SPEAKER_02: Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_03: Blessing God family now and forever.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_01: Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid.
SPEAKER_01: Cleanse the thoughts of 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.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: The Lord be with you.
SPEAKER_01: Let us pray.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: As you're being seated, children are welcome to Children's Church with Mr.
SPEAKER_01: Alex.
SPEAKER_00: Job said, Today also my complaint is bitter.
SPEAKER_00: His hand is heavy despite my groaning.
SPEAKER_00: Excuse me.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his dwelling.
SPEAKER_00: I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.
SPEAKER_00: I would learn what he would answer me and understand what he would say to me.
SPEAKER_00: Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: But he would give heed to me.
SPEAKER_00: There's an upright person who could reason with him, and I will be acquitted forever by my judge.
SPEAKER_00: If I go forward, he is not there.
SPEAKER_00: Or backward, I cannot perceive him.
SPEAKER_00: On the left, he hides, and I cannot behold him.
SPEAKER_00: I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.
SPEAKER_00: God has made my heart faint.
SPEAKER_00: The Almighty has terrified me.
SPEAKER_00: If only I could vanish in darkness and thick darkness would cover my face.
SPEAKER_00: Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people.
SPEAKER_00: A reading from Psalm 22.
SPEAKER_00: We will read responsibly at the half-verse.
SPEAKER_00: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
unknown: Because I'm so far from my cry, and from the prayers from my distress.
SPEAKER_00: Yet you are the Holy One.
SPEAKER_00: Our ancestors put their trust in you.
SPEAKER_03: Their trust in you delivered them.
SPEAKER_00: They cried out to you and were delivered.
SPEAKER_00: But as far as me, I am a worm and not a man.
unknown: Scorn by all and surprise the other people.
SPEAKER_00: All who see me laugh me to scorn.
unknown: And we were all their lips in my hands saying.
SPEAKER_00: He trusted in the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Let the Lord deliver him.
SPEAKER_03: But let God rest with him, and let my mind to him.
SPEAKER_00: Yet you are the one who took me out of the womb.
SPEAKER_00: I have been entrusted to you ever since I was born.
unknown: You are my God, and I was filled with my mother's womb.
SPEAKER_00: Be not far from me, for trouble is near.
unknown: And there is nothing to help.
SPEAKER_00: Many young bulls encircle me.
SPEAKER_00: They open wide their jaws at me.
SPEAKER_00: And I am poured out like water.
SPEAKER_00: All my bones are out of joint.
SPEAKER_00: My mouth is dried out like a pot shirt, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
SPEAKER_04: It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart, and before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laying bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.
SPEAKER_04: Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.
SPEAKER_04: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who is in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.
SPEAKER_04: Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace and to help in a time of need.
SPEAKER_04: Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus said to them again, Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: They were greatly astounded and said to one another, Well, then who can be saved?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus looked at them and said, For mortals it is impossible, but not for God.
SPEAKER_01: For God all things are possible.
SPEAKER_01: Peter began to say to Jesus, Look, we've left everything and followed you.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said, Truly, I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother, or father, or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age, houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children and fields with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
SPEAKER_01: But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Job is a righteous man who ends up being sort of run through the ringer.
SPEAKER_01: And today we enter into the middle of the book, which most people would tell you was certainly written later than the beginning.
SPEAKER_01: And Job is mouthing this complaint.
SPEAKER_01: But there's a thing that we missed.
SPEAKER_01: Last week, Eric said had some really great thoughts about Job that I just want to dig into a little bit deeper.
SPEAKER_01: Last week the passage was that Job, who has been sinless, is ultimately loses his family, his commodities, and his health.
SPEAKER_01: The only one left is his wife.
SPEAKER_01: And there's a little bit of a sort of divine wager going on.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, the accuser says, if you take Job's stuff away from him, he won't love you anymore, God.
SPEAKER_01: A lot of times we approach the book and we think, oh, this book is telling us why bad things happen to good people, but I would tell you, you won't find the answer to that question in the book if you've read the whole thing.
SPEAKER_01: It is not really an answer I understand to that question.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm sad that I can't remember the name of the person who shared this thought with me, because it's been many, many years ago.
SPEAKER_01: But a different take on the book was that the book is really all about love.
SPEAKER_01: And there's this fantastic question: if you've ever been in love, you might find yourself asking, how do I know if somebody really loves me back?
SPEAKER_01: Now, I played the game of being a mathematician for a while.
SPEAKER_01: I don't think I'm a very good one, but most of you in the parish know that in order to contradict a rule, to render it uh uh void and null, you need how many counterexamples?
SPEAKER_01: One.
SPEAKER_01: And in order to prove a rule, you need how many repetitions?
SPEAKER_01: Infinite! This is a great question.
SPEAKER_01: How do you know somebody ever loves you?
SPEAKER_01: You don't.
SPEAKER_01: You don't know that.
SPEAKER_01: You choose to believe it or you don't.
SPEAKER_01: And so this question is happening not just between two people as it often does in our lives, it's happening between Job and God.
SPEAKER_01: And God wants to know does Job love me because I give him stuff?
SPEAKER_01: Or does Job love me because of who I am?
SPEAKER_01: Many of us have struggled into that in our marriages, especially if you've been married for more than two years.
SPEAKER_01: It's one of those things you have to kind of come to terms with.
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes after a while, we figure out the answer might be no.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is a really, really tough question.
SPEAKER_01: Last week, um, it's important to return to it because I've told you this before.
SPEAKER_01: Biblical Hebrew is very word-poor.
SPEAKER_01: It has fewer than 10,000 words in the whole language.
SPEAKER_01: Compare that with English, which has 540,000 words.
SPEAKER_01: And there's this turn of phrase that happened last week that's rather interesting.
SPEAKER_01: Job's wife says to Job, Why do you persist in your integrity?
SPEAKER_01: In Hebrew, the word is barak, barak and die.
SPEAKER_01: And then Job says, The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, Barak, the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: What might be interesting for you to know is that they both use the same word.
SPEAKER_01: Now the print in the Bible has the lady say to him, curse God and die.
SPEAKER_01: And Job uses that same word, and the Bible prints it, blessed be the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: But I want to tell you this word in Hebrew is about the same as telling somebody in the south after they've cut you off in traffic, bless your heart.
SPEAKER_01: We understand the dual meanings of that phrase.
SPEAKER_01: So I put before you that the Bible translator has made a choice.
SPEAKER_01: And they didn't tell you this.
SPEAKER_01: You make your own choice.
SPEAKER_01: It's very possible that Job's wife says to Job, Why do you persist in your integrity?
SPEAKER_01: Go ahead and bless God and die.
SPEAKER_01: And Job might well just say, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.
SPEAKER_01: Cursed be the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I raise that reading potential to you because notice what happened today.
SPEAKER_01: Job is not very happy.
SPEAKER_01: A long time ago, people said Job is this patient man.
SPEAKER_01: He's not patient at all.
SPEAKER_01: He is persevering.
SPEAKER_01: Amidst all of the things that have happened to him, he clings to his health because he's right.
SPEAKER_01: He did not deserve what happened to him.
SPEAKER_01: But you know, most loving relationships I'm in, we don't always deserve what we get.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes thank God, and sometimes too bad.
SPEAKER_01: In the reading today, Job is struggling to find God.
SPEAKER_01: He would like to argue his case before God.
SPEAKER_01: It actually uses legal language from the time.
SPEAKER_01: This is like Job using legalese and saying, I've got charges I'd like to bring against God who will be the defendant.
SPEAKER_01: And I would do it if I could find God.
SPEAKER_01: But I can't seem to find God.
SPEAKER_01: It's an interesting passage because if you're like me, there's been moments of your spiritual life where you've thought, I'm not sure God's listening.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure God's answering.
SPEAKER_01: I'm doing everything right.
SPEAKER_01: And where is the response?
SPEAKER_01: I think the book speaks to us today rather directly.
SPEAKER_01: I want to put before you though, um, I don't want to wrap that argument up, but I do want to suggest to you that when we were kids, we learned this phrase like seeing is believing, or I'll believe it when I see it.
SPEAKER_01: But of course, the older I get, I realize I have blind spots, and quite honestly, I often see according to what I already believe.
SPEAKER_01: Believing sometimes determines what we see.
SPEAKER_01: And if we take this business seriously, like we say we do, that God is omnipresent everywhere all of the time, then really it's just our feelings get off that get off when we don't perceive God.
SPEAKER_01: Or rather, we don't see God, even if God's standing right in front of us, because somehow we're not looking there.
SPEAKER_01: Lots of things obscure my vision of God.
SPEAKER_01: And I will tell you, I think, what's really fair before I hop to the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: A lot of times we make a mistake that even though we have feelings and we do, we really experience our feelings.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't mean they're real or true.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you ever thought about this.
SPEAKER_01: I have feelings.
SPEAKER_01: They don't always represent the truth, even though I really have them.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm going to set that before you that Job is in this moment of cognitive dissonance between what he's used to and things that have happened, and now he's trying to come up with some new figuring out where is God and what is love like.
SPEAKER_01: And then that brings us to the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is a special passage, right?
SPEAKER_01: Because uh it starts off with something only a lawyer would say.
SPEAKER_01: How do I inherit eternal life?
SPEAKER_01: And of course, you know, in order to inherit, somebody has to die.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know who the lawyer wants to die.
SPEAKER_01: It's a strange question.
SPEAKER_01: But notice uh that the lawyer asks his business, and you maybe you've heard this before, but the shock's been taken out over the years.
SPEAKER_01: The disciples believe uh in this sort of cosmic bit of karma that sometimes we buy into, that you get what you deserve.
SPEAKER_01: So, rich people are rich because they're good folk.
SPEAKER_01: Poor people probably did something not great.
SPEAKER_01: We sometimes find that entering our own belief system if we're honest.
SPEAKER_01: I don't have time to point that out for every one of us, but I would ask you to consider do you think people get what they deserve?
SPEAKER_01: If you do, then you're part of the crowd.
SPEAKER_01: And so when Jesus says, hey, it's harder for a camel to enter into the family of God, sorry, it's harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich person to go to the family of God, that was a shock.
SPEAKER_01: People at the time thought the rich people were in line first.
SPEAKER_01: Sort of like if you've ever read that Flannery O'Connor short story called Revelation about this white lady who employs less than herself people.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, some of them are black and some of their are uh uh are Hispanic, and she's nice to those poor folk, and then she has this vision that everybody's in line to heaven and they're in the front of the line and she's at the tail.
SPEAKER_01: If you haven't read this, I still remember it from high school.
SPEAKER_01: It's a memorable story.
SPEAKER_01: It's quite interesting, and it represents what's happening here in the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus invites this person to divest himself.
SPEAKER_01: And you know, I I should tell you, if you look in your bulletin, my name's not in there.
SPEAKER_01: Uh Joanne Saylors was supposed to preach today, and there was a little bit of a oops with my vacation schedule, so here I am.
SPEAKER_01: So I was a little bit struggling.
SPEAKER_01: I started thinking about these texts later than I normally do.
SPEAKER_01: So I asked my wife, um, what do you think that means?
SPEAKER_01: And uh I really appreciated what she had to say.
SPEAKER_01: Here it is.
SPEAKER_01: So she's not here to preach it, so I'm gonna tell you.
SPEAKER_01: Thought one.
SPEAKER_01: It's really easy sometimes when we think about, remember, I taught I told you about this a couple of weeks ago, not real comfortable with the idea of a kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: I'm much more comfortable with the idea of God's family or God's kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: And you know, I do think it's really interesting to think that sometimes we have trouble having empathy for other family members in the kingdom of God, because most of us in the room have a safety net, and not everybody does.
SPEAKER_01: Safety net.
SPEAKER_01: I tell you for myself, I don't consider myself wealthy, but if I made some silly financial mistakes, there are people in my life that would take care of me.
SPEAKER_01: I could at least live with them.
SPEAKER_01: When I was driving, when my kid was driving me crazy because she was crying and wouldn't stop, I didn't always call, but there were people I could call.
SPEAKER_01: I cannot imagine having no one to call.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine that?
SPEAKER_01: Probably not unless you've done it.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus invites this person look, you're having trouble living into God's family.
SPEAKER_01: So do this little trick.
SPEAKER_01: Divest yourself of all your means, and then you'll understand what empathy is like with people who don't have a safety net.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know that this is to be taken literally.
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, most of us don't believe in taking this literally, but I do want to suggest I often find myself when people come up to the church and ask for money with their light bill, sometimes I'm like, man, I don't know how you ran your light bill up that high.
SPEAKER_01: I've never had a light bill that high in my life.
SPEAKER_01: And uh, that's true, by the way.
SPEAKER_01: I've never had a light bill that high in my life.
SPEAKER_01: Uh but I also have resources and an education and connection sometimes really good at evaluating, or let's just call it what it really is, judging and condemning people because they didn't make choices like I do.
SPEAKER_01: But they also didn't have family and education and resources like I do.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes I find myself not entering into God's family because I don't have empathy with those people because they didn't pick like I did.
SPEAKER_01: That was my wife's sermon.
SPEAKER_01: I thought it was really nice.
SPEAKER_01: To be honest, I've gone places like Tijuana and lived like a local person, but at the end of the week I got to go home.
SPEAKER_01: That's the difference.
SPEAKER_01: I get to leave.
SPEAKER_01: So I think Jesus is doing some real discussion about social justice and empathy on that point.
SPEAKER_01: The other thing I want to offer to you, take two, uh, is a little bit about uh stewardship and giving before I give you take three, which is also about that.
SPEAKER_01: The folks who put the lection here together, they must have known we do pledging every fall when they put this one in here.
SPEAKER_01: Sadly, the text doesn't say give everything to the church.
SPEAKER_01: It says give it to poor people, which are different things.
SPEAKER_01: That would have made the stewardship case a lot easier.
SPEAKER_01: But I do want to suggest to you a little bit about giving.
SPEAKER_01: Well, Jesus, we gave up a lot of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: Where's our reward?
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you want to hear that term play down, turn on the one of those TV preachers like Cresclo Dollar in Atlanta.
SPEAKER_01: He'll tell you that the more you give to the church, the more God will bless you back.
SPEAKER_01: And he means monetarily.
SPEAKER_01: I don't think anything could be furthered from the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: I think that's crazy.
SPEAKER_01: I don't think we make investments in the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: I think we're asked to give gifts.
SPEAKER_01: And you know the difference between the two?
SPEAKER_01: A gift means it's not mine anymore.
SPEAKER_01: And an investment is something that I continue to control and I can judge and evaluate you based on what you do with it.
SPEAKER_01: Most of us, if we're really honest, are investors.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, even with my kids, I do piano lessons and I expect a return.
SPEAKER_01: And that's appropriate sometimes.
SPEAKER_01: But it can't be appropriate all the time.
SPEAKER_01: One of the ways I love to wear armor in my life is by giving and not receiving.
SPEAKER_01: And I think many of us in the room probably have that because many of us are type A, perfectionist, workaholic people.
SPEAKER_01: And I do think it's great to be a giver, but don't you dare try to give me something.
SPEAKER_01: Receiving is darn difficult for me because it's extremely vulnerable.
SPEAKER_01: Was I worth the gift?
SPEAKER_01: Am I going to use the gift prominently like you intended me to?
SPEAKER_01: Did I write a good enough thank you note?
SPEAKER_01: I don't need your help.
SPEAKER_01: I want to be self-sufficient.
SPEAKER_01: I struggle with that spiritually.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you.
SPEAKER_01: I don't struggle with giving stuff.
SPEAKER_01: But to be honest, when I give stuff away, I'm still in control.
SPEAKER_01: And if you think about the family of God as being a plane, givers are above the plane, don't you see?
SPEAKER_01: And they're just giving stuff down to people on the plane.
SPEAKER_01: In order to join everybody else, gotta be able to receive.
SPEAKER_01: I had a happy surprise.
SPEAKER_01: I struggle with birthdays because I don't want them to be special days.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I don't, because that makes me feel really vulnerable, actually, people expressing love to me.
SPEAKER_01: So I was at Camp Allen this week with the school kids on my birthday, and I woke up in the morning, and some parent had schemed to make it like a nice day, and had put up this birthday sign with letters that big, and every kid wrote me a birthday card, and I don't know how it worked, but it got through my armor.
SPEAKER_01: It got through my armor, and it made me feel so vulnerable to be loved like that.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to suggest to you that's part of our discipleship invitation, to be vulnerable to being loved like that.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't write them a thank you note.
SPEAKER_01: A couple years ago I'd have written 42 of them.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not joking.
SPEAKER_01: Because that's a way I can stay in control.
SPEAKER_01: So I put before you that there's quite a bit to be said for mutual stewardship.
SPEAKER_01: Because when I only give and I refuse to receive, I'm not in the family of God.
SPEAKER_01: And I will tell you many times in my life, it would be easier for me to thread a needle with a camel than to receive somebody's gift for what it is.
SPEAKER_01: I put that before you as a spiritual discipline.
SPEAKER_01: You might need it like I do.
SPEAKER_01: I want to talk to you one other thing about giving because Peter, as I say, has an, in my opinion, has an investment mentality.
SPEAKER_01: What are we going to get for giving you this stuff?
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, as a priest, I'm often privy to confidential information, especially around how people give.
SPEAKER_01: And over the years, I've racked up some incredible stories of generosity, and I've seen people do things that frankly I don't always do very well.
SPEAKER_01: Like, I've seen people who orient everything around giving first and then the rest comes later.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've seen people on fixed modest incomes decide that 10% and whatever it is is between you and the Lord, but 10% is their minimum.
SPEAKER_01: And then they'll figure out how to pay for the car and the mortgage, and they make this thing first.
SPEAKER_01: And if I'm honest with you, I usually do it backwards.
SPEAKER_01: I usually do all that other stuff, and then I'm like, well, what's left over to give?
SPEAKER_01: I'm not holding this up to you as like a way you ought to do things because there's a right way and a wrong way.
SPEAKER_01: What I hold up to you is the people who I know who do this, whether they're rich with their time or with their finances, or frankly, they don't have a lot of time or a lot of finances, and they choose to live into their values through commitment anyway.
SPEAKER_01: Most of these people I know, they don't give till it hurts.
SPEAKER_01: They give till it feels good.
SPEAKER_01: It's really taken by a parishioner, uh, my last parish, who shared that with me.
SPEAKER_01: He said, you know, of course, God loves that you give, but you know what God really loves is that you give cheerfully.
SPEAKER_01: And so that's the difference.
SPEAKER_01: God is not asking us to do some kind of discipline so we can be in more misery or more suffering than we've already got.
SPEAKER_01: The question is, are you going to give until it feels good?
SPEAKER_01: And so, when he talked about gifts to the church, he said, look, let's stop saying there's no gift too small.
SPEAKER_01: No, there's no gift too big.
SPEAKER_01: And I gotta tell you, that was an infectious spirituality because it wasn't about quantities, it was about the quality of giving.
SPEAKER_01: The quality of giving.
SPEAKER_01: And making that a priority and living into that value is something I continue to positively struggle to do.
SPEAKER_01: Because if you've ever given a gift, and I don't mean an investment, you've given a gift, it touches your heart to give a gift.
SPEAKER_01: And this is why it needs to touch our heart to receive one.
SPEAKER_01: Because you can't give what you don't have.
SPEAKER_01: And if you've never received a gift with grace, I'm not sure you can give one with grace.
SPEAKER_01: These two things I think go together, and I find them in the passage.
SPEAKER_01: And then on top of it, we get to hear from Hebrews today.
SPEAKER_01: Now look, the word of God is sharper than the two-edged sword.
SPEAKER_01: And listen, that's not the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible wasn't written at the time, it wasn't put together at the time.
SPEAKER_01: That's Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: That's the living Christ who is the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: And it goes on to say that God not only knows us, but is able to more than sympathize, God is able to empathize with us.
SPEAKER_01: Which I think is really incredible.
SPEAKER_01: See, a long time ago I read this Hebrews passage and I thought, God knows everything like Santa Claus, and there's a naughty and a nice list.
SPEAKER_01: But I've misread the passage.
SPEAKER_01: Go on to read it.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus isn't afraid of our weakness.
SPEAKER_01: Not afraid.
SPEAKER_01: Joined it.
SPEAKER_01: Joined it, I put before you, not on a duty.
SPEAKER_01: Cheerfully gave the gift of having a body and limitations like you and I do.
SPEAKER_01: And I put this before you, I rarely, when I make my worst choices, spend a lot of time thinking how I can participate in spreading evil around the world.
SPEAKER_01: When I make my worst choices, I was usually, sadly, doing the best thinking I had at the time.
SPEAKER_01: I've mentioned this before.
SPEAKER_01: Brene Brown says the single most important criterion in whether or not you have a joyful life is whether or not you believe people are basically doing the best they can with what they have.
SPEAKER_01: Boy, that's scary for me to hear.
SPEAKER_01: I usually think people are just messing up what they have.
SPEAKER_01: She asked her husband, who said, Yeah, I believe that.
SPEAKER_01: She said, Well, how do you know you really believe it?
SPEAKER_01: And he said, You know, I don't know that you can ever prove people are doing the best they can with what they have, but one thing I know is my life will be more enjoyable if I pretend it's true.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, our great high priest, didn't even pretend.
SPEAKER_01: At my worst decision, God knows what I was thinking and has empathy for me.
SPEAKER_01: That's the story today.
SPEAKER_01: And because that's true, God is able to call us away from just our intentions to consider the impact of what we do.
SPEAKER_01: You understand the difference, hopefully, in the last year.
SPEAKER_01: A lot of times we hurt somebody's feelings, we say, I didn't mean to.
SPEAKER_01: Well, hopefully you didn't mean to, but you did anyway, so you've got to deal with what you did.
SPEAKER_01: And this as we grow in faith is since God knows our intentions, God calls us to make a greater impact.
SPEAKER_01: The impact, I think, that's put before us this week is where are we looking for God?
SPEAKER_01: If we can't find God, the problem is in our eye, not in God.
SPEAKER_01: Are we willing to have empathy for people who don't choose things like we choose?
SPEAKER_01: Do we give cheerfully?
SPEAKER_01: Do we receive cheerfully?
SPEAKER_01: Do we ask God when we approach God in our greatest fear and anxiety?
SPEAKER_01: God, you know what I was thinking.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for knowing what I'm thinking.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for empathizing with me at my worst, and now help me to live into my best.
SPEAKER_01: That's the work of the church.
SPEAKER_01: Once upon a time I went to a camp and there was this mug, people donated these mugs to a camp so you could drink coffee.
SPEAKER_01: Stewardship.
SPEAKER_01: The work of the church.
SPEAKER_01: I think that's about right.
SPEAKER_01: I think we're being called into stewardship as human beings, not just with our finances, because if you're like me, the thing that's most precious in your life is your time.
SPEAKER_01: The most precious thing is your time.
SPEAKER_01: God loves a cheerful receiver who becomes a cheerful giver.
SPEAKER_01: Please join me as we pray our faith in the words of an Icene Creed.
SPEAKER_01: We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, neighbor and earth, all that is the same.
SPEAKER_03: We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God and true God.
SPEAKER_03: We have our name, the only name of the Father.
SPEAKER_03: Through him all things are made.
SPEAKER_03: For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven.
SPEAKER_03: By the power of the Holy Spirit, he came by the birth of Mary, and was made again.
unknown: For our sake he was required by death from the fairy.
unknown: On the third day he rose again, in accordance with the scriptures.
SPEAKER_03: He ascended to heaven and seated at the right hand of God.
SPEAKER_03: He will come again, glory is just living the dead, and we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord give our life, who received the Father and Son.
SPEAKER_03: When the Father and Son is before our eye, He has also Christ.
SPEAKER_03: We believe in one Holy Catholic Christ.
SPEAKER_03: We acknowledge one action for the forgiveness of sin.
SPEAKER_03: We look for resurrection and death and the life of the Lord God.
SPEAKER_05: Let us pray for the church and for the world.
SPEAKER_05: 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_05: 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_05: Lord, in your compassion, give us all a reverence for the earth as your own creation, that we may use its resources rightly in the service of others, and to your honor and glory.
SPEAKER_05: Lord, in your compassion, bless all whose lives are closely linked with ours, and grant that we may serve Christ in them and love one another as he loves us.
SPEAKER_05: Lord, in your compassion, lead our parish.
SPEAKER_05: The source of wisdom guide us, the source of strength support us, the source of love unify us, we pray.
SPEAKER_05: Lord, in your compassion, guide St.
SPEAKER_05: Thomas the Apostle School that those who teach and those who learn may rejoice in the knowledge of your truth, 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_05: Lord, in your compassion, comfort and heal all those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit, give them courage and hope in their troubles, and bring them the joy of your salvation.
SPEAKER_05: Let us give thanks for our blessings and pray for our own needs and those of others, especially Ronnie, Chris, Sean, Aaron, Cynthia, Ken, John, Aaron, Janice, and Nancy.
SPEAKER_05: Lord, in your compassion, we commend to your mercy all who have died, especially Kara Williamson.
SPEAKER_05: That your will for them may be fulfilled, and pray that we may share with all your saints in your eternal kingdom.
SPEAKER_05: Lord, in your compassion.
SPEAKER_05: Compassionate God, make your healing and peaceful presence known to the world.
SPEAKER_05: Comfort those who mourn, strengthen those who are weary, encourage those in despair, and lead us all to fullness of life.
SPEAKER_05: Lord, we hear our prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.
SPEAKER_01: God of all mercy, we confess that we have sinned against you, opposing your will in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: We have denied your goodness in each other, in ourselves, and in the world you have created.
SPEAKER_01: We repent of the evil that enslaves us, the evil we have done, and the evil done in our behalf.
SPEAKER_01: Forgive, restore, and strengthen us through our Lord Jesus Christ, that we may abide in your love and serve only your will.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Almighty God, who in Jesus Christ has given us a family that cannot be destroyed, forgive your sin.
SPEAKER_01: Open your eyes and heart to truth and new life.
SPEAKER_01: Strengthen you to do God's will and to live joyfully into God's family.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: It's a lot of standing and sitting, but it's really important that we stand, having just been forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: So, because it's true, we have, whether we feel like it or not, we stand in acceptance of it.
SPEAKER_02: The peace of the Lord be always with you.
SPEAKER_01: There's a few announcements I want to call to your attention, and you're probably gonna say I didn't need to do this, but sometimes I have these junior moments where I forget my most important story.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna tell you my most important story, because you know, in the gospel today, the young man goes away grieving because he had a lot of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: And what we don't know is did he give it away or not?
SPEAKER_01: Doesn't say.
SPEAKER_01: I have this really good friend who is arguably one of the loveliest human beings I know, and she asked me a number of years ago.
SPEAKER_01: She's an attorney like my wife that works in a big corporate firm, and sometimes the bonuses are close to six figures.
SPEAKER_01: She said a bunch of times, I make more money than I know what to do with.
SPEAKER_01: Not in a bragging way, just honestly, you know.
SPEAKER_01: She asked me one day, do you give 10%?
SPEAKER_01: She, like my wife and I, we keep our money separate from one another.
SPEAKER_01: So with my money, yeah, you know, I said, yeah, I do.
SPEAKER_01: I give I give 10%.
SPEAKER_01: She said, Well, I've looked at how much that is, and I can't do it.
SPEAKER_01: That's an interesting story, isn't that?
SPEAKER_01: I have more than I know what to do with, but when I look at what I'm gonna give away, it's too much.
SPEAKER_01: Boy, I find myself in that position sometimes.
SPEAKER_01: So I ask you, you know, we fill these cards out every year, and and look, it's our best guess.
SPEAKER_01: Things can change.
SPEAKER_01: Um we understand that.
SPEAKER_01: We fill these out every year, and I honestly sometimes just put down what I did last year, or I bump it up a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: And I really would like to invite you to think, to sit on this card for a little bit and pray what's gonna be cheerful for you.
SPEAKER_01: There's no prescription here.
SPEAKER_01: God loves a cheerful giver, so I ask you to consider your time and how you're gonna support this community until it feels good.
SPEAKER_01: And that's happening now.
SPEAKER_01: A lot of people ask, what do I do with that card when I fill it out?
SPEAKER_01: Well, you can mail it in.
SPEAKER_01: Um, you can drop it off in the mailbox or in the plate.
SPEAKER_01: I'll come get it if you want.
SPEAKER_01: Um, whatever's gonna be helpful, I'm happy to do it.
SPEAKER_01: But we we do this until November 20th.
SPEAKER_01: That's the end of the church year, Christ the King Sunday, and then we bless those pledges, asking God to do more with them than we could ask or imagine.
SPEAKER_01: And as your priest, it's really important to ask God's blessing on our pledges.
SPEAKER_01: So uh please thoughtfully fill that out by uh November 20th.
SPEAKER_01: Not everybody knows this lady, but at the 8 o'clock service, Karen Williams is one of our members.
SPEAKER_01: Her mother's Mary Ruth Greenwell, and COVID's kind of pushed a couple things around, including the Boston Marathon.
SPEAKER_01: And Karen is running the Boston Marathon tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01: So uh it's amazing, by the way.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't know, like 99% of people who run marathons do not qualify for Boston.
SPEAKER_01: And Karen's running it.
SPEAKER_01: So please keep her in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow as she runs for like three and a half hours.
SPEAKER_01: Um coming up for us, a few a few things to be mindful of.
SPEAKER_01: Uh you saw this maybe in the e-news, and I'll print a hard list by next week.
SPEAKER_01: One of the great things about being in partnership with McWorder Elementary, our local Tide to I school, where 80% of kids are on the free lunch program, not the reduced lunch program, is that they trust us.
SPEAKER_01: So they emailed me this week and said, Can you help with Thanksgiving?
SPEAKER_01: I've got 70 families that won't have Thanksgiving dinner, probably, unless we can get some help.
SPEAKER_01: And of course, the answer is I love that you trust.
SPEAKER_01: And we're gonna try.
SPEAKER_01: So you'll see the shopping list in the e-news, and of course, those kids will not even know who did it, and they won't know whom to thank.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna thank you in advance.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for considering giving somebody the meal you enjoy, and of course, it's expensive, and that's why they don't get it.
SPEAKER_01: So you'll see that we're gonna collect it through November the 11th, and then we bless it and take it over, take it over to them, uh, which is really, really joyful to do what we can in our community.
SPEAKER_01: On October the 29th, so there's three things happening in a row.
SPEAKER_01: On the 29th, we're having trunk or treat for our school and church kids, because as you know, our students cannot be vaccinated, and some of our parents are on the fence, will we go trick or treating or not?
SPEAKER_01: So it's really a service to kids, sometimes more to their families, that we offer trunk or treat for our kids so that they don't have to worry, can our kids do this or not?
SPEAKER_01: And it's a way we show love to our parish families as well.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're interested, it takes 85 pieces of candy, which is like two little bags, and you can wear a costume or not, you can decorate your car or not, uh, but it's a gift of love to some families.
SPEAKER_01: This is all they're gonna do.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're interested in this, please let me know.
SPEAKER_01: We do it from 5 to 6 on October the 29th.
SPEAKER_01: The next day is uh our best replacement for the fall festival.
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's a parish picnic.
SPEAKER_01: So we'll be out here on the green space from 11 to 1 with uh barbecue lunches from our holy smokers.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, our homebrewers are putting out some homebrew and there'll be some uh live music as well, so we can have an outdoor event and enjoy each other.
SPEAKER_01: So I hope you'll, if you're in town, you'll be able to come and do that.
SPEAKER_01: And then October 31st, All Saints Eve, otherwise known as Halloween, is on a Sunday this year.
SPEAKER_01: And what we always do on All Saints Day, which we won't celebrate early, we'll celebrate on November the 7th, the following Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: We read the names of people who have departed from our parish and from your lives in the last year-ish.
SPEAKER_01: So if there's someone who's departed from your life, please send me their name so that we can put the light that they've shone in the world on the Lord's table and ring a bell for them on the seventh.
SPEAKER_01: But we're going to do something else that our school has invited us to do this year.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, there's this Oaxacan tradition in central Mexico called Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, and our school kids set up something called an ofrenda.
SPEAKER_01: And it's it's an altar that honors people who have pointed them to larger life.
SPEAKER_01: In the Episcopal Church, saints are people both living and dead.
SPEAKER_01: So what we're going to do on Halloween, Sunday, we'll have an offrenda, and if you have a photo or a token of somebody who has touched your life that you would like to give thanks to God for, those people are called saints.
SPEAKER_01: You can bring that, and the of them will be here all week.
SPEAKER_01: It'll be up All Saints' Day, and then you'll take your token or photo home after the service on All Saints.
SPEAKER_01: And again, it's just a tangible way we can practice gratitude for the saints in our life, living or dead.
SPEAKER_01: And you all realize this is a tough year for this because some of our dearest people we haven't even been able to have a funeral for.
SPEAKER_01: So this is a heavy, heavy year, and I invite you to acknowledge that and celebrate their life in this way with our friend at all.
SPEAKER_01: Um one more really nice thing.
SPEAKER_01: Many of you know we recruited an organ scholar who couldn't work.
SPEAKER_01: And now we found another one thanks to Carmen.
SPEAKER_01: And I'd like to introduce you to Ben Mater.
SPEAKER_01: Ben, would you just stand up for us and give us a hi?
SPEAKER_01: Uh Ben is our new organ colour.
SPEAKER_01: As always, this is one of the gifts of the pandemic.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, really, at the end of the service, nobody gets up till the post-lude's over.
SPEAKER_01: Touches my heart that we stay and listen to the beauty of music that we get here.
SPEAKER_01: When that's over, I know you'll thank Ben one way or another, but thank you, Ben, for serving with us and being in ministry with us.
SPEAKER_01: Continue to walk in love as Christ first loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God.
SPEAKER_02: All things come of you, O Lord.
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, 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: The Lord be with you.
SPEAKER_01: And also with you.
SPEAKER_01: Lift up your hearts.
unknown: We live on with the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Let us give thanks unto our Lord God.
SPEAKER_03: It is Christ to be God.
SPEAKER_01: All thanks and praise are yours at all times and in all places, true and loving God, through Jesus Christ, your eternal word, the wisdom from on high, by whom you created all things.
SPEAKER_01: You laid the foundations of the world and enclosed the sea when it burst out from the womb.
SPEAKER_01: You brought forth all creatures of the earth and gave breath to humankind.
SPEAKER_01: Wondrous are you, holy one of blessing.
SPEAKER_01: All you create is a sign of hope for our journey.
SPEAKER_01: And so as the morning stars sing your praises, we join the heavenly beings and all creation as we say with joy, Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.
SPEAKER_01: Hosanna in the highest.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest.
SPEAKER_01: Glory and honor are yours, Creator of all.
SPEAKER_01: Your word has never been silent.
SPEAKER_01: You call the people to yourself as a light to the nations.
SPEAKER_01: You delivered them from bondage and led them to a land of promise.
SPEAKER_01: Of your grace you gave Jesus to be human, to share our life, to proclaim the coming of your holy reign and give himself for us a fragrant offering.
SPEAKER_01: Through Jesus Christ our Redeemer, you have freed us from sin, brought us into your life, reconciled us to you, and restored us to the glory you intend for us.
SPEAKER_01: We thank you that on the night before he died for us, Jesus took bread, and when he'd given thanks to you, he broke it, gave it to his friends, and said, Take, eat.
SPEAKER_01: This is my body broken for you.
SPEAKER_01: Do this for the remembrance of me.
SPEAKER_01: After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, said the blessing, gave it to his friends and said, Drink this all of you.
SPEAKER_01: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, poured out for you and for all for the forgiveness of sin.
SPEAKER_01: Do this for the remembrance of me.
SPEAKER_01: And so remembering all that was done for us, the cross, the tomb, the resurrection and ascension, longing for Christ's coming in glory and presenting to you these gifts your earth has formed and human hands have made, we acclaim you, O Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Dying, you destroyed our death.
SPEAKER_01: Rising you restored our life.
SPEAKER_01: Christ Jesus' coming glory.
SPEAKER_01: Send your Holy Spirit upon us, and upon these gifts of bread and wine, that they may be to us the body and blood of your Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Grant that we burning with your Spirit's power may be a people of hope, justice, and love.
SPEAKER_01: Giver of life, draw us together in the body of Christ, and in the fullness of time gather us with Thomas and all your people into the joy of our true eternal home.
SPEAKER_01: Through Christ and with Christ and in Christ, by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, we worship you and God and our Creator in voices of unending praise.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are you now and forever.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: And 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_01: Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
SPEAKER_01: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
SPEAKER_01: For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
SPEAKER_02: Therefore, let us keep the feast.
SPEAKER_01: These are the gifts of God for you, the people of God.
SPEAKER_01: Feed on them in your hearts by faith and with thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_01: God of abundance, you have fed us with the bread of life and cup of salvation.
SPEAKER_01: You have united us with Christ and one another, and you have made us one with all your people in heaven and on earth.
SPEAKER_01: Now send us forth in the power of the Spirit, that we may proclaim your redeeming love to the world and continue forever in the risen life of Christ our Savior.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Rivers do not drink their own water, trees do not eat their own fruit, the sun does not shine on itself, and flowers do not spread their fragrance for themselves.
SPEAKER_01: Living for others is a rule of nature.
SPEAKER_01: We are all born to help each other, no matter how difficult or joyful it is.
SPEAKER_01: Life is good when you are happy, but much better when others are happy because of you.
SPEAKER_01: And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be upon you, those you love, and those for whom you pray this day and forevermore.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.