the one we're sitting in, we call it the Narthex, there are these little cards that say welcome.
SPEAKER_02: And we'd be tremendously grateful if you just fill one of those cards out and put it in the blue basket so we have a record of your visit, and you get to choose what follow-up looks like.
SPEAKER_02: That's what's on the card.
SPEAKER_02: But we are grateful that you've chosen to worship with us and would be honored if you would take a moment to fill that out.
SPEAKER_02: There are a few announcements I want to call to your attention, and it's sometimes helpful to look back a little bit.
SPEAKER_02: This weekend we concluded the 174th diocesan council down in Galveston, and we sent as our delegates John McFarther, Darlene Hunter, Julia Triple, our junior warden, who's right over here, and Todd Parker.
SPEAKER_02: And you know, what's really lovely about going to convention is this reminder.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, you take Eucharist with like a thousand people in the room, and just to see that indeed there is one church in 155 expressions in this diocese and to hear all the good work of those other churches is really lovely.
SPEAKER_02: And here's the best part I wouldn't trade you for anybody, right?
SPEAKER_02: And so it's good to see what other people are doing, and I love you even more every time I go, right?
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's really a beautiful thing.
SPEAKER_02: And um, in the spirit of that, some of you got to see yesterday, you know, when we when we replaced our Lord's table, I cannot tell you just the outpouring of gratitude from Lizzie McManus Dale, who picked it up yesterday and drove it to Austin to a church plant.
SPEAKER_02: Lizzie told me they've been using a folding table for communion.
SPEAKER_02: And she said, This is so big and so right and so beautiful to have this table, something we could not afford, right, to serve and invite people to.
SPEAKER_02: And I just love that we share.
SPEAKER_02: And being part of that communion is truly beautiful.
SPEAKER_02: And in the spirit of that, uh, if you look to the back, you'll see the new vicar of Lord of the Streets, Mr.
SPEAKER_02: Brad Sullivan.
SPEAKER_02: Would you stand so we can see you?
SPEAKER_02: Um Brad has just started his communion uh his tenure at Lord of the Streets, and he came this morning because of Todd's photo exhibition.
SPEAKER_02: And that will be up all of Lent.
SPEAKER_02: And of course, we're one of those sponsoring parishes for Lord of the Streets.
SPEAKER_02: Kathy Hill sits on the Bishop's Committee and helps them discern what will be best for their community.
SPEAKER_02: Uh people like Jane Flynn and Todd Parker and Susan Manville and Kay Clutier are doing things like throwing their spring luncheon to raise more money, uh, not only for their services, but for a worshiping community.
SPEAKER_02: That's what really makes Lord of the Streets unique.
SPEAKER_02: Not only do they give social services, they have a worshiping community.
SPEAKER_02: It's a beautiful model.
SPEAKER_02: And again, uh Brad has just started there, and uh we're thrilled to support it.
SPEAKER_02: Um, because I mentioned this in the hallway, uh, Todd Parker went to seven clients while he was on the bishop's committee, took them to his home, and asked them from what they had to pull out the most valuable, sentimental, unusual, rare, and essential item.
SPEAKER_02: And then he took a photograph of those items, and I don't he doesn't know the answers.
SPEAKER_02: It was very vexing to try to figure out which thing is which.
SPEAKER_02: And uh, if I could tempt you to do something good, I'd love to tempt you to do that at home.
SPEAKER_02: And take a picture and send it to me, and anonymously I'll post it on the wall.
SPEAKER_02: Because what's really great about art is having a conversation, and if you asked me before this morning what's your most essential item, I I don't know what I would have picked, but now I might pick water.
SPEAKER_02: I I don't know, right?
SPEAKER_02: That's what you see out there.
SPEAKER_02: So um I hope that that would be something lovely for you to do as a family, because again, when we think about where our treasure is, that's where we find our heart.
SPEAKER_02: Uh and so to have a curated conversation.
SPEAKER_02: Well, I hope you'll take me up on it.
SPEAKER_02: Just email me that if you're willing.
SPEAKER_02: I won't put your name on it, but it'll be really cool to see your five items alongside everybody else's.
SPEAKER_02: Um, and then not tell people which one's which.
SPEAKER_02: Let them guess what's essential and what's rare and what's unusual.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, um, opportunity to serve this week.
SPEAKER_02: On Sunday morning, uh Saturday morning, we're having our next fresh food distribution with the Galveston Food Bank.
SPEAKER_02: And all you need to do, I'd love to tempt you to do something good this week, is to show up at 7.45 in the morning.
SPEAKER_02: We'll be done by 9.30, having served at least 350 people, a ton of groceries.
SPEAKER_02: So you don't have, again, you don't have to sign up.
SPEAKER_02: You just show up down here and it's really a beautiful thing we do.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, and to do it with one another is lovely.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, so that's our opportunity this coming week.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, reminder that we are doing a Linton series between services.
SPEAKER_02: Our kids started today with sort of a holy living component that has to do with uh, well, basic skills like talking to adults and table manners and even a couple of dances, right, that are really designed to help them sort of have this coming-of-age moment that culminates in what we call Episco Prom on April the 2nd.
SPEAKER_02: If you missed the first one, that's okay.
SPEAKER_02: You can come in next week.
SPEAKER_02: Uh my own daughter is at a gymnastics meet, and I really wanted her to be this morning so she could learn how to talk to adults.
SPEAKER_02: Anyway, uh, this I think is really lovely.
SPEAKER_02: Keep in mind the same time we're doing a series for adults.
SPEAKER_02: So um this morning we did the art next week.
SPEAKER_02: Spiritual director Julie Merritt will be here, and she's going to talk to us about something I really hope I can help nail down in my own life: how to operate from a center of non-anxious spirituality.
SPEAKER_02: You can just show up.
SPEAKER_02: You don't have to register, but I hope that you will find this holy and useful in your lives.
SPEAKER_02: That might be all we need to say.
SPEAKER_02: Am I missing something?
SPEAKER_02: I am missing something lovely.
SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh, this is so great.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you know this.
SPEAKER_02: Um, we have a parisher here who's been growing his hair out for a few years with the intention of donating it.
SPEAKER_02: So yesterday Sean had the hair cut.
SPEAKER_02: And he's got an envelope full of hair.
SPEAKER_02: Come on, bring this up here.
SPEAKER_02: Look.
SPEAKER_02: This is really cool, isn't it?
SPEAKER_02: There's like eight inches of hair in here.
SPEAKER_02: Sean was tempted to do something good with his hair.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm gonna bless that hair right now.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: Because this is going to somebody, right, who has no choice over having hair or not.
SPEAKER_02: And this is so that they can not have to answer what's going on with you unless they want to, so that they can have a crown of dignity on their head.
SPEAKER_02: This is beautiful stuff.
SPEAKER_02: So, God, we ask you to bless the hair in this envelope.
SPEAKER_02: It was grown by Sean with love, and may it confer dignity and privacy and Sean's love for somebody he's never even met to the person who receives it, so that they might know his love and yours every day.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Thanks, Sean.
SPEAKER_02: And now, friends, continue to walk in love as Christ first loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God.
SPEAKER_07: Somebody's calling my name, oh my God, what shall I do?
SPEAKER_07: What shall I do?
SPEAKER_07: Somebody's calling my name.
SPEAKER_07: Oh my God, oh my God, what shall I do?
unknown: Shall I do?
SPEAKER_02: All things come of thee, O Lord.
SPEAKER_06: And all your own have forgiven thee.
SPEAKER_02: This is the table not of the church, but of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: It is made ready for those who love him and those who want to love him more.
SPEAKER_02: So come.
SPEAKER_02: You who have much faith and you who have little, you who have been here often, and you who have not been for a long time or ever before.
SPEAKER_02: You who have tried to follow and you who have failed, come.
SPEAKER_02: Not because the church invites you, it is Christ, and he invites you to meet him here.
SPEAKER_04: The Lord be he with you, and also with you.
SPEAKER_04: We give unto the Lord.
SPEAKER_04: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
SPEAKER_07: It is all to give our thanks and grace.
SPEAKER_02: It is very meet right in our bound in duty that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee, O Lord, Holy Father Almighty, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who was in every way tempted as we are, and yet did not sin.
SPEAKER_02: By whose grace we are able to triumph over every evil and live no longer under ourselves, but under the one who died for us and rose again.
SPEAKER_02: And therefore, with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious name, evermore praising thee and singing.
SPEAKER_02: And of thy tender mercy didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to take our nature upon him, and to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption.
SPEAKER_02: He made there a full and perfect sacrifice for the whole world, and did institute, and in his holy gospel command us to continue, a perpetual memory of that, his precious death and sacrifice, until his coming again.
SPEAKER_02: For in the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus took bread.
SPEAKER_02: And when he given thanks to thee, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat.
SPEAKER_02: This is my body, all that I am, which is given to build you up.
SPEAKER_02: Remember me every time you eat bread.
SPEAKER_02: Likewise, after supper, Jesus took the cup of wine.
SPEAKER_02: And when he given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink this, all of you.
SPEAKER_02: This is my blood, my life force, which is given to nourish your own.
SPEAKER_02: Whenever you drink wine, remember me.
SPEAKER_02: Wherefore, O Lord and Heavenly Father, we thy people do celebrate and make with these thy holy gifts, which we now offer unto thee, the memorial thy son hath commanded us to make, having in remembrance his blessed passion and precious death, his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension, and looking for his coming again with power and great glory.
SPEAKER_02: And we most humbly beseech thee, O merciful Father, to hear us, and with thy word and Holy Spirit to bless and sanctify these gifts of bread and wine, that they may be unto us the body and blood of thy dearly beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: And we earnestly desire, thy Fatherly goodness, to accept this, our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, whereby we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies.
SPEAKER_02: Grant we beseech you that all who partake of this holy communion may worthily receive the most precious body and blood of thy Son, Jesus Christ, and be filled with thy grace and heavenly benediction.
SPEAKER_02: And also that we and all thy whole church may be made one body with him, that he may dwell in us and we in him, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, by whom and with whom and in him.
SPEAKER_02: In the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honor and glory be unto thee, O Father Almighty, world without end.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to pray.
SPEAKER_06: Our Father, who art in heaven, How will be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
SPEAKER_06: Give it us to share a daily breath, and forgive us our trespasses.
SPEAKER_06: The light is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever.
SPEAKER_06: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Now, this is new, and I'm asking you to take a Lenten discipline step here and doing the response and trying to mean it as much as you can.
SPEAKER_02: These are the gifts of God.
SPEAKER_02: Almighty and ever living God, we most heartily thank thee for that thou dost feed us in the old victories with the spiritual food of the most precious father and blood of thy son, our Savior Jesus Christ, and thou secure us thereby of thy goodness towards us, and that we are very members incorporate in the mythical body of thy time, the blessed company of all faithful people, and are also heirs to hope the thigh of thy kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: And we undeach thee, O Heavenly Father, those who assist us with thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honor and glory, world without end.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself you have built against it.
SPEAKER_02: And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be with you this day and remain with you always.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.