WEBVTT 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:42.640 Let's become Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:49.280 Let's pray together. 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:50.400 Almighty God. 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:54.879 All the six of them. 00:01:55.359 --> 00:01:57.760 And from you know the secrets of him. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:03.519 Cleanse the philosophy of the hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit. 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:05.840 And we may perfectly love you. 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:12.080 Amen. 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:20.639 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. 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:26.000 This is the first and greatest commitment, and the second is like unto it. 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:28.879 Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:32.879 On these two commitments hang all the law and the prophets. 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:41.039 Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One, have compassion upon us. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:42.560 The Lord be with you. 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:45.759 Let us pray. 00:02:52.639 --> 00:03:05.120 Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love, the true bond of peace and of all virtue, without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you. 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:13.840 Grant this for the sake of your only Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:14.800 Amen. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:19.840 As you're being seated, our children are invited to children's chapel with Mr. 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:21.199 Alex in the back. 00:03:54.879 --> 00:03:57.199 So dismayed were they at his presence. 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:01.280 Then Joseph said to his brothers, Come closer to me. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:03.280 And they came closer. 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:08.000 He said, I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:13.759 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here. 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:17.600 For God sent me before you to preserve life. 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:26.800 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:35.040 God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:38.879 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:46.160 He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and Lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:54.480 Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me Lord of all Egypt. 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:57.199 Come down to me, do not delay. 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:09.199 You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:19.839 I will provide for you there, since there are five more years of famine to come, so that you and your household and all that you have will not come to poverty. 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:23.519 And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:26.319 And after that his brothers talked with him. 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:30.000 Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people. 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:32.319 Thanks be to God. 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:36.399 The psalm today is Psalm 37. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:40.079 We will read responsibly by the half-verse. 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:44.800 Do not fret yourself because of evildoers. 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:54.800 Do not be jealous of those who do wrong, for they shall soon wither like the grass and like the green grass fade away. 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:58.240 Put your trust in the Lord and do good. 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:01.920 Dwell in the land and feed on its riches. 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:07.839 Take delight in the Lord, who shall give you your heart's desire. 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:15.279 Commit your way to the Lord, put your trust in the Lord, and we will bring it to pass. 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:23.759 The Lord will make your righteousness as clear as the light, and your dealing as the moonday. 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:26.879 Be still before the Lord. 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:29.680 Wait patiently for the Lord. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:37.199 Do not fret yourself over the one who prospers, the one who succeeds in evil schemes. 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:41.519 Refrain from anger, leave rage alone. 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:46.079 Do not offer yourself only to evil. 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:53.920 For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait upon the Lord shall possess the land. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:58.079 In a little while the wicked shall be no more. 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:02.879 You shall search out their place, but they will not be there. 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:06.319 But the lowly shall possess the land. 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:09.920 They will delight in the mountains of peace. 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:14.240 But the deliverance of the righteous comes from the Lord. 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:18.000 Who is their stronghold in times of trouble? 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:21.600 The Lord will help them and rescue them. 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:26.000 The Lord will rescue them from the wicked and deliver them. 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:09.040 With what kind of a body do they come? 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:14.480 Fool, what you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:24.240 And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:31.360 But God gives it a body, as He has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:34.960 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:37.440 What is sown is perishable. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:40.240 What is raised is imperishable. 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:44.960 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:49.360 It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:54.320 It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:59.600 If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:05.679 Thus it is written the first man, Adam, became a living being. 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:10.080 The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:16.080 But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical and then the spiritual. 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:20.399 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust. 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:23.039 The second man is from heaven. 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:28.240 As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust. 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:32.639 As is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:40.720 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven. 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:53.039 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:57.039 Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:52.320 Bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:56.240 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also. 00:10:56.639 --> 00:11:00.639 And from any one who takes away your coat, do not withhold even your shirt. 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:07.360 Give to everyone who begs from you, and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:10.559 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:15.440 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:18.399 For even sinners love those who love them. 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:23.360 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:25.679 For even sinners do the same. 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:30.639 If you lend to those whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:34.879 Even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much again. 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:37.200 But love your enemies. 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:40.320 Do good and lend, expecting nothing in return. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:43.840 Your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:46.960 For God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:50.320 Be merciful, just as your father is merciful. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:53.279 Do not judge and you will not be judged. 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:56.240 Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:58.639 Forgive and you will be forgiven. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:00.799 Give and it will be given to you. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:06.240 A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:10.240 For the measure you give will be the measure you get back. 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:13.519 The gospel of the Lord. 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:41.440 Well, I want to start out by saying I think the gospel today is rife for abuse. 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:47.200 And if you haven't heard what's called the prosperity gospel, let me just tell you what it is. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:52.240 The more you give to church, the more God will enrich you. 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:59.919 So actually, giving money to church is a financial investment, and the more you give, the more you get. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:03.600 I mean, maybe that's true. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:05.039 I just don't think so. 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:09.279 I don't think we give gifts so that we can be enriched. 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:12.320 That's not called giving, that's called investing. 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:17.440 A gift is something that once it leaves your hand is gone. 00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:28.000 So I want to encourage you actually to hear a different twist on what Jesus is saying here. 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:33.200 Um, Jesus is telling us, look, all of us know how to behave with reciprocity. 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:38.559 We all understand how to treat other people when we want something in return. 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:49.200 We all understand that even when we're not in a great mood, it's helpful if you say hello to people in the morning because you would like them to do that for you later. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:54.879 And there is quite a bit of social expectation around things like manners. 00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:58.159 Jesus says everybody gets that. 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:02.399 We get that it's important to drive the speed limit. 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:05.919 We expect one another to do that in neighborhoods. 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:07.039 We get that. 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:10.320 Jesus is saying, though, go beyond that. 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:13.200 I don't know what's going on with this. 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:25.360 Jesus is encouraging us, I think, to go beyond that by loving people who are not worth loving. 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:36.879 And I think he even calls into question, if we read this carefully, frankly, a deficient spirituality that I've lived into most of my life. 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:41.519 And I want to say it this way: you better forgive or else. 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:46.159 If you don't forgive, God will not forgive you. 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:50.320 That's the whole system Jesus is calling into question. 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:53.919 God loves greater than we love. 00:14:55.840 --> 00:15:04.639 So if you're worried that God will not forgive you, Jesus is trying to lay that aside. 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:09.919 He's trying to encourage us to love the way God already loves us. 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:16.960 God doesn't practice reciprocity, God practices grace. 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:23.120 So what does it mean then that the way you judge is the way you'll be judged? 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:25.919 Well, if you're like me, you're your harshest critic. 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:28.799 You already are judged the way you judge. 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:34.559 The things that you hate about other people are probably the things you're most afraid of in yourself. 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:42.080 The things that you hate about yourself are probably the things that you transfer and project on other people. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:52.159 And particularly when we find ourselves in those moments, we're asked to step out of the system of reciprocity and live into generosity and grace. 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:17.360 Nothing could be further from this still Jewish practice that we have we are a soul, we don't have one. 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:19.120 We are a soul. 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:22.480 The word soul is the amalgam of our being. 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:30.720 It includes our body, our mind, our emotions, our spirit. 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:34.159 So you don't have this, you are this. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:44.720 And I think what Paul is trying to get us to consider is we could choose to just live with our bodies, and we wouldn't really be living. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:51.519 We've got spirits and emotions and minds, and those are supposed to be engaged too. 00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:58.000 And sometimes engaging those parts of our being into generosity and grace feels like we're dying. 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:01.759 Strictly speaking, Paul's wrong. 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:05.119 When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn't die. 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:11.119 What happens is that protective shell, that armor, opens up. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:19.200 And I don't know if you ever tried laying your armor down with somebody you're not sure is worth it, it feels like dying. 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:21.359 To open your armor. 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:29.839 And I think this is what Paul is asking us to do, to not just live into armor. 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:34.880 And it's scary growth, and it's painful growth. 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:45.920 And loving somebody who has proven that they are not going to return our investment, it's a bad investment. 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:49.119 And it's a great gift. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:54.720 And I'm so thankful that Jesus says I don't have to feel in love with my enemies. 00:17:55.519 --> 00:17:57.119 Because that would be beyond me. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:02.880 But what Jesus invites us to do is to practice love. 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:10.400 Now you may find yourself like me saying, I just don't know if I could ever practice love with Osama bin Laden. 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:15.680 And good news, you probably won't ever have to. 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:19.359 For lots of reasons. 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:24.400 You may say, I don't know if I could practice love with Vladimir Putin. 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:26.960 And here's the good news, you probably don't have to. 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:38.160 Sometimes I think we do ourselves a disservice by thinking of our enemy as somebody who wants to defeat our country instead of somebody who disagrees with us at a board meeting. 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:46.160 Or somebody who has a different political bumper sticker on their car, or somebody who opposes playgrounds in our neighborhood. 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:51.359 Good news. 00:18:55.839 --> 00:19:06.319 But if we want to love like God loves, we're invited to practice loving those people, especially when it's hard. 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:12.559 Rife from this interpretation. 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:16.960 This whole business about turn the other cheek and give your cloak away. 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:20.079 And I'm indebted to New Testament scholar Walter Wink. 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:37.680 He wrote a series of books beginning with naming the powers, confronting the powers, and transforming the powers, in which he does, I think, some pretty persuasive exegesis about this, in which he says that Jesus is not advocating pure pacifism. 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:41.920 What he's advocating is nonviolent resistance. 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:46.079 Now, this is true that both Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:57.759 drew inspiration for the nonviolent ways in which they resisted first the British Empire in India and civil rights in the South from this exact passage in Luke. 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:01.920 I'm going to talk about them backward, or I don't think it'll be convincing. 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:09.839 In the ancient world, it took like nine months to make a garment, nine months to produce wool and comb it and spin it. 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:13.519 Most people had at most two garments. 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:17.119 Nine months of production, that's a pretty valuable thing. 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:18.799 Your clothes. 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:22.640 You may say, Israel's high, like why do you need clothes? 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:27.839 Because it's a desert like San Diego, and when the sun goes down, it gets cold. 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:33.759 Now, you could owe folk money in the ancient world, and they could take your land. 00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:37.680 They could even take your outer clothes. 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:39.920 Nine months of labor. 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:48.559 What they weren't allowed to do was take your underwear, because then you would be utterly destitute and naked, which is against the Torah. 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:50.000 You can't do that. 00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:58.319 So Luke says, if somebody is going to take your outer clothes, by the way, you're going to be cold at night. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:03.440 Go ahead and take your underwear off and give them your underwear too. 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:07.279 Now that might sound a little bit nuts. 00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:08.960 You'll be exposed. 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:15.200 The real question is though, are you going to be the one that's humiliated? 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:23.519 Or are you going to draw attention that someone is literally making you an object of scorn to collect on debts? 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:34.640 It would take a lot of courage to overpay on a debt. 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:39.920 We all understand if you don't even have clothes, how are you going to work? 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:45.119 To take away somebody's ability to work is to take away somebody's ability to pay. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:48.799 This is why we don't have debtors' prison anymore. 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:51.440 We figured that part out at least. 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:56.400 And Jesus says in the middle of an oppressive system, go the extra mile. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:00.480 Now, this bit about turning the other Cheek. 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:06.880 I still think it's the case that the most pejorative way to strike someone is with the back of your hand. 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:17.519 Walter Wink argues quite a bit that if you have to hit somebody with your fist or with your palm, that at least shows that they're an adversary worth fighting. 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:21.440 But if somebody is beneath you, you can just smack them away. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:27.039 So if you're smacked and you turn the other cheek, now the person actually has to hit you. 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:29.599 You may say, Mike, that doesn't make sense. 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:32.640 Stand alone, maybe not, but take it with the garment. 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:39.359 When you turn the other cheek, the person has to either leave you alone or acknowledge you as a real opponent. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:42.880 Worth hitting. 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:49.920 And just so you get the analog, there were a lot of folk that got sprayed with fire hoses. 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:53.200 And they didn't stay on the ground. 00:22:53.759 --> 00:22:57.359 They got back up on national TV. 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:10.640 And people in Mississippi, people in California, and people in New York watched them get sprayed again and again. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:21.920 And they said what your heart would tell you how can you hit somebody over and over again that is not hitting back? 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:33.440 Gandhi actually said that it takes more courage to behave this way than it does to hit back. 00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:39.759 But Gandhi said something else that this is not just some tactic. 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:42.720 It's not a chess move so you can get what you want. 00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:48.640 He says it only works actually if you're able to love the officer holding the hose. 00:23:51.839 --> 00:24:03.039 Otherwise, and you heard this in the collect today, even the cleverest way of nonviolent resistance for the best possible cause is dead. 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:16.079 And I think the reason that's so difficult for me is because I judge myself pretty harshly. 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:22.160 When I see people who are not living into my values, well, it's because they're enemies. 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:24.640 It's because they're wrong. 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:28.079 I mean, if I thought they're if I thought they were right, I'd change my mind. 00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:29.440 Isn't that the point? 00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:34.880 And this happens, remind you, in the middle of what is unique to Luke. 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:41.680 You see, in Matthew, Jesus gives the sermon on the mount, but here in Luke, Jesus gives the sermon on the plain. 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:53.359 And I think one way of seeing the whole gospel of Luke is Jesus inviting us into a radical way that God already lives, which is living coplanar with one another. 00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:58.559 Usually, when I look at somebody, instead of the word enemy, I don't usually think you're my enemy. 00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:00.799 I just think you live in a different universe. 00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:04.240 You're on a different planet. 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:09.119 The Gospel of Luke is about us living on the same planet. 00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:14.000 It's about us being coplanar with one another. 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:21.519 Once I think you live on a different planet, I'm better than you. 00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:29.920 And what Jesus says here is everybody already does that. 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:36.480 So if you want to be like God, if you want to be like God, you need to live on the plane. 00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:40.079 We already know how to live the other way. 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:44.799 And there's this Joseph story that's great. 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:46.799 Many of you know the Joseph story. 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:49.200 Maybe you saw it from Andrew Lloyd Weber. 00:25:49.279 --> 00:25:52.480 It's a pretty good, pretty good representation of it, right? 00:25:52.720 --> 00:26:04.319 And um, you know, I grew up in Sunday school that Joseph is this really great guy, and and he does all this stuff to test his brothers, to see if they've changed, and I don't even think that anymore. 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:08.480 I think Joseph has carefully plotted his revenge for years. 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:13.440 He has put his brother Shimon in prison for a couple of years. 00:26:13.599 --> 00:26:16.720 He sprung the trap on his brother being Yamen. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:20.960 He is going to get even with his brothers, who are his enemies. 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:23.759 They sold him into slavery, they faked his death. 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:28.960 Actually, if you look at what Joseph says, he hasn't even changed that much. 00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:32.480 He was a braggart when he was a kid, and he's a braggart when he's an adult. 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:34.319 He says, I'm the Lord of Egypt. 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:35.839 Um, that's Pharaoh. 00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:54.799 But in this moment in which he can execute every single one of his brothers and crush his father's spirit for the way he was mistreated, I put to you that Joseph does this thing that is our opportunity. 00:26:56.240 --> 00:27:00.000 He chooses to practice righteousness instead of just being right. 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:03.039 Joseph is right. 00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:05.839 His brothers were unjust. 00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:12.400 Sure, maybe he was a bragger, but that doesn't deserve you being thrown in a pit and sold into slavery. 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:14.880 He has a just cause. 00:27:17.680 --> 00:27:20.240 He's gonna practice reciprocity. 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:23.119 He threw his brother in jail. 00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:25.839 He might throw all of them in jail. 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:31.599 But then he chooses to do something his brothers cannot repay. 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:36.000 They will never be able to repay him at this point. 00:27:36.400 --> 00:27:46.799 And Luke goes on to talk about how giving things to people who can't repay you is a great practice for learning how to live with people who can. 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:52.960 When somebody can't repay you, you get it's not an investment, it's a gift. 00:27:54.240 --> 00:28:07.039 And if we could give to people who can, instead of practicing exchanges, well then maybe we'd just be starting to behave a little more like God. 00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:14.799 Now it is often in front of me that I can be right. 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:19.279 Or I can practice righteousness. 00:28:20.720 --> 00:28:23.440 And God help me, I often pick to be right. 00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:29.759 And Jesus says, that's normal. 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:32.720 It's just not the way God behaves. 00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:42.319 I'm taking this little workshop on nonviolent communication. 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:44.240 I've talked to you about it before. 00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:55.680 And uh, in nonviolent communication, what we're asked to do is meet people with empathy instead of what are called other conversational responses. 00:28:56.160 --> 00:29:00.160 Other conversational responses include advice giving. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:04.640 Cheerleading, like you go, girl. 00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:13.279 Criticism or devil's advocate, well, yeah, I know, I know he was rude to you, but your lipstick was on wrong. 00:29:13.359 --> 00:29:15.039 You know, like this sort of thing. 00:29:20.400 --> 00:29:30.960 I said, you know, I probably need to talk to my therapist about this, but um, could you tell me what happens if we've grown up thinking that the way we make connection is advice giving? 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:37.920 Part of my origin story is that's how I learned to practice what I consider empathy. 00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:39.119 It's not, right? 00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:41.920 Is the way I connect with people is I give advice. 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:45.279 People tell me the problems because they want me to fix them. 00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:53.200 So how is it that I go to practice empathy instead of advice giving? 00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:57.920 And the lady said, well, yeah, you probably do want to work with your therapist on that. 00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:08.559 But I could tell you maybe the thing that you need to work on, or that you not need to, that you might be invited to work on, is in those moments when you want to go to advice giving. 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:11.039 How about you offer yourself some empathy? 00:30:12.160 --> 00:30:15.119 Why do you need to fix that other person's problem? 00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:17.039 Why can't you just sit with it? 00:30:17.519 --> 00:30:19.359 Why do I need to do that? 00:30:20.319 --> 00:30:25.200 Why do I need to answer somebody instead of understand them? 00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:35.920 This I think takes us back to this part that the way we judge is the way we're already judging ourselves. 00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:43.279 The truth is, no matter what's broken in your life, you're not broken. 00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:48.079 You're not broken. 00:30:49.359 --> 00:30:51.519 Even if you got brokenness. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:31:00.640 And if we judge ourselves as broken, we got a world of enemies out there. 00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:04.559 A world of enemies. 00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:10.400 And if I can be curious when I judge myself, where is that coming from? 00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:13.039 Why do you have to be perfect? 00:31:13.359 --> 00:31:15.039 Why do you have to be? 00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:26.960 If I could be curious with myself, then maybe I could be curious with that person that disagrees about what color carpet we should have. 00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:33.359 Because to be honest, those are the enemies you're going to run into. 00:31:33.759 --> 00:31:38.240 Not the ones with the nuclear weapons, the ones who like different colors. 00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:46.400 The ones who check different boxes when they go to the polls. 00:32:15.359 --> 00:32:20.400 Perhaps they are my enemy because they think I am a savage. 00:32:21.279 --> 00:32:26.400 Or perhaps they're afraid of me because they think I'm afraid of them. 00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:34.640 And perhaps if they believed I were capable of loving them, they would no longer be my enemy. 00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:42.000 So Lord help me not to be too quick to assume my enemy is a savage just because they're my enemy. 00:32:43.279 --> 00:32:51.039 Lord help me not to be too quick to assume my enemy is an enemy of God just because they are my enemy. 00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:57.359 Perhaps they are my enemy because they can find nothing in me that gives glory to God. 00:32:57.680 --> 00:33:07.279 Perhaps they fear me because they can find nothing in me of God's love and God's kindness and God's patience and mercy and understanding of the weaknesses of people. 00:33:08.319 --> 00:33:15.759 So, Lord, help me not to be too quick to assume that my enemy is an enemy of God just because they are my enemy. 00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:22.640 Lord, help me not to be too quick to condemn those who no longer believe in God. 00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:34.559 For it is perhaps my own coldness and avarice, my mediocrity and materialism, my sensuality and selfishness that have killed their faith. 00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:42.559 Lord help me not to be too quick to condemn those who no longer believe in God. 00:33:43.839 --> 00:33:44.480 Amen. 00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:15.760 We believe in one God, the Father being all the same. 00:34:16.320 --> 00:34:19.119 We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ. 00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:17.280 We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord given of the life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. 00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:21.360 With the Father and the Son, He is worshiped and glorified. 00:35:21.679 --> 00:35:23.920 He is spoken through the prophets. 00:35:24.239 --> 00:35:28.079 We believe in one Holy Father and the Mistolic Church. 00:35:28.239 --> 00:35:31.440 We acknowledge one baptism of the women of the sins. 00:35:32.239 --> 00:35:36.559 We believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. 00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:38.000 Amen. 00:35:58.559 --> 00:36:05.840 For the holy church of God, that it may be filled with truth and love and be found without fault at the day of your coming. 00:36:06.159 --> 00:36:08.320 We pray to you, O Lord. 00:36:11.360 --> 00:36:21.760 For all the holy people of God, for all the bishops and other ministers, for Andy, Hector, Jeff, and Kai, our bishops in the Diocene cycle of prayer, St. 00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:24.719 Luke's on the lake in Austin, St. 00:36:24.880 --> 00:36:26.480 Mark's in Austin, and St. 00:36:26.639 --> 00:36:29.440 Mary Magdalene Manor. 00:36:29.840 --> 00:36:41.199 For Michael, our presiding bishop, for Mike, Jim, Craig, Bill, and Lillian, and the priests in our community, we pray to you, O Lord. 00:36:42.079 --> 00:36:43.599 Lord have compassion. 00:36:44.400 --> 00:36:53.599 For all who fear God and believe in you, Lord Christ, that our divisions may cease and that all may be one as you and the Father are one. 00:36:54.000 --> 00:36:56.079 We pray to you, O Lord. 00:36:56.719 --> 00:36:58.480 Lord have compassion. 00:36:59.360 --> 00:37:06.400 For the mission of the church, that in the faithful witness it may preach the gospel to the ends of the earth. 00:37:06.639 --> 00:37:08.719 We pray to you, O Lord. 00:37:09.280 --> 00:37:10.960 Lord have compassion. 00:37:11.519 --> 00:37:19.599 For the peace of the world, that a spirit of respect and forbearance may grow among the nations and the peoples. 00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:22.159 We pray to you, O Lord. 00:37:22.719 --> 00:37:24.320 Lord have compassion. 00:37:25.360 --> 00:37:37.760 For those in positions of public trust, especially Joe, our president, and Greg, our governor, that they may serve justice and promote the dignity and freedom of every person. 00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:40.159 We pray to you, O Lord. 00:37:40.639 --> 00:37:42.239 Lord have compassion. 00:37:43.199 --> 00:37:56.960 For the poor, the persecuted, the sick, and all who suffer, for refugees, for prisoners, and all who are in danger, that they may be relieved and protected. 00:37:57.360 --> 00:37:59.199 We pray to you, O Lord. 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:01.440 Lord have compassion. 00:38:02.239 --> 00:38:13.599 For this congregation, that we may be delivered from hardness of heart and show forth your glory in all that we do, we pray to you, O Lord. 00:38:14.159 --> 00:38:35.119 Lord, have compassion, for our enemies and those who wish us harm, and for all whom we have injured or offended, for ourselves, for the forgiveness of our sins, and for the grace of the Holy Spirit to amend our lives, we pray to you, O Lord. 00:38:38.079 --> 00:38:58.960 For all who have condemned themselves to our prayers, for our families, friends, and neighbors, especially Chris, Ken, Nancy, Amber, Christina, and those the congregation wishes to name at this time, silently or aloud. 00:39:05.920 --> 00:39:08.000 We pray to you, O Lord. 00:39:11.679 --> 00:39:26.239 For all who have died in the communion of your church, and those whose faith is known to you alone, that with all the saints they may have rest in that place where there is no pain or grief, but life eternal. 00:39:26.480 --> 00:39:28.480 We pray to you, O Lord. 00:39:31.679 --> 00:39:38.800 Rejoicing in the fellowship of all the saints, let us commend ourselves and one another and all our life to Christ our God. 00:39:39.519 --> 00:39:41.199 To you, O Lord, our Lord. 00:39:42.400 --> 00:39:45.840 For yours is the majesty, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:50.320 Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory now and forever. 00:39:50.639 --> 00:39:50.960 Amen. 00:39:53.199 --> 00:39:54.400 Small oversight. 00:39:54.559 --> 00:40:01.280 We've already prayed for forgiveness of our sins and grace of the Holy Spirit, and I think God heard us the first time. 00:40:01.519 --> 00:40:06.719 So let's stand in the assurance that God has already done that for us. 00:40:07.920 --> 00:40:10.480 The peace of the Lord be always with you. 00:40:57.920 --> 00:41:00.159 A couple announcements I want to draw to your attention. 00:41:00.239 --> 00:41:04.559 Another thing you'll find in the Narthix this morning are flower charts. 00:41:04.880 --> 00:41:11.920 That's because as the pandemic is easing up a little bit, we would like to go back to our ancient practice. 00:41:12.159 --> 00:41:16.800 Really, it's a lovely traditional practice of having fresh flowers each Sunday. 00:41:17.039 --> 00:41:24.079 Usually those are done in remembrance of in celebration or thanksgiving for a particular person or anniversary. 00:41:24.320 --> 00:41:33.679 And at the end of the Sunday services either go home with you or they go to somebody who is either homebound or in need of a visible sign of God's love. 00:41:33.920 --> 00:41:38.480 Now, we're doing these plants through Lent. 00:41:38.639 --> 00:41:51.840 Our practice in Lent is that we don't do flowers, and so we're going to begin this ministry anew on the second Sunday of Easter, which is like April the 24th. 00:41:52.000 --> 00:41:56.000 And so Stacy will be in the Narthex to do signups and give you more information. 00:41:56.079 --> 00:42:06.719 But again, it's a lovely way not only of having beauty in the sanctuary, but sharing that beauty with people who frankly could use a little more beauty in their lives. 00:42:16.239 --> 00:42:21.440 We haven't done this for a couple of years, but there's a group called the United Thank Offering. 00:42:22.159 --> 00:42:29.599 And the UTO, United Thank Offering, has been sponsoring Navajo Nation for a number of years now, exclusively. 00:42:29.679 --> 00:42:35.679 That's where the United Thank Offering goes to help particularly women and children in churches in Navajo Nation. 00:42:35.840 --> 00:42:39.519 I don't know if you've been, it's beautiful and it's poor. 00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:43.920 Like abject poverty in Navajo Nation. 00:42:44.159 --> 00:42:50.239 And the way they encourage us to do it is by taking one of these little boxes. 00:42:50.800 --> 00:42:55.840 And this can happen year-round, but it occurs to me that it has a double opportunity in length. 00:42:56.320 --> 00:43:00.000 These little boxes are an opportunity for us to do a collection. 00:43:00.239 --> 00:43:15.760 And particularly a way of living into gratitude and celebration is at the end of the day or at the end of the week, making a donation to this box as you remember the grace that has been given to you throughout the day or the week or the month. 00:43:16.239 --> 00:43:23.360 And it's a symbol of our gratitude that we pay it on to other people. 00:43:24.239 --> 00:43:29.760 Another way that this works sometimes in Lent is that people choose to forego eating out. 00:43:30.159 --> 00:43:35.039 And they take the money they would have spent and they put it in this box, right? 00:43:35.440 --> 00:43:40.239 So you give something up so that somebody else can have something. 00:43:48.480 --> 00:43:59.599 But these boxes are out in the Narthex, and we'll collect them on Easter, and it'll be Father Jim blessing them, and then we send everything to UTO to help people. 00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:01.599 Uh in Navajo Nation. 00:44:02.159 --> 00:44:11.199 So if that appeals to you or if it's a spirituality you'd like to try on, you'll find the UTO box in the Narthax. 00:44:13.920 --> 00:44:19.920 Okay, a couple other things that are coming up that are good to be mindful of next Sunday. 00:44:20.079 --> 00:44:21.920 That'll be the 27th. 00:44:22.079 --> 00:44:24.639 There's an ECW meeting at noon. 00:44:24.960 --> 00:44:30.639 So that'll be a little bit after the service here in Kristall, ECW's Episcopal Church Women. 00:44:30.800 --> 00:44:32.880 So it's really for anybody. 00:44:32.960 --> 00:44:37.840 It's okay if you've never been before or you're not sure you remember, you're cordially invited to attend. 00:44:38.000 --> 00:44:40.239 That'll be at noon next week. 00:44:40.559 --> 00:44:43.760 We are getting close to Lent. 00:44:43.920 --> 00:44:54.480 And so what we're going to offer this year on Trove Tuesday, that's March the 1st, we are going to offer sort of a gourmet pancake bar. 00:44:55.440 --> 00:44:57.280 So it's breakfast for dinner. 00:44:57.519 --> 00:45:03.199 That's because that was the way people used up their rich ingredients in medieval times before they had to fast. 00:45:03.679 --> 00:45:05.519 But these won't be regular pancakes. 00:45:05.760 --> 00:45:07.360 There'll be a couple different kinds. 00:45:07.519 --> 00:45:09.599