SPEAKER_01: Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_04: And blessed be God's family.
SPEAKER_04: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_01: Almighty God.
SPEAKER_04: And from you the secrets are here.
SPEAKER_04: The inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_04: Then we may perfectly love to you.
SPEAKER_04: And we're living in the world.
SPEAKER_01: Let us pray.
SPEAKER_01: O God, who before the passion of your only begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain.
SPEAKER_01: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_08: So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God.
SPEAKER_08: To the elders he had said, Wait, wait here for us until we come to you again.
SPEAKER_08: For Aaron and her are with you.
SPEAKER_08: Whoever has a dispute may go to them.
SPEAKER_08: Then Moses went up on the mountain and the cloud covered the mountain.
SPEAKER_08: The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai and the cloud covered it for six days.
SPEAKER_08: On the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud.
SPEAKER_08: Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.
SPEAKER_08: Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain.
SPEAKER_08: Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
SPEAKER_08: Hear what the Spirit is saying of God the people.
SPEAKER_06: Against the Lord and against the Lord.
SPEAKER_08: One enthroned is in heaven and is laughing.
SPEAKER_03: The Lord has them in derision.
SPEAKER_08: Then in wrath the Lord speaks to them.
SPEAKER_04: And divine rage fills them with terror.
SPEAKER_08: I myself have set my king.
SPEAKER_04: Upon my holy hill of Lion.
SPEAKER_08: Let me announce the decree of the Lord.
SPEAKER_04: The Lord said to me, You are my son.
SPEAKER_04: This day have I begotten you.
SPEAKER_08: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance.
SPEAKER_04: And the ends of the earth for your possession.
SPEAKER_04: And shatter them like a piece of pottery.
SPEAKER_08: And now you kings, be wise.
SPEAKER_04: Be warned, you rulers of the earth.
SPEAKER_08: Submit to the Lord with fear.
SPEAKER_04: And with trembling bow down the earth.
SPEAKER_08: Lest the Lord be angry and you perish.
SPEAKER_03: For my wrath is faithfully kindled.
SPEAKER_08: Happy are they all.
SPEAKER_00: When we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: But we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.
SPEAKER_00: For he received honour and glory from God the Father.
SPEAKER_00: When that voice was conveyed to him by the majestic glory, saying, This is my son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.
SPEAKER_00: We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were waiting with him on the holy mountain.
SPEAKER_00: So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed.
SPEAKER_00: You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: First of all, you must understand this that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation because no prophecy ever came by human will, but by men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
SPEAKER_00: Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people.
SPEAKER_01: Six days after Peter had acknowledged Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
SPEAKER_01: And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.
SPEAKER_01: Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him.
SPEAKER_01: And then Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here if you wish.
SPEAKER_01: I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.
SPEAKER_01: While Peter was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, This is my son, the beloved.
SPEAKER_01: With him I am well pleased.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to him.
SPEAKER_01: When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus came and touched them, saying, Get up and do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_01: And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
SPEAKER_01: As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, Tell no one about the vision until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: The last Sunday of Epiphany always ends with the story of the Transfiguration, even though the feast of the Transfiguration comes again this summer.
SPEAKER_01: We always presage Lent with this.
SPEAKER_01: The tradition I've been told is because we have an image of Christ's glory that's meant to get us through the season of Lent.
SPEAKER_01: I don't buy it.
SPEAKER_01: The reason I don't buy it is if you continue to read the story, the disciples come down the mountain, they encounter somebody with an unclean spirit, and they can do nothing.
SPEAKER_01: They have this vision of light.
SPEAKER_01: I think they were blinded by the light.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to him.
SPEAKER_01: All we hear in the story is that Jesus shows up and looks different, and he's talking to Moses and Elijah.
SPEAKER_01: Disciples heard them talking, but they didn't listen to what they were saying.
SPEAKER_01: Otherwise, we know what they said.
SPEAKER_01: I have to tell you, I'm pretty curious.
SPEAKER_01: More on that in a second.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to talk to you about transfiguration because actually this day or this theme is the reason I identified with the Episcopal Church.
SPEAKER_01: Long time ago, I was worshiping in a Methodist church I was working as a youth director, actually, and I was looking for some spirituality I wasn't getting.
SPEAKER_01: So I went to an Episcopal church, and the first Sunday I went, it was Reverend Janice Melbourne Charleron.
SPEAKER_01: This is in Atlanta, and she highlighted this thing about transfiguration.
SPEAKER_01: I just still can't get out of my head, and this is like 20 years ago.
SPEAKER_01: Transfiguration is not always positive.
SPEAKER_01: And they were showing at the High Museum in Atlanta something called the Innocence Project.
SPEAKER_01: The Innocence Project takes, compares or rather contrasts, two photos.
SPEAKER_01: One of somebody convicted for a crime based on eyewitness testimony, and then the next photo is the person who using DNA evidence committed the crime.
SPEAKER_01: So the person who was imprisoned wrongly based on eyewitness testimony, and the person who DNA evidence showed actually did the crime.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing, except for one thing.
SPEAKER_01: Can you guess what it was?
SPEAKER_01: They were black.
SPEAKER_01: In Atlanta is 60% black.
SPEAKER_01: And even there, the eyewitness transfigured from an innocent person to a guilty person based on the quantity of melanin in their skin.
SPEAKER_01: I'd like to think we're past it, but look, I don't want to over talk about driving, but honestly, when people drive in ways I don't like and I'm able to go past them, I always look at them.
SPEAKER_01: I want to know what bucket to put them in.
SPEAKER_01: And not in a good way.
SPEAKER_01: I transfigure people myself.
SPEAKER_01: It turns out our brains have evolved to do this.
SPEAKER_01: Our brain does not like uh unresolved narratives.
SPEAKER_01: It really likes either-ores, loves categorizing people.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want to put before you transfiguration cannot be enough because it can go either way.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to make up a word.
SPEAKER_01: Transphonation.
SPEAKER_01: That's what the disciples didn't do.
SPEAKER_01: It's what we need to do so that we don't find ourselves making the same mistake.
SPEAKER_01: Now, the voice from heaven is really interesting because I don't know if you noticed, it comes right out of the psalm.
SPEAKER_01: This is my son, my beloved, with you I'm well pleased.
SPEAKER_01: And in the psalm, it's not talking about Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Did you notice that?
SPEAKER_01: It's talking about the king of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we don't realize that the phrase son of God, actually in the ancient world, didn't mean you were a demigod, it meant you were favored by God.
SPEAKER_01: Favored.
SPEAKER_01: Who else was a son of God?
SPEAKER_01: Well, according to Rome, Augustus, Julius, Tiberius.
SPEAKER_01: They said they were sons of God.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you've read the good book, Jesus never calls himself the son of God.
SPEAKER_01: He calls himself the son of man.
SPEAKER_01: As a contrast with the Caesars.
SPEAKER_01: They say there's something ontologically special about them.
SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you, I'm just like you.
SPEAKER_01: The Psalm's a little bit of a tough one, and I want to say it echoes out what happens in the story.
SPEAKER_01: In the Psalms, uh, God seems really mad and uh will break enemies like a pot and distribute the pieces.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if you noticed when the disciples hear God's voice, what they do.
SPEAKER_01: They cower in fear.
SPEAKER_01: And notice the ministry of Jesus don't be afraid.
SPEAKER_01: We're on the precipice of Lent.
SPEAKER_01: What I hope you hear more than anything is going into Lent.
SPEAKER_01: Don't be afraid.
SPEAKER_01: What do we do with the Psalm?
SPEAKER_01: I think it explains how we feel.
SPEAKER_01: But I don't explain, I don't think it explains how God is.
SPEAKER_01: How we feel is not always how God is.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to return to that in just a second, but you know, I just have to walk around this a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: Moses and the prophets.
SPEAKER_01: We get to hear the Moses story today.
SPEAKER_01: Of course, most people say, aha, look, Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets.
SPEAKER_01: What a neat story.
SPEAKER_01: Case closed.
SPEAKER_01: That could be the case, but I don't know what to do with that spiritually.
SPEAKER_01: That doesn't inform my way of life in any way that it's a neat story.
SPEAKER_01: So I want to put before you maybe what's going on.
SPEAKER_01: We get to hear Moses go up today.
SPEAKER_01: We hear he goes up and spends 40 days talking to God.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if you know this, Moses comes down transfigured.
SPEAKER_01: If you read the story out, Moses' face shines with the Shekinah, the glory of God, in Hebrew.
SPEAKER_01: If you read the Vulgate, Moses grows horns.
SPEAKER_01: If you look at Michelangelo's statue in Rome of Moses, he's got two horns on his head.
SPEAKER_01: Michelangelo was making fun of Jerome's translation because it was wrong.
SPEAKER_01: Anyway, Moses comes down transfigured because he spent this time with God and he shines.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to tell you what I we can only use what we call our sanctified imagination when we imagine the conversation Jesus had with these guys.
SPEAKER_01: And I'll tell you in the past, I thought maybe Jesus was calling them to the carpet.
SPEAKER_01: If you know the story, Moses gives us instruction from God that permits slavery to exist.
SPEAKER_01: And I wonder if Jesus was saying in the past, Moses, I think you got that wrong.
SPEAKER_01: If you know the Elijah story, Elijah with his own hand kills 900 people.
SPEAKER_01: And I wonder if Jesus was saying, you know, Elijah, yeah, I don't know if you needed to do that.
SPEAKER_01: I thought, well, you know, maybe Jesus isn't bothering with the instruction Moses gave.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe Jesus is saying, hey, Moses, when you threw your wife out, when you threw Zipporah out, I think we could have really thought about that some more.
SPEAKER_01: But I realized, why be negative?
SPEAKER_01: Because honestly, I think that's sometimes the approach I tend to have.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I went to college to learn how to be critical anyway, right?
SPEAKER_01: And I want to say, I'd like to have a different spirituality that looks for the positive instead of the negative.
SPEAKER_01: So here's another option.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus has already set his face toward Jerusalem, says the story.
SPEAKER_01: He's going there.
SPEAKER_01: He knows it's going to be tough.
SPEAKER_01: Fair to say, I think.
SPEAKER_01: And he's talking to these people on the edge of toughness, and I wonder if he isn't asking them mentoring questions.
SPEAKER_01: If you know the Elijah story.
SPEAKER_01: Elijah went up on top of Mount Carmel and called down fire, right?
SPEAKER_01: And God answered and burned up the Israelite sacrifice and not the one to Baal.
SPEAKER_01: It's like a really good moment publicly.
SPEAKER_01: And the next thing happens is Elijah has burnout.
SPEAKER_01: He's afraid for his life.
SPEAKER_01: He's not sure God cares about him.
SPEAKER_01: And he runs out to the desert and demands a sign.
SPEAKER_01: And maybe you've read this before.
SPEAKER_01: God's voice isn't in the fire and it's not in the whirlwind.
SPEAKER_01: It's in the sound of sheer silence.
SPEAKER_01: And I wonder if Jesus said, I know the way of life, I'm getting ready to walk.
SPEAKER_01: It's going to lead me to some burnout.
SPEAKER_01: Elijah, how can I avoid it?
SPEAKER_01: Teach me.
SPEAKER_01: You got the experience.
SPEAKER_01: How do I handle my own Lenten journey to Jerusalem?
SPEAKER_01: You probably know a little bit about Moses.
SPEAKER_01: Moses leads the people and gives them the instruction, and he gets mad a couple of times, you know, like he one time he sees an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew slave, and Moses kills that guy with his own hands.
unknown: And it
SPEAKER_01: Another time Moses is leading the people through the wilderness and they're thirsty.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, a bunch of whiners.
SPEAKER_01: It's a desert.
SPEAKER_01: What are you thirsty about?
SPEAKER_01: And what do you know?
SPEAKER_01: The people complain.
SPEAKER_01: Losers.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, but you would complain if you were in a desert with no water.
SPEAKER_01: So the first time Moses hits a rock, water comes out.
SPEAKER_01: The second time God says, talk to the rock.
SPEAKER_01: And Moses is frustrated.
SPEAKER_01: He's had it up to here.
SPEAKER_01: He hits the rock.
SPEAKER_01: You know this?
SPEAKER_01: And I wonder if Jesus didn't say Moses.
SPEAKER_01: How do I handle my anger?
SPEAKER_01: So that at the end of my life I can look back and be proud of how I handle my anger instead of missing out on the promised land.
SPEAKER_01: That's what I need this Lent.
SPEAKER_01: I don't need a neat vision of Jesus and the law and the prophets.
SPEAKER_01: I need to know when you get tired from making a change, how do you handle it?
SPEAKER_01: When people have to get along with, how do you tuck away your anger so you don't strike the rock?
SPEAKER_01: How do you do that?
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's why we hear it every time before Lent.
SPEAKER_01: Now, you could approach Lent.
SPEAKER_01: You know how many days Lent is?
unknown: 40.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's 47.
SPEAKER_01: You know the Sundays don't count, right?
SPEAKER_01: So the Sundays are feast days.
SPEAKER_01: So that's why we have 47.
SPEAKER_01: But it's it's 40 days, right?
SPEAKER_01: And the whole goal of Lent is, if we're honest about it, is memento moral.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna die.
SPEAKER_01: You are gonna die one day, and what do you want to leave behind?
SPEAKER_01: Death or life?
SPEAKER_01: So we call the question every year am I doing things that will die with me, or am I doing things that will outlive me?
SPEAKER_01: Those things are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: And you could approach this week and say, you know, God, I'm gonna show you how much I love you by how miserable I make myself for the next 47 days.
SPEAKER_01: I'm glad you left.
SPEAKER_01: That's how we do this.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna give up chocolate and be a jerk to everybody in my life because I need it, and that's gonna show God how much I love God.
SPEAKER_01: If you want to do that, you can't.
SPEAKER_01: We talked about that, this at the men's group, and I really want to come back to that phrase.
SPEAKER_01: What do you think God would tell you if God only spoke to you out loud one time from a cloud?
SPEAKER_01: What would God tell you?
SPEAKER_01: I normally think God would tell me something really important.
SPEAKER_01: And probably something like, you know, Mike, really.
SPEAKER_01: You're just such a disappointment in this area.
SPEAKER_01: You just need to up your game.
SPEAKER_01: Or you've chosen to do this thing, that's not a good use of resources, turn it around.
SPEAKER_01: My spiritual journey told me, look for God's criticism.
SPEAKER_01: And this might just be me.
SPEAKER_01: The scariest thing that God can tell me.
SPEAKER_01: You are my son.
SPEAKER_01: My beloved.
SPEAKER_01: With you, I am wealthy.
SPEAKER_01: I am more afraid of God telling me that than God saying, you better get your butt into gear or you're going to hell.
SPEAKER_01: And I think the disciples are afraid of that too.
SPEAKER_01: Which is why they cower in fear.
SPEAKER_01: And notice what Jesus says don't be afraid.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to sound wildly liberal here, but look, if the kings of Israel were the sons of God, beloved and favored by God, so are you.
SPEAKER_01: And that's why we anoint you with oil when you're baptized, and that's why we anoint you with oil we're sick, because that's how you made kings in the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: You put oil on them, and if you've been baptized, you had that.
SPEAKER_01: To show that you are in fact royalty to God, which means when you approach Lent, I want to suggest to you one of the biggest Linton disciplines you could ever take on is to stop being afraid of God.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna get it this year.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna have to do it again next year.
SPEAKER_01: I can tell you this already.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna look in your bulletin and you're going to see a renewal of vows because we did this this morning at 8 o'clock.
SPEAKER_01: We had a couple who was married in 2019, right before the pandemic, in the Catholic Church, and they, one of the other members is an Episcopalian, and they wanted to have a ceremony here, so they've waited and they renew their vows.
SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, I don't want to bore you, but I just have to say, like, the things about my marriage that drive me crazy are the fact, honestly, that my wife says, You are my husband, my beloved, with you, I'm well pleased.
SPEAKER_01: And she says that like 19 years in, and um so much so that like you have to start to contend with that.
SPEAKER_01: The first two years, you can file that away.
SPEAKER_01: If you're like me, there was no seven-year itch, it was the 10-year itch, and I had to scratch that for three years.
SPEAKER_01: And then having done that itch, right, because marriage is really, really hard and really lovely at the same time, then you have to contend with the idea that your husband or your wife might love you more than you love yourself.
SPEAKER_01: And I think that is perhaps why marriage is sacramental, actually.
SPEAKER_01: Because you get to hear God's voice in another human being saying, I love you just like you are.
SPEAKER_01: And there's some magic in love for me.
SPEAKER_01: Like my wife does these behaviors that if anybody else did them, I would drive me crazy.
SPEAKER_01: But when she does them for the first 10 years, it was cute.
SPEAKER_01: Now, we had to contend with the lack of cuteness in years 10 through 13.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but having having turned that corner, right, there was something magical.
SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't know how it is I came to love this person.
SPEAKER_01: It was like something outside of myself.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if that's your experience.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: But again, what I know that is magical is I transfigured her habits into cute things instead of things she was doing to intentionally disrespect me because she was a loath and vile individual.
SPEAKER_01: Because she's not that, you see.
SPEAKER_01: And neither are you, and neither is your co-worker that does the things that irk you.
SPEAKER_01: And so this I say is the thing about marriage, it's sacramental.
SPEAKER_01: It's a practice ground for how we're supposed to treat everybody else.
SPEAKER_01: And what if you could look at your coworker or your Uncle Rick or whoever it is that is driving you nuts, and they do that thing, and you say, Oh, that's cute, you do it that way.
SPEAKER_01: Instead of you loathsome and vile individual, you're the harbinger of the Antichrist.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, those are the kinds of thoughts that I usually have in my head, and that's the kind of transfiguration that will get you nowhere for the next 47 days except miserable.
SPEAKER_01: The point of Lent, my opinion, is that you can enjoy the one life you have more than you already do, instead of hate the only life you will have.
SPEAKER_01: And as a result, sometimes we might be called to choose something that is difficult and better instead of something that is easy and just regularly achievable.
SPEAKER_01: I know what it likes.
SPEAKER_01: I know what it looks like not to eat chocolate for 40 days.
SPEAKER_01: I know how to measure that.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, maybe that'll help.
SPEAKER_01: I just don't think so.
SPEAKER_01: I I don't.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how to measure what it's like for me not to be afraid of God.
SPEAKER_01: But I know my life will be better if I try.
SPEAKER_01: And I know your life will also be better if I try.
SPEAKER_01: Because I won't be coming from a center of fear and anxiety.
SPEAKER_01: Lynch is not about easy disciplines, it's about ones that make your life better.
SPEAKER_01: So take the hard thing.
SPEAKER_01: Not because you need to earn God's approval, because you already have it.
SPEAKER_01: You are my daughter.
SPEAKER_01: Laura's stuff.
SPEAKER_01: With you, God is well pleased.
SPEAKER_01: You, Michelle, are God's daughter.
SPEAKER_01: With you, God is well pleased.
SPEAKER_01: And when I think about what makes my marriage work, frankly, it's the fact that as bad as it gets, the thing we've been able to do is listen to each other.
SPEAKER_01: Transfiguration can go south in a hurry.
SPEAKER_01: But when we actually listen to somebody else, it's a check and it's a balance.
SPEAKER_01: And hopefully what we start to see is the light of Christ coming out of the people that drive us craziest.
SPEAKER_01: I'd like to win the lottery.
SPEAKER_01: I think it'd be really cool.
SPEAKER_01: I think it'd be really nice.
SPEAKER_01: But if I had one wish in my life, it would be to be content with the life that I have.
SPEAKER_01: Because no matter where I go, it'll always work.
SPEAKER_01: And my second wish is to be content with the people in my life just like they are.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what you need to this land.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: But I do know that what the world needs is people who are able to sit and listen and who are able to see the light of Christ coming out of the most difficult people and places imaginable.
SPEAKER_01: I hope your marriage is doing that for you.
SPEAKER_01: I hope being part of a community is doing that for you.
SPEAKER_01: And ultimately, what I love about this place is that we sure can do more, especially if we'll do it together.
SPEAKER_01: Please join me as we pray our faith in the words of the Nicene Creek.
SPEAKER_04: We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all.
SPEAKER_04: We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally with the Father, God, true God, from true God, the day, of one being with the Father, through all things from May, Christ for our salvation, he came from heaven, by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became a body from Virgin Mary, and made many.
SPEAKER_04: For our sake he was crucified under, he suffered death and was buried.
SPEAKER_04: On the third day he rose again, in accordance with the scriptures, he ascended in heaven, and is kingdom in the right hand of the Father.
SPEAKER_04: He will come again in glory to the death of the living and the dead, and in the kingdom of the hand of the Lord.
SPEAKER_04: We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who will receive from the Father and the Son.
SPEAKER_04: With the Father and the Son, He is worshiped and glorified.
SPEAKER_04: He has spoken through the prophets.
SPEAKER_04: We believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic church.
SPEAKER_04: We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
SPEAKER_04: We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
unknown: Amen.
SPEAKER_07: Father, we pray for your holy Catholic Church.
SPEAKER_07: Grant that every member of the Church may truly and humbly serve you.
SPEAKER_07: We pray for Michael, our presiding bishop, for Andy, Hector, Jeff, Kay, and Scott, our bishops, and the diocesan circle of prayer, St.
SPEAKER_07: Mary Magdalene Manor, St.
SPEAKER_07: Mary's Lampassus, St.
SPEAKER_07: Matthew's Austin, and for Justin, Archbishop of Canterbury, for the priests in our community, Mike, Craig, and Jim, and for all bishops, priests and deacons.
SPEAKER_07: We pray for all who govern and hold authority in the nations of the world, for all the members of the armed forces, 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_04: And that there may be justice and peace on the earth.
SPEAKER_07: We pray for our parish and our vestry.
SPEAKER_04: That our community may discern clearly and minister effectively.
SPEAKER_07: We pray for St.
SPEAKER_07: Thomas the Apostles' School, for those who teach and those who learn.
SPEAKER_04: That we may be bearers of your grace for all who come through our doors.
SPEAKER_07: Give us grace to do your will in all that we undertake.
SPEAKER_04: That our works may find favor in your sight.
SPEAKER_07: Have compassion on those who suffer from any grief or trouble.
SPEAKER_04: That they may be delivered from their distress.
SPEAKER_07: Give to the departed eternal rest, especially leave.
SPEAKER_07: We praise you for St.
SPEAKER_07: Thomas the Apostle and your saints who have entered into joy.
SPEAKER_04: May we also come to share in your heavenly kingdom.
SPEAKER_07: Let us give thanks for our blessings and pray for our own needs and those of others, especially Chris, Miriam, Pat, Isabel, Terry, Rich, Billy, Sue, Jo, Jan, Sean, Lunan, Joe, Alice, and those the congregation wishes to name at this time silently are allowed.
SPEAKER_07: Almighty God, by your Holy Spirit, you have made us one with your saints in heaven and on earth.
SPEAKER_07: Grant that in our earthly pilgrimage we may always be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and know ourselves to be surrounded by their witness to your power and mercy.
SPEAKER_07: We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, in whom all our intercessions are acceptable through the Spirit, and who lives and reigns forever and ever.
SPEAKER_01: Let us confess our sin against God and our neighbors.
SPEAKER_01: Through Jesus Christ, the light of the world.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: The Almighty and compassionate Lord grant you absolution and remission of all your sins, true repentance, amendment of life, and the grace and consolation of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: So uh we can stand up because that confession and absolution worked, right?
SPEAKER_01: This is why we stand because it worked.
SPEAKER_01: And since it worked, the peace of the Lord be always with you.
SPEAKER_03: And also with you.
SPEAKER_01: If you're new to us or haven't done this before, uh, right behind the room you're sitting in is the room we call the Narthex, and in there are these little cards that say welcome.
SPEAKER_01: And we'd be tremendously grateful if you'd fill one out and just put it in a little blue basket so we have a record of your visit.
SPEAKER_01: And thanks for worshiping with us today.
SPEAKER_01: Um there's a couple uh announcements I want to call to your attention, but it's always good to look backward just for a second.
SPEAKER_01: Uh thank you uh enthusiastically uh for your generous support of the school gala we had last night.
SPEAKER_01: Many of you were there, and it was just super sweet.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the things you taught me off the bat, and I'm gonna give credit to where it's due, Rob Puckett told me the very first time we had an auction here.
SPEAKER_01: He said, you know, Mike, you don't go looking for a deal.
SPEAKER_01: What you do is you go with a donation in your mind, and then you pick the souvenir you want.
SPEAKER_01: And the that is how you are.
SPEAKER_01: When a cake sells for$600, that is how you are.
SPEAKER_01: And so it was just lovely.
SPEAKER_01: And thank you for supporting our school.
SPEAKER_01: And you're gonna get to see some rapid improvements on the playground that are coming in the new week.
SPEAKER_01: Saying this is the thing we use to serve the community in addition to the school.
SPEAKER_01: So thanks for that support.
SPEAKER_01: Really, really lovely evening.
SPEAKER_01: If you see Renee Beelsky or Michelle Michelle, just give them a thanks.
SPEAKER_01: Planning an event for a hundred people.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: I guess I do that, but uh, they did it well, unlike me.
SPEAKER_01: So please give them thanks and thank you for supporting.
SPEAKER_01: Um, there's some lovely community news, and I love we get to do this in church because many of you know that our good friend Anna Christofferson, who's been ushering, has been desperately looking for a job, and she found one at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, which is really cool.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Anna.
SPEAKER_01: So she didn't just find a job at a museum, she found a job at like the best museum in the United States.
SPEAKER_01: Like, this is really cool, right?
SPEAKER_01: So uh lovely to celebrate that.
SPEAKER_01: So we got a couple of things coming up.
SPEAKER_01: First thing is we had breakfast this morning to celebrate Larry and Jennifer's renewal of vows.
SPEAKER_01: By the way, I do those if you ever want one.
SPEAKER_01: We can do them in church, we can do them at home, but it's a lovely thing truly to renew your vows.
SPEAKER_01: Um, you don't have to wait till 50th.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, 41 is good enough.
SPEAKER_01: Uh they did it at three.
SPEAKER_01: So if it's something that will nourish you spiritually, I'd be grateful to do it.
SPEAKER_01: And we did it in church this morning, and the holy smokers made some really fantastic breakfast burritos.
SPEAKER_01: So they have a few leftovers, and they wanted me to encourage you to grab a breakfast burrito on your way home, because after all, it's a holiday tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01: So um, and big thanks to them for pulling that off and making a lovely reception.
SPEAKER_01: This is kind of a big week because on Tuesday we're celebrating what we call Fat Tuesday, and uh we're gonna do this with a gourmet pancake dinner that starts at 6 o'clock.
SPEAKER_01: So our girls' troupe, 1965, are gonna make red velvet pancakes, French onion pancakes, they're actually pretty good, and uh a gluten-free sweet potato pancake.
SPEAKER_01: There'll be sausage, there'll be bacon, there'll be juice and fruit, and uh the money that they hopefully raise from your attendance is going to help them go caving this summer.
SPEAKER_01: So they're they're putting this on so that they can do high adventure and offer financial aid.
SPEAKER_01: And we've got some suggestions.
SPEAKER_01: It's donation-based, but it's a really lovely event.
SPEAKER_01: And the food I'll vouch for because I'm helping them make it.
SPEAKER_01: So I think it's really good food.
SPEAKER_01: If you come at 6 o'clock, we're going to burn palms.
SPEAKER_01: So, reminder, we take last year's palms from Palm Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: They're really dry, and we each have an opportunity to say inside.
SPEAKER_01: You want to say it out loud, you can, or even write it on the palm, what it is you wish God would help you get rid of out of your life.
SPEAKER_01: This went.
SPEAKER_01: And then we burn that up, and then we have a feast, and it's really lovely.
SPEAKER_01: And the ashes from those we'll use on Wednesday on Ash Wednesday.
SPEAKER_01: So, a reminder, Ash Wednesday is this Wednesday, and there's a couple opportunities to worship.
SPEAKER_01: I really recommend 6 30 a.m.
SPEAKER_01: Because it's easy to find a seat.
SPEAKER_01: It's lovely to start the day, and I'll tell you why I like it the most because the whole day I get to walk around with the smudge on my head and tell people I'm doing that because God has more in store for me than I'm living into and I want to do something about it.
SPEAKER_01: Which is kind of the best advertisement you can be.
SPEAKER_01: Of telling your neighbor, hey, do you know Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: You can say, I'd like to know him more.
SPEAKER_01: So 6:30.
SPEAKER_01: You can come at 8:15 and you'll be with our day school kids, and one of them will be helping me impose ashes, which is like kind of the best thing you can do.
SPEAKER_01: So you maybe want to come back to that one.
SPEAKER_01: And then we'll have 6 o'clock p.m.
SPEAKER_01: with the choir and Eucharist at all at least.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I do also want to tell you that we'll be doing a drive-through ashes here and the driveway.
SPEAKER_01: So from 11 to 1, you can drive through and have ashes, anointing with oil and healing prayer, a prayer shawl, and the Eucharist.
SPEAKER_01: So all of those things in one trip.
SPEAKER_01: I do want to make sure you know, if you want a prayer shawl, do you know how to get one?
SPEAKER_01: Just ask, we have tons of them.
SPEAKER_01: And it's a really lovely thing to give a coworker or a neighbor to say, hey, I noticed you're sick, and uh, my church makes these, we prayed over them.
SPEAKER_01: I hope it will be a comfort to you.
SPEAKER_01: Like that's really a sweet thing, and we do it in the driveway.
SPEAKER_01: And I also want you to know that uh when I was getting ordained, I wrote a stinging polemic against drive-through ashes.
SPEAKER_01: I wrote things like, you know, if you don't have time to go to church, you don't have time to repent.
SPEAKER_01: And I passed.
SPEAKER_01: I got a really good score on that essay, and what I realized the first time I did it is how wrong I was, because, you know, there's people who have been hurt in church and they won't come in, and they really, really want the Eucharist, and they really want the signs of ashes, and for whatever reason, maybe somebody was rude or they lost a friend, and every time they come in, they just remember their grief.
SPEAKER_01: It's an incredible ministry to be out there given ashes to go.
SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna do that from 11 to 1.
SPEAKER_01: Last really big thing I want to I want to remind us of is that next Sunday we're gonna start a Linton series, and there's kind of two tracks.
SPEAKER_01: If you're in third through eighth grade, we're going to do our the Episcopal version of Catilium.
SPEAKER_01: So our kids will learn etiquette, how to talk to adults, uh, how it is we can approach uh the table and receive communion in a more mature fashion.
SPEAKER_01: They're gonna learn the foxtrot and the waltz and how to make their own boutonier, and then we're gonna celebrate with the Episcop in which each one of those kids invites one of their parents to a formal dinner and dance.
SPEAKER_01: So it's meant to be a coming-of-age ceremony for our third to eighth graders.
SPEAKER_01: They're gonna do that from 9.15 to 1015.
SPEAKER_01: Meanwhile, and no adults can't go to that.
SPEAKER_01: I had somebody say, I want to go to those classes.
SPEAKER_01: Uh instead, for adults, we're going to offer a series on holy living, holy dying.
SPEAKER_01: And so next week, one of our parishioners, Todd Parker, is gonna put up a photo exhibition and talk us through it.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, Todd used to be on the board of Lord of the Streets, and he got to know seven clients really well, and he asked them if he could photograph their most valuable possession, their most sentimental possession, their most useful possession.
SPEAKER_01: These are homeless people.
SPEAKER_01: And he took pictures of them, and I think you'll be amazed when you look, because part of the deal is can you guess which thing's which?
SPEAKER_01: It's not just about having compassion for homelessness, it's a real good entryway to say what do we treasure in our own lives.
SPEAKER_01: As the good book reads, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
SPEAKER_01: So that's how we're gonna start off length.
SPEAKER_01: Then we're gonna have a spiritual director come and talk to us about how we can really cultivate a non-anxious spirituality.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Darlene Hunter's gonna talk to us about better ways of grieving, and I don't just mean when somebody dies, I mean like when you didn't get a promotion you were looking forward to, or gosh, your kid like majors in math instead of something useful.
SPEAKER_01: You know, like these are the kinds of grief we have to do sometimes.
SPEAKER_01: So she's going to talk to us about good grieving, and I am going to push, as always, for us to talk about our end-of-life planning, because as a priest, I can't tell you how often people don't have one.
SPEAKER_01: And Jim will tell you, it's a disaster.
SPEAKER_01: I have a funeral plan in my firebox, I've had it for seven years, so we'll have a workshop on that and how we do that well and thoughtfully and with some holiness, right?
SPEAKER_01: Um so those are the things we're gonna look forward to in that.
SPEAKER_01: Last call is that next week we are going to do some usher training.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're interested in being an usher or you were an usher and you'd like to re-ush, uh, we're gonna meet at 10 o'clock, and it's a 15-minute training.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the notices I'm going differences I'm going to tell you now is we've talked to the vestry, we've been in communication with the diocese and the CDC, and medically speaking, there's no risk to going back to communion the way we used to do it.
SPEAKER_01: And so we're gonna do this starting today.
SPEAKER_01: If you're sitting on this side, come to this rail.
SPEAKER_01: When the chalice comes, you can dip it, you can drink it, or you can skip it.
SPEAKER_01: If you're sitting on this side, the ushers will guide you to this rail, and you will make the choice when the chalice comes, if you like to receive from it by dipping or drinking or skipping.
SPEAKER_01: And um again, science is on our side here, so um, that's a change we're gonna start making today ahead of time.
SPEAKER_01: Now continue to walk in love.
SPEAKER_01: As Christ first loved us and gave himself for us, and offering and sacrificing to God.
SPEAKER_01: This is the table not of the church but of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: It is made ready for those who love him and those who want to love him more, so come.
SPEAKER_01: You who have much faith and you who have little.
SPEAKER_01: You who have been here often, and you who have not been for a long time or ever before.
SPEAKER_01: You who have tried to follow, and you who have failed, come.
SPEAKER_01: Not because the church invites you, it is Christ, and he invites you to meet him here.
SPEAKER_01: Our service continues on page 361 of your red prayer book.
SPEAKER_01: Page 361.
SPEAKER_02: The Lord be with you and also with you.
SPEAKER_01: Always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
SPEAKER_01: Because in the mystery of the word made flesh, you've caused a new light to shine in our hearts, to give the knowledge of your glory in the face of your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, and therefore we praise you, joining our voices with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, who forever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your name.
SPEAKER_01: And when we've fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, you in your mercy sent Jesus Christ, your only and eternal Son, to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to you, the God and Father of all.
SPEAKER_01: He stretched out his arms upon the cross and offered himself in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.
SPEAKER_01: On the night he was handed over to suffering and death, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread.
SPEAKER_01: And when he given thanks to you, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, Take, eat.
SPEAKER_01: This is my body, which is given for you.
SPEAKER_01: Do this for the remembrance of me.
SPEAKER_01: After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and said, Drink this, all of you.
SPEAKER_01: This is my blood of a new covenant which is shed for you and for all for the forgiveness of sin.
SPEAKER_01: Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, we proclaim the mystery of faith.
SPEAKER_01: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
SPEAKER_01: We celebrate the memorial of our redemption, O Father, in this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_01: Recalling his resurrection and ascension, we offer to you these gifts, sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the body and blood of your Son, the holy food and drink of new and unending life in him.
SPEAKER_01: Sanctify us also that we may faithfully receive this holy sacrament and serve you in unity, constancy, and peace.
SPEAKER_01: At the last day, bring us with all your saints into the joy of your eternal kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: And all this we ask through your Son, Jesus Christ, by Him and with Him and in Him.
SPEAKER_01: In the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to pray.
SPEAKER_01: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
SPEAKER_04: Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.
SPEAKER_04: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
SPEAKER_04: Therefore, let us be to be the gifts of God for you, the family of God.
SPEAKER_01: Feed on them in your hearts by faith and with thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_04: Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image and encouraging us with spiritual food in the Christ, body and blood.
SPEAKER_04: Now send us for the people who have been that we may proclaim your love to the world and continue in the risen life of Christ, our Savior.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Do not pray for an easy lent.
SPEAKER_01: Pray to be a more faithful people.
SPEAKER_01: Do not pray for a discipline equal to your powers, but for powers from God equal to your opportunities.
SPEAKER_01: And then the living of the next 47 days will be no miracle, you will be the miracle.
SPEAKER_01: Every day you will look at yourself with wonder and awe.
SPEAKER_01: And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be with you this day and remain with you through Easter tide.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.