SPEAKER_01: Son and Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: There is one body and one Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: One Lord, one faith, one baptism.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_01: Almighty God, under whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid.
SPEAKER_01: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee and worthily magnify thy holy name through Christ our Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord be with you.
SPEAKER_01: Let us pray.
SPEAKER_01: O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy.
SPEAKER_01: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy, that with you as our ruler and guide we may so pass through things temporal that we lose not the things eternal.
SPEAKER_01: Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_06: In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him.
SPEAKER_06: They ravaged the Ammonites and beseeched Rabbah.
SPEAKER_06: But David remained in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_06: It happened late one afternoon when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king's house that he saw from the roof a woman bathing.
SPEAKER_06: The woman was very beautiful.
SPEAKER_06: David sent someone to inquire about the woman.
SPEAKER_06: It was reported, this is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.
SPEAKER_06: So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her.
SPEAKER_06: Now she was purifying herself after her period.
SPEAKER_06: Then she returned to her house.
SPEAKER_06: The woman conceived, and she sent and told David, I am pregnant.
SPEAKER_06: So David sent word to Joab, send me Uriah the Hittite.
SPEAKER_06: And Joab sent Uriah to David.
SPEAKER_06: When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared and how the war was going.
SPEAKER_06: Then David said to Uriah, Go down to your house and wash your feet.
SPEAKER_06: Uriah went out of the king's house and there followed him a present from the king.
SPEAKER_06: But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king's house with all the servants of his Lord and did not go down to his house.
SPEAKER_06: When they told David, Uriah did not go down to his house, David said to Uriah, You have just come from a journey.
SPEAKER_06: Why did you not go down to your house?
SPEAKER_06: Uriah said to David, The Ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths, and my Lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are camping in the open field.
SPEAKER_06: Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife?
SPEAKER_06: As you live and as your soul lives, I will do no such thing.
SPEAKER_06: Then David said to Uriah, remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.
SPEAKER_06: So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day.
SPEAKER_06: On the next day, David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk.
SPEAKER_06: And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his Lord, but he did not go down to his house.
SPEAKER_06: In the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
SPEAKER_06: In the letter he wrote, Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him so that he may be struck down and die.
SPEAKER_06: Hear what the Lord is saying to God's people.
SPEAKER_06: They make known the glory of your reign.
SPEAKER_06: That the peoples may know of your power.
SPEAKER_06: Your reign is an everlasting reign.
SPEAKER_06: O Lord, you are faithful in all your words.
SPEAKER_06: The Lord upholds all those who fall.
SPEAKER_06: The eyes of all wait upon you, O Lord.
SPEAKER_06: You open wide your hand.
SPEAKER_06: O Lord, you are righteous in all your ways.
SPEAKER_06: O Lord, you are near to those who call upon you.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that you may have the power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
SPEAKER_00: Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.
SPEAKER_00: To him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks be to God.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.
SPEAKER_01: A large crowd kept following him because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples.
SPEAKER_01: Now the fat the Passover, the festival of the Jewish people, was near.
SPEAKER_01: When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.
SPEAKER_01: Philip answered him, Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.
SPEAKER_01: One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, There's a boy here who has five loaves and two fish.
SPEAKER_01: But what are they among so many people?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said, Make the people sit down.
SPEAKER_01: Now there was a great deal of grass in the place, so they sat down, about five thousand in all.
SPEAKER_01: Then Jesus took the loaves.
SPEAKER_01: And when he given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated, so also the fish, as much as they wanted.
SPEAKER_01: When they were satisfied, Jesus told the disciples, Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.
SPEAKER_01: So they gathered them up.
SPEAKER_01: And from the fragments of the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.
SPEAKER_01: When the people saw the sign that Jesus had done, they began to say, Well, this is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.
SPEAKER_01: When Jesus realized they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
SPEAKER_01: When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum.
SPEAKER_01: It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
SPEAKER_01: The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.
SPEAKER_01: When they'd rode about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat.
SPEAKER_01: They were terrified.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus said to them, It is I.
SPEAKER_01: Do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_01: Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, you beat me.
SPEAKER_01: Good.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure if you realize, we are part of something called the Revised Common Lectionary.
SPEAKER_01: This informs most of our services in the Episcopal Church.
SPEAKER_01: And normally what we do is in a three-year cycle labeled years A, B, and C, we read scriptures each week from the Hebrew Bible, sometimes called the Old Testament, from the Psalter, from New Testament epistles, and from the Gospels.
SPEAKER_01: And the authors of the Rise Common Lectionary, or maybe I should say the compilers, they had some decent sense when they put this together to realize that there are stories in the Bible that maybe shouldn't be shared in public because after all, talking about Judges 19, if you've read the Bible, you know what I'm talking about, over a fried chicken dinner lunch, well, it's challenging.
SPEAKER_01: You might go home and read Judges 19 now and you'll see why we don't read it in church.
SPEAKER_01: It never shows up on Sunday in the lectionary because it's unsavory.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just going to tell you.
SPEAKER_01: Somehow this reading from 2 Samuel's made it in today.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what the guys were thinking, but since it's there, I feel like we'd better talk about it.
SPEAKER_01: And here's what I want you to know.
SPEAKER_01: I grew up in a church in which David was presumed to be the hero.
SPEAKER_01: He had a heart after God's own.
SPEAKER_01: The guy couldn't really do much wrong.
SPEAKER_01: Now, sure, he ends up doing some bad stuff, but the way I learned this story as a kid was that Bathsheba was a seductress.
SPEAKER_01: And she was up on the roof doing some kind of dance, and that's what overcame David's better judgment, and so he's only partially to blame.
SPEAKER_01: It's really this lady's fault.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to tell you the story goes to great pains to resist that reading.
SPEAKER_01: So here are the pains the story goes to.
SPEAKER_01: The lady's called Bathsheba, which in Hebrew means perfect daughter.
SPEAKER_01: Her father is called Eliam, which means my God's people.
SPEAKER_01: And her husband is called Uriah, which means the light of God.
SPEAKER_01: So the light of God's wife, who is the perfect daughter, is on top of the roof, ritually bathing.
SPEAKER_01: That's important, ritually bathing.
SPEAKER_01: We usually think we worship God when we do things like come to church or sing hymns.
SPEAKER_01: Part of the Torah is purifying yourself outwardly.
SPEAKER_01: And so this woman was likely getting into a 50-gallon drum of water to wash off any ritual impurities.
SPEAKER_01: The city of Jerusalem, and David took it.
SPEAKER_01: He's built his home above everyone else's so he can look.
SPEAKER_01: Notice the text tells you it's the time when kings go to war.
SPEAKER_01: David's not only a king, the scriptures say he's a pretty good fighter and a pretty good general, but notice where he's not.
SPEAKER_01: He's not at the fighting.
SPEAKER_01: I want to tell you, I think the story is telling you, he planned this.
SPEAKER_01: Because Uriah, it turns out, as we continue to read 2 Samuel, is one of David's mighty men.
SPEAKER_01: That is to say, he's one of like the fab five, along with David.
SPEAKER_01: David knows the guy intimately, has seen his wife before, and he's engineered things.
SPEAKER_01: I don't think I'm reaching here so that he can do exactly what happens in this story.
SPEAKER_01: Notice that Bathsheba has no voice.
SPEAKER_01: She has no agency whatsoever.
SPEAKER_01: She's taken and consumed like a piece of bread, and then there's this problem David has to deal with.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't plan on her becoming pregnant, so what's he going to do to hide the evidence?
SPEAKER_01: He's going to call the light of God back from a battle.
SPEAKER_01: Turns out the light of God is a Hittite, not a Jewish person.
SPEAKER_01: The text is really clear.
SPEAKER_01: This Hittite is more faithful than David.
SPEAKER_01: David tries to cover this up.
SPEAKER_01: Go down and wash your feet.
SPEAKER_01: Again, we wouldn't talk about this except we just read it.
SPEAKER_01: Hebrew is a language that has fewer than 8,000 words.
SPEAKER_01: By the time of Jesus, no one was even speaking it.
SPEAKER_01: They were just reading it in the synagogue.
SPEAKER_01: People spoke Aramaic.
SPEAKER_01: Well, it turns out because the language is so word poor, and because the Hebrew language actually is a little bit prudish, sort of like in the puritanical Amish sensibility, it likes to use euphemisms.
SPEAKER_01: One of the euphemisms that happens throughout the Hebrew Bible is the word feet, which sometimes means feet and other times means genitals.
SPEAKER_01: So when David says, go down and wash your feet, he's not saying go down and wash your feet.
SPEAKER_01: He's saying, go sleep with your wife.
SPEAKER_01: And Uriah the Hittite, the light of God, who's not Jewish but is more faithful than the king, says, How could I possibly do that?
SPEAKER_01: David even tries to get him drunk, still fails.
SPEAKER_01: And notice what he's gonna do.
SPEAKER_01: He's gonna engage one of his own bodyguards in difficult fighting and pull back, regardless of the cost of the other human beings.
SPEAKER_01: David is sent in battle to cover up this indiscretion.
SPEAKER_01: This indiscretion is called rape.
SPEAKER_01: We can call it a couple of different ways.
SPEAKER_01: We could call it active, we could call it statutory, but please understand this woman cannot say no unless she's willing to forfeit her life.
SPEAKER_01: What's gonna happen next week, and as the scriptures continue, is that the prophet Nathan's gonna come to David and say, look, you wronged Uriah by taking something that wasn't yours.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just gonna disagree with the scriptures because David didn't just wrong Uriah, he wronged Bathsheba.
SPEAKER_01: In the biblical worldview, women were objects and they were property, and what David did wrong was he took someone else's stuff.
SPEAKER_01: Of course, what's missing is that this woman had no choice, no voice, no advocate.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is the guy, you've read Psalm 51.
SPEAKER_01: The words are attributed, against you only have I sinned and done what was wrong in your eyes, and that's factually incorrect.
SPEAKER_01: The man sinned against Bathsheba, he sinned against her husband by killing him, and he sinned against his entire people by abusing power, and all of that's wrong.
SPEAKER_01: Now, what does that have to do with feeding 5,000 people?
SPEAKER_01: I may not do this right.
SPEAKER_01: See, the thing you may not know about the lectionary is it's not just samplings from the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: The point of the lectionary is to pull from four different sources of the Bible, and lectionary preaching is designed for the preacher to weave all the stories into one coherent whole.
SPEAKER_01: And that's challenging sometimes.
SPEAKER_01: Here comes Jesus feeding the 5,000.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to tell you, uh, that's what we've got artistically on the floor here.
SPEAKER_01: This is modeled off of a mosaic that's about 1,600 years old, found in Capernaum, where the site, there's a church built on the site where Jesus supposedly did this.
SPEAKER_01: So this mosaic is a copy of the one found in that church in Israel.
SPEAKER_01: Um you know this story.
SPEAKER_01: Here is Jesus testing his disciples.
SPEAKER_01: Clearly they failed.
SPEAKER_01: And this is pretty common, by the way, the people who know Jesus best, the religious folk, tend to let him down the most.
SPEAKER_01: This is what happens in the story.
SPEAKER_01: A few tidbits to put forward.
SPEAKER_01: Uh Andrew usually gets credit as being the faithful guy.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Look, I found this boy who's got stuff.
SPEAKER_01: But I want to suggest to you, Andrew might be being sarcastic here.
SPEAKER_01: Here's more than 5,000 people, and he's got, he's found one little boy that's got some stuff.
SPEAKER_01: Now, here's a word about the stuff.
SPEAKER_01: He's got two fish, but they're not marlins, they're not beluga whales, they're not even king salmon, they're like sardines.
SPEAKER_01: Two.
SPEAKER_01: Please understand the quantity.
SPEAKER_01: This is lunch for a child, not for an adult.
SPEAKER_01: He's got five loaves of bread.
SPEAKER_01: Please don't think two-pound loaves that come from an artisanal baker.
SPEAKER_01: Please think smaller than an English muffin.
SPEAKER_01: Five little half English muffins is what he's got.
SPEAKER_01: And John is the one who does this.
SPEAKER_01: No other gospel does it.
SPEAKER_01: John is really clear that these are barley loaves.
SPEAKER_01: Now that may not be important on the surface, but I want you to know, and I learned this from my dad a long time ago.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you may remember this, maybe not.
SPEAKER_01: My dad grew up in rural Kentucky in the late 40s, and his family was by no means affluent.
SPEAKER_01: But one thing they were not gonna do was eat wheat bread, because that was for poor people.
SPEAKER_01: So my dad grew up eating white bread.
SPEAKER_01: Now the tables have turned, right?
SPEAKER_01: But this was a really big thing.
SPEAKER_01: He was not gonna eat wheat bread.
SPEAKER_01: Well, the same is true in this story.
SPEAKER_01: Barley loaves are the poorest of fare.
SPEAKER_01: What's the analog?
SPEAKER_01: Little kid went through the Wendy's drive-thru and got two things on the 99 cent value menu, which you know are not nutritionally good for you, and that's all they got.
SPEAKER_01: And Andrew says, Ha, look, here's this kid's got this stuff.
SPEAKER_01: Let's just pass that out, Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Let's see what happens.
SPEAKER_01: Then the miracle happens, right?
SPEAKER_01: Now we don't know how this works.
SPEAKER_01: Some people think that this is sort of like spell casting, and Jesus said some magic words and then things multiply.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to know, interestingly enough, there was a New Testament scholar who wrote after World War II, a German guy named Rudolf Boltmann, and he said, you know, a lot of times people can't even relate to these miracle stories because they don't see those things happening in everyday life.
SPEAKER_01: So Rudolf Boltmann did something called the demythologization of the New Testament.
SPEAKER_01: He tried to say, let's take some of the mythic miracle stuff out so people can relate to the story.
SPEAKER_01: And Rudolf Boltman said, Hey, here's maybe what happened.
SPEAKER_01: This little boy shares what he's got, and other people realize maybe they could share what they have too.
SPEAKER_01: And in the end, not only does everybody get some, but there's some left over.
SPEAKER_01: Rudolf Boltman says the miracle in the story is that people share.
SPEAKER_01: I actually don't care which one you believe or one of the other ideas about how this works.
SPEAKER_01: It is clear what the story is telling us, and it's something that children almost always nail us on as adults.
SPEAKER_01: This story is about scale.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you've heard that starfish story.
SPEAKER_01: It was real popular 20 years ago.
SPEAKER_01: You know the one where there's like a child and a grandpa, and they're walking along the beach after a big squall, and there's all these starfish that have washed up on the shore, and the kid knows when the starfish dry out, they're gonna die.
SPEAKER_01: So the kid starts throwing the starfish back into the sea.
SPEAKER_01: Grandpa says, Oh, sweetie, you're never gonna make a difference.
SPEAKER_01: And the little boy says, or the little girl, depending which version of the story, takes a starfish, throws it in, and says, I made a difference to that one.
SPEAKER_01: Kids are really clever about this, because I don't know if your parents ever tried to shame you when you were a child, like you bought you a donut and you ate half the donut, and then you put it down, and they said, There are starving children in Africa.
SPEAKER_01: And you know what children are doing that adults will never do?
SPEAKER_01: They'll say, Let's mail it to Africa.
SPEAKER_01: And adults say, No, no, no, it won't keep.
SPEAKER_01: You eat it.
SPEAKER_01: You know, what's amazing is that kids will actually do something like, let's mail it, or um, I'll share my chicken nuggets with 5,000 people.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's what happens in the story.
SPEAKER_01: Because somehow kids, unlike us adults, seem to understand that making a difference for that one when we put that in the hands of God makes a difference for the cosmos.
SPEAKER_01: This is actually one of those promises of faith that we don't usually buy into, even though we give it lip service, is that if we put even poor fare, like little English muffins made out of wheat sweepings into the hand of God, God is able to do more than we can ask or imagine.
SPEAKER_01: And in general, what we do is we talk ourselves out of serving because we don't have enough to give, and this story actually pushes us to consider we all have something to give.
SPEAKER_01: And in the arms of God, not only will there be enough, there's plenty left over.
SPEAKER_01: Now, what does that have to do with David's story?
SPEAKER_01: Well, I want to suggest to you that for me, anyway, the link comes from this letter to Ephesians, where Paul prays that people will conceive increasingly of the depth and the breadth and the width and the height of the love of God.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to suggest to you actually, most of my own religious upbringing focused on spiritual life, religious life, church life, praying, singing as personal comfort and edification.
SPEAKER_01: Where you're having a hard time, go to church and you'll feel better.
SPEAKER_01: Moments of just being distraught, read the Bible and calm your spirit.
SPEAKER_01: You pray so that you can have more peace in the world.
SPEAKER_01: And for some reason, the church that raised me forgot that there's a whole lot of justice that's important in practicing love.
SPEAKER_01: What we grew up doing, at least the way I came up with, is that love was about that wide, and it was about the benefits I got spiritually out of following Jesus or praying.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul and these stories are pushing us, I suggest to you, that that's a pretty narrow bandwidth.
SPEAKER_01: And that frankly, love without justice isn't very loving at all.
SPEAKER_01: Here's a story about Jesus meeting people's physical needs.
SPEAKER_01: Here's a counter story about a man abused power, completely running over woman and husband, and then we have some lovely psalms later that probably made him feel better to pray.
SPEAKER_01: But please understand, we're being asked to widen the practice of love and faith so that even broken pieces get picked up.
SPEAKER_01: We're being asked, I want to suggest to you, as part of the gospel of Jesus Christ, to advocate for women like Bathsheba who have no voice, who have no protector.
SPEAKER_01: We're being asked to say, because you've got a position of power, whether you're a president or a Supreme Court justice or a congresswoman or a congressman, abusing your authority is not okay.
SPEAKER_01: It's sin.
SPEAKER_01: We're being asked to advocate for Bathsheba, even if we can only do it really small ways.
SPEAKER_01: Really small ways.
SPEAKER_01: And I think we're being asked to stop talking ourselves out of sharing what we have because somebody else might have more.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this happens sometimes during communion.
SPEAKER_01: I count the wafers before uh the service, and sometimes I miscount.
SPEAKER_01: So maybe there's eight more people in line, and I've got three wafers left.
SPEAKER_01: I could run back to the sacristry and get some more and bless them on the spot.
SPEAKER_01: But usually what I do is I start breaking them into little bits.
SPEAKER_01: And look, they're not very big to begin with.
SPEAKER_01: You all know that.
SPEAKER_01: But when you get a quarter of one of those things, it's kind of hard to dip in the wine.
SPEAKER_01: But what I always say, right, is that God can do a lot with a little, and this is part of the mystery of faith.
SPEAKER_01: That bread that doesn't even taste very good, it doesn't matter whether you've got a whole piece of something that doesn't taste very good or a quarter of a piece.
SPEAKER_01: Strangely enough, the mystery of our faith says, it's enough to nourish you so you can go nourish the world.
SPEAKER_01: And if that's true for the bread, don't you think it has to also be true for the greetings we give one another?
SPEAKER_01: For the trust that we keep with one another, for the advocacy that we give one another.
SPEAKER_01: Well, I believe it's true.
SPEAKER_01: I believe that these small bits not only are enough, but the scripture tells us that faith, hope, and love expand infinitely in God.
SPEAKER_01: Now the end of the story is really interesting because here's the disciples going across in a boat, and look, we've heard the story a whole bunch.
SPEAKER_01: There's this big squall on the sea.
SPEAKER_01: It says a strong wind is blowing, and it's interesting that that word wind also means breath and spirit.
SPEAKER_01: There's a strong spirit blowing on the water, and here comes Jesus walking atop the waves.
SPEAKER_01: Water in the Bible is a symbol of primordial chaos, and notice what Jesus does.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't just stay in the boat, he dares walk upon it, and he doesn't sink into it.
SPEAKER_01: And this is part of our promise is that the gospel is asking us to dare tread on seas of chaos to advocate for people like Bathsheba and Uriah.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel's asking us to do this in the smallest of possible ways.
SPEAKER_01: There's a hungry word out there, and God would delight for us to be nourished in that world.
SPEAKER_01: So we come to this table to receive even the smallest bits each week so that we can go and nourish the world.
SPEAKER_01: Not just with our personal piety, but with our practice of justice, which is pious.
SPEAKER_01: And that's why we're going to baptize somebody today.
SPEAKER_01: You see, this is a really wonderful thing.
SPEAKER_01: Now, we don't always get to do adult baptism in the Episcopal Church, and it's lovely that we get to, because part of what we're doing, and I love what we have here, you won't find it really anywhere else.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody actually called me a month ago and said, I saw that thing and I want one for my church.
SPEAKER_01: How do I get one?
SPEAKER_01: Which is kind of funny because that took a year to get that one.
SPEAKER_01: What I love about it is a couple of things.
SPEAKER_01: When we baptize somebody, we're acknowledging that every human being is a pearl in God's oyster.
SPEAKER_01: What better visual is there than that?
SPEAKER_01: You know, the other reason we use shells, I think I've told you this before, is actually from a pilgrimage route that started about 1600 years ago, the way of St.
SPEAKER_01: James.
SPEAKER_01: In Spanish, it's called Santiago de Compostelo.
SPEAKER_01: So what was happening is pilgrims throughout Europe were walking a really long way, like the French way is 850 kilometers.
SPEAKER_01: They were walking to this church towards the coast in Spain.
SPEAKER_01: They would have this pilgrim's mass and then they'd go to the beach.
SPEAKER_01: And the beach, they thought when the world was flat, that if you went far off the beach, you'd fall off the world.
SPEAKER_01: So what they did when they made this pilgrimage is they went to the beach and they picked up shells and they brought back shells from the edge of the earth.
SPEAKER_01: And they were so important they took them to their churches and told the priest, baptize with the shells.
SPEAKER_01: If you're ever wondering why we do it, that's the story.
SPEAKER_01: Because someone went to the edge of the world and brought back this shell, the symbol of life, this symbol of beauty that comes off the edge of the world.
SPEAKER_01: Well, we've got this little baptismal shell that went into outer space on a space shuttle.
SPEAKER_01: Not this one.
SPEAKER_01: That one's too heavy.
SPEAKER_01: We got this one.
SPEAKER_01: Part of what we say is not only are we pearls in God's oyster, but God would like us to expand the horizons of our universe.
SPEAKER_01: Part of growing the width and dip and depth and breadth of our faith is to stop living in a two-dimensional world that's all about our own comfort.
SPEAKER_01: We're supposed to live in a three, a four-dimensional universe in which our comfort and nourishment intersect with the growth of love for every created, not just human being, but with creation itself.
SPEAKER_01: The two ought to inform one another.
SPEAKER_01: This is why we baptize.
SPEAKER_01: Because just in a moment, you're going to say, whether you mean it or not, and I hope you mean it, that you're going to do everything in your power to uphold Sally and her life in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: This is a holy promise you're going to make in the holiest of places in church.
SPEAKER_01: We often do it.
SPEAKER_01: But here's the invitation.
SPEAKER_01: We don't just say it today, we follow up.
SPEAKER_01: Whether it's Sally or Jim or Mike.
SPEAKER_01: Because when this happened to me, someone else said those words.
SPEAKER_01: We will.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what you got to offer, Sally.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's some chicken nuggets.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what you got to offer Jim.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's a new hat.
SPEAKER_01: But I do know this.
SPEAKER_01: The miracle of this icon.
SPEAKER_01: And as we say here at St.
SPEAKER_01: Thomas, we can do more together.
SPEAKER_01: So into these solemn promises, into the sacrament, I invite Sally and her family to come on.
SPEAKER_01: Sally, do you desire to be baptized?
SPEAKER_01: Now these words are not just for you and your family.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to extend it in the congregation because this is something we all get to renew.
SPEAKER_01: So please follow along here.
SPEAKER_01: Sally, do you, church, do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God?
SPEAKER_01: Do you renounce the evil powers of this world, like we read about in the David story, which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?
SPEAKER_01: Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God?
SPEAKER_01: Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior?
SPEAKER_01: Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?
SPEAKER_01: Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord?
unknown: I tell you.
SPEAKER_01: Will all you who witness these vows do all in your power to support Sally in her life with Christ?
unknown: We will.
SPEAKER_01: Then please join me in standing as you're able and let us join with Sally, who's committing herself to Christ, and renew our own baptismal covenant.
SPEAKER_01: Do you believe in God the Father?
SPEAKER_04: I believe in God the Father Almighty.
SPEAKER_01: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
SPEAKER_04: I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son of the Lord.
unknown: He was deceived by power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_04: He suffered not to crucified by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_04: He was sent to the death.
SPEAKER_04: On the third day's coming, in this end of God, and seated at the right hand of the Father.
SPEAKER_04: He will come again to judge the thing of the dead.
SPEAKER_01: Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER_04: I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the light of every rest.
SPEAKER_01: Will you continue in the Apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers?
unknown: I will with us so.
SPEAKER_01: Will you persevere in resisting evil?
SPEAKER_01: And whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord.
unknown: I will with Christopher.
SPEAKER_01: Will you proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ?
unknown: I will with God so.
SPEAKER_01: Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as you love yourself?
unknown: I will.
SPEAKER_05: Keep her in the faith and communion of your holy church.
SPEAKER_05: Lord, hear our prayer.
SPEAKER_05: Teach her to love others in the power of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_05: Lord, hear our prayer.
SPEAKER_05: Send her into the world and witness to your love.
SPEAKER_05: Lord, hear our prayer.
SPEAKER_05: Bring her to the fullness of your peace and glory.
SPEAKER_05: Lord, hear our prayer.
SPEAKER_05: Grant, O Lord, that all who are baptized into the death of Jesus Christ, your Son, may live in the power of his resurrection and look for him to come again in glory, who lives and reigns now and forever.
SPEAKER_05: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: We thank Almighty God for the gift of water.
SPEAKER_01: Over it the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation.
SPEAKER_01: Through it you led the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt into the land of promise.
SPEAKER_01: In it, your Son Jesus received the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ, to lead us through his death and resurrection from the bondage of sin into everlasting life.
SPEAKER_01: We thank you, Father, for the water of baptism.
SPEAKER_01: In it we are buried with Christ in his death.
SPEAKER_01: By it we share in his resurrection.
SPEAKER_01: Through it, we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, in joyful obedience to your Son, we bring into his fellowship those who come to him in faith, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Now sanctify this water, we pray you, by the power of your Holy Spirit, that Sally, who is here to be cleansed from sin and born again, may continue forever in the risen life of Jesus Christ our Savior.
SPEAKER_01: To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory, now and forever.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Sally, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And all God's people said, Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Sally, you are anointed by the Holy Spirit, and marked as Christ's very own forever and ever.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Let's sing Sally into the family of God.
SPEAKER_02: Sally, Sally, God claims you, God helps you, protects you, and loves you to walk me a child.
SPEAKER_02: Sally, Sally God claims you, God helps you, protects you, and loves you too.
SPEAKER_01: Let us pray.
SPEAKER_01: Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy Spirit you have bestowed upon Sally, your daughter, the forgiveness of sin.
SPEAKER_01: You've raised her to the new life of grace.
SPEAKER_01: Sustain her, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Give her an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and persevere, the Spirit to know and love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Let us welcome the newly baptized.
SPEAKER_01: We receive you into the household of God, confess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share with us in his eternal priesthood.
SPEAKER_01: And now we can do what we do outside of church.
SPEAKER_01: We can celebrate with our hands.
SPEAKER_01: And thanks for joining us today.
SPEAKER_01: A few announcements to call to your attention.
SPEAKER_01: Most of these you'll see in the e-news.
SPEAKER_01: The first is that this week, on Saturday morning, is our next mobile fresh food distribution that's right outside in the parking lot.
SPEAKER_01: We serve from 7.45 in the morning until 10.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to sign up ahead of time.
SPEAKER_01: Probably you want to bring like a hat and some sunscreen and some water.
SPEAKER_01: It's going to be hot.
SPEAKER_01: But we'll serve from 7.45 to 10 this Saturday and the follow-up.
SPEAKER_01: We're doing two in a row because the 4th of July threw the food bank schedule off.
SPEAKER_01: Also, I want to raise up to you that a week from this Wednesday, which is August the 4th, we're having a long overdue opportunity to share a meal together and to have some fun.
SPEAKER_01: So we're going to play bingo for prizes.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to have a catered meal from our holy smokers, like that'll be barbecue.
SPEAKER_01: And we need you to sign up.
SPEAKER_01: There's a link in the e-news that will take you to sign up, Genius, so you can sign up so that we can have enough food for everybody.
SPEAKER_01: Of course, you're all invited.
SPEAKER_01: And if you don't want to have barbecue, you can come anyway.
SPEAKER_01: Just sign up and let us know that you're coming so that we have enough spots for everything.
SPEAKER_01: It's also going to be your first opportunity to meet our new minister to families, Alex Hillis, who will be starting August the 3rd, the day before.
SPEAKER_01: So he'll be sort of freshly here, August the 4th, at Bingo in Barbecue to Meet.
SPEAKER_01: And we're really excited about that opportunity.
SPEAKER_01: I'm also really grateful to tell you that we have added another member to our staff this week.
SPEAKER_01: He'll be starting at the end of August.
SPEAKER_01: Many of you know that Garmin's about as good as it gets, but it's really difficult to both direct the choir and play the organ at the same time.
SPEAKER_01: So we have going to be joining us an undergrad student of organ music from the University of St.
SPEAKER_01: Thomas in Houston, Nathan Schaffnitz.
SPEAKER_01: He'll be joining us at the end of August.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm very pleased to announce this is happening today.
SPEAKER_01: And so Nathan will be playing the organ while Garmin can do what he does.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the wonderful things we do at this church is not just have the best of the best like Garmin, but we raise people up to be the best of the best.
SPEAKER_01: So this is what we're going to call it organ.
SPEAKER_01: Scholar because Garmin's going to mentor him on the job.
SPEAKER_01: Now, Nathan's played, he's got plenty of skills, he's done this at churches throughout West Virginia.
SPEAKER_01: But if you know Garmin, he's got a lot to offer.
SPEAKER_01: So this is really a wonderful win-win that's going to be happening at the end of August.
SPEAKER_01: And you'll see Nathan's picture in the coming weeks in the e-news, and you'll meet him on August the 29th.
SPEAKER_01: Last thing I want to make sure, or two things I want to make sure are known.
SPEAKER_01: One is that the Daughters of the King are celebrating 25 years in ministry today, which is amazing.
SPEAKER_01: The St.
SPEAKER_01: Bridget's chapter has been active here at St.
SPEAKER_01: Thomas for 25 years.
SPEAKER_01: And there's a reception right after.
SPEAKER_01: So if you didn't know that, you're invited.
SPEAKER_01: If you did know that, you're also invited.
SPEAKER_01: That'll be in Christ Hall right after the service.
SPEAKER_01: And 25 years of ministry is incredible.
SPEAKER_01: The DOK do more than I could possibly describe, offering hospitality and prayer and support to the parish and community.
SPEAKER_01: The last thing I want to say is that it's hard to believe, but summer is like sort of winding down.
SPEAKER_01: And so that means there's two things going to happen.
SPEAKER_01: One, we always offer McWerder, our local Title I elementary school, where 80% of the kids are on the free lunch program.
SPEAKER_01: Not the reduced lunch, the free lunch.
SPEAKER_01: We offer them backpacks and school supplies, and they are expensive.
SPEAKER_01: If you've gone shopping, oh my gosh,$60 for school supplies.
SPEAKER_01: Well, now you understand why they need that's why they need them.
SPEAKER_01: So we're uh during our school supply drive, we've already purchased backpacks for all the kids.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but uh you'll see these, I think at the Kroger on El Camino has these in packages.
SPEAKER_01: Uh also there's a link on our e-news to how you can buy the individual items if you want.
SPEAKER_01: Um I don't want to do that.
SPEAKER_01: I like to buy packages.
SPEAKER_01: They do cost a little bit more.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but these are great opportunities that we can serve our sister school in our community.
SPEAKER_01: And the deadline is August 11th.
SPEAKER_01: So we've got essentially two weeks, two Sundays to bring school supplies so that we can bless them and give them to kids so that they can start the school year like our own kids are gonna start the school year.
SPEAKER_01: So I want to raise that up to you.
SPEAKER_01: The other thing I want to mention to you is that I'll be gone next week, and so you're gonna get to enjoy Stacy Stringer.
SPEAKER_01: Stacy literally can ride her golf cart to St.
SPEAKER_01: Thomas.
SPEAKER_01: She lives right over in Bell Harbor.
SPEAKER_01: And um, she is the diet, she used to be the rector at uh Holy Trinity in Dickinson, but now she is directing hurricane recovery throughout the diocese of Texas.
SPEAKER_01: So Stacy will be here to preach and celebrate next week.
SPEAKER_01: Not only is she a fantastic priest, she's really like a lovely human being.
SPEAKER_01: So I trust you're gonna enjoy Stacy next week.
SPEAKER_01: Continue to walk in love as Christ first loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice 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, 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_02: The Lord be with you.
SPEAKER_02: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
SPEAKER_01: It is very meet right in our bound and duty that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee, O Lord, Holy Father Almighty, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, according to whose true promise the Holy Ghost came down from heaven, lighting upon the disciples to teach them and lead them into all truth, uniting peoples of many languages and worldviews in the confession of one faith, and giving to thy church the power to serve thee as a royal priesthood and preach the gospel to all nations.
SPEAKER_02: And therefore, with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious name, evermore praising thee and singing, Santu, Santu, Santu Mikis Santos.
SPEAKER_01: All glory be to thee, O Lord our God, for that thou didst create heaven and earth, and didst make us in thine own image.
SPEAKER_01: And of thy tender mercy didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to take our nature upon him, and to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption.
SPEAKER_01: He made there a full and perfect sacrifice for the whole world, and did institute, and in his holy gospel command us to continue, a perpetual memory of that his precious death and sacrifice until his coming again.
SPEAKER_01: For in the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus took bread.
SPEAKER_01: And when he given thanks to thee, he broke it, gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat.
SPEAKER_01: This is my body which is given for you.
SPEAKER_01: Do this in remembrance of me.
SPEAKER_01: Likewise, after supper, Jesus took the cup of wine.
SPEAKER_01: And when he given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink this, all of you.
SPEAKER_01: This is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for all for the remission of sins.
SPEAKER_01: Do this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me.
SPEAKER_01: Wherefore, O Lord and Heavenly Father, we thy people do celebrate and make with these thy holy gifts, which we now offer unto thee, the memorial thy son hath commanded us to make, having in remembrance his blessed passion and precious death, his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension, and looking for his coming again with power and great glory.
SPEAKER_01: And we most humbly beseech thee, O merciful Father, to hear us, and with thy word and Holy Spirit to bless and sanctify these gifts of bread and wine, that they may be unto us the body and blood of thy dearly beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And we earnestly desire thy fatherly goodness to accept this, our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, whereby we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies.
SPEAKER_01: Grant we beseech thee that all who partake of this holy communion may worthily receive the most precious body and blood of thy Son Jesus Christ, and be filled with thy grace and heavenly benediction.
SPEAKER_01: And also that we and all thy whole church may be made one body with him, that he may dwell in us and we in him, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, by whom and with whom and in whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honor and glory be unto thee, O Father Almighty, world without end.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to pray, 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, 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_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: And now in the spirit of Pentecost, I invite you to pray with me that same prayer as thought to be written by Karen Ludwin.
SPEAKER_01: I made a mistake in the bulletin.
SPEAKER_01: It stops in the middle as forever as we will ever come.
SPEAKER_01: So it stops right before our woman.
SPEAKER_01: Our mother, which art the earth.
SPEAKER_01: Nurturing are thy ways, thy web of life be woven, thy way be found within, as it is all around.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you this day for our daily bread and sweat, and forgive us our misuse of you, as we forgive others their misuse of us, and lead us not into exploitation, but deliver us from lording it over you, and over each other, and over all our other fellow creatures.
SPEAKER_01: For thine are the waters of life, the hills, valleys, and plains of home, the breeding, seeding, feeding ground, for now and for as close to forever as we will ever come.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Alleluia.
SPEAKER_01: Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
SPEAKER_01: 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! We'll start on my right, your left.
SPEAKER_01: Please come to the aisle closest to your right in fixed intervals and return to your seat on the far side.
SPEAKER_02: Gathered in the name of Jesus, which is given unity.
SPEAKER_01: I just have to find my keynote.
SPEAKER_01: God of truth, we have seen with our eyes and touch with our hands the bread of life.
SPEAKER_01: Nourish our faith that we may grow in love for you and for each other, and nourish the world in your image through Jesus Christ our Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Go forth into the world in peace, be of good courage, hold fast that which is good, render to no one evil for evil.
SPEAKER_01: Strengthen the faint-hearted, support the weak, help the afflicted, honor everyone, love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be amongst you this day and remain with you always.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks be to God.
unknown: Morning.
unknown: Okay.
unknown: This is not a dog.
unknown: This is a little more little one.
unknown: We are down here.